In these fallow economic times, free money to invest in your own business is always a welcome surprise.
It is little wonder, then, that Bath graduate Andy Brown was “really happy” to secure a £100,000 investment in his literary magazine.
It just goes to show that although this kind of opportunity may not swing round particularly often, with an innovative idea and a sprinkling of luck there is always a chance.
The 24-year-old, who actually graduated in aerospace engineering this summer, was awarded the prize money on Sky 1’s investment programme The Angel.
He was pitted against four other young entrepreneurs and they all underwent individual tasks, group challenges and head to heads – all of which tested a series of important business attributes including ambition, commercial intellect, drive, leadership, passion and resilience.
After suitably impressing John Caudwell, the founder of Phones4U, Andy is set to expand his business venture which was first launched earlier this year. Anyone travelling on the London Underground in the near future: keep your eyes peeled for the Underground Book Club, which features opening chapters from new novels and has the backing of Bloomsbury, Penguin and Harper Collins.
Andy said: "The money will mean we can move our circulation from 10,000 copies to 100,000 which will have a big impact on awareness of the magazine.”
Much like Andy, you too can get paid to ‘invest’ in your career, for example if you work as a:
Property surveyor – If you apply for jobs as a ‘non-cognate’ i.e. a graduate who does not already hold a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) degree, firms may sponsor you through the qualification while you work. If you take this route, your tuition fees will be covered by your employer. What a result!
Teacher – Many trainee teachers are eligible to receive a non-taxable training bursary worth a whopping £9,000 (which doesn’t have to be repaid). It is also worth noting that any post grad students starting their teacher training in 2011/12 or later will be entitled to a ‘Golden Hello’, or a one-off, non-taxable wad of cash worth up to £5,000 once they have completed their induction year. Of course, money isn’t the only reason to go into teaching. The holidays are pretty good too...
Would you study for post graduate qualifications if you knew you would have a grant or sponsorship money to lean on as a financial crutch?