I was recently asked to take part in a Wales-wide inquiry into youth entrepreneurship. Although I am now slightly out of the age range to be classed as “youth”, I started my business, Applingua Ltd, on my 24th Birthday. The video is composed of several young entrepreneurs around Wales giving their opinion on a wide range of issues surrounding starting up your own business. It was shown to the Enterprise and Business Committee at the National Assembly for Wales on Thursday 12th June 2013. The agenda and minutes of the meeting can be seen here.

I am a strong believer in youth entrepreneurship and have always maintained that our education system in Wales should promote entrepreneurship as a viable form of employment post education. All too often schools boast about their “successful” pupils who have graduated from university and gone on to work for some big-city firm across the bridge, but  what of the 16 year old who left school early, trained as a hair dresser, and now runs a salon employing 10 people?

Wales is in an ideal position to encourage entrepreneurship through grants and flexible governing. I would most like to see this being supported by Welsh Government through the expansion of Enterprise Zone trials in England, whereby individuals starting a low turnover business can claim Job Seekers Allowance for the first nine months. This will encourage people without a job to take the leap.

New companies make new jobs and push our economy. The more startups we have here in Wales, selling products and services around the world, the more attractive our country becomes to outside investment and high-net worth individuals who can feed back into our economy. Let’s make this happen soon.

I, like many others, hide most of my day behind a computer screen. Social media, messaging and emails allow me to stay in touch with friends, family and colleagues no matter where they are in the world. It’s so easy to sit and type, I sometimes forget how decisive face-to-face meetings can actually be.

Prior to a large event a few colleagues of mine and I were organising, we were looking for corporate sponsors to help fund a day of free workshops and a launch party in the evening. There were several companies which really stood out as partners we’d love to work with, but emails and calls mostly fell on deaf ears.

Less than a month before the big day, I happened to be at an award ceremony in Bath as part of a competition I was mentoring. One of the awards went to the company I most wanted to partner with. My ears pricked up immediately, I made a mental note of what the guy looked like and decided to hunt him down afterwards.

After the event, I found the company representative by the bar. I offered to buy him a drink with our free drink tokens and I just came out with it and asked him for money for our launch event. He asked a little about what our goal was and what they could get out of it and within five minutes we’d shaken on it.

I was gobsmacked. Had I known earlier it was this easy to ask for money, I’d have started years ago.

I, like many others, hide most of my day behind a computer screen, but by doing so we allow people to ignore us or to decline without any real thought. It’s much easier to receive criticism and much harder to adapt your proposition during an online conversation than when you’re standing in front of the person you are talking to. It may seem obvious, but spending all my day online, I’d forgotten just how rewarding it can be.

From now on, if I really need something, I will make much more of an effort to stand in front of the person and ask them out loud.

Starting your first business is like learning a new language. You progress so quickly, then you realise you know nothing. But that doesn’t mean you should stop learning, stop progressing, because when you get to a point when you can converse with clients and business partners, nothing feels better.

Attending holiday language lessons gets you so far, but it’s not until you get into a tricky situation do you realise you don’t have any of the required vocabulary to converse properly. You have a choice at this point: ask someone around you who can translate for you or lose out on what you really want to say.

Running a business is very similar. You progress so quickly, registering your company, getting your first client, a whole world of possibilities seem open to you. Then, suddenly, you are faced with accounting, bureaucracy and legal issues and you hit a brick wall. If you don’t ask for help, you’re likely to get it wrong.

When I first started my business, I was shy to ask for help. I wanted to learn and understand everything for myself to maintain ultimate control. After all, a business is like your baby, you want to help it grow, nurture it, but you always want to protect it too. I quickly realised that in order to protect my company, I sometimes needed to ask for help.

Making mistakes can sometimes cost you dearly, but you will always learn from them. Surround yourself with people who know what they’re talking about and never be afraid of embarrassing yourself. (S)he who dares, wins.

My top tips for learning to run your business fluently

- Let people (including clients) know you are just a learner. This might sound totally against everything you think you should do, but believe it or not I got my first client by saying, “Hey, never done this before. New company, want to give us a go?” and landed a contract 15 times the capital I started the company with…

- Find a mentor. Search Google for local mentor groups. Your local authority will probably have a few links too. Otherwise search further afield via the internet. Even a Skype or Email pen-friend is better than nothing. Someone you can bounce ideas off and someone who has done it before.

- Join a business community. There are startup communities popping up everywhere. I can’t tell you how much I’ve learned from chatting to a stranger over a beer in a local pub. I’ve pivoted entire sections of my business just from a single conversation that opened my eyes.

- Look for free workshops. HMRC run them. Your bank will offer them too. Your local authority may also run events. They’ll help you in the beginning with tax returns and legal advice. You’ll quickly outgrow them, but they make a great starting point.

- Choose the right tools. No matter your business, some tools just make work so much easier. Try Trello for project management or reminder lists and Evernote or Google Drive for storing and scanning important documents. It really depends on your business, but there’s lots out there that can make your life a whole lot easier.

- Cheat. Some tools are just too good to be true. My favourite cheat is business accounting software FreeAgent, which makes all your invoicing and accounting a right doddle. Highly recommended.

- Practice makes perfect. Just like learning a real language, the more opportunity you get to practice, the better you will be. Also just like learning a language, make mistakes and you’ll never make them again. It’s absolutely fine to get things wrong once in a while and, so long as you’re honest, most, including the tax man, will forgive you.

In bocca al lupo!