Dare to Dream PDF - Nesta

We all have dreams. Some of us dream
about making music or creating a new
fashion, some dream of starting a new
business or mini-enterprise and some
dream of making the world a better place.
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Most of us have our dreams in our bedrooms
where we can shut out the gloomy world and
let our imaginations go wild and come up
with ideas.
It isn’t enough to have an idea. You also need
to work out what you’ll need and who you’ll
need to know in order to make it happen.
This is a guide to inspire you to have
ideas and help you start to turn them into
a reality. It won’t answer all your questions
but hopefully will deal with a few. It also
highlights some of the amazing ideas that
young people have taken from just a passing
thought in their head to an enterprise that is
now in their hands.

My bedroom was my own
little world – a place to escape
and create stuff, a place where
I submerged myself in music,
art and Newcastle United.
Jimmy Turrell, Graphic Designer.
It wasn’t just a bedroom
for him you see. He did all his
thinking and dreaming in that
tiny room.
Yoko Ono, talking about
John Lennon’s bedroom.
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‘Now why didn’t I think of that?’ Have you
ever said that to yourself? You hear about
a new product, service or way of going about
something and you wonder why nobody has
come up with the idea before as it’s so simple.
The best ideas are often the simplest.
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Take, for example, these ideas developed by
young entrepreneurs. Charles Adakwa-Yiadom
has a scheme to provide kiosks for legally
downloading music in busy public spaces
such as shopping centres, airports and
hospitals. Celia Gates has come up with an
easy grip handle for saucepans to help elderly
and disabled people and Philip Robinson has
developed a bike seat that doubles up as a
floor pump so you can also use it to inflate
the tyres. Now why didn’t I think of that?
Oddly enough, quite a few creative people
get great ideas from their dreams. A chemical
structure, the story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,
the tune for Yesterday, the theme for the
opera Das Rheingold, the sewing machine
and many other innovations came from or
were inspired by dreams.
As well as having a snooze, a good way
of coming up with ideas is to think about
what frustrates you or causes you hassle,
what you need that isn’t around at the
moment or what could be an easier or
better way of doing something.
When James Steward got his bike stolen, he
came up with a more secure way for storing
bikes that only uses a small amount of space.
When he was 15, Oliver Bridge struggled
to find shoes to fit his size 13 feet so he
set up a company that sells big and wide
shoes via the internet. Shocked by the price
of spectacles when he bought a pair while he
was at university, James Murray Wells set up
an online business for students and others to
buy glasses at prices far cheaper than those
in high street shops.

Tout your idea around. Talk to as many
people as possible. Everyone has ideas.
There is quite a big gap between having
an idea in your head and getting it into
practice. People get quite cagey about
ideas but I would suggest talking to as
many people as possible. Do lots of
brainstorming, looking at the strengths
and weaknesses of the idea.
Get it down on paper and keep on
looking at it. If you can operate from
within your bedroom, then operate from
there because the more money you can
save in the early days the better until
you’ve actually got the business moving
forward. It is very easy to underestimate
costs and overestimate profit.
Chris Smallwood
Chris started Bug Bugs, the UK’s first
pedicab (think rickshaw on wheels meets
a taxi) service in London. He began with
six bikes and now has 65.
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With your idea, you need to work out what
is the main thing that is different about it.
Is it going to make something easier, faster
or healthier?
Will it be a service that is more individual,
more appealing or more effective? It doesn’t
have to be a mega difference – a small
change can often make a big difference.
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Think, for example, about the various
changes that have been made to jeans to
create new fashions – they’ve been twisted,
stone-washed, faded, torn, made baggy,
given turn-ups, produced with flares, but
basically they’re still jeans and for some
reason are almost always blue.
Fashion graduate Hannah Marshall has
developed a fashion range with a difference
– her designs are highly tactile with hidden
messages created in them in Braille. Young
entrepreneur Rose Kane has created a new
approach to baking – placing logos and text
within bread so the image appears on
every slice!
If you’re developing a business idea, be very
cautious about proposing something that is
going to be cheaper. Customers often feel
price reflects quality. There are also a lot
of hidden costs in producing a product or
delivering a service and you want to make
sure that you’re aware of all of these.
It sounds strange but just being friendly or
very reliable will differentiate you from a
lot of other businesses.
In business the main difference between
you and your competitors is called your USP
– your unique selling point. It becomes the
thing that you stress when you talk about
your idea.
Doing things differently is a good habit to
get into for entrepreneurs. There is a saying,
‘if at first you don’t succeed, try and try
again’. That’s correct in the sense that you
shouldn’t give up but if you find you’re not
getting anywhere with something, then do
something different. For example, if people
are not buying what you’ve made it could
be the way it is packaged, the way it is
designed or the place you’re selling it at.
Experiment with some changes to see
whether they make a difference.

Everything starts with the idea/the
product/the service. Then find out what
sets it apart from other ideas, and shout
those differences from the rooftop.
Communicate, communicate, communicate.
And if you communicate with passion you
will invariably persuade anyone, even the
depressing nature of today’s bank managers.
Dame Anita Roddick
Dame Anita Roddick opened the first Body
Shop in 1976 in Littlehampton, Sussex.
By the time Anita died 30 years later, there
were 2,100 stores in 55 countries.
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The one thing that most inventors,
entrepreneurs and innovators have in
common is that they or their ideas were
initially dismissed as being crazy.
The telephone, the computer, the aeroplane,
the internet – you name it, these were all
first rejected as being barmy or stupid ideas.
The same applies to many new fashion styles,
new forms of music and new enterprises.
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Try this. Fold your arms. Now fold them the
other way. You’ll probably find that folding
them the other way is more uncomfortable
and you’d prefer to go back to how you
usually do it. The same applies to a new
approach to doing something – you have
to find ways of getting people comfortable
with it.
First of all think about what’s in it for them
and how it’s going to benefit them. Then
consider all the likely objections and concerns
that they might have and work out how you
might overcome these.
Some people when they talk about their idea
drone on for ages about all the detail, what
they’ve done and what problems they’ve had.
The reality is that people don’t want to hear
all this. They need to understand quickly
what the idea is and what it could do for
them. It’s just like a newspaper. You need
the headline first to
then a summary of what
it’s about and then, and only if they want it,
some of the background.
If your idea is a social or environmental
campaign, then you need to communicate to
a person what it is, why it’s important, how
it affects them and what they can do to help.
Once again, they don’t need all the detail.
When you put your idea forward there are
going to be people who’ll try to knock it
down straight away – the
bunch. However, there’ll also be some who
genuinely want to offer you advice and
information. You need to work out which
camp people are falling into and do your
best to keep clear of the dream killers.
However, there is a saying that dogs bark
at what they don’t understand. It might be
that people who don’t like your idea actually
don’t understand it and that’s why they
dismiss it. So you’ll need to find a new way
of describing it or a different approach to
persuading them. Make your idea come alive
– build a prototype, draw it, demonstrate it,
write a leaflet about it or trial it.

Giving your idea a name helps give it an
identity. You want something short and
catchy that puts it in a nutshell. State of
Undress is the name of the lingerie store
set up by fashion student Emma Cheevers.
Sonia Ramanah called her social enterprise
which uses music and media activities
to inspire young people StreetVibes
Youth. Wrapology is the name of the
funky packaging company that young
entrepreneur Annika Bosanquet has set up.
People give you very good advice along the
way and you mustn’t accept it all. Just
listen and work it out for yourself. In fact,
the moment somebody gives you a bit of
advice, explore the opposite and the
potential of the opposite.
Sir James Dyson
Inventor and entrepreneur Sir James
Dyson has developed products that
have achieved sales of over £3 billion
world-wide.
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If only it was as easy as just having an idea.
If that was the case then the world would be
full of inventors and entrepreneurs. The fact
is that you also have to make the idea
happen and that’s the really difficult bit.
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The best way to start is to do some research
and find out whether there is anything similar
to what you’re thinking about. Talk to as
many people as possible and find out how
other people have gone about developing
their businesses or campaigns.
People are often fearful about talking about
an idea because they feel that someone
who hears about it could then go and do it
themselves. The important thing is that you
can talk about an idea without going into
detail about how you’re planning to go
about it and that ‘how’ part is the bit that’s
essential if someone wants to copy you.
Start off by making a plan. Think through
everything you’re going to need to make
it happen – the finance, the information,
the resources. Then set some goals that
will bring your idea closer to a reality and
the timescales you want them to happen
by. Remember generally things take a lot
longer than you’d like and so, in enterprise,
impatience is a virtue and you’ll need to
lean on some people and organisations
to get things moving quicker.
The Make Your Mark campaign helps young
people to make their ideas happen. Their
website (www.makeyourmark.org.uk) has
some excellent tips on turning ideas
into reality.
So how much of life goes according to plan?
Well, as we all know, very little in fact. But a
plan is useful because it can help you focus
when there are a lot of distractions and help
you be clear about what you want to achieve.
With any opportunities that come your way
you should always be asking yourself,
Each day you need to do a little bit to move
things on and continue to do research to get
more information. The more you prepare, the
better your chances of success.

Have clear objectives, plan, and work
out where you want to get to and how
you’re going to get there. Give yourself
goals so that you can see whether you’re
achieving along the way and don’t forget
to review them.
Natasha Clarke
Natasha started a recruitment agency
for the IT industry in her early twenties.
It has expanded from London into Bristol
and Leeds.
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There’s a lot of jargon, paperwork and
pretence in business so that it’s difficult to
get your head round it all. Business isn’t
that complicated. Basically it’s just like your
average marketplace albeit on a much bigger
scale – there are people selling things, there
are customers looking and hopefully buying
and there are occasional downpours of rain
that keep people from coming along.
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You need to know yourself and what
your strengths and weaknesses are.
You’ll need to be honest about these and
then work out how you’re going to play
to your strengths and what you need to
do, or who you need to involve, to deal
with the weaknesses.
You need to know your customers –
who they are, what they want, how they
buy things, where they buy and you find
this out by talking to them.
Finally you need know-how – basically all
the nuts and bolts to put the business into
practice and you learn this partly by research
and talking to people and partly by going out
and doing it.
With your business idea, you want to
try and find a gap in the market – what
is not being done at the moment or not
being done well.
Edinburgh schoolboy Fraser Doherty found
a way to make jam without sugar or artificial
sweeteners. In just over a year, his jams have
proved so popular that he is cooking up to
1,000 jars a week from his parents’ kitchen.
Once you understand the gap your idea is
filling, the next thing to get to grips with is
who is likely to be your customers. You need
to work out the best and least expensive way
to reach them so you can explain what your
product or service can do for them.

With your customers:
– Look after them
– Keep them informed of any problems
– Ask for feedback on the product
or service so you can improve it
for others.
– Promise them what you can’t deliver
– Over-hype your product or service
to them.
If all this business of business sounds like
common sense, well mostly it is. The strange
thing is that common sense in business is not
all that common!
First and foremost really understand
your business. What is it that your
customer wants? What is it that you
can do for your customer that is
different from everyone else?
Vijay Patel
Vijay Patel opened his first pharmacy at
the age of 24 and today runs a company,
Waymade Healthcare, that supplies to
more than 5,000 pharmacies.
When someone says ‘yes, I’ll do the
deal’ then shut up. When someone
says yes to me I’m out of their office
in a millisecond before they can change
their mind.
Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell left school with three
GCSEs and after a few failed attempts at
employment set up his own recording label.
He helped create the Pop Idol phenomena
which became a television and music
industry success.
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You can moan and whinge about all
the injustices in society, the terrible
destruction of the environment, the
poverty and inequalities some people
suffer, the difficulties facing young people
and all the other problems in the world.
Alternatively you can do something
about them.
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A group of young people in Trafford, Greater
Manchester felt that many of the services
aimed at the youth in the area were not good
enough and needed to be improved. They
formed ESP – Evaluating Services Provided
to develop a ‘youth approved’ set of
standards for businesses or agencies that
provide services aimed at young people.
ESP will help organisations improve these
services and, if they reach an acceptable
standard, award them a ‘youth
approved’ award.
Judith and Laura Merry, tired of the fact
that there aren’t any fashionable clothes
for teenagers in wheelchairs, created their
own clothing range suitable for teenagers
who are both able-bodied and wheelchair
users. Judith has already designed some
clothes for wheelchair users and put on a
fashion show, Fashion on Wheelz, where
some of her designs were shown.
Rajeeb Dey felt that teachers, governors,
parents and politicians were always being
asked what they thought about education
and the changes being made to it but
nobody was asking the most important
people in education what they thought –
the students!
As a result he formed ESSA
(English Secondary Students Association
www.studentvoice.co.uk) to both represent
the views of students and to provide them
with training so they can communicate
effectively with teachers so their views
and opinions are heard.
With a campaign, you don’t want to be all
‘doom and gloom’ and instead you need,
as these young people have done, to not
only highlight the problem but also put
forward a potential solution. You’ll also need
to be clear about who you want to influence:
is it the Government, the media, the local
Council, big business, consumers, young
people or perhaps a combination of these?

Work out how you are going to draw
attention to the issue and think of ways
that you will capture people’s imagination.
The media tends to like things that are
visual, creative or humorous and they
need information that condenses the
issue down to key facts.
A lot of my friends have ideas but none
of them do anything about it because
somewhere inside them they’re saying:
‘I’m only 18, I’m only 19, I’m not quite
ready to do this. It’s just not possible.’
I genuinely believe being young is an
advantage in many ways. Start with
‘I can achieve this’ and get that in your
head. Then go out and research the idea.
Toby Goodman
Toby was 17 when he started up his
company, Bannerman, which uses banners
to promote shops and events in Liverpool.
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You might decide to work with another
person or with a group of people to make
your idea happen. The advantages are that
you can egg each other on, particularly when
one of you is a bit low. At the same time you
can also put pressure on each other and push
one another to take risks.
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You need to choose your partners very
carefully because you’re going to spend
a huge amount of time with them, so make
sure you know how to get on, you know how
to argue and also how to resolve things. The
worst thing is if you gloss over disagreements
and problems rather than face up to them as
this can cause a lot of angst further down
the line. So as well as working on the idea,
you have to work on your relationship
as well.
If a person is going to become a business
partner, then you need to know that you
can trust them as they’ll have some controls
on the money side of things. You also need
to be prepared to think the unthinkable
and work out what you would do in the
(hopefully unlikely) event of one of you
wanting to leave the business.
Good partnerships work because
the people in them have:
– Skills and personalities that
are complementary
– The same vision for what they
want to achieve
– Goals that keep the momentum going
– Information that keeps them up to
date on what’s happening.

You might choose to go it alone. That’s fine
and suits some people. You still should work
out who else you need either for advice or
for help. If you are lucky enough to find a
mentor, then they can really be useful as it
gives you an outside eye on how you’re
doing. Shell Livewire www.shell-livewire.org
have online business advisors whom you
can ask particular questions and they also
have forums where you can talk to other
young entrepreneurs.
You have to go through every brick
wall in the sense that it is not even
there because if you stop to listen to
anyone’s criticism, you’re going to
start criticizing yourself. Without the
self-belief that’s going to make you
cringe, you won’t do it.
Dominic McVey
Dominic started a business from his bedroom
importing collapsible scooters when he was
14. In just a few years he sold more than
10 million.
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So you get a good idea, do some
research, put together a plan and you
can then sit back and watch it all happen.
Erm, is that a pig that just flew past the
window? The reality is that getting an
idea to fly is really tough and making
it happen requires a lot of time, energy
and often heartache. You’ll need to give
it everything you've got and probably
a bit more on top of that.
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People with ideas are generally not taken
that seriously and unfortunately it tends
to be even worse for young people with
ideas. So you’ll need to show that you’re
serious and not just say it.
The other thing is that confidence is pretty
infectious. If you can really show that you
believe in what you’re doing, then others are
likely to come on board and support you. It’s
a balance though. You want to be confident
but you don’t want to be too cocky.
At school you’re generally taught that
mistakes are a bad thing. In enterprise it’s
almost impossible not to make mistakes.
Some entrepreneurs even claim that if
you’re not making mistakes then you’re
not taking enough risks. The key is when
you make mistakes, learn from these and
move on. You can also cut out a lot of
errors by learning about the problems other
entrepreneurs have come across so that
you’re prepared for these.
There are lots of mundane aspects to running
an enterprise but they’re things that are crucial
to its future. All the paperwork, form filling
and accounts are hassles but have got to be
done. If you put them off, then you can find
yourself drowning in them later on. So get
organised and set up systems that in the long
term are going to save you time and trouble.
There will be plenty of times when you feel
like giving it all up. When it all feels too big,
too hard or too tiring then just do something
small to prove to yourself that you’re still
capable of moving things on. Also see if you
can get to talk to other young entrepreneurs
either online or better still face to face and
share some of your difficulties. Remember
that whilst it may never be easy, it does
get easier.

The idea of this section isn’t to paint a really
depressing picture but it is important to show
that there is a downside to enterprise and
that essentially it’s tough. It requires you to
stick your neck out like a giraffe, have the
skin of a rhino, be as courageous as a lion,
be stubborn like a mule and run around like
a mad dog. This makes a pretty strange
creature, but then entrepreneurs are!
You should never give up your dream,
but do dream with your eyes open.
If you really believe in your concept and
business idea then stick with it. You’ll get
knocked back and you’ll go through some
really tough times at the beginning but if
you really believe in what you’re putting
together, then you have every chance in
making a success of it.
Peter Dabrowa
Peter runs one of the UK’s largest student
websites – www.funky.co.uk – which he
started as a teenager.
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There are lots of places where you can get
further advice, support or information.
You’ll find some more useful to you than
others. Before you get in touch with them,
check out their websites so that you are
sure you’re eligible for their support.
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The Make Your Mark campaign helps young
people to make their ideas happen. Their
website has inspiring stories, sources of
potential help and finance and loads of
useful tips. www.makeyourmark.org.uk
If you want to get inspired, visit Idea Volcano
(blog.ideavolcano.com). It’s a place where
entrepreneurs can share ideas that they’re
not using themselves and so has a whole
host of potential business schemes.
The Ideas Factory www.ideasfactory.org.uk
is the place to go if you want to develop
something in the creative industries (film,
fashion, music, art, design, writing etc). It
includes info on where you can get training,
funding and advice as well as regional events.
If you’re 14–25 and have an idea that will
help your local community, you might be
eligible for a grant from The Prince’s Trust
(www.princes-trust.org.uk). They also offer
support and low interest loans for those
aged 18–30 who can’t raise the cash for
their business from anywhere else.
Startups is a good place for news and
case studies on young people developing
businesses. Check out the young
entrepreneurs pages at www.startups.co.uk
Shell Livewire runs a national award
scheme for young entrepreneurs who’ve
started a business. They also have lots of
free information on running a business,
online mentors and opportunities to learn
about other enterprises started by young
people. You’ll need to register but it’s free.
www.shell-livewire.org
Telephone 0845 757 3252

If you’re looking for inspiration The Global
Ideas Bank www.globalideasbank.org features
hundreds of ideas to improve the quality of life
and the opportunity to say what you think
about them.
UnLtd www.unltd.org.uk the foundation
for social entrepreneurs, provides support
to people who want to make a difference
in their communities. They provide a range
of support including awards.
Getting volunteer experience is a good
stepping stone to developing your own
project. www.do-it.org.uk has some of
the latest opportunities.
If you want to develop a project in the arts,
an excellent site is run by Youth Arts Online.
www.youthartsonline.com
There are a number of enterprise programmes
delivered in schools. If you think your school
might be interested, ask your teachers to get
in touch with businessdynamics
www.businessdynamics.org.uk
Telephone 020 7620 0735
or visit Young Enterprise
www.young-enterprise.org
Telephone 01865 776 845.
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If you’ve ever been fortunate enough to visit
one of the beautiful Greek Islands, you may
have seen how the turtles bury their eggs in
the sand along the shore so that when the
baby turtles hatch they can be guided safely
by the light of the moon out to sea.
The problem is that tourist developments
have been built up along the coasts of many
islands and the lights from nightclubs, cafés
and discos can confuse the baby turtles
who follow these lights and are led away
from the sea.
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The same can happen when you hatch
your ideas. There’ll be a lot of things that
can distract you, problems that can get in
your way and people eager to steer you in
a different direction leading you off track.
Nike has a pretty cool slogan, Just Do It!
With your idea, if you really believe in it and
want to make it happen, then just do it. If
you don’t, you might just find that someone
else does.
That’s not to say you don’t need to do
research, get lots of advice and plan hard,
but at the end of the day you’ll never really
know how good your idea is until you do it.
It takes courage to be creative and pursue
ideas. Occasionally it may feel lonely and
frustrating but most entrepreneurs, even
those who have failed, will say that it was
always worth giving it a go.
Good luck!
Remember what is the absolute essence
of your idea and normally if it is a good
idea, it will be a very simple idea and it is
something that you can explain to your
grandma in one sentence. And once you
have got that idea, don’t let anyone water
it down because everyone is going to try
to. Everyone is going to try and bend it
and shape it to their own means. Know
when to be flexible and open to suggestion
but also know when to keep your main
thing and not have it messed around with
by anyone else.
Richard Reed
Richard is the co-founder of Innocent Drinks,
a company that sells fresh fruit smoothies.
In just a few years Innocent Drinks has gone
from an idea some college friends had, to a
company turning over several million pounds.

NESTA is the National Endowment for
Science, Technology and the Arts and our
mission is to transform the UK’s capacity
for innovation. Our Future Innovators
programme aims to develop in young
people the skills and attitudes that underpin
innovation so that there is the best possible
fit between the needs of the UK and the
skills, personal attributes and behaviours
of our future innovators.
www.nesta.org.uk/futureinnovators
Written by: Gerard Darby
Designed by: Carly and Jonny at theFarm
Illustrations by: Georgia Harrison
With thanks to Helen Durham, Siobhan
Edwards, Helen Gleaves, Katherine
Mathieson, Liz Newton, Lucie Osborn
and Christine Southwell.