An Entrepreneurial Solution To The Youth Mental Health Crisis

Written by: Mark Newey, Executive Contributor

Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.

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Young People’s Mental Health. There can be little doubt that we have a mental health crisis amongst young people, especially with the on-going uncertainty in the economy and employment.

The Prince’s Trust Tesco Youth Index 2021 shows the following worrying results on mental health:

• 25% of 16-25-year-olds feel “unable to cope with life”

• 56% “always or often feel anxious”

• 21% have experienced suicidal thoughts since the pandemic began

• 45% have experienced feelings of self-loathing.

• And the following results on employment:

• 24% say the pandemic has destroyed their career hopes

• 23% do not feel confident about their future work

• 60% believe that getting a new job feels impossible

However, 74% believe their generation can change their future for the better.

Young People and Entrepreneurship

According to the Prince’s Trust, there is a fundamental gap between the number of young people who want to run their own business and those that go on to do so. In times of economic uncertainty entrepreneurship can equip young people with the tools and attributes to adapt to a changing labour market. Indeed, recent research shows that 46% of 16-25-year-olds think running their own business would give them “more job security” in the current economic climate.

53% of 18-30-year-olds dream of and 63% have seriously considered setting up their own business. (YouGov survey September 2019) 37% have an idea that they think could be used to start a business. However, only 8% are reported as self-employed. (ONS 2020) This statistic, however, includes those on zero-hours contracts, which doesn’t qualify as entrepreneurship.

The Prince’s Trust Youth Entrepreneurship Review 2022 looks at young people and entrepreneurship in more detail.

A lack of clarity on funding options makes finance a considerable barrier for young people wanting to set up their own business:

• 60% say they would like to start their own business but “don’t have the funds”.

• 87% think you need some “money in the first place” to become an entrepreneur

• Confidence is also a key factor:

• 91% of young people believe that confidence and self-belief are necessary to become an entrepreneur; 46% said they would be more likely to start a business if they were more confident

• A lack of entrepreneurial networks for young people also puts them off:

• 80% think you need industry contacts to start a business

• Young people report a lack of entrepreneurial role models, especially from a diversity point of view

• 36% say “having a mentor to give me advice and guidance” would make them more likely to start a business

The Cohoots Academy: A Potential Solution

Mark Newey has 22 years of experience working with 3000 people to beat stress, anxiety and depression. Many of those clients have been small business owners, which is why Mark is running workshops to help small businesses invest in their most important asset: themselves! But over the last three years, most of his clients have been 16–30-year-olds, a significant proportion of whom were suicidal. The principal problem for most of them was that they couldn’t see a future for themselves.

Mark is now working on a solution: The Cohoots Academy.

The Cohoots Academy is based on 5 fundamental platforms.

1. Teaching young people to simultaneously take care of their own mental wellness and to discover their individual passion upon which to base their future business

2. A part-time 1-year training course teaching members the invaluable skills required to run a successful business

3. A network of existing entrepreneurs (Owls) to “buddy up” with the youngsters (Owlets), undertaking the same training and taking a shareholding and therefore a financial interest in their business.

4. Having regular presentations by high profile entrepreneurs within the training programme

5. Securing favourable banking terms for young start-ups.

Here are links to two more articles on emotions and mental health in Brainz:

• https://www.brainzmagazine.com/post/how-to-be-vulnerable-with-our-emotions

• https://www.brainzmagazine.com/post/self-awareness-wtf-does-that-even-mean

If you would like a no-obligation virtual 30-minute coffee break chat to explore further how Radical Self-Discovery can genuinely transform your life and your business, please don’t hesitate to contact me from my website. You can also follow me on LinkedIn.

Read more from Mark!

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Mark Newey, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Mark Newey is a Protagonist and Disruptor, empowering small business owners to totally transform their company's biggest asset: themselves. Running a business is stressful, especially in today's environment: if we are stressed, our cognitive capacity drops by 40%, which means we are operating at 60% efficiency. Mark has distilled 22 years of experience from his own breakdown and working with 3000 clients (of whom 1200 were small business owners) into a foolproof system: The 7 Steps to Radical Self-Discovery. Only 10% of companies thrive and grow coming out of a crisis. The difference between the 10% and the 90%? The mindset of the entrepreneur.