Enterprise Development Personal Statement Example

I have been engaged in the world of business since a young age. My father has run a successful company in Leeds for over 20 years, and my Grandfather made an extremely good living in business too. As such I recognize numerous aspects of how businesses work, and how they grow and expand. I have come to the conclusion that your course would be an excellent means to develop my skills in running a business and gain valuable experience before starting my own. Furthermore, the current economic situation does not provide the best circumstances with which to begin from, and so I would prefer to increase my knowledge and eventually go into business armed with extra experience and understanding. I started learning about business and the economy formally in GCSE, where I took Economics, where I attained an A* in my coursework and a B overall. I have continued this subject at A-level, along with Finance and Business Studies. I really enjoy these subjects because they are teaching me skills that I will actually use and expand in the future, instead of a subject such as physics or chemistry, whose uses are limited in day-to-day life. I have also been on a two day business dynamics course, the object of which was to help me develop some knowledge and skills that I may need in a changing society and economy. The course was sponsored by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, one of the largest auditing firms. We were split into twelve teams of six and I was the director of our team, and we won the course! (We got chocolates as a prize!)

I have plenty of real experience too, not just class work. I have worked in my father's shop plenty of times and have an active awareness of its everyday operation. My work experience placement a couple of years ago was in a nearby golf-club shop. These experiences have given me an insight into what it takes to run your own small business. I also work in a major supermarket chain and have been there for almost a year and a half now. The job involves customer interaction and sales, which I enjoy thoroughly. I have also tried my own hand at trading already. I had a business on eBay, buying and selling 'retro' games consoles. This was very successful and I made around £500 of profit in a short space of time (approximately three months). I also set up a website (www.pureretro.co.uk) which I used to advertise my items on and promote myself, but it is no longer active as I stopped because it took up too much time, and I had to concentrate on my exams and schoolwork. During this time I made spreadsheets of my incomings, outgoings, profits, turnover, etc. And it was a good feeling to know I could make money. I have plans to build and sell computers (one of my other main interests) as a business, and I am currently building a website at www.striking-computers.co.uk . At the time of writing, it is unfinished; however by the time you read this it should be completed.

As I mentioned above, my other skill is computers. I have been around them for a long time and I know a lot about the hardware and software sides of it. I only have a GNVQ in Information and Communication as formal qualification but my actual knowledge far exceeds this. I decided not to take it as a subject further as I felt I already knew the majority of the course substance offered at our school. I regularly help out friends and family with their problems (which usually involve turning it off and on again!) Although occasionally I have helped people on recommendations from the people I have helped previously.