Entrepreneurship is no longer a niche career choice, but a mainstream route into work for a generation being written out of traditional employment, writes Steve Hare

The government has rightly recognised that young people are finding it harder to get onto the first rung of the traditional career ladder, and have thrown around a number of measures to solve it. But they would do well to acknowledge that entrepreneurship is just as legitimate a route into the workplace, and it’s one young people are taking up by themselves.  

The Chancellor’s Autumn Budget did contain encouraging steps for young people hoping to start a business in England. The announcement of a Young Entrepreneurs Allowance will help cover living costs for young people in their first year of running a business, sending signals that this government is pro-entrepreneurial activity. But more could be done. Young people are not just in need of economic help, but would also benefit from mentoring with practical guidance, or a youth version of ‘Help to Grow’ that could provide the digital skills and AI capabilities needed to turn an idea into a viable business.

Helping young people into employment through apprenticeships, graduate programmes and other routes remains essential. But we should be giving just as much attention to those who want to create a job for themselves. Starting a business is a legitimate route into work, and successful businesses can go on to create jobs for others. Indeed, analysis from economics consultancy Cebr suggests that helping even five per cent of these young people move into self-employment could create almost £4bn of additional economic value by 2029.

Youth self-employment is at record highs

Our research highlights that young people aren’t waiting around anymore. Youth self-employment has reached its highest level in a decade, with 27,500 more under-25s working for themselves than in 2022. Technology, particularly AI, has the potential to make that route both more accessible and affordable by providing access to capabilities that would previously have required specialist expertise. 

People like Olivia Regan, 23, for example, who launched her Solihull-based cleaning company in 2024 after leaving school without GCSEs. Her business now supports a network of freelancers, with monthly revenues reaching £10,000. Olivia uses AI tools to set pricing, generate marketing ideas and identify new customers.

Christina Davis, 25, founder of a Newcastle-based growth marketing business, took a different route. Having qualified as a doctor, she built an online audience as a hobby during the pandemic. Christina began running her marketing business full-time in January 2026, and within three months, she had matched her previous salary. She now serves clients around the world, using AI to help identify leads and analyse marketing performance.

Their businesses are very different, but both show what young people can achieve when they have the opportunity to put their ideas into practice and run with it. Technology can help make starting and running a business easier, but the ambition and hard work still come from the individual. 

It’s clear that a new generation is ready to turn its ideas and ambition into businesses. The challenge now is to give more young people the confidence and support to take the self-employment route, and to recognise entrepreneurship as an important part of the answer to the UK’s youth employment crisis.

Steve Hare is CEO at Sage