Here’s How You Can Get Ahead As a Young Entrepreneur

Start your entrepreneurial journey.

This post is presented in partnership with CERI. 

So, you are thinking of starting your own business one day. Great! Running your own biz and becoming an entrepreneur is a great adventure, but it can also be daunting and confusing at times. That is why having the right people by your side to turn your business dream into a reality is key.

As a young entrepreneur, you’re going to want to get all the skills and mentorship you’ll need before you start developing your business. That’s why Terra15 from Perth, Western Australia, chose CERI to help get their company started.

With over 450 program graduates and more than 30 established companies, CERI provides world-class entrepreneurship, education and mentoring to young leaders of the future, and is fast becoming a global centre of innovation in WA.

Terra15 CTO Michael Roelens tells Student Edge how he started Terra15 with CEO Nader Issa from his living room in 2016. As Michael explains, they were looking for ways to get their business off the ground and gain some mentorship.

"Nader and I were both working out of a living room to explore ideas on how to address the market of fibre optic sensing," he says.

"CERI was brand new back then and there were no companies that had moved in yet.

"Basically [it was] a startup space that would not only offer mentorship and coaching but also courses like the bootcamp, and the concept to creation course to get the right mindset across."

At Terra15, Michael and Nader have developed a machine to connect to any standard fibre optic cable and use that cable as thousands of vibration sensors to detect any regularities or problems that could occur in or around the cable.

Michael points out how after looking around for a startup business to help them with Terra15, CERI was just a no brainer.

"Just when we were getting started, we did look around in the city, and there’s a few more start-up incubators. We talked to them but one of the things was that there was always some kind of catch, and it would be a big one," he says.

"Sometimes they wanted to grab a part of your company or they wanted to charge quite a bit, and we didn’t have income so we couldn’t really afford a proper office. CERI was the only honest broker."

Students at CERI are provided with courses, mentorship and networks that are super important when starting out as an entrepreneur. CERI even assisted Terra15 in finding a space to start their work and build on their concepts.

"So, suddenly from then on we were pretty much a bit more for real. Rather than working out of our living rooms, we were coming in every day," Michael says.

"Other than just the three concepts that were there—the space, the mentorship and the courses—there’s also a lot of networking going on."

Michael highlights how with CERI, young entrepreneurs can be confident that they’re getting high-quality mentorship, education and confident guidance for their company and career goals.

"The instructors on the course are extremely valuable. I haven’t done an MBA, but I can’t imagine that you get the same quality and close contact with the people that run these courses. All of them are experts in their fields," Michael says.

"We’re extremely grateful for what we’ve received so far, and the thing is, it doesn’t stop."

If you’re looking for the best way to kick start your entrepreneurial journey and dip your toes in, you can learn more about CERI and their programs on their website.

Header Image: Supplied