All sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds entered last
year’s competition. You don’t have to be a unique thinker,
you don’t have to be a genius and you don’t have to be a born
risk taker. You just have to have the vision to see how you
could do something better, the passion for what you do and the
determination to make it work.

Everyone who enters will benefit from being part of a growing community of entrepreneurs who are sharing their knowledge
and experience, inspiring each other to expand their horizons and driving forward to achieve their vision - that’s what
‘if we can, you can’ is all about.
At the campaign’s heart is its website, www.ifwecanyoucan.co.ukwhich seeks to provide its members with inspiration,
learning, mentoring and exclusive entrepreneurial insights. When you’ve completed your entry form, visit the website, browse
the profiles and read the inspiring stories of North East entrepreneurs.
As an entrant to the Challenge, you will have your own profile on the website and will be entitled to full community member status.

Last year we generated a huge amount of valuable regional newspaper coverage through our media partners for those who
entered the Challenge - so it’s a great opportunity to promote your business.
Each of our entrants’ stories was not only unique but served as an invaluable source of inspiration to everybody who read them,
no matter how far along the entrepreneurial journey they were.
This year is no different, and all the media are geared up and ready to feature new stories. Entering the Challenge does not
guarantee that you’ll get your picture in the papers but you stand a much better chance than if you don’t enter at all!
This year, our seven media partners are the Hexham Courant, the Evening Chronicle, the Sunderland Echo, the South Shields
Gazette, the Northern Echo, the Hartlepool Mail, and the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette. When you fill out the entry form,
remember to tick which is your most local newspaper.

The chance to talk to others who’ve been there and done that is the bricks and mortar of the ‘If we can, you can’ campaign and the
Entrepreneurs’ Forum. The ‘Pick Our Brains’ panels are an opportunity to discuss your business ideas with senior Entrepreneurs’
Forum members.
The entrepreneurs on the panel have a dual role. All are experienced North East entrepreneurs who are there to give you advice
and guidance on your business, or business vision (a sort of friendly ‘Dragons’ Den’). But, inevitably, they are also there to decide
the ‘final two’ who will go head to head in our public vote to be crowned the winner (X Factor style).
The panels are an informal, confidential and nurturing environment so there’s no need to feel intimidated.
And then of course, there’s the chance to win the prize!

People can be made into ‘better’ entrepreneurs the same way that a good footballer can be coached into a better one. With the right help, advice, guidance and mentoring they can become a more accomplished business person. It has to be there to begin with, but there’s definitely room to flourish.”