Research carried out by The Prince’s Trust and the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2013 revealed a growing spirit of entrepreneurialism among Britain’s young people. According to the research, thirty per cent of young people believe they will be self-employed in the future and one in four expect to be their own boss within the next five years.

If you’re a student who dreams of running your own business, then university may seem like the last place you want to be right now. But believe it or not, it could provide an excellent environment for developing your entrepreneurial skills.

Here are five things you can do at university that could help you become an entrepreneur.

Volunteer

University is a fantastic place to hone your organisational and leadership skills, so volunteer for a role with one of the many societies and sports clubs. Whether you end up selling tickets to a fencing tournament or securing corporate sponsors for the summer ball, it’s a great opportunity to learn what it takes to make things happen.

Join the entrepreneur society

Your university is almost certain to have an entrepreneur society. Joining it is a no-brainer. It will mean getting invited to all kinds of useful talks, events, workshops and training courses. Plus of course it’s a great opportunity to meet and swap ideas with other aspiring entrepreneurs.

Meet people

With thousands of students on campus, you are currently surrounded by an array of talent, the likes of which you may never see again. The girl who sometimes sits behind you at lectures: a coding genius. That guy from across the corridor: a natural instinct for creativity. Use the opportunity to meet and make friends with as many interesting – and as many different kinds of – people as you can. You never know whether your talents could blend to create the next big thing.

 Get advice from your career service

You might be surprised how much support your career service can offer. They can probably help you arrange relevant work placements, for example. They might also be able to point you in the direction of free business courses where you could learn about everything from managing cash flow to website design.

Make the most of the holidays

Do an internship. Get work experience. Set yourself a business challenge. Sell stuff in the street. There are as many ways for you to build up your entrepreneurial muscles during the summer vacation as there are days in the summer vacation (and that’s a lot!). Try to go for things that are useful and relevant, and seize every opportunity with both hands.

Entrepreneurialism is one of the key traits we look for in our graduate employees. Why not check out our graduate management trainee programme to learn more about the challenges and opportunities we could offer you in the future.