Research published by Virgin StartUp shows that over a quarter (26%) of 18-24-year-olds are looking to start their own businesses this year. However, data from the EU shows there can be a disconnect between a young person's dream and having the finance and the confidence to become self-employed, or move away from the certainty and safety net a salary provides. In the EU, just 9% of young people had set up a business.

One of the easier ways to encourage those with an entrepreneurial ambition, or talent, is to showcase successful role models and provide mentoring.

At Start Up Loans we are privileged to be in a position to support young entrepreneurs with competitive financing they may not be able to get if they don't have the Bank of Mum and Dad to fall back on. On top of that, we are able to provide post loan support, such as mentoring and access to Open University resources.

We have provided £120m of finance across 15,000 loans to entrepreneurs under 25 - the so- called Gen Z generation - showing that, contrary to the unfair stereotype of munching on avocado toast and sipping £4 coffees, some of this generation are actually going about creating the businesses of tomorrow. In doing so they are filling empty spaces on the high street, creating jobs, paying taxes, exporting goods and services overseas and all together that is positive for the UK economy.

Among these young founders is Finlay Doyle, founder of Miue. For this article I want to focus on Finlay's specific experience of founding his non-alcoholic wine alternative brand, as it highlights what young people can achieve when they identify a growing trend in the market and take action to turn their idea into commercial reality. 

About Miue

Miue is an ambitious start up looking to make its mark in the huge global beverages market. Finlay Doyle (‘Fin' to many) started the business with the help of a £25,000 loan from the Start Up Loans programme and Virgin StartUp.

Recently we learnt more about Fin's own insight into the formation of the business, its place among the competition, the challenges of starting a business and advice for others looking to pursue a similar ambition.

How Miue was created

"I stopped drinking when I was at University and it was only when I started looking for alcohol-free alternatives that I discovered the beers were great, the spirits were great but the wines were for the most part disgusting and nothing like the experience of drinking wine.

"There were also only two options for alcohol-free wines, those which were wine based - actual wine that the alcohol had been removed from - and botanical based drinks that tasted nothing like wine in the first place. It was then that I decided there was an opportunity to fuse the two approaches and create drinks that had the complex base of wine with the added sophistication of botanical infusion."

The growing trend of low/no culture

"As a trend it's well recognised that fewer people are drinking among the younger demographic. The alcohol trade body, Portman Group, found in its latest annual survey that 39% of 18-24-year-olds don't drink alcohol at all. I see it as similar to the drop in people who smoke. For a long time smoking was seen and marketed as something cool, part of your social identity when you went out or spent time with friends. This is despite the fact that most people knew it was bad for them. Over time there's been a huge decline across the UK in the number of people who smoke for that very reason and it's no different with alcohol. 

"Everyone knows that drinking alcohol, especially an excess of units every week, doesn't offer health benefits. Miue was founded on the realisation that this growing recognition and desire to find an alternative to alcohol, whether through being teetotal or as part of alcohol moderation, will follow the same trend as other ‘vices' such as smoking over the coming years.

"People are always going to want to socialise, eat out at restaurants, meet friends for a drink. What we're bringing to people is a complex, sophisticated range of drinks to be enjoyed in those moments and elevate the occasion in a way that water or a sugary drink doesn't."

An alternative, not a mimic

"The key principle of Miue is that we're not trying to mimic wine, we're a wine alternative. Our key audience is therefore not really the people who may have been drinking wine for decades but younger age groups who don't have that established preference, yet they do want something with the sophistication and complexity of wine. This is why we put a huge focus on creating cost-effective marketing content that is distributed across our site and social channels. Our last video got more than 120,000 views within a week of going up, which is great because it boosts product awareness and sales but also vindicates the demand for what we're doing."

The competition

"It's my opinion that no big alcohol brand or business has yet created an alcohol-free wine that works. They're so obsessed with the end product imitating wine that they've forgotten to make any of them actually taste good. We aren't trying to mimic wine and we're the first to make a wine alternative with a wine base and botanicals, which creates an elevated, great tasting end product. If a drink doesn't taste good then it's not worth the bottle or can it comes in."

Challenges

"Starting a business is full of unknowns. One of the biggest learning curves for me was setting up our manufacturing supply chain. All of our alcohol-free base comes from Spain, an amazing country for wines. We then infuse and finish the end products at our canning site in Saltash, Cornwall. We have had a few moments when our timings were very tight on the supply side but we managed to get everything sorted through some rather tense, long days and nights."

Advice to others

"When you look at people in films or television starting a business, there's often the classic montage of them making a load of decisions and everything going brilliantly while they breeze through confidently. The reality of business ownership couldn't be more different. Even when you're making the right decisions, they can feel uncertain because it's new territory.

"Anyone who is thinking of starting a business should remember that it's a one step at a time process. It's a long, often complicated journey from having an idea to bringing it to life or watching people enjoy the end product. You just need to push through and surround yourself with the right support.

"The huge benefits of persevering are that you're working on something you're really, genuinely invested in and passionate about. My favourite part of being the founder of Miue is definitely watching the positive reaction when people try the drinks. So far we've had pretty unanimous feedback that our drinks outclass the alternatives on the shelf."

Younger entrepreneurs are often not just starting businesses, they are reimagining what those businesses can represent and achieve. As we celebrate the successes of these young innovators, it is clear that the future of entrepreneurship in the UK is in capable hands. Their journeys underscore the importance of fostering an environment where the entrepreneurial spirit can thrive, ensuring that the UK remains at the forefront of innovation and economic growth.

By supporting and investing in the potential of young entrepreneurs, we are not just fuelling the economy, we are empowering a movement that will redefine the business landscape for years to come.