The entrepreneurs that are laughing all the way to the bank David Oldfield, managing director of SME and mid-markets banking at Lloyds, says: "Starting a business is becoming more common than even a few short years ago. Maybe they're looking at the employment market and seeing the best way to control their own destiny is to set up their own business and be in control. Lloyds, in conjunction with Telegraph Media Group, is working to encourage young entrepreneurs through a competition to find Britain's best student and graduate businesses - with £50,000 for the winner to invest in their company. University and graduate entrepreneurs are invited to enter the Lloyds TSB Enterprise Awards - now in its second year - to compete for regional and national recognition, numerous cash prizes and two years" worth of mentoring from senior Lloyds executives. Mr Oldfield said: "It's important we take a leading stand in supporting this at an early stage. If we can encourage innovation and entrepreneurship and career prospects improve, we've got a double benefit - people thinking like entrepreneurs in jobs. KwickScreen won best start-up, one of two major prizes in last year's competition, and used its £10,000 prize to redevelop its main product and expand overseas distribution. Mr Korn thinks there are some major benefits to be had from taking the plunge straight after university. You will need a partner or mentor to provide some experience you lack, but there are huge advantages. You don't have the trappings of working in a big company - you need to expect to live on next to nothing when you're a start-up. You also need energy, enthusiasm and commitment, which are easier when you're young. With no partner, no children and no mortgage, it helps you get through all the sleepless nights and working weekends. Last year's overall winner, YASA Motors, secured the £50,000 prize for its high performance electric motor based on a design developed by Tim Woolmer when he was studying at Oxford University. The motor is lighter, smaller and cheaper to produce than those of rivals and is winning orders from makers of both sports cars and hybrid vehicles. Mr Woolmer, whose grandfather helped develop the jet engine, is spending the money on a new test facility. The 31 year-old says there are downsides to starting a company without first gaining industry experience. You do make mistakes, particularly on things like customer contracts and people. It's the things you learn over the years. He suspects there's no point encouraging those who aren't enthused about being an entrepreneur - but thinks more could be done by universities to provide basic business skills to those who are. Some people don't have the right disposition. But the right people could be targeted - they could make a difference with a mini-MBA-type programme for entrepreneurs wanting to be start-ups. It's practical things like how to read a balance sheet which you have to pick up as you go. Mr Oldfield agrees: "There's a need for more business orientation, from GCSE to degree, so those who have a bent towards enterprise are supported throughout education. The more universities do, the more banks can do. Many businesses fail because of lack of planning and lack of cash rather than an inherent lack of profitability. Rigour in the early years is so important. Mr Korn describes the RCA as the "most entrepreneurial place I've ever been in," but suspects it's a different story at the majority of universities. At the RCA, engineers learn to be inventors and designers, which means mixing the rational and logical approach with the creative to make something from nothing. That's the perfect mix for an entrepreneur. James Dyson came out of that environment and there are a couple of new businesses every year. Mr Korn also studied at Cambridge, where the picture was rather different. While he says his manufacturing and engineering course was unusually practical, and involved spending time in businesses, most of his counterparts ended up working in "consultancies and banks." It's a shame, as I would argue doing that is less useful to society than starting a business. Rebecca Gray, founder of fair trade fashion company Fresh Cargo, would agree with that assessment. Ms Gray, who secured £5,000 as a regional winner of the Lloyds competition, started her company selling handmade flip flops from Kenya, made using recycled tyres for soles and recycled denim for the uppers. The 28 year-old studied journalism at the University of Central Lancashire and says that while friends and family were supportive when she went into business instead of media when she graduated, they "are surprised that it has become the size it has." The company, which shares profits with schools in Africa, is predicting sales of £400,000 this year. Having your own company is hard but rewarding. Having a fair trade company is even harder but even more rewarding. I'm really proud to have not only created employment locally, but to have created jobs thousands of miles away for people who really need it. The prize money has been spent on a new range, but arguably of more value has been the mentoring that's come through the competition. That's been a huge help in terms of contacts in the industry, a sounding board to make sure that what I think is a good idea is [actually] a good idea. When you run your own company, there's no one to say 'have you done that? But it's important to have that person there as a pacemaker. The Enterprise Awards The Enterprise Awards, in association with Lloyds TSB, include a two-year mentoring programme, networking opportunities and up to £50,000 for the overall winner. Eight regional heats will provide prizes of £5,000 for best enterprise and £1,000 for best start-up. The grand final in April next year will offer £10,000 to the best start-up and £50,000 for the best enterprise. Best start-up will be awarded to a business in its early stages and best enterprise to the business judged to show "real potential to grow over the next five years to become a recognised SME within its respective sector." Entrepreneurs currently studying at universities across England, Scotland or Wales, or who graduated within the past five years and have been trading for more than one year, are eligible to enter by visiting lloydstsb.com/enterpriseawards. Last year's winners Best enterprise: YASA Motors YASA Motors has developed a motor that is lighter, smaller and, ultimately, cheaper to produce than its rivals. The YASA (Yokeless and Segmented Armature) motor combines a revolutionary redesign of the magnetics in an electric motor, a clever cooling system and mechanical packaging. This results in a motor, YASA says, that is up to 60pc smaller and, at around 10kg, four times lighter than the 2010 Toyota Prius motor with a 30pc greater power output. Tim Woolmer, 30, YASA's founder and chief technology officer, invented the motor for his DPhil project at Oxford University. With innovation in his blood (his grandfather helped develop the jet engine), Dr Woolmer came up with the YASA's design when Oxford University won a grant to construct a motor for electric sports cars. "We started with a completely blank sheet as the university had never designed anything of this sort before, which was great as we weren't bound by any existing technology," he says. The company launched in 2009 with £1.5m of investment and saw £600,000 of sales last year. The YASA motor has uses beyond the car industry, too, with Mr Woolmer currently looking at ways of increasing sales in the agricultural, marine, aerospace and construction industries, which all have a need for lightweight electric motors. Best start-up: KwickScreen Two of the most frequent complaints among patients in NHS hospitals are lack of privacy and fear of infection. KwickScreen, a portable, retractable two-metre-high room divider that partitions open-plan spaces, helps to cure the two ills. "My starting point was seeing the serious shortage of side rooms in NHS hospitals that allow patients to be treated in a private, dignified way," says its inventor, Michael Korn, 31. At a time of austerity, the NHS doesn't have the money to come up with ways of rearranging the ward environment by building new rooms, so I came up with a product that provides isolation or privacy, is easy to transport and store, and decreases the spread of infections, such as norovirus or MRSA, which are notoriously difficult to control in hospitals. Mr Korn came up with the design while studying at the Royal College of Art and funded his start-up with prize money from design and business plan competition. As an entrepreneur, it's important to go with your conviction, but you also need to get good advice so you don't throw your life and money away designing something that won't work. The company employs 25 people and manufactures at three UK sites. More than 40 NHS trusts have bought KwickScreens since Korn's company was launched two years ago and it is looking at other markets including schools and exhibitions.