Entrepreneurial journeys: Daniel Peacock

Daniel's Journey

Daniel graduated from the University of York in 2023 with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (with a Year in Enterprise), but his journey to entrepreneurship started long before University. 

“My journey with Careerbay started after being elected Member of Youth Parliament (MYP) for Wakefield in 2018. I had never done anything of that nature before, but I did a lot of research, came up with a strategy and managed to win the support of young people across my local area.

Becoming an MYP completely changed the outlook I had on life, I went from attending school/college classes to being thrust into an environment where young people were passionately campaigning across a range of different issues. Almost immediately, I was in meetings responsible for representing the interests of young people to different politicians and organisations. It was a very daunting but rewarding experience, which enabled me to grow as a person. 

Young people in Youth Parliament began campaigning on work experience and for an online careers platform, petitioning officials across the public sector. At the same time, we started doing work experience at college and were given a cumbersome Excel spreadsheet which did not have anything I was interested in, so I spent days researching contacts and emailing them instead. I had conversations which led me to the conclusion that there wouldn’t be any change in this area, so I came up with early designs for what an online careers platform could look like. I used regional meetings as an opportunity to get large groups of young people to mind map exactly what they wanted from an online careers platform.

By the time I arrived at the University of York, I had a test version of the site ready, but it was something which clearly needed more work.”

Whilst at University, Daniel engaged with the University Enterprise team and took part in the Explore/Expand Enterprise, Summer Accelerator and Year in Enterprise programmes. Daniel said “I am very thankful for this and worked with an incredible mentor who helped turn my work-in-progress site into the modern, professional careers platform I had envisioned.” He also joined the York Entrepreneurs society, becoming president in his second year.

Careerbay launched in June 2023 and have brought a large number of employers on board as well as developing key partnerships such as York College. The site has also had a great response from the local community. Daniel is now working on building traction in order to generate revenue and become self-sustaining.

Challenges

“Developing the inner confidence needed to start a business can be challenging, particularly for a young person with little to no experience. When you look at an existing sector with recognised market leaders, it can look impossible to break through and establish yourself as a new entrant. You might not have a lot of experience, but there is a quote from Jim Rohn which says “If the why is powerful, the how is easy.” In my case, I knew that the chances of a genuinely youth-led careers platform were slim and my background in youth voice gave me the courage and vision to pursue this. Moreover, there continues to be no holistic solution for work experience despite young people struggling to find opportunities every year. The “why” is the opportunity to create meaningful change and a brighter future for young people in search of a better career. Believing in something bigger than yourself and channelling that in what you do is something I think is critical when starting a business. It’s easy to be motivated when things are going well, but this becomes key on those darker days when you can’t see the way forward.”

“The hardest challenge has been to generate enough traction on the platform to make it self-sustaining and take it to the next level. I started attending a lot of networking events after September last year, which gave me the key contacts and mentorship needed to get through this. Launching a business is like building a longboat, assembling a crew and sailing into the open ocean. You can have multiple ideas on how it might play out, but until you do it you don’t know for sure.”

Business Role Models

“My biggest business role model has to be my dad. Originally coming from a non-business background, he believed in himself and never gave up, which inspires me to do the same.  

Over the past few months, a quote from Steve Jobs has really stood out: “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” Embracing the unknown is something I have found to be key in entrepreneurship and this quote helps remind me how far I’ve come since starting out. You can’t live in the past - you have to believe in yourself and trust in your ability to solve the problem in front of you.”

Words of advice

“It’s crazy just how powerful networking can be. You learn so much just by listening to and communicating with the right people. The best thing you can do, even if you don’t know what to say initially, is to continue going to the events, meeting people and just showing up. Similar to learning how to ride a bike, you get better at it over time and it becomes easier and easier, until you don’t even think about how to do it anymore.”

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