The six-year-old social entrepreneur

I go to a lot of events as part of my job and some are better than others. One however that is way at the top of my list in terms of inspiration took place last week at The O2, previously known as the Millennium Dome. But why? Was it because I met a group of millionaire Dragons? Did I get the inside track on how to start a business from a serial entrepreneur? Did I interview some big name politicians? No is the answer to all three of those questions. The event was actually over-run with children!

I had the pleasure of being asked by music mogul and social entrepreneur Robert Stephenson to judge the London finals of his Blastbeat project. Through the initiative, secondary school children are tasked with setting up a music and multimedia company (MMC) and putting on a battle of the bands competition in their local area. Each group of kids makes appointments to their business including a CEO, a marketing director and a head of IT and they have to do everything from booking a venue, to promoting the event and designing and printing tickets. Each company must also donate at least 25% of profits to a charity. This is business studies on steroids!

We hear a lot about enterprise education nowadays and to be honest, I've dubious about many of the efforts being made to get kids excited about business. But that's not the case when it comes to something like Blastbeat. Every young person I spoke to was unbelievably enthused about the project and most told me that taking part had massively increased their interest in business and made them want to start their own venture. What makes it even better is that Blastbeat also teaches youngsters about how entrepreneurs can do good while also making money due to the charitable element. Social enterprise in action.

I questioned all the young CEOs about their choice of charity and I was particularly struck by the selection of Harmony Beatz, run by kids from Acton High School in west London which was named the overall winner. They settled on Fearless, a charity which fights against gun and knife crime, a cause highly relevant to the kids of Acton High. "Our aim is to bring young people together in a safe environment, giving them the opportunity to showcase their musical talent, whilst raising money to prevent youth crime," is their mission statement. Great stuff!

But it isn't just teenagers who are benefiting from Blastbeat. The organisation has trialled the project in primary schools, one of which was present at The O2.

In an rather surreal moment, a couple of six-year-olds with beaming smiles on their faces told me all about PR, marketing and creative design. They included the little chap pictured above who in front of 12,000 people in the arena at The O2 read out a poem he'd written himself and then proudly showed off his prize after being awarded a special entrepreneurship trophy. If that doesn't demonstrate the value of getting kids excited about business, I don't know what does!

We're hearing a lot about public sector cuts at the moment and Blastbeat is part-funded by the Department for Education. It's essential however that projects like it are able to carry on and grow whether that be through public money or private sector sponsorship. Many kids will be turned off by reading through pages and pages of boring text about profit and loss but give them something to do in the real world where they can make real business achievements and I believe that the future of UK Plc will be a very bright one.