Virgin founder Richard Branson recently dubbed 2014 as ‘The year of the entrepreneur’. If his prediction is correct, next year could be one of the most exciting times to launch a new business.

This year has seen the growing trend of ‘entrepreneurship’ being embraced by many as a fantastic way to provide jobs and opportunities that would not have existed otherwise and digital advancements have given entrepreneurs a low cost and accessible platform from which to launch their ‘big idea’.

This worldwide movement has created serious waves in the tired business world, which previously saw big corporations enjoying the lion’s share of success, making it difficult for anyone else to compete. It’s set to shape the future of business, startups and entrepreneurship for many years to come.

So, if one of your New Years Resolutions is to quit your job and start a business, now could be the ideal time to do it.  However, starting up on your own is not easy and a serious amount of research should be undertaken before considering it.

Here are three new business leaders who have already grasped this golden opportunity and should be closely watched during 2014. If you haven’t heard of them already, you soon will!

 

Yoel Wazana

Co-founder of the already successful business, Micro Solution Enterprises; the worldwide leader in the aftermarket imaging supplies industry, Yoel Wazana is a leader with a difference.

 

With strong views on providing businesses with a sustainable alternative for purchasing recycled toner cartridges, Yoel discovered recycled cartridges were poorly designed and often faulty. As a result, they had a poor reputation and were fast falling out of favour. Yoel made it his mission to design a re-manufactured cartridge that was good quality and dependable which has revolutionised the landscape of printer cartridges.

 

Micro Solution Enterprises is now selling its products in over 40 international markets all over the world.

 

Ahmed Khattak

At 26 years old Ahmed Khattak is one of the new breed of entrepreneurs set to light the business world on fire, challenging some of the biggest names in the US mobile contract market.

 

His business, GSM Nation, sells unlocked mobile phones and mobile devices, which allow customers to shop around for the best deals, raising consumer awareness about the alternatives to over-priced contracts.

 

Ahmed graduated from Yale in 2009 and since then has launched (and sold) two other successful businesses in addition to growing GSM Nation into a multi-million pound business.

 

Dan Martell

Enigmatic Dan Martell is a serial successful entrepreneur who proves that the old saying ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try and try and try again’ is true!

 

He is not afraid to tell you that all of his earlier companies failed, but that the lessons he learned from each one are what enabled him to launch the highly successful Clarity.fm.  

 

Clartity.fm is an easy to use digital platform that allows young entrepreneurs to quickly link up with experienced business mentors, either to ask them a specific question or just gain general advice from an experience businessperson who has already been there.

Ella Mason, an experienced freelance writer, wrote this article. Ella specialises in providing useful and engaging advice to small businesses. Follow her on Twitter @ellatmason