Five questions for... Edward Holroyd Pearce, co-founder, Virtual Internships
Virtual Internships matches candidates with companies looking for remote interns.
What does your firm do?
We match candidates with companies looking for remote interns. This allows students and recent graduates to gain exposure to businesses, and valuable remote-working skills, while reducing the logistical and financial costs associated with doing an internship in an office.
What's been your company's greatest achievement so far?
We hit our ambitious three-month sales targets, and have more than 30 people signed up for the programme, with a tiny marketing spend.
What has been your biggest challenge?
It's still early days in remote working, so explaining the benefits of the programme to candidates and also to businesses does take some time. But we are getting better and better at articulating them, and businesses have been very excited to take us up on the service.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
What are your plans for hitting your targets?
We have used our first-phase investment of £70,000 to prove the concept and have received some great feedback. Before the end of the year we are going to raise further funds to allow us to invest in scalability through technology. We have already identified great marketing outlets, so if we can deliver the technological improvements, we will scale up our targets.
What's the one piece of advice you'd give fellow entrepreneurs?
Be ready for the whole range of different situations and skills required to start a business. Passion and conviction for your product or service are essential. But recognise that you'll need to find ways to deal with bureaucracy, finance, hiring and so on. If there are parts you don't enjoy, then be honest with yourself and find people with complementary skills or other coping mechanisms.
Sign up for MoneyWeek's newsletters
Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
-
Spot the Dog: £67bn in underperforming funds revealed
Around 137 funds consistently underperformed their benchmark, BestInvest's Spot the Dog report finds. Which funds are in the dog house?
By Katie Williams Published
-
What does a BP and Shell merger mean for the UK oil industry?
BP’s struggles have made it vulnerable to a takeover. Could it merge with Shell to create a British behemoth?
By Dr Matthew Partridge Published