TIME is running out for North-East entrepreneurs to take part in a search to find the next successful business owners.

The If We Can You Can Challenge (IWCYC), run by The Northern Echo alongside the Entrepreneurs' Forum, aims to help get hundreds of people into business by raising their profile, offering mentoring and giving them access to the North-East's entrepreneurial community.

Now in its sixth year, IWCYC was, this year, launched at the Tyneside Cinema, in Newcastle, and offers entrants the chance to present their ideas to a panel of experienced entrepreneurs and business professionals before Northern Echo readers vote for the winner.

The prize, worth at least £17,000, includes First Deal investment, mentoring and professional advice from the forum's partners, which include Yorkshire Bank, Onyx, Ward Hadaway, PWC and Rivers Capital.

A shortlist of eight candidates will be selected to present their ideas to a panel of expert judges, with a final three going head to head in a readers' vote in July.

Nigel Mills, forum chairman, said: “If we want to grow an entrepreneurial economy you need iconic figures to inspire and someone to hold your hand along the way, and IWCYC provides both.

“All new net jobs in the world are created by businesses under five-years-old, and the people who enter IWCYC are the job and wealth creators of the future.”

The deadline for entries is Friday, June 7, and winners will be announced at a ceremony on September 19.

For more information, visit ifwecanyou can.co.uk