Inspiration can strike in the most unexpected places as 21-year-old Neil Smith discovered. He hated going to job interviews so much that he decided there was only one thing for it - to start his own business.

On an average day he can spend the morning with Mel Gibson, the afternoon with a Walt Disney classic and he has been known to spend the odd evening with Renee Zellweger, or her alter ego Bridget Jones.

For Neil Smith it is all in a day's work as the owner of Absolute Entertainment, the home entertainment store that he set up eight months ago with a £3,000 sterling (€4,798) loan from the Prince's Trust.

Mr Smith has managed to transform a passing interest into a lively concern that could be the foundation of a flourishing business.

In its first six months it has achieved a turnover of £14,000 and he is hoping to make more than £30,000 in his first full year of trading.

Absolute Entertainment is fast becoming a popular landmark in the small Co Down village of Portaferry.

But without that initial helping hand from the Prince's Trust youth charity, Mr Smith might not have got the opportunity to play a starring role in his own business.

The Prince's Trust Business programme helps 18-30-year-olds, who are unemployed or under- employed and of limited means, to start their own businesses by offering low-interest loans of up to £5,000 as well as grants.

Normally the people who come to the Prince's Trust have been refused finance from all other sources; what the trust asks for is a good idea and the determination to make it work.

The programme, whose patron is Prince Charles, also provides an "aftercare" service to help new start-ups during their first three years of trading, including a volunteer business mentor from their local community who can offer advice and support.

Since it was launched in 1983, The Prince's Trust business programme has helped more than 47,000 launch their own businesses in the UK and it wants to help a further 30,000 work for themselves over the next six years.

Five of the businesses it has helped in Northern Ireland, including Absolute Entertainment, have been short-listed for this year's Prince's Trust Business Awards. Mr Martin Wilson, group chief executive of Ulster Bank, will announce details of the award winners later this week.

The bank is the chief sponsor of the awards and has also earmarked a £275,000 support package for the charity in the North.

This year's finalists include Search Services, a private investigation business established by a former social worker, Mr Mel Lyttle. Mr Lyttle identified a niche market in customers with matrimonial inquiries but he also recognised that there were many people who wanted to try and trace old friends.

His decision to specialise in these areas helped him significantly grow his business, which he set up with a £2,300 Prince's Trust loan, and take on his first employee.

But as Mr Ian Mallon has discovered, sometimes setting up your own business is only the first hurdle. He set up Celtic Echo, last June, which Mr Mallon claims is unique because it is the first company to promote the export of Irish horses through the Internet.

His online business, which received a £3,500 loan from the Prince's Trust, offers potential buyers the opportunity to view horses by watching video clips of them in action online.

Budding entrepreneurs such as Ms Laoise Davidson and Mr Philip McCormick are two of the dot.com hopefuls who believe they have a business idea that will be a success.

Ms Davidson is already well on her way. She established her website development business, Infinet Design, in 1999 with a £3,950 loan from the Prince's Trust. The business currently employs three people, had a turnover of £35,000 last year and has a projected turnover of £100,000 this year.

Although Mr McCormick (29) does not have turnover projections in this league yet, he is also hoping that Getthingsonline.com, which he launched just 20 months ago, will prove as successful. His business, which received a £5,000 loan, provides CD-Rom business cards which can hold up to 40 megabytes of information including corporate brochures, video clips and price lists.