A ground-breaking project has been launched to give budding entrepreneurs across Wales the chance to get on TV and show the nation why they should be business stars.

The Biz Challenge - backed by the Welsh Development Agency (WDA) and BBC Wales - offers five winners a year's worth of support and guidance in their chosen venture.

New technology offers new opportunities

Their successes and failures will be filmed for broadcast on BBC Wales television.

The nationwide search begins this summer at six events across Wales which are open to anyone with a new business idea of any size and in any industry sector.

Auditions for a place on the TV series will be judged by a panel of regional business experts including entrepreneurs, agency representatives and the media.

Contestants will have just 10 minutes in which to convince the panel that their proposed business venture could be a hit.

WDA spokesman Daniel Jones said it was an exciting new venture for everyone involved.

"We want to tell the human story of starting up your own business and inspire people to become their own boss," he said.

The WDA is encouraging homegrown firms

"The challenge has been laid down - now we need to hear people's ideas."

The regional heats are being planned as business advice roadshows, offering tips to people even if they do not want to audition for the TV programme.

Jane Harvey, presenter of BBC Wales TV series The Biz, said: "This is a fantastic opportunity for the five winners as we watch them go through their first year in business.

"This is a chance for our winners to be stars not only in business but on TV too."

Winners of the regional heats will go through to a shortlist from which 15 people will be chosen for a selection weekend in the countryside in August.

Traditional industries like steel are in decline

For three days the group will be tested on a variety of characteristics and skills, ranging from imagination and creativity to financial skills and crisis management.

The WDA has turned its focus towards encouraging homegrown enterprise as the key to job creation and prosperity.

A downturn in the global economy has led to a decline in the potential for investment from overseas of the sort that was attracted during the 1980s and much of the 1990s.

However, there is concern at the relative lack of enterprise culture in Wales.

In April, analysts at the University of Glamorgan warned that Wales was lagging behind the rest of the UK in terms of enterprise with 30% fewer business start-ups.