Thanks to the internet, it’s easier than ever to start your own business from your bedroom. And these four young companies did it – and are now leaders in their industries, despite being half the age of their competitors’ CEOs. If you’re curious about starting a company, follow advice from these experts – you could be the next Mark Zuckerberg.
Sam Coley & Steve Pearce, both 24 – TickX
Sam and Steve launched their business in December 2015, and it is already gaining some serious attention. TickX, an online ticket price comparison and event listings guide, currently compares prices from 20 different outlets for nearly 53,000 events. The company received early investment from global multimedia entertainment company Ministry of Sound, which led the pair to work on the venture full-time. They hope for it to become the global go-to platform for discovering events and finding tickets, and they are well on their way.
The founders admit their age did bring an advantage. “The biggest benefit is the amount of goodwill you receive from people. From other entrepreneurs to industry professionals to investors we weren’t afraid to ask for advice and consistently received very helpful responses,” said Sam.
Lewis Bowen, 26 – AIR
AIR is a cleaner fuel company which produces clean and renewable energies for businesses, helping them to find a cost-effective solution to procuring clean energy. Lewis started the company when he was just 21, right after he graduated from university. AIR’s bio-ethanol fuels are smokeless, non-toxic, environmentally friendly and ultimately safer than their volatile substitutes.
Lewis’s advice to other entrepreneurs? “If you share your vision and passion for the business with real confidence, it helps with gaining respect amongst peers. The very nature of starting a business at a young age with the hunger to succeed is a huge achievement and will be acknowledged by those who know how hard it is to get going.” Just by being a young entrepreneur, Lewis was able to receive help by top executives.
Arran Rice, 17 – Wizzed Media
A true product of the age of the internet, Arran has been creating websites since he was just 12 years old. Wizzed is a portfolio of websites and applications with 10 main sites covering celebrity gossip, cars, animals, sports, health and Bollywood. While he juggles a busy school schedule with running Wizzed, he still managed to turn over £2.5m in 2015 – not bad for a 17 year-old working from his bedroom in his parents’ house.
He offers this to others who want to start a business: “Don’t give up if you don’t succeed straight away when trying something new out. It can take multiple attempts, when you fail you learn and you will have still succeeded because you have learnt something important.”
Ella Woodward, 23 – Deliciously Ella
Ella started with just a blog, that then grew to a site with over 150,000 hits per day, plus an app, events and cooking classes, products, a recipe book, and a restaurant. Perhaps her key to success is not being fueled by money, and instead by a simple mission to get people to eat more vegetables. Her book launch was recently delayed because they needed to print more copies, due to a huge demand for pre-sales.
For Ella, it all comes down to being yourself. “I’d say my golden rule is stay true to your own self and voice. People criticized me for using too many explanation marks and the word “awesome” too much, but that’s just me. Authenticity is huge, it’s important to make people feel a part of the journey.”
Hopefully the words of these successful entrepreneurs will inspire you to create something yourself! After all, one year from now, you’ll wish you started today.