Meet the young entrepreneurs making money while they study

One girl feeds hundreds of rugby boys chicken and sausages

9 years ago

Five ambitious students have invested hundreds of hours into setting up their own businesses alongside the demands of their degree.

From freshers to finalists, feeding hungry rugby boys to blending raw vegetables these charmers are earning their crust while they’re at uni.

Connor O’Brien – International Business Economics at Swansea

“I started my first business when I was in sixth form – you don’t necessarily need to go to uni.

“However, you go to university to learn and as they say ‘learning is earning’.”

The Alan Sugar wannabe first started grafting when he was 16 after he noticed a house party he attended had no speakers.

After selling his first business at 18, Connor moved to Swansea where his company, COVO Vodka, pioneered strawberry flavoured vodka in the Welsh heartland.

Despite an industrious few years, Connor hasn’t always been flush with cash.

He said: “There are times where I’ve struggled financially, the underlying motivator is that the feedback is always been good.

“Well, 90 per cent of the time it’s been good.”

The vodka trade is now thriving for the ambitious 20-year-old.

Connor said: “Business is going well, last week I sold 120 bottles at five different unis.”

The lion-hearted third year believes self-confidence is key to developing your own ideas.

Lisa Barnett – Business Management at the University of Gloucestershire

The ambitious business finalist is working flat out to feed the semi-professional rugby league team, the Gloucestershire All Golds.

Generous Lisa set-up the match-day feeding operation when she was in freshers, leaving her plenty of time to commit to cooking the huge volumes of meat required to feed the team.

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Lisa’s Kitchen caters for over 100 burly rugby boys every match day and she even feeds the away team with chicken and sausages.

George MacGill – Philosophy at York

Young protégé George recently dived into the juice world with his company Alpha Juices, which produces long lasting raw fruit juices.

The juicer wasn’t always so focused and it took him a while to realise his mercurial business abilities.

“I went on a massive bender before Christmas last year and found myself driving home from term in the worst physical state I have ever been in.

“I had spent all of my money and I was stranded on the side of a motorway at 2am with no phone or money in below freezing a good 50 miles from home.

“It was at this point which I realised I needed to sort my health and my life out”

To get in shape a determined George started to blend vegetables and fruit and discovered a huge gap in the market.

Amy Win – Politics and Economics at Manchester

One tireless Manchester grad could of walked into the top four accountancy firms in the country with her first class degree.

But Amy realised she wanted to give something back and set up the social enterprise, 4Lunch, aimed at improving youth employment.

Amy holds cooking workshops, market stalls, catering services and cooking classes in Manchester.

The plucky grad’s appetite for cooking came from her parents not letting her cook when she was younger as she made too much mess.

Saam Zonoozi – Electronic and Computer Engineering at York

Business tycoon, Saam, battled against his demanding degree and co-founded two companies in his three short years at York.

A resilient Saam successfully fuelled the northern powerhouse as he co-founded both Zentry ltd and On & On Events.

When he isn’t reinvesting his money back into the companies a generous Saam treats his family to extravagant holidays.

He said: “I spend a bit too much on clothes, but I also sent my parents on holiday to Italy for their 20th wedding anniversary in my second year from the money being made from On & On.”

Saam claims that the hardest thing about setting up a business as a student is finding the money to fund it.

He said: “You can only make so much money from a part-time job, but I think you need to be vigilant about what you spend if you want to invest in something worthwhile.”

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