Check out this interview with Carlos Miceli, A Blogger @Owlsparks and Co-founder and Content Director @Untemplater, You should check out both Websites as they have amazing contents, i remember i once read through those sites for days whilst leaving their websites opened on my browser.

Hope you enjoy the interview.

Hey Carlos, how you doing?

I’m doing great, thank you for asking.

Can you quickly give us some quick background information, what you do?

I’m co-founder and Content Director of Untemplater, the guide to shatter the template lifestyle, and I’m the blogger behind OwlSparks, where I talk about a variety of topics like philosophy, marketing and education, to name a few.

How did Untemplater come about? What inspired you to start it?

It’s interesting that you ask this, because we always have the same talk with the team. We are not quite sure to be honest! I think our CEO Jun Loayza wrote a post one day on his blog about the possibility of many smart and capable Gen Y bloggers teaming up, and it just got a lot of us excited with the possibility. It kind of snowballed after that, everyone started pitching ideas, and before we knew it, we were already having meetings.

What is the main aim for starting, what are you trying to achieve?

The aim of the site is to help people realize that there’s more than one path in life. We are not trying to force any mindset into anyone, we just want to show how so many people are living unconventional and happy lives. And we want people to know that we as founders are also going through the hardships of choosing an unconventional lifestyle, that we are fighting and learning everyday just like them.
Of course, since this is a company and we put a lot of time into it, making some money wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world!

What is an average workday like for you?

I try to wake up early (although sometimes I fail because I stayed up working late), have a strong breakfast, then gym, lunch, shower, nap, and THEN I work. I also try to do offline networking as much as possible, so I go out at night often.
If I need to get a lot done, I work during night time. I’m very productive when everyone’s sleeping.

What are the most crucial things you have done to grow your business?

Spreading the word in our networks was possible the best thing we did. We are six mildly-popular bloggers, so when we each announced the project, our networks helped us a lot, word of mouth has been wonderful so far.

Also, having a free manifesto when we launched was a great move, kudos to our CMO Cody McKibben for coming up with the idea.

What plans do you have now to expand the site further?

So many! Live shows, Q&A features, Video Experts, giveaways, to name a few.

How do you market and create awareness for your website? What has been your most effective marketing tactic or technique?

This would be a better question for the other guys, honestly. I trust their marketing knowledge so much that I try not to get in the way. But like I said before, word of mouth thanks to our networks has worked wonders. Also, letting people submit articles has been a wonderful idea, courtesy of Adam Baker, our COO.

What advice can you give to anyone trying to create or grow their presence online?

Give it time. Impatience will destroy you. Some people would say that self-promotion is also a big move, but I’m not so sure about that. The most important thing is not to get too anxious and to be genuine.
Also, do your best when it comes to content. Not everyone can create truly amazing stuff, but everyone should TRY. Don’t settle.

What are your expectations for the future with Untemplater?

Personally, I have very high expectations, but it’s hard to define them in a concrete way. I want to focus in the near future in perfecting the systems and in getting everything running smoothly. We’ll see where we go after that.

How do you manage your time?

I focus on 3 to 5 things that I have to do each day. Once I’m done with that, I relax and analyze if I’m going to do something more long term focused, or if I’m just going to kick back and watch some House.

What other projects are you working on?

A personal manifesto and an ebook.

What do you think has been key for you in building your brand and business online?

Working very hard to create original content, my writing style, and my focus on building a limited number of very strong relationships.

What is the worst experience you’ve had as an entrepreneur?

You live it daily, and it’s the uncertainty. But it’s something you learn to accept and power through.

What are the biggest challenges you faced starting up and how did you overcome them?

I was at a corporate job at the time, so balancing my job, the company, my side projects and my social life was hard. I overcame them sleeping less for a relatively long period of my life!
Looking back, I have no regrets.

Who are your role models?

Famous role models? I don’t have any, except maybe Adam Carolla for the simple reason that he stands up for what he believes. I want to be that person, someone who is willing to choose failure before losing his integrity.

Online, people like Holly Hoffman, Jun Loayza, Andrew Norcross and Colin Wright are wise people and friends who push me to work harder every day.

What are your top 5 websites you visit for inspiration?

- Ben Casnocha: The Blog
- Sex, Drugs and Boredom
- Overcoming Bias
- Big Think
- And Untemplater of course!

Thanks for your time Carlos

Thank you very much for interviewing me, it was a pleasure!

Today i have micky and rajohan, founders of Uneek Garmz, they share their story with us on how they started their company, their entrepreneurial journey and their plans for the future.

Enjoy the interview!

Hey Guys, how are you both doing today?

Great… “The sun is shining the weather is sweet, makes you wanna move your dancing feet.” (In actual fact it’s threatening to snow again, but hey ho.)

Can you give us some background information? About yourself? Who you are? What roles both you play in the company?

Micky: Hmmm… This is where we tell you about growing up in the troubled East London area and dreaming of getting out right? How we used to shoot up schools but we’ve turned it all around because a kind hearted old black man taught us how to play basket ball well and believed in us?

We’ll we’re not your typical Cinderella story. We are both from East London but contraire to the bad press it receives, we actually both love living here. We travel ALOT for work and despite visiting some wonderful places there really is no place like home and my ruby slippers be a tapping after a few days away!

Rajohan: Its true, the ruby slippers, the black Louboutins, the pink Dr Martens, the red Converse – Micky has a lot of shoes! Nah, but seriously, London is so full of talented people, I am so inspired by people who are creative and driven and doing what we do we get to meet those people first hand.

One of the reasons why we started Uneek was because we found it hard when Micky first started doing photography to network in industry and gain exposure for her work and the more people we did meet the more we realised we weren’t the only ones. That’s why we wanted to have a featured artist section on the website to help to give people who are truely talented a helping hand to getting their name out there.

Micky: The roles we play in the company are pretty simple really, I’m the eyes of the company and

Rajohan is the mind. He comes up with concepts for the branding, marketing ideas and deals with all the paperwork which would make my eyes go crossed and I put those ideas “onto paper”, I design stuff for the brand, the website content, I take and edit all of our marketing images and I create the final designs for the clothing.

What inspired you both to start the company?

Rajohan: Well we were only 21 when we started the company and for me that was the age when I actually really started think, “right what do I want to do with my life?” College was done and I knew I didn’t want to work a nine to five forever, I wanted to wake up and be inspired, I wanted to work for myself and I wanted to make a lot of money!

Coming from a street dance background I had already begun to decide that I wanted to do something creative as a career and something that would give me the freedom to be my own boss and I’ve always loved fashion so when Micky asked me to be her partner in crime I couldn’t say no!

Micky: Yeah, weve both always loved fashion but we realised a long time ago that the things we loved weren’t that easy to find in high street shops, not only that but I hate walking into a place to find 10 girls wearing the top I just brought from Topshop which is why I rarely buy high street anymore.

We’ve been customising our clothes for a long time to create things which other people wouldn’t have and we get loads of people asking where they could get stuff like ours so I started thinking about putting a label together.
The main difference I wanted Uneek to have was not only the designs but also the fact that they are true limited edition. Where most brands say limited but there’s actually a 50,000 piece run, our clothes actually are.

How did you get started in this business?

It wasn’t easy, it was loads of research and a lot of trial and error. You have to be dedicated and motivated, it’s not something that I would recommend for someone hoping to make a quick quid without putting in the work. We were both working fulltime jobs when we started Uneek and we had to put in late nights for no pay just to get everything done for the launch but it was definitely worth it.

Were you both exposed to entrepreneurship as a child or was it something you picked along the way?

Micky: Not entrepreneurship but definitely hard work. Both my parents taught me from a young age that you can’t plough a field by turning it over in your mind which is why I got my first job at 15. My mum and dad have always been a massive inspiration for me, they both had to struggle to provide for me and my younger brother and sisters.
I realised from a young age that you get out what you put in and also that I don’t want to have to struggle to get by, I want to be successful enough to re-pay them for all the opportunities they have given me and to make them proud.

Rajohan: I agree with Micky, I haven’t been exposed to entrepreneurship but my older brother and sister were great role models to me growing up. I know the value of money, like Micky I got my first job at a young age and working for a national newspaper I know what grind is, and what can be gained from hard work.

How did you finance the business?

The business was financed with our own money. We invested in it because we believe in it. What we’re doing is not only a business to us, it is a project that is grounded in all the things that we are passionate about and luckily other people are passionate about it too so it’s proven itself to be a worthy investment.

What was the most difficult part of starting the business?

The nerves, that’s why we named our first blog newbies, nerves and neeks! The hard work and long hours was nothing compared to the nerves of when the website went live and we were awaiting the public response. Uneek started as an idea in 2007 and we worked on it for a long time getting everything to our version of perfect but the hardest thing was seeing if people were actually going to appreciate it like we do.

I have seen loads of clothing line come out of the UK over the past year, what makes your business different/unique? Or s it just another clothing company?

A lot of people ask this and somewhere in all our paperwork is our original business plan which clearly has all our objectives and number one is to not be just another clothing company. The reason we started Uneek was because we had enough of all those carbon copies.

We wanted to bring something fresh to the table. We promote young artists, we provide services like photoshoots and styling, we put creative people in touch with other creative people and try to help the UK creative scene grow, and we do all of that looking fly in clothing that you can’t get at every boutique in Shoreditch. So are we just another clothing company? Ask our customers ;o)

What is an average workday like for you?

There are no average days, that’s what we love about it. One day we can be shooting for a magazine editorial with some of the most creative young minds in London, the next we can be in China sourcing new products, it’s crazy and exciting and tiring but we love it!

How have sales grown in the last few months?

We’re really lucky in that since we started the support has been huge, our customer base is always growing and a lot of our customers keep coming back to get more bits for themselves and as presents for other people! A lot of our customers have brought a few bits after they received their first order which lets us know that were doing something right.

What are the most crucial things you have done to grow your business?

Looking after the people that support us. We wouldn’t be here without our customers and our fans, once people sign up to the mailing list they are part of the Uneek Family and get exclusive discounts and news bulletins whenever we have shoots and things, we like to let our customers know when we need models etc because we like them to get involved in Uneek, they’re the reason for our success so it’s only right that they should share in it.

What plans do you have now to expand your business further?

We’ve got a lot planned for this year. We have a whole host of new products that will be on the website shortly and lots of exciting events that we’re going to be organising to give our customers a chance to get involved more. We’re also going to be doing some fundraising for charity. We believe that when you’re blessed in your life it’s so that you can bless other people.

How do you market your products or services? What has been your most effective marketing tactic?

Most of our marketing is done online as we are an online business and we don’t sell in the shops to keep our products exclusive. We’re on social networking sites as it not only gives us an opportunity to find new people that may be interested in what we do but it also helps us to keep up with our existing fans and customers.

What three pieces of advice would you offer entrepreneurs starting out today?

Micky: Be prepared to work hard, don’t get into this industry unless you have the drive to see it through, it’s not a quick fix to make money you do have to put in the hours.

Rajohan: Read, research and learn, even now, were forever learning – it’s what helps our business to grow, if you become complacent then that’s it, you won’t go any further.

Micky: Have fun, you have to be passionate about what you’re doing, enjoy every last second because there will be days when you’re working nonstop and feel like just jacking it in but it’s those days that your passion will get you through.

If you were to start another business, what might it be?

Micky: The obvious ones would be a photography studio, a magazine or possibly another clothing line, this industry is all linked and its where my passion lies but for me its not if it’s when so I cant give too much away.

That said, one thing which I would love to do is to start a charity that provides support and counselling for carers of people with Multiple Sclerosis.

Not many people know but aside from all this, for the last 5 years I was also a fulltime carer for my dad who sadly passed away in September from MS. I know firsthand how hard it is to live through that illness and I also know there’s not a huge amount of support available for carers as it’s not as well documented an illness as something like Cancer. I’d like to raise awareness about MS and help the people that have to live with this illness.

What are the biggest challenges you face now?

Keeping up with Uneek and finding the time to have a holiday! The label has already surpassed all our expectations and is continually growing.
When you find something that you’re so passionate about and it is received so well it can become hard to switch off and to delegate to other people. We know how we want everything done so it’s tempting to work, work, work to make sure it’s perfect for our fans but it’s important to find time for ourselves and our family and friends.
We need to delegate where possible because we can’t do everything on our own! This year were definitely going to be looking in to hiring more staff!

Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years or so?

Doing what we’re doing now but 100 times bigger.

Thanks for your time.

Check out their Blog: http://www.uneekgarmz.tumblr.com and Join their facebook Group to stay updated with their latest products.
Follow them on twitter

Hi Guys, I’m here with Another interview, Today My guest is Erin Blaskie, A young Entrepreneur that started her company at the age of 21, I wanted to ask her how she started her company, what inspired her, her involvement in blogging and social media, and also tips on why and how we should all be collaborating online.

Enjoy the interview.

Hey Erin, how you doing? Thanks for sharing some of your time with me on YHP

Can you give us some background information about yourself?

I started my first company in August of 2004. I started this company after I had finished college and was working as an instructor at a private college. While I loved the daily interaction, I had this entrepreneurial spirit and passion inside of me that I couldn’t ignore. The company grew quickly and I was able to quit my job and leap into self-employment full-time.

So how did you get in blogging and social media?

I am an experimenter at heart. Experimenting with new tools, new ideas and geeky gadgets is my life. Blogging has been something I’ve been doing since before the popular platforms came into existence like WordPress and TypePad. I was doing blogging on the first series of journal style websites that hit the market.

As for social media, I registered with Facebook and Twitter when they were both in beta and have been using them ever since. For me, it was never a conscious decision of, “I have to do this for my business” but more a question of, “What is this neat and interesting tool?”

What do you like the most about the internet, blogging and social media?

It’s openness. It shares who we are with the world and creates a new sense of transparency and authenticity. I love also that it’s an open format. You can use these mediums however you wish and really, there are no “wrong” methods of using the tools.

I also love that these mediums promote creativity and expression. Never before did we have such an instantaneous medium for our messages and such open communication. I can post a blog post now and be engaged in a conversation through comments in minutes.

Tell us about BSTEC Your outsourcing company? What do you guys do?

BSETC was started as a virtual assistance firm which provided administrative and Internet marketing support to entrepreneurs. Now, we are a creative, professional outsourcing firm that supports entrepreneurs around the world in the building, growing and management of their online businesses. We do everything from graphic design to web design to administrative support to social media support to in-depth strategy and consultation.

What inspired you to start BSTEC?

I actually had the idea when I was 16 years old. I didn’t want the “regular” summer job so instead, I had this idea that I would pass out flyers to local businesses in which I would offer to do small administrative jobs. Organize offices, type up documents, etc. Unfortunately, it didn’t pan out at that time – I was offered a job in an ice cream factory instead and that was much more appealing to my 16-year old self

Fast forward to 21 and the idea popped back into my head but this time it included a website and a global audience as opposed to flyers and my local business sector.

What does your company do different from other companies in the Virtual assistant industry?

I wrote an e-book called, “From Puppet to Puppeteer” which talks about the difference between a firm like ours and other virtual assistance companies. The e-book mostly focuses on engagement. We provide our clients with services that engage and inspire them to create amazing projects and we take the guesswork out of the process. Where other firms may only provide services on an as requested basis, we’re thinking for our clients to guide them through the process of running an online business.

I am currently writing a post on online collaboration and wanted to get your thoughts? Why do you think it is essential in today’s world? What value does it add to one’s work?

I totally agree in the collective as opposed to the individual. There is something much more powerful about collaboration and crowd-sourcing things in today’s marketplace. The power of course lies in the uniqueness in each person’s thought and in their ability to see the project different from his/her colleagues.

We use Basecamp as our method of communicating out as a group to our clients. We brainstorm, banter and create through this medium so we can create best practices and provide the best opportunities for our clients.

What do you think anyone interested in collaborating online should do or start doing?

Get out there and provide value to others. It’s only through providing value that others will see your value and invite you to participate with them. Companies now call on me to provide feedback and get really, really involved in their work because they know that when I love something I’ll get invested and engaged. Engaged collaboration creates a really powerful force.

What are the most crucial things you have done to grow your business?

I’ve become involved in the processes. Too many entrepreneurs are building and starting new things all of the time without ever honing in and fine tuning what they have. I concentrate as much of my effort on fine tuning what I do now as I do on the new projects. That begins to create a business that you work on instead of a business you work in.

How do you promote/advertise your work, especially for someone trying to start their business and looking to get some presence online, what advices can you give them?

Just get out there in every way you can. Think about all of the different mediums available to us – audio, video, blog, social media, traditional media, joint ventures, etc. and make sure you’re taking advantage of it all.

I like to think of a new business as being stranded in the middle of a corn field that is filled with really, really tall husks of corn. Every time you create a new avenue (ie: setup a blog, setup an account on Twitter, etc.) you are creating a road of visibility to your business. The more you do that, the more opportunities you have to be seen and noticed and therefore hired.

As an entrepreneur, what qualities do you think aspiring entrepreneurs should have to be successful?

Be fearless. Ditch the perfectionism. Be original.

What is your favourite online tool?

I have many! I can’t live without Gmail, Basecamp, Freshbooks and right now, Threadsy.

If the internet never existed, what would you be doing?

I’d probably be living a life devoted to learning and yoga.

What is the most valuable skill you’ve learnt so far as an entrepreneur?

Authenticity.

Thanks for your time Erin

If you enjoyed the interview, Stop over at her site to say her or follow her on twitter.

I had to do an interview with Grace Boyle, A blogger that writes at smallhandsbigideas, also wanted to introduce her to you guys, I really like what she writes about on her blog, shes talks about career, relationship and inspiration, Anyways i dont want to tell you everything about her, when you could just go on her blog and read the interview below.

Enjoy this quick interview i did with her. She talks about internet, blogging and social media

Hey Grace, how you doing? Thanks for sharing some of your time with me on YHP

Thanks for thinking of me! I’m happy to be talking with the YHP team.

Can you give us some background information about yourself?

I’m 24 years-old, grew up in Iowa, went to college in Vermont and after graduating with my B.S. in Public Relations I decided to move to Boulder (without a job, friends or place to live). I’m still living in beautiful Boulder working at the online, tech startup, Lijit as their Publisher Services Manager. I love my Italian family, traveling, food, connecting with people, wine, writing, snowboarding and laughter.

So how did you get in blogging and social media?

I got into blogging and social media when I was college. In college I had such great professors who understood the relevance of social media and blogging. Projects we had included using Twitter, creating blogs for client projects and running e-mail marketing campaigns. Finally, the multitude of internships I completed in college helped me learn online social media in the professional world. This early educational foundation has been imperative to my interest and subsequent career in the online world.

What do you like the most about the internet, blogging and social media?

The infinite, meaningful, and real connections it can create.

What inspires you? What inspires your posts?

I am inspired by the little things – eye contact, reconnecting with an old friend, sharing a bottle of wine with friends, a musicians riff, climbing a mountain, collaborating with intelligent people, learning something new, holding the door for a stranger and exchanging a smile, and deep, belly laughter. Even pain inspires me, because there’s so much to be felt and learned.

My favorite posts come from these simple, real-life experiences, that undoubtedly, others can relate to.

What are the most crucial things you have done and think most bloggers should be doing to grow their blogs?

I think blogging is largely about the community you create and the connections you (perpetually) make. I compare it to a cocktail party. No one likes it when there’s that one person who talks just about themselves and doesn’t care to listen.

When I started my blog, I was sure to use my voice and style, but I also turned to other bloggers to learn the ropes and find inspiration. This collaboration, talking with other bloggers, having someone to turn to with a question or bounce an idea off each other and listening to your readers are an integral part to blogging.

Finally, in the words of Steve Jobs, I tell bloggers to “stay hungry, stay foolish.”

How do you manage your time?

Oh good question. Sometimes I even need to ask myself this!

A few things: I use my Outlook calendar and a daily planner (I like to write things down still, call me old fashioned) to visually view what my week looks like, I make sure to schedule time to myself so I can stay centered and I also learn to say “no” because I can’t do everything (even though I often think I can).

How do you promote/advertise your work?

I don’t heavily focus on this aspect of blogging although I do have a degree and background in public relations.

I use Twitter and Facebook to publicly promote my blog posts. That’s about it. I think there’s a time and a place for self-promotion – I also believe that for my own blog, people will come because they like me (or don’t) and because of the content I’m creating.

What is your favourite online tool?

I really enjoy Twitter. It’s concise, easy, powerful and has created some of the most rewarding professional and personal relationships in my life.

If the internet never existed, what would you be doing?

My job is based on the Internet, but there are many things that I still do that doesn’t involve the Internet (a necessary part of my life, actually). Professionally though, I would be traveling the world, become a professional food taster and maybe have my own travel show sharing all my worldwide cultural secrets.

Who are your role models? Who are the people that inspire you online?

My parents are my role models. They’re both entrepreneurs, have started companies from the ground up, are compassionate, respectable and still make me laugh.

Online: I am inspired by Rebecca Thorman (http://www.modite.com) as she is one of the first bloggers I started reading. Her writing is elegant, witty and intelligent.

What are your favourite websites?

I have an eclectic taste and I work online so these are some of my favorite sites to visit they make me laugh, think and are intriguing: http://weburbanist.com/, http://chelseatalkssmack.blogspot.com/, http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/, http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/, http://www.creativeclass.com/, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/, http://livethecharmedlife.com/, http://caitlinmccabe.com/ and http://failblog.org/.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?

It’s interesting because I have a lot of aspirations and I would consider myself motivated, but currently, my life is very moment to moment. I’m learning, loving, laughing and thoroughly enjoy working at a startup. I also know that life is filled with surprises, so I could list off what I see for myself in the future, but right now, I’m excited to see what it has in store.

I will say that in 5 to 10 years I hope to continue to work hard, play hard and love hard.

Thanks for spending time to do this interview with us.

Thanks for having me here. I’m easily reached by email (gracekboyle at gmail dot com), Twitter or feel free to stop by my blog and say hello.

Today, i did a quick interview with brian pedone, Founder abpsoftware, to just see how he is doing and the latest on his company.

Remember Brian Pedone was recognized by BusinessWeek as the Top 25 Entrepreneurs 25 Years and Under in America

Enjoy the interview.

Hey Brian, how are you doing today? Can you quickly give us some background information yourself, what you do?

I just finished work with my first company out of College, Grad Techs, and I really wanted to do something on my own with no partners. I started working on a project, NeedMyPassword.com, and needed to put it under a company.

How did you know it was the right idea?

My parents were a huge help in terms of making sure that I took every opportunity to do my own thing while I am still young. I had a good job, but knew that I could do work on my own.

Did you write a formal business plan?

For Grad Techs I did, but for ABP Software I did not. I just wanted to get a product out there and see the response from the public. When BusinessWeek recognized it in 2008, it was tremendous exposure.

What are the biggest challenges you faced starting up and how did you overcome them?

Steady income, people putting your products down, and getting overwhelmed with tasks. I took a step back and really mapped out all of my goals for my future and knew that these would all be things that had to be overcome.

What has been the most valuable lesson you’ve learnt so far as an entrepreneur?

Never ever give up! Money is not everything, and that with the right passion and drive the money will come.

How did you raise cash to start abpsoftware?

From my previous full-time job I had some money and I got a big consulting project that really funded everything.

How many employees do you have?

It is still just me! I have had a lot of interns from East Stroudsburg University, but still just me.

What are the most crucial things you have done to grow your business?

Using all of my networking and just telling everybody what I am working on. Plus doing great work and keeping customers happy.

What systems have you used to automate your business to give you more time for business planning and development?

I developed www.KeyNextSteps.com to manage my projects and created www.BuzzyBook.com to promote my events and promotions.

What are the biggest challenges you face now?

In the process of locking down a few larger clients so that the business can start to flow easier and give me more time to really plan for the future of the business.

What is the worst experience you’ve had as an entrepreneur and how did you bounce back from it?

Going through a few weeks with absolutely no money. Hustled to get more consulting projects and doing programming outside of our regular scope of business.

Are you guys profitable yet?

We are currently in the break even point and see this year as we will start to become profitable.

What current projects are you working on right now?

www.KeyNextSteps.com and really pushing my non-profit boxing gym (www.phhboxing.org) as we open a second location in Old Forge, PA.

Any latest update regarding NeedMyPassword.com, How are you looking to improve the services it offers and also create awareness for it?

We actually sold the product to developer in Canada and changed the model to really go more mobile with www.MobileSafeBox.com

I read the article of you in businessweek that you’re looking to turn your boxing gym into a nonprofit area for youths, what made you decide to do that?

We have over 220 kids in the gym and have seen great improvements in terms of keeping kids out of trouble, etc. We really want to get more involvement from the community so that we can do bigger and better things.

How long do you plan to keep operating this business?

For at least another 5 years.

What are your plans for the future?

Getting a few software products off the ground and start generating consistent revenue. With the profit from that we will expand the boxing gym and reach out to other areas.

What advices can you give to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to start their business?

Think of what you want to do, set a goal, and go for it!! There are a ton of people who will doubt you, but that is because they are afraid to do what you are doing.

Thanks for your time
Check out his company’s website: www.abpsoftware.com

How many of us have girlfriends who spend over 40 hours stitching up canvases and over $300 having them made into belt, well now you know of one story, This marked the beginning of two roommates Peter Smathers and Austin Branson starting up a business that will focus on how they could make needlepoint belts at lower prices and of the highest quality.

I caught up with Peter and Austin to get some details on how it all began.

Enjoy the interview and let me know your thoughts.

Hi Guys, Welcome to YHP
Can you give us some detail about your company and what roles you both perform?

We both do a little of everything. Austin heads up and oversees all the design work and ordering for our company. Peter focuses on operation, sales, and product development.

How did you come up with the idea?

We both dated girls in college who made us needlepoint belts as gifts. We thought they were great products, but extremely expensive and time consuming gifts to make for someone. The girls (one of whom is Austin’s wife now) each spent over 40 hours stitching the canvases and over $300 having them made into belt. We were convinced if we could set up production to produce these belts at a lower price and the highest quality then we’d have a unique product to build a brand around.

Can you give us some background information about yourself?

Peter grew up in Maine, graduated from Deerfield Academy in 2000 and Bowdoin College in 2004.
Austin grew up in Washington, DC, graduated from Saint Albans Academy in 200 and Bowdoin College in 2004.

How did you finance your business?

Summer earnings and cheap rent (thanks Mr. and Mrs. Branson). After graduating from school we moved in with Austin’s parents to keep overhead low. We put all of our savings into getting the company off the ground. We used things such as airline miles and credit card points to get to Vietnam to set up our production. Our initial investment was pretty small and it has been the best investment we’ve ever made. We were and continue to be very frugal with how we spend our money—stretching a budget can produce great creativity.

What is an average workday like for you guys?

Every day is different and that is what is exciting about our company. It really keeps you on your toes. Right now, we are in the middle of our wholesale show season, so we are travelling a lot and meeting with existing accounts and hopefully open new ones.

How has your market changed in the past few years? How has your business changed to keep pace?

We’ve been continuing to grow during this difficult economy, but our market continues to be bigger than we ever expected. We’ve had to hire more people and expand our production and product offerings to keep pace.

How have sales grown in the last few years?

Sales have continued to grow over the past few years. The growth hasn’t stopped, but definitely slowed down during the crisis in 2009.

How do you market your products or services?

We sell to some of the best speciality shops and golf clubs in the USA, as well as off of our website.

What has been your most effective marketing tactic or technique?

We offer the best quality products on the market and have the customer service to match. Sticking to this simple fundamental principle has helped us grow a loyal customer base. Also, we are all about grassroots growth—it has built a great buzz and foundation for our brand.

What’s your definition of success, and do you believe you’ve achieved it yet?

Success is something that is very difficult for me to define—I think I will always be chasing it no matter what happens in our business. We’ve had some success with our business early on, but success can leave you much faster than you can obtain it—so we never get too comfortable.

Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?

Patagonia, Peter Millar

Would you say college is the perfect place/time to start a business?

If the idea is right, now is the perfect time to start a business. College can be a great time because odds are you don’t have a mortgage, spouse, children, or other responsibilities that might make starting a business difficult. Plus, you have so many resources at your finger tips.

What pointers would you give to fellow Entrepreneurial College students on juggling school and business?

Take advantage of the resources available your school—both the research facilities and faculty. The President of our college was supportive of our idea and arranged meetings for us with some industry leaders.

What have been some of your failures, and what have you learnt from them?

We have definitely had our fair share of failures, but all of the problems we’ve had in our business have helped us improve or have led us to something better. Pay attention to your failures because you can often learn more from them than you can from your victories.

What is the most exciting and interesting thing you like about your business?

Watching the company grow and seeing first hand what we can accomplish with the great team that we now have in place.

Any plans for the future?

We will be creating some new features for our website, and adding new products.

What advice would you give to aspiring and young entrepreneurs?

If you plan to start your business with a partner, choose them carefully. Even if they are your best friend, make sure you structure the dissolution of your business before you get going. We have been incredibly lucky in our business partnership, but we have also seen our fair share of partnerships sour quickly.

Thanks so much for your time guys.

Check out their website
Become a fan of SmathersandBranson
Follow them on twitter

After over 2months of doing this interview, I have finally been able to put it up, although i would have loved to put the audio interview with it, but some parts were damaged.

This is a fantastic interview and i would recommend you to read every single part of it, “from beginning to
the end”.

The reason for this interview been amazing was because matt decided to just open up and share some amazing tips for everyone, especially young entrepreneurs, it’s truly amazing.

In this interview, Matt talked about:

How sitepoint started and getting featured on USATODAY, LA TIMES and on the Washington post
How they celebrated their 10 year anniversary
How hard it was developing a website in 1999
Starting his first business at 10/11 years old, “he started up a bank”.
Making money from advertisers during lunch time in high school.
How he started selling books online and sold over 25,000 copies in his first try
His inspiration
Qualities an entrepreneur should possess
How he manages his time and “he doesn’t have a facebook account”.
How he manages his employees and keeps them motivated.
His love for his employees.
Crucial quality he’s developed as an entrepreneur
The most crucial decision he made to grow his business
Why he prefers Steve Jobs over Bill Gates
What to expect from him in the New Year
Why he loves Hawaii and México and has never been skydiving.

Enjoy and let me know your thoughts about it, leave a comment

How you’re doing today matt?

Very well thank you

You sounded a bit busy earlier on?

Yeah, my phone been ringing off the hook, but now it’s on mute so it’s all good.

So how is it going down there?

Umm, we’re coming in to winter so it’s just rainy and cold, and we have the winter Olympics coming up in 2010 so it should be a lot of fun.

Great, Thanks for taking time to speak with me today on YHP

Thanks for having me

Great, so matt, what inspired you to start sitepoint?

So the pre-courser to sitepoint was actually a website called webmasterresources.com that i started while i was in high school, as i was learning to build websites as a hobby i had to do a lot of research, as in the best tools, the best html entries, SEO, all these other things and whilst going through this process i thought I’m doing all these research I’m sure other people are struggling to find these information aswell so i basically created at the time a directory, a listing of different tools and resources i find useful and i launched the website around it which was called the webmasterresources.com.

I launched on April 1st 1998 and within a few weeks of launching i gained massive massive momentum, the website was featured in USATODAY,LA TIMES, Washington post, i had a full page write up about the website on windows magazine which at the time had millions of subscribers, they actually offered me a writing gig for their magazine which was fantastic as well so definitely being at the right place at the right time, everyone wanted to learn how to build their website, i quickly became the go-to resource for that information.

Wow, 1998 that’s a long time ago

That’s right, we’re over 10 years, and we just celebrated our 10 year anniversary.

How was that?

It was a really good party, We had it down in melbourne, Australia where our headquarters are.

Now I’m wondering that maybe i should have met you earlier, maybe i would have been invited?*Laughs*

So what was the hardest part in developing a website at that time (1999), for you personally?

Umm, basically i was never really technically competent, I’m not a programmer, not a developer, not a coder,im not a designer either so i guess the website wasn’t as functional as i would have liked it to be , it was quite ugly to be begin with it as well, but that dint hold it back because i had fantastic content, a great repertoire with people who were visiting the website, most of all just pumping out really really good information that people found helpful, i really wanted to help people build their web businesses, build their websites, so i started doing product reviews, book reviews etc

Just to point people to best tools and resources to learn about this internet marketing and web design topics.

Great, Great, you mentioned you still being in high school, which is pretty right in the middle of your teenage years, so was entrepreneurship something that was practiced in our family or just something you figured out by yourself?

It just came very naturally to me when i was very very little, even when i was 10 or 11 years old, i actually started up a bank and took money from my parent’s friends, so i guess I’ve always been into business and the internet came along and it made it possible to reach a very wide audience and the great thing about the internet was that i was dealing with everyone over the phone and through emails, no one really knew how old i was, they just knew i had this fantastic website, this massive audience , as a result it went really really well.

What’s the shortest way to describe what sitepoint does?

So sitepoint is a media and publishing company targeting the web professional market, web professionals are people who do web design, web development full time for a living and we educate our audience through online content, blogs, emails, newsletters, forums as well as book publishing which is a business that we got into around 2001/2002, we’ve published around 40-50 books now on topics ranging from PHP to CSS to Web designs and online marketing

Talk about short description *Laughs*

So how did you finance your business?

It was really cheap, probably from $100-$150, basically the cost of the domain name, web hosting and account, everything else i was able to do with free tools, i never really spend anything on marketing, once the website got a little bit of traction in terms of traffic, i started generating advertising revenue, so initially i was selling advertising revenues through ad network, then i started doing it directly aswell especially as the dotcom bubble got bigger and bigger, companies started to call me directly and say i have $10,000, i have $20,000 to spend, what do you have available?

So during my lunch hour in high school, i was in the local starbucks, giving out ad sales and getting a thousand dollars richer.

The Ad Company or the direct advertisers? Where did you make the most money?

Oh by far i made the most money through direct ad sales definitely even till this day we don’t run any ad networks on sitepoint, we only do direct ad sales, obviously advertising worked really really well in 1999, 2000 up until the dotcom crash happened and the stock market collapsed, at which point basically all our revenues dried up and we hired a few people, we had bills to pay so we had to go back to the drawing board to figure out another way to make money to survive, at the time a very popular thing to do on website was to print out our articles and our tutorials when people were learning how to program, they wanted to have the piece of paper sitting next to them by the computer so they could follow along.
So we took our most popular tutorials at the time called “Build your database website using MYPHP and SQL”, we took this tutorial bundled it up and sold it as a print on demand book for $35 online and sold it to the people on our website, “you know why don’t you buy this 250 page book, we’ll print it, we’ll ship it to you etc its only $35” and we’ve now sold over 20-25,000 copies of that book, once we figured out it worked, we were like ok, let’s do it with another book.

How many hours do spend on a daily basis working on your companies?

Umm..Probably 10 hours i would say, but it’s really hard to define because when I’m not sitting on the computer or talking on the phone, I’m always thinking about the business, reading books about business or keeping myself educated and informed so i don’t really think a workday really stops for an entrepreneur, for an employee it does, you know start at the office at 8:30am, finish work at 5:30pm and that’s it, but as an entrepreneur you’re always thinking through problems and challenges, keeping tracks of all the things you have to do, your mind never really stops, it’s kind of hard to turn it off, unless maybe you take a vacation for 3-4days to really switch off and relax.

You were talking about educating yourself and keeping yourself informed and always reading books about business? What books would you say has inspired you the most?

I definitely admire the few autobiographies about Richard Branson, so i would definitely recommend entrepreneurs to get a few of those, it’s really interesting to hear how he started virgin and built the entire business out, aswell as some of the failures he encountered along the way

What are the so-called qualities do you think an entrepreneur must possess to be successful?

I’m going to steal a word from my friend Gary Vaynerchuk who said, entrepreneurs need to hustle, so work hard, work non-stop, make things happen, take initiative, be very proactive, also be flexible and look out for new opportunities, so don’t be too set with one plan,

if someone told me that we will be publishing books in 1999 i would have told them that they were insane and smoking crack,

because we had that open mindset, when the opportunity arose we were fortunate enough to test the idea out and find out that it works.

So as an internet entrepreneur, what is your favourite online tool? Is it the facebook, twitter etc

Believe or not, i don’t even have a facebook account, it’s too much to keep track of, on my desktop i just have mail app, ical, tweet deck and a really cool utility called things.

I’ve been meaning to get the i-cal for quite a while as well.

i-cal is really really good, most people are using it these days and it’s good to keep track of meeting and phone calls and it syncs with my iphone as well so if I’m travelling to san Francisco, new York or los-Angeles i can look up the phone numbers and addresses easily so it’s very handy that way.
And the application called things is also really good at keeping tracks of to-do lists and projects and tasks with tiny timelines and reminders, it’s really good.

How many employees do you currently have in your business at the moment? Full time and partime.

So between sitepoint, 99 designs and flippa which are my three companies, i think we now employ about 45 people full time or there about plus a number of contractors which do a lot of contents for us such as our bloggers.

Wow, 45 that’s a lot, so how do you manage all of them, especially keeping them motivated?

I actually have a general manager for each business who deals with the HR and the hiring so i have actually outsourced that because i don’t think i have a good track record when it comes to hiring personally, that been said i think we have a fantastic group of people, the people who work at sitepoint, 99designs and flippa, for most part look at it more than a job and are really passionate about what we are doing, passionate about educating web developers, web designers, preaching web standards, the people at 99 designs and the team are passionate about changing the landscape of the graphics design market, people at flippa are really interested in allowing web owners to basically hold an auction and sell their website through our market place so i think the people that we have at the three businesses are very passionate, yes, they are a fantastic group of people who have been very much a huge part of our success.

As someone in charge of three successful businesses online, what would you say has been the most crucial qualities that you’ve embraced or developed during your entrepreneurial journey to this moment?

I think perseverance has always served us really really well and obviously trying new things and testing ideas even if they might fail, so for example, back in 2000/2002 we tried selling e-books online, that dint work, we tried selling online video tutorials, like streaming videos, that dint work, but we also tried new things that went really really well, for example, rather than publishing books, i had the idea of putting out this kits, basically binders full of contents weighing 10-12 pounds and selling it for $200-$250 rather than $35-$40 for a kit and we found out that re-packing the product in a new format worked really really well that’s something we experienced because of our willingness to try out new things.

What would you say has been the most crucial decision you’ve made to grow your business?

Bringing on board lots of fantastic people has been absolutely essential to maintaining our growth and trying new things, i see entrepreneurs who try and do too much themselves or don’t realise what their weaknesses are, so i think it’s important to build a great team.

Do you Guys have any plans in expanding your business further in the next year or two?

Definitely they are lots and lots of things in the pipeline, i can’t share them because all our competitors are probably listening or reading.

Not even a sneak preview for the YHP Readers *Laughs*

We’re always innovating so, for sitepoint, the thing that always has been successful for us and the biggest challenge for everyone in our community is always getting more clients, getting more work, so whenever we launch a project or information product it helps people their business it’s always proven successful for us in the past so we are thinking along those lines for the future, helping people promote themselves, their businesses and getting new clients.

What has been your most effective marketing technique in getting your businesses to this level? You website averages 2M Unique users per month which is Great, so how have you guys been able to draw that amount of users to your website?

To be honest, it’s really been about putting out fantastic, high quality contents, we don’t do pretty much no out-bound marketing, we don’t buy banner ads, we don’t buy magazine ads or anything like that, it’s all based around repeat visitors, our email newsletter list which help drive a lot of traffic as well and great SEO which comes having a long term established presence, Google obviously values older websites, Google also values in-bound links, so when we publish high quality contents, people will link to it, people tweet about it and that acts as our marketing vehicle so we don’t take any short-cuts with our contents, we don’t outsource it for $0.05 to India or something like that, we try and do it right, do it well and do something that we can be proud of long term.

Who would you say is your favourite young entrepreneur at this moment under the age of 27?

I m not going to name any names because I’ve got a lot of friends who are entrepreneurs that are all doing fantastic things so i think people can be successful at many different things.

I know people that are fantastic at direct marketing and sales, selling softwares, i’ve had other friends that have had great ideas with facebook and figured it out really really quickly and in less than a year’s time they basically conquered the fan pages for big corporate, so they are lots and lots of people doing fantastic things so there isn’t a particular person that i would single out.

I see you don’t want to get anymore upset, okay, fair enough *Laughs*

What would your tips be for upcoming entrepreneurs? Either starting up or are looking to build on their businesses especially in this Economic downtime?

I think economic downtime probably bring up more and the best opportunities because they are fewer competitors and the competitors that you do have are cutting back on their marketing and their expenditures are they are laying off staffs, so i think launching in this downtime is probably one of the best things to do and if you can be successful in the downtime, it means when things turn up and the economy recovers, you’ll be in a really really good position, so i would suggest to entrepreneurs that they bootstrap their business.

We’ve never raised any outside funding for three of our companies also that they think creatively, for example, for a few years we dint pay any hosting costs, because we did a deal with our web hosting company for advertising space on our website, so always try harder to negotiate discounts, think creatively about how you can get what you need.

Do you have any mentors, any one you look up to, any role models? Steve Jobs, Bill Gates?

I’m more Steve jobs because i think he’s a master of product development and visual eccentrics because i think he’s done tremendously well with apple since rejoining the company, basically re-inventing the smart phone segment with the launch of the iphone, Umm and just doing things very differently.

People like dell probably thought that they were in a really really good position, people had no PM, Motorola got really entrenched and though they had the market conquered and apple decided to enter the market and then just blew it up, which was fantastic because they were an outsider, they sat down without any conceptions, and thought if we could build the ideal phone, what would it look like? And they built the iphone which was so different from everything else out at the time.

I believe that focus served them well than anything else at the time, and that’s something i would do at sitepoint,99 designs and flippa whenever our teams get too big we try and split them up into smaller groups and divide the tasks up so that people can really focus on what’s important at that point in time.

So what should be expecting from you in the nearest future?

Ohh, There’s going to be lots of great things happening at sitepoint, and 99 designs is rolling out some really cool things in January as well.

Actually, we haven’t really talked much about 99 designs, that’s a business that we started about 2 years ago, it’s started off at its own separate company out of sitepoint, 99 designs has now actually flourished to become the largest marketplace for crowdsource, graphics designs.

We connect business owners and entrepreneurs needing everything from logos to business cards, to wordpress themes to banner ads, whatever graphic designs, with a group of over 50,000 designers around the world, that business has done tremendously, tremendously well for us since we launched it in feb of 2008, we’ve completed 31,000 graphic design projects, we’ve done the book cover for Tim Ferris new book “Becoming superhuman”, we’ve done big projects for brands like mashable, HGTV, for some of the luxury retailers.

Nice, that some pretty cool stuff

Definitely definitely, it’s a really destructive model as well because rather than graphic designers bidding on jobs, we have them submit their concepts, they show the business their different ideas, their mock-ups, what the designs will look like, rather than saying, “I’ll come up with something for $300”, they submit their actual ideas.

So on average now, projects on 99 designs sees over 100 concepts submitted for the price of 3-400 dollars, absolutely fantastic for an average small business owners who have no idea on what they want, to be able to come to our site, put up a couple hundred dollars and see a hundred different versions of their new brochures, new business cards or their new logo and have it all done in less than a week’s time, it’s a really really cool module.

WOW..You’ve left me speechless now Matt

But, Quickly to an important question, although you have experience and history behind your company but there are so much companies coming out in the web development, designs side practically flooding out right now, How do you keep such a competitive edge for your company and also maintain such high standards?
We try not to outsource a lot of things and try to do all our developments in-house and apply the quality assurance to all the contents in-house so it means the people that work for us have a great deal of pride in our website, in what we publish and what we do, which i don’t think you can get when you try and outsource things and we do things with the long term in mind throughout so we do things that we can be proud of 4 years from now as suppose to just taking shortcuts to make a buck “here or there” which i think is another mistake which a lot of entrepreneurs try and make, having the short term rather than the long term in mind.

So Finally, What do you do to kick back and take your eyes off work for a bit?

I try and go on vacation; anywhere sunny or warm is good, a beach with a cocktail or a nice beer is perfect for me.

Any favourite spot or location?

Holiday Location, umm, I’ve being to Hawaii 4 or 5 times which probably tells you about that and Mexico as well is a really nice holiday destination especially because of the adventures side and the big commercial
resorts, it can be quite fun.

Any place you visited so far and know you’re definitely not returning to any time soon?

I’ve not had any real disaster stories; I’ve always done my research

Not falling of a bike, or something silly like that?

I spend way too much time over-thinking things, whenever i plan a trip, i spend a lot of time researching everything, researching the hotels, researching the restaurants.

So no skydiving or nothing edgy so far then?

Umm, we’ll see, i haven’t done skydiving yet but a couple of friends are organising a skydiving trip, we’’ see whether or not i get dragged along.

*Laughs”- Alright then, thanks so much for your time matt.

Ok, Thank you for having me.

Like mother, Like daughter, you could say, Charlotte Fudge went into business with her mother in 2007 to create Biccies- luxury hand-made, hand-iced and hand packaged biscuits as “unique edible gifts” for both consumers and the corporate market throughout the UK.

After graduating with a first from The London College of Fashion in 2006 studying Fashion and Design, she started the business the following year, after months of research and development, they finally agreed to start biccies.com and since then charlotte has then gone to be a finalist in the nat west young business woman of the year awards.

The bespoke, handmade products that biccies produce are highly suitable as gifts. Either singly, in boxes of 12 or even biccie bouquets – these make for a highly original but tasty gift.

Gone are the days you worry about what to get anyone their birthdays, anniversaries, weddings anyone or why not even contact them to make something bespoke for you.

Hi Charlotte, How are you doing? Welcome to YHP

Can you quickly give us some background information about yourself?

After taking my A levels at Notre Dame School Cobham I secured a place at The London College of Fashion studying “Make up, costume and technical effects for the performing arts” where I left with a first class honours degree.

You had a background in fashion and design? Why didn’t you go into fashion? Why designs?

A large part of fashion is design and I draw upon skills that I learned on my degree course when creating the designs for Biccies.

Tell us about your company? How and when did you start?

I graduated in 2007 and by 2008 we had launched our website. Our company designs and makes novelty biscuits for sale from our website and to corporate clients who use them for promotional and incentive purposes.

How has the journey been so far?

Hard work, challenging, inspirational, exciting, and I’ve loved every minute of it!

What makes your products different? What is your USP?

We bake and ice each Biccie by hand which makes each biscuit unique and a little masterpiece. We produce a standard range of Biccies but we also have great fun producing bespoke designs for corporate clients.

What has been your technique in marketing your product? What has been the most effective so far?

Our website has obviously been our shop window so has a massive part to play in our business. We contacted local press when we first launched Biccies which made local people aware. Word of mouth has been a good tool and a large part of our business is repeat customers as well as the recipients of the Biccies who order themselves.

Have you had any bad experiences along the way and how did you bounce back?

Early on, in our naivety, a silver tongued sales person talked us into subscribing to appear on a large on line shopping store. It was a big expense but we stupidly parted with our money with all the promises made. We have had very little leads from this on line shopping store so it was an expensive lesson. However a lesson was learned! We are now far more discerning when it comes to sales people selling space.

Who has been your biggest inspiration so far?

Mr. Craven, my business teacher at Notre Dame School was, and is, an inspiration to me. He inspired me with his faith in me and gave me confidence to try new things. Anita Roddick was also a big inspiration to me.

How do you come up with new designs for your products?

The problem isn’t coming up with New Designs it’s limiting them! We have so many ideas but we have to be practical and put limits on our ranges.

What do you do when you get an artist block?

I am happy to say that this isn’t something I have suffered with.

If you were to start again, what would you do differently?

It’s all very well to say “I wouldn’t do this or that” but I am a strong believer that lessons are learned my making mistakes.

What do you feel it takes to be a successful entrepreneur?

Determination, hard work, passion, have confidence in an idea, to listen but ultimately make your own decision.

Do you have any plans to expand your business soon?

We have lots of plan for the future and will begin to look into franchising later this year.

What’s been your most memorable moment so far?

Lots of memorable moment but a few that stand out are:-
Taking the leap and starting the business.
Getting our first order.
Being runner up in the Nat West Business Women Awards.

Name three things you would recommend to anyone that wants to become a successful entrepreneur?

Have faith in your product or service.
Set and write down goals.
Be determined.

What should we be expecting from you in the future?

I have a list as long as my arm of things that I would like to explore and try out, so watch this space!

As the world is moving towards the green initiative, Rich Littehale, A student from yale university is definitely playing his part after starting up a company called yourenew with his friend Bob Casey, Yourenew is an online platform that you to get paid to recycle your old electronics.

So i decided to speak to the company’s Co-founder, Rich Littlehale about his life as an entrepreneur.

How are you doing rich? Thanks for taking time to be here on YHP

Can you give us some background about you and what you do?

I’m originally from outside of Boston and attend Yale University.

When I’m not in class, I am working on YouRenew, a company that helps people responsibly remarket or recycle their old electronics through our online platform. We built the company on the belief that people want to do the right thing with their old electronics.

Describe/outline your typical day?

There really is no typical day as I’m constantly on a different call or going out to meeting. But in general I aim to start off the day by blasting through the big thing I’m aiming to get done that day. Once I finish that, I’ll dive into emails which I usually get lost in for a few hours. I have a great team that I enjoy working with, so fun is always mixed in with work!

How many hours do you work a day on average?

On average, probably about 12 hours.

How did you finance your business?

My co-founder and I provided the initial seed capital, had some family and friends join in then raised a larger round from angels and early stage venture capital.

What is the most crucial decision you’ve made so far regarding your business?

Hire the best people who believe in your vision.

What are your hobbies? What do you do in your non-work time?

I’ve been an athlete my whole life so working out and playing sports are my most favourite.

How do you market your products or services?

Right now, we try to spend little to no money on advertising. We’ve been fortunate with press and hope to continue more. Most importantly we’re trying to build a loyal following through outlets like social media.

What has been your most satisfying moment in business?

For me there have been many, but I think launching the website was definitely up there. It signified us building it and achieving a pretty amazing goal.

If you could talk to one person from history, who would it be and why?
Tough question, but I’d say John D. Rockefeller. I’d like to understand better how he kept control over his organization as he scaled and continued to execute beautifully.

What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?

I’ve had numerous failings. One in particular was actually growing a bit too quickly initially. It ran me and my team members ragged trying to keep up with the flow of business and we started making sloppy mistakes. We’ve learned now that you need to make sure the organization is scaling to meet demand.

Do you have a favourite business tool or resource?

I read a lot of books on business as resources. My favourite is Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. Otherwise, I try to reach out to more experienced people to see what they’ve done and how they have succeeded.

Where do you see in yourself and your business in the next 5 years?

Our vision is to be a leader in the industry.

What is the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done?

Good question – too many things. Most likely it’s when on Halloween dressed up as Axel Rose, I sang Sweet Child of Mine to my now girlfriend to try and get a date.

What is one thing that people wouldn’t believe you do?

Play guitar.

Any last comments before we leave you for now?

The key to entrepreneurial success is finding something you’re passionate about and doing it with people who are as passionate as you. If you don’t find that balance, it’s too hard to successfully execute.

Thanks for your time.

Steve is the founder of Wealthystudent.co.uk, A site dedicated towards helping students financially through university. although as discussed in the interview, he is looking to re-launch it into a much more success/career based site in a few weeks time.

In this interview, steve touches on some key tips especially for entrepreneurs looking to start their business int he university or straight after..

Enjoy…

Steve, how you doing today?

Very good thanks! Thanks for giving me the chance to do this interview.

Wealthy student? How and when did you start your business?

I started the business back at university in 2008. I got some funding by my university, who backed the idea and it took off from there. The prelimonary idea behind the site was to be a site to help students financially through university. The site has got sidetracked through 2009 as I got involved with another student business. I am now back on track and we are going to be re-launching with a much more success/career based site in a few weeks time.

What inspired you to start you to start the site?

I had always wanted to be my own boss and it just hit me one day that the internet was clearly an opportunity to start a business. It was staring me in the face. Anyone can start a business on the internet. To be successful though, takes tremendous amounts of perserverance, quick learning and having massive focus.

I also wanted to do something about student’s situation. I had managed to graduate with about £10,000 in the bank, just through working a part time job. Anybody could do that, too.

How difficult was it starting a business?

I found it fairly easy to get started. You need to get people around you who can mentor and help. I think the difficult part is when you get a year or two into the business and things haven’t got quite as planned. Will you still be motivated to be a success? It’s then when passion counts.

How did you raise money for your business?

I got a £3500 grant from my university, much of my savings of university went into the business.

What’s your business model?

Originally, it had been solely affiliate and advertising revenue but now we are heading into the recruitment sector.

How did you market your business?

JV partnerships, viral marketing (giving my book away), SEO marketing, article marketing – as many things as possible that get you ‘out there’. If you don’t know enough about how to do marketing on little or no budget then definitely get advice.

What are the fundamentals that you think every entrepreneur should follow when starting up a business?

• Get a mentor
• If you are setting up an online business and can’t code the site yourself then ask as many people as possible if they know anyone can, for cheap. Do not pay thousands. There are plenty of people out there trying to rip you off.
• Don’t be scared to tell other people your idea. People won’t steal it, it takes a lot of hard graft to get an idea to go anywhere.
• Write some sort of business plan. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but get something down.
• Have a vision of what you want the business to be in 5 years time.
• Set yearly, monthly, weekly and daily goals.
• Make every penny count.
• Make every minute count as much as every penny. Productivity is key when starting up.
• Make sure you are truly passionate about the business. Don’t purely do it as a road to riches. If you don’t have passion then you will give up in the end.

You’re the 2009 Men’s Health Entrepreneur of the Yr, how does that feel? And also a Part of the Observer/Courvoisier Future 500, that’s got to be cool, it sounds cool anyways?

The entrepreneur of the year was great. I had worked so hard up until that point and it was fantastic to get recognition. Being an entrepreneur can be lonely. The Courvoisier Future 500 is possibly the best thing about being in business. You get to meet some fantastic people, doing fantastic things at the networking events.

You also have a book called Defeat Student Debt, how did that come about?

I wrote the book whilst I was in the process of graduating (available on Amazon). I think I am a bit of a writer at heart and I had a lot to say about enjoying yourself at university but also doing it in a way that would keep you in good financial stead.

Who is your role model?

It can change all the time. Anyone who is at the top of their game whether it is in sport or business. Some names? Richard Branson, Warren Buffet, Steve Jobs, Roger Federer, Lewis Hamilton and (surprise entry) Ricky Gervais.

What s your favourite entrepreneurial book?

Quite a few. I’ll go for something a bit different – The 4 hour work week by Tim Ferris.

What were you doing before? What would you do if they were no wealthystudent?

I was a student before. If there was no wealthystudent, I’d probably go work and travel somewhere as that is my other passion – seeing, living and breathing other cultures.

What advices would you give to young entrepreneurs starting up?

Think big and go for it! Follow my above advice!

What next for you?

Concentrating on making this business a success and inspiring others to do the same.

Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years time?

I’d love to get into investing into startups that are in their infancy. After my experiences with them, there will be a lot I can offer.

Thanks for your time steve, i wish you the very best.

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