Founded in 2005 by David Schottenstien, aged just 21, Astor & Black has become synonymous with style and quality when it comes to bespoke suits for men. They have also started selling custom clothing for women.

The company has seen it’s clothing worn by a number of elite athletes, celebrities and business professionals. A number of famous people can be seen wearing A&B tailored clothing on their blog. Their site also has a number of testimonials from Forbes wealthiest individuals including Larry Ellison founder of Oracle and a number of sport stars.

David made sure that customer service was one of the most important aspects of the company, offering unparalleled levels of service by coming to your home or office to fit your suit. You can custom design your clothes from the buttons to the stitching, from the cloth to the lining.

Davids idea behind A&B is to democratize the world of bespoke suits by making it more widely available and also more affordable. Well more affordable in comparison to a similar service. They have a much smaller margin in order to charge customer less with the focus of attracting a larger audience and making up for the smaller margin by attracting large volumes of customers.

The organisation works with a number of filed sales agents who fulfill orders received at the companies shops.

David himself is a big fan of the three piece suit. “Watch the movies The Aviator, Seabiscuit, or Public Enemies and tell me those people don’t look incredible,” he adds. Back in 2009 Mr Schottenstein was named Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award for South Central Ohio & Kentucky.

David previously started a cigar business which did well for a couple of years before his father found out, forcing him to shut it down. But that didn’t stop him, he then started trading stocks online, again on the sly and again his father found out. But it was to be 3rd time lucky as when he found his love for fashion, while at a Jewish boarding school in Venice, he created A&B a company that his dad could be proud of.

He puts his success down to the hard work and determination of his team and unmatched levels of customer service. This as well as the fact the company offers great stylish and affordable suits. Having a great product makes it easier to sell.

And sell they have, A&B’s revenues in it’s first year reached $1million while 2009 revenues reached $11.3million and 2010 saw the business gross over $20 million.

The young entrepreneur is still a few years shy of 30 and is the owner of a very successful company that has potential to be huge.

Schottenstein believes the biggest obstacle faced by young entrepreneurs is themselves. “People have great ideas all the time but find all the reasons not to do it,” says Schottenstein. “You have to be fearless and do not internalize rejection.”

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Sarah Watkinson-Yull founder of, umm… Yull is a 21 year old unipreneur. Her company Yull sells ladies’ shoes that she designed herself, online and through stockists.

The brand as described on the Yull website:

Sarah says that Yull is ‘style over fashion’, a break from the current trend-following flow of impracticable and ephemeral shoe brands.

Yull is a mix of vibrant colours and playful patterns on classic designs accompanied by very wearable and timeless shoes that are hard to find in the existing market.

The brand is very patriotic and represents ‘Britishness’ incorporating the range with the English season’s needs for fashion footwear in sporting and cultural events.

She studied at the Fashion Retail Academy for a year and also did a course at the London College of Fashion which was, ‘starting a fashion business’. She is currently studying Business Management at Westminster University.

Sarah also studied business and economics at school after persuading the school education board and it only made sense that her two passions, business & fashion, should come together to provide her with a self made career. She also had the experience of seeing her family’s business, trading aroma chemicals, first hand where she could learn about importing and exporting and also dealing with customers and suppliers.

One important factor when starting her business was finding a good supplier, which she did through Alibaba. She had too balance getting good quality and manageable minimum order quantities while also having to suss out if she could trust them.

Having always been an entrepreneur at heart, this step was inevitable and earlier this year she founded Yull, which she fully funded herself. Having had the initial idea a couple years back, she had time to work and save £10,000 stored safely in an ISA where the tax man can’t get too.  Over the two years she also got a lot of advice and ideas from friends, family and the Prince’s trust.

The biggest challenges that Sarah has faced so far has been getting her shoes into retailers shops and also amassing free PR as she has a limited advertising budget. She recently showcased her collection at Oxford fashion week.

Her business is currently based out of her home in Oxfordshire and she has too manage her business and university work at the same time as she has no other employees at the moment.

Sarah carries much the same sentiments as many young entrepreneurs as she say, “If you really want to do something, then you should go for it.”

She is only at the beginning of her entrepreneurial journey but she is already looking to the future hoping to open her own shop and can’t wait till the day she is randomly walking down the street and sees someone wearing Yull shoes. Good luck to her!

Lyande kaikai is the 25 years old co-founder and creative director of jewel clothing, a company she started in 2007 with her co-founder and close friend Julia Omoarukhe.

Jewel clothing produce handmade, one-off garments collections for women.

Lyande kaikai who currently works part-time job as an NHS Administrator from her university days and Working as an property manager said that the experience has given her valuable skills she currently uses in her business.

From the embarrassment of seeing a girl wear the same outfit as her in a party with her passion for fashion, and a demanding mother who pushed her to start her own business, jewel clothing was born.

With no experience, she bought some simple patterns and decided to get in touch with her aunt to help her make a unique dress of her own. After long hours, days of constant practice, she started to make simple materials like cotton summer shifts.

After showcasing some of her designs, friends started getting in touch for birthday orders. She decided to take it up a notch and sell their samples in Spitalfields market.

Till today they still go to Spitalfields Market in London on the last Friday of every month to sell samples.

Today she juggles her jobs as a part-time NHS administrator and her property manager job to finding time to pursue her dream as a fashion designer and entrepreneur.

In a few years, she is hoping to see jewel clothing become available worldwide, maybe branch into designing wedding dresses and have its own boutique but for now she is happy keeping her customers looking and feeling like a jewel.

When Susan Gregg was 17 she was heading off to Carnegie Mellon University, but she found her closet packed full of vintage clothes and shoes that she had collected.

So she decided to get rid of them, and what better way than to open an online boutique. That year, Susan began ModCloth.com right from her dorm room. She would often drive from uni to her southern Florida hometown to pick up more stock.

Soon the site was overwhelming, 60,000 visitors per month wanted more. That’s when Susan realised the potential of the business. She started looking for designers and suppliers, eventually finding a trade show in Las Vegas via Google search. Susan went to the show with the intention to find herself a designer, which she did.

Susan still needed to raise the capital to pay for her rising costs, so on the advice of her boyfriend she took out $50,000 in credit card debt with the rest coming in the form of loans from her boyfriend’s family.

It was a big step to take, but ultimately these are the risked you have to take if you want to make it big.

Since her original idea in 2002, she has come a long way, but it wasn’t until 2006 when she hired designers to create an original collection for the site, that things have really taken off.

As it stands today the site is getting over 2million visitors per month and ModCloth is looking to surpass the $50million mark in sales this year. Susan has also managed to raise $20million in new funding so that she can open up offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles as employees near 150.

Susan’s personality shines through when you look at the business, ModCloth is a social commerce and she makes sure that customers feel involved whether they are buying or not. There is even an opportunity for the customers to choose which styles go into production.

This is the kind of thinking that will help Susan continue to grow ModCloth well into the future.

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I would like to thank Matt Wignall for making this interview possible.

Background

A Suit That Fits was founded in 2006 by school friends, David Hathiramani and Warren Bennett. Warren spent time working in Nepal and whilst volunteering at a school in Kathmandu met a family of tailors who made him a woollen tailored suit.

On his return, Warren met with old school friend David Hathiramani, who felt there was a gap in the market for quality, yet affordable, tailored suits and wanted to use their technical backgrounds to simplify the ordering process; it was then that A Suit That Fits started as the world’s first on-line hand tailored suit making company.

Using unique web technology, the service gives customers the flexibility to design and completely customise their individually hand-tailored suit at an affordable ‘off-the-peg’ price, starting at £200. Since then A Suit That Fits has opened three permanent branches throughout London and one in Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester, in addition to 19 ‘TailorStop’ (pop-up) branches nationwide.

Hi Warren, nice to have you on YHP, How are you doing?

It’s great to be here – we love the website and think it’s really inspiring for the next generation of young entrepreneurs.

Here’s a nice ice ice-breaker -who are your style icons?

I have had time to develop my own style: classic tailoring combined with an eccentric twist! I suppose my own individual style comes from timeless fashion icons such as Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant or even James Bond, combined with an element of fun from Ziggy Stardust!

When would you say, you first experienced your entrepreneurial talent?

I think I have always had a sense of entrepreneurial talent; both David and I grew up with entrepreneurial fathers, who had a big influence in our lives. Before A Suit That Fits began, I had lots of great ideas for businesses, some could work very well, some were outrageous! I actually started by importing silk carpets and pashminas from India, before David and I turned our attention to our idea for A Suit That Fits.

Only four years later, we have 25 branches nationwide and we’re very proud of what we’ve achieved.

So how did A Suit That Fits first begin, where did your idea come from?

Having spent gap years teaching in various schools around the world, I was introduced by a school master to one of the local tailoring family in Nepal, who made me some fantastic suits. I was so impressed by the quality and workmanship that before I returned to the UK, I bought a number of suits for myself, friends and family.

When I came back to Britain I met up with my old school friend David, who shared my passion for fine tailoring. David had big ideas and suggested that we went on-line; offering a small selection of fabrics, styles, linings and all the different attributes.

We took the idea to Hampstead market in North London, and displayed one of my suits on a dummy; after just 20 minutes we had sold two suits. It was a clear sign that we had a viable business plan; we then worked quickly to create a website for our customers, and we set up shop in a small studio in Liverpool Street.

Since 2006 when we registered our first customer, we’ve been thrilled and very proud to be part of a fantastic and growing team of wonderful people both here in the UK and in Nepal.

How did you fund your business in the beginning?

In terms of cash flow, the online model provided the ideal start-up template. We never had to hold any stock, we simply sent requests out to our tailors in Nepal once the suits were ordered, and paid for, online.

To fund the essentials such as our premises in Liverpool Street, we used our credit cards, whilst David continued to work two jobs to support the business.

How are customers becoming more individual through their choice of suit?

Trends tend to come and go, however it will always be fashionable to offer the customer more choice. There are three main types of suits: British, Italian and American; British suits tend to have tapered panels, little shoulder padding and two vents, Italian suits are often fitted with structured lapels and shoulder padding, whilst American suits are more relaxed.

We’ve noticed that our customers are now mixing all three types of suit along with a subtle splash of colour with a special lining to create their own style and individual identity. We now offer a choice of over 200 fabrics to choose from, so alongside our range of style options, customers can choose from selection of 40 billion different combinations of suit.

What shall we be expecting from A Suit That Fits in the future?

We have lots of fantastic ideas that we are exploring; we continue to source fabrics from all over the world and push suiting style and innovation. We also plan to focus on launching further permanent branches in key cities throughout the UK.

What advice do you have for those who want to pursue a career in fashion?

The first step is to complete your education; and following university try to get as much work experience as you can; some members of our team have completed several internships and work experience programs. You’ll make it if you have talent, combined with the determination and ambition.

What advice do you have for the fans of YHP?

It’s a scary prospect starting your own business and not knowing what’s around the corner, however it’s a lot of fun and can pay off in so many ways if you’re prepared to put everything into it. Focus on how you solve a problem for your customer in an easy, cost-effective way and build a great team to deliver that product.

I wish anyone considering taking on the challenge of starting their own company or developing a unique business plan the very best of luck and I hope one day I’ll have the pleasure of reading about your success.

Thanks for your time warren, hope to catch up with you soon.

Dont forget to check out their website

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I would like to thank Josephine Bankole for making this interview possible.

Who thought t-shirts could motivate people into losing weight or spending time in the gym.

YHP had the privilege of doing a quick interview with olu Johnson, founder of the get hench or die trying brand, a company that started from the gym.

Hope you enjoy the interview

Hello Olu! Thank You for giving YHP your time. How are you today?

I’m fine thanks for asking, and thank you for having me on here.

Can you give us some brief background information about yourself?

I am 26 years old, Nigerian born and British bred(I am bi-lingual). I am a graduate of Law. I am currently a trainee lawyer and junior manager for a company in the Rail sector!

Please, start off with giving us just a little info on who you are and what you do…Where did the concept for “Get Hench” come from?

The concept for the Get Hench brand came from a training session in the gym . After a period of about 6-8 months that my friend Shayne and I had trained intensely to be unquestionably the henchest guys in our local gym, we started training some of the younger boys in the gym who asked for help. During one of the sessions, one of the youths, Tavell, said ‘I didn’t come here to die, I’m not on this get hench or die trying sh**’. Everybody laughed but me, it occured to me that that was his perception of our attitude towards training and I thought we could sell that image.

How long did it take the “Get Hench” to get up and running, how many of you running it are there and where is it currently in operation?

I’m not one for procrastinating so when I had the idea, within a week I had samples selling like hot cakes and then my problem was I needed more t-shirts to meet my demands. A month later, I had funding and we were off the ground. There are three people in charge of the brand. Somehow I ended up being the posterboy/spokesperson of the executive group.

How did you fund your business in the beginning?

Initially, I funded the business by myself. I paid for all the samples to be done recouping my costs as I went along. When I needed funding to do things on a larger scale, I went to people I knew had the type of money I was looking for.. I was quite fortunate that I only had to speak to one person. The pitch wasn’t perfect but the evidence of the potential and the enthusiasm I had were obvious and I think that helped a great deal.

When would you say, you first experienced your entrepreneurial talent?

I first experienced my entrepreneurial talent when I sold homeworks at school. It only happened a few times but I was excited that I was trading……or maybe it was that I was getting money that I could spend on sweets etc. Either way, I always seized any opportunity I had since then to make a sale.

What types of setbacks have you encountered? How would you say you deal with them?

The biggest setback I’ve encountered is other people. That includes people I’m working with(my camp) or people working with me(outsiders). No one else will be as reliable or as enthusiastic as I will about my products therefore I have learnt to anticipate non-performance of duties by others and have a backup plan.

Sometimes, it is life itself that gets in the way. Everyone does what they’re supposed to and then it snows or rains or floods or there is an outbreak of swine flu or events get cancelled or something drastic interrupts ones plans. When that happens, all you can do is mitigate your losses if you have any and have the strength of character to continue with your plan.

You recently climbed a mountain, what the motive behind it was?

I recently climbed the highest mountain in England (Scafell Pike) for Breast Cancer Research UK. The motivation for me to do it was two-fold. One, I wanted to do something for a charity and Cancer Research was the obvious choice for me because I lost my biological mother to cancer. Two, I wanted to do something unusual for me and that I would find difficult and extremely challenging. The mountain climb was it.

I had no training for it and made no preparations just because I didn’t have the time(work & everyday commitiments). It was an immense achievement for me. Conquering the mountain reboosted my belief in my ability to conquer other ‘mounatins’, some of which the Get Hench brand presents.

If you could change one thing about your business what would you change?

If I could make any changes, I cant definitely say it would be to the business itself. Perhaps maybe to contacts I’ve had/used and prices I’ve paid. (Always check to see if someone is willing to beat your current price in order to gain your custom)

Finally, what “wisdom words” do you have for young entrepreneurs of today?

‘Words of Wisdom’ – Always do what you’ve said you will do, even if it is to your inconvenience. The reason for this is that your integrity matters in business and people will judge you on it(it is a very small world and people talk). Also, don’t be afraid to ask for things(reductions in price, funding, deals, extras……whatever).

The worst a person could say is no and that does not leave you in a worse position than you were in prior to. Finally, don’t discriminate on who you sell your product to(you don’t have to like them). Every person you snub is potential profit you push away………..in addition, make every single customer feel like they are the reason you’re doing what you’re doing. You will always get repeat business.

Thanks for your time olu

No problem.

Get in touch with him on facebook

Abby Filer is a contemporary fashion, jewellery designer – maker and the founder of Abby Filer Jewellery and Franny & Filer.

Franny & Filer is a unique contemporary jewellery and craft gallery in Manchester, featuring a mix of ever-changing work by emerging and established designers, with quality and originality guaranteed.

She works with silver, enamels, printed aluminium and precious stones to create fresh, feminine and colourful pieces of jewellery.

She produces various ranges of handmade silver jewellery for galleries and shops across the U.K.

Abby graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in June 2006 with a Bachelor of design.

She said she gets her inspiration from the sixties psychedelic design era, and her love of bold geometric pattern and bright colour which is a regular subject right through her designs.

She showcases her products at places such as the Royal Exchange in Manchester, shops include Eliza Maccabe – Manchester, Studio 1- Manchester Craft and Design Centre and is currently exhibiting in the Shire
Hall Gallery, Including other galleries, stores and design centres across the UK.

She is also an active member of the Manchester Jewellers Network.

Emma-Jayne Parkes and Viviane Jaeger are the brains behind the Jackson Pollock-inspired umbrellas using ink that changes colour when wet.

The co-founders were studying product design and development at the London College of Fashion when they were told to rethink the 1950s overshoe – a protective shield to prevent your ankles from getting wet.

They were so impressed with the American’s artwork and creativity, they decided to take it further by exploring the use of colour, the different ways in which colour can be used, which then lead to them finding a way in which ink could be integrated to other materials in similar ways in which ink were been applied to clothes.

They soon approached an ink manufacturer about their product and had to wait a while being allowed to develop their ideas but after a huge amount of persistentence and hard work, they were finally allowed to start testing and they started on the development of the new ink idea which will work on fabrics.

During the time, they won a business plan competition organised by Deutsche Bank that gave them £1,000 and a business course at the East London Small Business Centre which could not have come at a better time they said.

They have also took part in the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship’s Flying Start programme which proved timely as they were days from launching the first trial collection of their umbrellas and ended up selling their first ever umbrella at the programme.

After being featured on the Sunday times after the release of the squids 100 limited umbrellas, it was sold out within 11 days.

They have since gone on to Design the costumes for the London Olympics handover ceremony in Beijing, announcing their first stockist Beyond the Valley, being commissioned by Tate to create an umbrella collection inspired by the Colour Chart Exhibition and having a collection sold at the world famous Art Basel, fair

Check out their website and follow them on twitter

Don’t forget to Join the YHP FanPage and Follow us on twitter.

ModCloth is an American online retailer, based in Pittsburgh, PA, that specializes in vintage, vintage-inspired and indie clothing, accessories and decor.

ModCloth was launched as a website in 2002 by Susan Gregg-Koger with the help of her then-boyfriend, now-husband Eric Koger

They were able to raise a little over $3 million from angels like StubHub co-founder Jeff Fluhr and venture capital firms First Round Capital and Maples Investments.

The pair continued working on the website while attending Carnegie Mellon University.

Since 2002, the company has grown enormously with annual revenue in excess of $15 million in 2009. As of January 2010, the company has more than 100 employees.

Today, I’m with a young entrepreneur inspiring people to be themselves by starting a clothing line, Be You! Apparel and he is only 18 years of age! Hey Cameron, Thanks for taking the time to do this interview with me, Welcome to YHP, How you doing?

I’m doing good thanks a little annoyed that it’ freezing cold and raining again but I guess that’s the British weather for you *laughs*

Before we jump right in, Can you give us some background information about yourself?

Basically, I’m an up & coming designer studying Fashion at College. I started designing about 3 years ago, Creating custom Myspace layouts then slowly moved onto T-shirt designs as I had a little experience printing T-shirts using a heat press and then finally I moved onto working on my own brand

Is this your first company?

I used to have a clothing company before called ‘Imah Flyboy’ & ‘Imah Flygurl’ which was running for about a year or so until I saw the designs on another person’s page when I stopped, but I had Be You! Apparel in the wings at the time so this didn’t really phase me at all and I just moved on.

How did you come up with the idea to start a business?

As I used to print T-shirts and such, I thought it would be easier to have a brand that had the clothes printed in a factory then me doing it manually, which was very time consuming and got in the way of college.

How did your business get off the ground?

Basically after many months of research into printers & stockists I finally found someone who could tend to our needs and just took a big risk and went on from there.

Who are your target customers?

Our customers are mostly the Younger crowd (13-24yrs) although some of the garments produced can be worn on literally anyone hence the name ‘’Be You!’’

Why the name Be You!. Did it have to do with something you were going through at the time?

I’ve always got my biggest inspiration from my surroundings and at that time I was seeing a lot of people who were very fake. I call Be You! ‘’The Honest Brand’’ because we focus on the three true aspects of people which I have interpreted as “Arrogance, Vanity, Selfishness”, so these are the 3 main elements of the brand. To ‘Be You!’ is to be truthful to your true personality.

How did you raise money to start the business?

At the time I started I was employed so I used most of my pay as well money I had saved up and invested it all into starting Be You! Apparel. If I’m honest finding finance to start up and then expand a business has to be one of the hardest challenges every young entrepreneur has to face.

You recently turned 18, how did you get into business so early?

Having studied business during Secondary school, I had a healthy introduction to business grasping the basics quite easily and once I got into college I tried to keep myself up to date with different businesses and how they were running.

What do customers say when they find out you are so young?

Most of my customers are my age so they’re quite impressed but it doesn’t really phase them though they are surprised just for the simple fact that around South West London, there is a lack of designers, we’re more the musical side of London… so seeing someone doing something different then music to get themselve’s out there is quite rare.

How do you deal with the legal aspects of running a business? Who helps you with contracts, paying taxes, and so on?

Most of the legal aspects are covered by Lucas (PR & Marketing) who has experience from running previous companies with those issues and so luckily I don’t have to worry too much about them! *laughs*

How has the journey been so far for you?

The journey has been quite bumpy, nothing I wasn’t expecting but the only problem that has arisen is raising awareness and lately funding for expansion and this has made the journey quite hard but as they say ‘Everything that’s worth having is worth fighting for’ -and no that’s not from the Cheryl Cole song-

How many people are involved in the company at the moment?

At the moment, there’s Me (C.E.O), Lucas (PR & Marketing), Nathan (Head of Promotions) & Joshua (Head of Sales)

What was the most challenging part of starting the business?

The lack of confidence… the constant mind changes, I was very aware of other people’s views on everything and I just kept changing my mind.

What has been your most successful method in advertising the brand so far?

The most successful method by far has got to be advertising with the Facebook page and groups. If I’m honest at the moment social networking accounts for virtually all our advertising and without I doubt whether our brand or for that matter many other brands would be able to operate as effectively or even exist. Social networking has truly revolutionised the internet and opened up a world of social connections and free advertising… as you can probably tell I’m a big fan of social networks!

How do you balance college and also running a business? How do you manage your time?

This has by far been the most hardest aspect of running the business, because if I’m honest, the business has come in the way of college many a times, as I’ve always got my blackberry I’m mostly connected to everyone in the business all day, so that helped defeat the communication problem. I manage my time to deal with business from Thursday to Tuesday as my college week finishes on Thursday.

So what should we be expecting next from you? University? Your business?

Yeah, university is just around the corner and to be honest I really can’t wait, I’ll be studying Business at Uni to just update me on everything I need to know before I start working on getting Be You! worldwide. We should be releasing a shop with Freakological in the next year or so called ‘Be Freaky’ and last but not least, the Summer series, where we will release a new line of products every month of the summer.

What was the biggest mistake you’ve made and what did you learn from it?

The biggest mistake was bringing out a “collection” of clothes instead of just releasing 1 design on a different range of garments. After seeing the demand for certain designs which I couldn’t tend to I had to scrap the collections. I’ve learnt that as the brand is still in an introductory state, a collection is too much selection.

What advice do you have for young entrepreneurs who are getting started in business?

Start a business because you have a PASSION for it, don’t do it just for money or because you see other people doing it, a business has to have a meaning.

Do you have a favourite quote?

“Enjoy who you are. Don’t hate yourself for what you aren’t” I only came across this quote quite recently, but it just relates to the brand in so many ways.

What was the biggest lesson you learned in secondary school that applies to our generation?

I think that it’s only at secondary school where you start to understand that people are going to look at the same things and events you do and form completely different opinions then you did and be able to justify their opinion just as well as you do yours. So I would say that the biggest lesson you learn at secondary school is that everyone is going to have their own opinion about something and that just because their opinion is different from yours doesn’t necessarily mean its wrong after all everyone has the right to be themselves.

Who do you think could be really good role models for teens, and why?

To be honest although they often get a lot of flak I would say young actors like for example Jamie Bell are good role models, they’re successful but they only got there by hard work –yes believe me acting is hard work It’s not anywhere as easy as it looks I know I tried it at GCSE and it was NOT easy- determination and taking risks. Business wise I would say business guru’s like Richard Branson and my personal inspiration Tomoaki ‘Nigo’ Nagao –founder of BAPE Clothing- are also good role models for teenagers and in fact for anyone; like all successful people they were persistent in their efforts to be successful and they were willing to take risks and put everything on the line and look where it got them!

How important is family support for a young entrepreneur?

Family support is important, but at the same time the only person you can really rely on is yourself, so even without family, as long as you have the passion and the right dreams, the world is your oyster!

Any plans to expand the current business?

We are hoping to rebrand the first t-shirts we brought out as ‘Be You! Originals’ and bring out a new series called the ‘Good Times’ Series but any further plans for expansion are on hold while we look for additional investment so we can expand without taking too much of a risk.

What are the sites, social networks or groups a young entrepreneur should join or follow to get advice?

Well obviously there’s the big ones like Facebook which is invaluable for any entrepreneur because of the connections you can make on it and the free promotional opportunities it offers.

Myspace especially if the young entrepreneur is or wants to be involved in the Music or fashion industry and Twitter which is great for networking and quickly starting and learning about trends as well as you know… just following people that inspire you.

Aside from those I would recommend http://cmypitch.com/ a great website which allows you to make a video pitch available to hundreds of potential investors and http://www.enterpriseuk.org a social networking site for young entrepreneurs.

Of course I would also recommend that young entrepreneurs set up their own website especially if they are going to be involved in retail for example we have an account with bigcartel a site that provides a hassle free platform for clothing companies and other small businesses to sell their products without much in the way of monthly fees or ‘hidden’ costs. So as you can probably see there’s lots of opportunities out there for young entrepreneurs to use the internet as a key component of their business.

Thank you for your time Cameron, hope you have you back on the platform in the future.