Student scores business competition win

A South Essex College student has kicked off his business venture by winning the college’s equivalent of 'Dragons' Den'.

Ben Piper was crowned winner of the ‘Who Wants to be an Entrepreneur?’ contest with his start up business in which he buys and sells a range of football memorabilia.

The 16-year-old from Rayleigh, who studies on the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy at the College’s Southend campus, buys interesting and collectable football goods found at car boot sales and online before selling to collectors for a profit. He has also started to develop relationships with a range of football clubs who have been supportive of his venture.

It all started for Ben last year when he bought 100 football badges with £60 he received for his birthday, and sold the badges for £3.95 each.

He then reinvested his profit by purchasing a range of other items including football shirts and souvenir postcards.

Ben presented his ideas to a panel of judges and was up against three fellow students who had equally impressive ideas, but after deliberation, the judges picked Ben as the winner.

Ben said he was delighted to have won.

He said: “It was extremely nerve-wracking standing in front of the panel, but it was a fantastic experience at the same time and I still can’t believe I won!

“My idea is simple, I’ve got a passion for football and it’s been a great way to put my knowledge and energy into practice to make some extra money.

“My goal is to make some money on each item, even if it’s only a small profit, but it all adds up and means I can invest more and grow the business.”

Ben’s prize for winning the competition is a £250 investment from the College as well as business and marketing support to help the business develop.

Katherine Taylor, College Enrichment Associate and competition judge, said the standard of entries in this year’s competition was extremely high.

She said: “Our finalists had so many impressive ideas so it was an extremely tough decision to make.

“Some of the fantastic ideas put forward were already well established and proving successful which was great to see, so the judges felt that Ben would benefit more from the support we could provide to help him get his idea firmly off the ground.

“We wish all of our finalists every success for the future and cannot wait to see how their businesses develop.”

You can visit Ben’s eBay shop to see items available at www.ebay.co.uk/usr/originalfootballmemorabilia-1

For more information about business courses available at the College, visit www.southessex.ac.uk