Times Online:
At the age of 14 most teenage boys are likely to be found engrossed in computer games or playing sport in their spare time. But at 14 Fraser Doherty was busy making jam, after his grandmother taught him a recipe that had been handed down through generations of his family.

Unhappy that traditional jam contained high levels of sugar, he decided to make a much healthier version by using natural grape juice instead of sugar, and fruit such as blueberries and cranberries that are particularly high in nutrients and vitamins.

Doherty started selling jars of his jam door to door near his parents’ home in Edinburgh. As interest grew, his hobby started to turn into a business. He now makes 40,000 jars of jam a month, Tesco has begun stocking his SuperJam in 230 of its stores, and Doherty is well on his way to making his first million.

Doherty is one of a growing number of young people in Britain who have become entrepreneurs at a very young age. The traditional view is that it is impossible to start a successful business without gaining years of knowledge and experience, but teenagers like Doherty are proving that energy and confidence can win over age.

According to a recent Generation Entreprise report by City & Guilds, 48% of young people aged between 16 and 25 said that they wanted to start their own business instead of getting a job. The survey of more than 1,000 young people also found that almost half of them knew someone under the age of 30 who already had their own business. More.

By MrMoney on October 30th, 2007
In: Entrepreneurial Lifestyle / Empreendedor, Posts In English  | 

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