Emma Reilly overcame an inhibiting illness to fulfil her long-held entrepreneurial ambitions. She talks to us about how she's faring since launching Studentcribs.com, a retail website aimed at the UK's two million undergraduates.
Emma Reilly
25
Studentcribs.com
Online Retail
1st January 2006
I’ve always been something of an entrepreneur. I designed a board game when I was about eight years of age and planned to take MB Games head on!
It didn’t really become a definite career move until I was 22. When I was 18 years old I was diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder (an extreme phobia of interacting with people and being in social situations) and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
I had suffered in secret with it since the age of three, but going to University just seemed to fuel the panic attacks I was getting.
I started getting treatment and made significant improvements, enough to complete my degree. It was the thought of going and getting a job that scared me to death. Having to be around people and making important decisions for someone else’s company just turned me into a wreck.
I was halfway through my degree when I decided that self-employment might suit me better. I could work at my own pace and would be responsible if my own decisions went wrong.
Studentcribs.com is the first online retailer of discount home accessories, games and gadgets to students. We sell everything that a student would find useful for their home: from A4 folders to kitchen gadgets.
The only items we refuse to stock are those that are connected to smoking tobacco or social drug taking.
I was actually writing my first business plan for another business I am developing. I was conducting market research at a student union and witnessed students hunting down the best deals for home accessories and gadgets.
One guy was even importing a novelty alarm clock from the Netherlands because he could get it slightly cheaper.
I went online and conducted some research. I was quite surprised to find that there was not one single site that catered especially for the consumer needs of students. I decided then and there that I had to run with the idea.
I read many different stories about many different entrepreneurs before I started my business. I got inspiration from each of them, especially those who formed a successful business with nothing but a personal debt and hard work.
The Firebox.com team particularly inspired me. I saw a documentary on BBC one which showed them living on top of each other in a crammed flat, whilst trying to run their site and seek investment. They saw a gap and went for it, despite the sacrifices they had to make.
I researched my market thoroughly before I even considered going ahead with the business. I found that on average, a student would spend £300 on luxury goods for their personal entertainment or leisure in one year.
With over two million students in the UK at one time that is a substantial amount of money to spend and nowhere specific to spend it.
The fact is that the market has been there for many years. It just needed someone to put it all together and provide it as a ‘one stop shop’.
I spent about six months just doing solid research and drafting out ideas. Most of that time was down to contacting suppliers and looking through hundreds of pages of trade catalogues.
I just wanted to be fully prepared for when it came to writing the plan so I wasn’t going to have to keep breaking away to go find out about a specific fact.
As I was still a final year student when I was researching the idea I made good use of the amenities around me. This included leaving questionnaires on student notice boards, handing them out through the union café, discussing ideas with friends or leaving messages on the student web forum.
I also used a lot of the research websites… such as HESA (Higher Education Statistics Authority) and the government statistics site. I also made a very useful contact with the former Director of StudentDesktops.com.
He was just 18 when he set up the business of selling PCs to students. I found my meetings with him the most valuable as I found out about everything that went wrong, as well as what worked.
I used all of my local enterprise agencies, such as Business Link and Project North East. I think I visited four in total. All had different advice and suggestions, so I knew I had covered all of the different options available to me.
The main reason I went to them was to find out about finance. I was worried my age and lack of experience would hold me back, but I was pleasantly surprised.
I enrolled at a local night school for adults. I took a fifteen-week course (two hours per week) entitled ‘Start Your Own Business’. It covered everything form writing a business plan to doing accounts.
It was really informative as well as being a great way to network with other new entrepreneurs.
The support from government for new entrepreneurs is very poor. Especially for those who don’t have the security to raise large private loans.
I looked into the Guarantee Fund but my bank didn’t like using it so refused me even the option to try and raise a loan with them. As a graduate I was being encouraged to start a business, but organisations were reluctant to give me a loan due to my student debt. It seems to be a chicken and egg situation.
I know many students who have saved their student loan up just for the purpose of starting a business once they graduate. I thought it would be better for the government to offer an extra years support to help graduates who want to start a business.
I started writing my business plan in my evening class. We were given a questionnaire that helped us recognise the key questions we needed to answer.
We were also given a sample business plan, which helped to show the format. I went home and typed my first draft using Microsoft Word. I was in the position where I could show my tutor and he helped me see where I could improve it.
We also had a local business manager who came into the class to give a talk on banking. I showed him my plan and again he helped me with some minor adjustments.
I had studied screenwriting for film at University, so I found the actual writing process quite easy and quite fun. The hard part was the financial forecast. I hate doing any kind of maths and found it a chore to do. It was one of those things I kept trying to put off. I had to make myself sit down a complete it.
I don’t tend to use my business plan as way to see if I’m on track with my initial ideas. The business can change on an hourly basis and you just have to think quickly to make adjustments.
What I have found it useful for is helping to see the bigger picture. On a day when I’ve felt a little lost I’ll go back to the plan to look at the vision I had for the company. It helps to just focus me and I’ll think, “ah, that’s what I wanted it to look like, I’ll go and do this and this to help me get there”.
I have re-written my plan once since starting the business. Again, this is because I wanted to take the company in a certain direction. I know I’ll come back to it just to clarify with myself what my goal is.
