02 Nov 21-year-old student juggles degree and business
For a student it’s hard to find the time to enjoy a social life alongside coursework and assignments, let alone find the time to set up and run a business.
Ollie, a student from London has managed to do more than that. Whilst having a part time job as a courier, he is in his second year of university and still has been able to run his bike box business for the last four years.
‘Bike Box Rentals’ was originally set up in 2014, by Ollie and his brother Luke. They rent bike boxes to allow their customers to travel conveniently on aeroplanes with their bikes. Little did they know that they would be experiencing as much attention as they are now.
Ollie and Luke in 2014
The business took off as a large amount of people lacked the storage to own their own bike box in London. Ollie mentioned “We started with just one bike box, that we put up for rental on Ebay and found that it was very successful in the first month”.
Due to studying Business Management Ollie has always had a strong desire to be an entrepreneur and was able to use these key skills in his current business. After understanding the demand, “We managed to get in touch directly with the manufacturer and he was happy to do us a deal as he thought it was very enterprising at 17, we then bought 25 more boxes and started running the business out of our house in Teddington, in 2014”.
A year on they were able to save enough money in order to set up a professional website, to further promote the business. “This really made things so much easier, as customers could now book online”. The greater demand that followed from the website meant that more boxes were needed and that they needed their own space. “We had to buy more bike boxes and move to a bigger premise. We moved into an office in Kingston where we bought a 12ft shipping container to store the boxes”.
Four years later and Ollie now has a steady business that works alongside his studies and other commitments, with a majority of the work being in the evenings. “Our office hours during the week are from 18:30 to 20:30, so during the day we are just answering emails and organising a time slot for customers to pick up or drop off boxes. Having to travel back straight from university to make the 6.30pm shift is difficult, but it has made me better at managing my time”.
Of course, like any new business there were some problems. For Ollie, these came from the manufacturing of the boxes, with the wheels and hinges getting worn after a couple of months. “There was a short period of time where all the bike boxes were unable to be used. After vigorous searching on the internet we found the parts we needed and were able to refurbish the bike boxes to basically brand new”.
Despite the difficulties, Ollie doesn’t regret any of it and is extremely proud of what he has achieved so far. “I would advise any other students who have business ideas to go ahead with them, as it has taught me various business skills to take with me into the future”.
