My First Business
I got my first job when I was about 14 or 15 It was working as a restaurant runner, for £2.50 per
hour. I used to do an eight-hour shift to get my £20. I got a few tips, but it knackered me out, so
six months later, I stopped doing that.
I was keenly into computers and software programming and hardware: I started getting into
developing websites. My dad kept on talking about the Y2K Millennium bug and people getting
really scared. I started up a limited company at the age of 16 after seeking legal advice. I started
up @lanta Consultants Limited – it was the first company in the UK in the year 2000 to have the
commercial @ sign in the name of the company. Interestingly, it was only that year that they
allowed you to put the commercial @ sign in your company name, and very shortly after they
stopped allowing it because they found out that a lot of the systems couldn’t accept it – for
example, getting a debit card with your company name embossed in the plastic.
I did computer consultancy and website design, and I was making a decent amount of money out
of doing that, but my studies were not going too well. I went from being an A-grade and B-grade
student to barely scraping by. You could quite clearly see where my attention was: it wasn’t
school or college, it was about making money.
My dad had a frank conversation with me when I was nearly 17. He said, “Look, I know you
could probably live by yourself and support yourself, but while you live under my roof, you need
to be getting better grades than you’re actually getting. You need to either shut down your
company and focus on studies or you need to get the hell out of my house.” I was shocked: I
thought he’d be really happy I was making money, but his point was that I was making money at
the expense of my education. I thought, “Well, money is nice to have, but relationships and
family is more important.” In a heartbeat, I closed the company down and just concentrated on
my studies. I ended up with a first-class honours degree – I was one of only five people in the
whole year to get one. If I’d focussed elsewhere instead of heeding my dad’s advice, I don’t
think I would have got that degree.
hour. I used to do an eight-hour shift to get my £20. I got a few tips, but it knackered me out, so
six months later, I stopped doing that.
I was keenly into computers and software programming and hardware: I started getting into
developing websites. My dad kept on talking about the Y2K Millennium bug and people getting
really scared. I started up a limited company at the age of 16 after seeking legal advice. I started
up @lanta Consultants Limited – it was the first company in the UK in the year 2000 to have the
commercial @ sign in the name of the company. Interestingly, it was only that year that they
allowed you to put the commercial @ sign in your company name, and very shortly after they
stopped allowing it because they found out that a lot of the systems couldn’t accept it – for
example, getting a debit card with your company name embossed in the plastic.
I did computer consultancy and website design, and I was making a decent amount of money out
of doing that, but my studies were not going too well. I went from being an A-grade and B-grade
student to barely scraping by. You could quite clearly see where my attention was: it wasn’t
school or college, it was about making money.
My dad had a frank conversation with me when I was nearly 17. He said, “Look, I know you
could probably live by yourself and support yourself, but while you live under my roof, you need
to be getting better grades than you’re actually getting. You need to either shut down your
company and focus on studies or you need to get the hell out of my house.” I was shocked: I
thought he’d be really happy I was making money, but his point was that I was making money at
the expense of my education. I thought, “Well, money is nice to have, but relationships and
family is more important.” In a heartbeat, I closed the company down and just concentrated on
my studies. I ended up with a first-class honours degree – I was one of only five people in the
whole year to get one. If I’d focussed elsewhere instead of heeding my dad’s advice, I don’t
think I would have got that degree.