Meet Harry Nolan, Founder of ‘Sticker Your Business’ winner of the 2019/2020 Student Enterprise Award
We often look to experienced entrepreneurs for inspiration, but there is also a lot we can learn from those just starting out.
The Student Enterprise Awards programme was established in 1995 by Wexford Enterprise Centre to give secondary students the experience of setting up and running their own businesses. What began as Wexford only programme is now a successful national programme, administered by the Local Enterprise Offices (LEO). The programme has also been replicated at European level.
Harry Nolan, a student at St Mary’s CBS Enniscorthy, won the 2019/2020 Senior Category in County Wexford with, Sticker Your Club, a customised sticker business. He recounts his experience of setting up and running the business.
“The idea for Sticker Your Club came from a necessity to provide customised products at low cost to individuals and small businesses. Before Sticker Your Club, many small businesses, clubs, and individuals were unable to get personalised products due to prohibitive minimum order quantities. Sticker Your Club fills this gap in the market and allows smaller organisations and individuals to get these personalised products at a bulk price with a low quantity. We now provide a range of business services such as packaging stickers, business cards, leaflets, and clothing.
The most challenging part of the process was the initial set up of the business. At the beginning, it was quite challenging to build up a solid customer base and reputation which made it difficult to make decisions about stock levels as it was quite difficult to tell how much could be sold. However, as soon as this initial challenge was overcome it made it much easier to make these decisions and plan for the future.
Business is going very well. In a short space of time, we have increased our product range and are working on expanding our product range even further with a number of exciting developments in the pipeline.
The Student Enterprise Programme has been a brilliant initiative. It allowed me to develop a vast range of real-world life skills and develop as a person, student, and businessman. I would encourage all transition year students to engage and give their all to the program, as they will get double out of what they put into their projects.”
You can find ‘Sticker Your Club’ on Facebook and twitter @stickeryourclub.
