June 2018 – August 2022- Started buying hand-picked vintage clothes from various UK wholesalers and selling to friends, online and on market stalls- 200 five-star reviews on Depop online marketplace- Made enough money to rent and stock a retail unit in Hereford which opened September 2022September 2022 – Present- Set up a limited company, registered for VAT and got an Accountant to do the books and run payroll- Opened a second shop in Cheltenham (1,000 sq. ft)- Implemented an online Point of Sale System (POS) that tracks sales, profit, returns, provides stock control and integrates with Xero accounting system- Took on new suppliers in UK, Italy, Pakistan and Thailand- Started BRIZ UK Ltd. with a talented designer and started selling BRIZ branded T shirts and custom jeans in our retail outlets- Moved to a larger shop in Cheltenham (2,000 sq. ft.) with cost effective high impact fit out to better reflect the FITSZOO brand- Spotted a trend and started selling vintage football shirts which went really well - being a collector myself I knew how to identify fakes and what to pay- Currently building an e-commerce website to create online sales from FitsZoo.com that integrates with existing POS and financial systemsSkills Developed and experience gained:- Income generation to support my time at university- Creating a viable business in the sustainability space- Dealing with landlords and negotiating leases- Recruiting and managing employees- Understanding P&L accounts, cashflow forecasting, Tax and VAT implications, Gov regulations- Creating and managing social media accounts to promote the business- Establishing online systems to manage the business and provide good reporting- Gaining specialist market knowledge enabling me to spot trends and to identify stock that would sell for good margin- Supplier negotiation- Learning about real world economics- Balancing running the business, university work, relationships, keeping fit and taking time off