A YOUNG Scot who built a £1 million business in her teens after being bullied has written a book to help young entrepreneurs.
Liv Conlon, who is now 20, set up The Property Stagers – the UK’s leading furniture rental service – when she was just 16.
In the first year the firm made £30,000, enough for Conlon to pay herself a salary on top of cash spent running it. In its second year it made £1m and Conlon was named UK Entrepreneur of the Year.
Conlon has written Too Big For Your Boots to document her experience and to give young people a guide on how to set up a business with no experience or funds.
“When I was growing up there were no books or courses by young people about setting up a business,” Conlon told The National. “The name of the book came from when I was at an event in London and I met someone in the lift who told me not to get too big for my boots which people say a lot when you are young, successful and female. When someone says you can’t do something you want to achieve it.”
She continued: “I wanted to target people aged 18-30 and inspire people to start their own business. A large part of the book is a step-by-step guide on how to build a six-figure business.”
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Conlon lives in Spain but grew up in South Lanarkshire and she said her experience of being bullied and leaving school at the age of 16 gave her the drive to set up her own company.
She added: “I decided to leave school at 16. I had the grades to do whatever I wanted but I wanted my own business. My mum was involved in property and she had a house that wasn’t selling and I sold it in three days.
“Being bullied gave me motivation. Lots of people believed I was too big for my boots. I always had big dreams and never hid that. It became one of my driving factors. I decided I want to choose who I work with as in school you are in an environment where you can’t choose.”
The foreword of the book has been written by the co-founder of Netflix, Marc Randolph, who Conlon met when she interviewed him for her podcast.
Conlon said: “He [Randolph] said the book was what he would have wanted at that age. I wrote the book in a week or so and the writing process was intense. “The biggest challenge was being able to recall how you feel in those moments. I have shared my bullying experiences but not that in depth.”
“I want to impact young people’s lives in 2021. Anything is possible when you put in hard work.”
Too Big For Your Boots is published by Rethink and will be released on March 12. It can be pre-ordered here.
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