A 20-year-old young man in the UK created a business of more than 140,000 pounds in one year. (photographed from the Internet)
[Financial Channel/Comprehensive Report] A 20-year-old British youth originally dreamed of becoming a professional rugby player, but he suffered a serious knee injury when he was 17 years old and was forced to stay away from the field for a year and a half. However, this low point in his life unexpectedly became a turning point for him to start his own business. He relied on his only 400 pounds (approximately NT$17,000) of savings to invest in the resale business of vintage clothing. In just over a year, he generated a revenue of 142,235 pounds (approximately NT$6 million), of which sales on the second-hand trading platform alone exceeded 85,000 pounds (approximately NT$3.59 million).
"Business Insider" reported that Morgan Purnell, 20, who lives in Surrey, England, has always had her biggest dream since she was a child: to become a professional rugby player. However, at the age of 17, he suffered a right knee injury and had to interrupt his sports career for a year and a half, which also caused him to lose his direction in life.
While he was recuperating from his injury, he accidentally saw an online advertisement for a vintage clothing wholesaler and became involved in the second-hand clothing resale market. At that time, he was still working part-time at a sports center. He used the 400 pounds he had saved to spend about 200 pounds (approximately NT$8,440) to buy 50 kilograms of trousers as a starting point for his business.
He recalled that in the first month of starting his business, he sold about 70 pairs of pants through the second-hand trading platform. The purchase cost of each piece was about 4 pounds (approximately NT$168). After resale, the selling price ranged from about 20 to 30 pounds (approximately NT$844 to NT$1,266), making a considerable profit. After seeing the results, he decided to continue investing the funds he earned to expand the scale of his business.
In the early days of his business, Purnell worked almost 24 hours a day, spending up to 12 hours a day on product sorting, photography, shelving and shipping. In order to increase his exposure, he also started operating a TikTok account to record his entrepreneurial process of gradually doubling 400 pounds and attracting the attention of many netizens. Later, he also hired two friends to assist him to improve work efficiency.
In the second half of 2024, the number of users of the Vinted second-hand trading platform grew rapidly, and a large number of buyers and sellers poured in, making the second-hand clothing market more active. As a result, Purnell gradually shifted his sales focus to Vinted, and his performance also increased rapidly.
He originally planned to enter university to study business management and marketing, but finally decided to postpone his studies for a year and devote himself to starting a business. He wants to prove to his family that this career is enough to support his life and can even earn an income comparable to that of ordinary college graduates.
Purnell's business will generate revenue of 142,235 pounds (approximately NT$6 million) in 2025. In addition to revenue from clothing sales, it also includes revenue from cooperation such as producing social media content for wholesalers. Sales on the Vinted platform alone reached 85,873 pounds (approximately NT$3.62 million).
In addition to making good use of social platforms, Purnell also uses AI tools extensively to help run his business. He said that AI software is currently used to quickly convert product photos into product pages that conform to the e-commerce platform format. At the same time, sales data and inventory information are organized through ChatGPT, which greatly improves management efficiency.
Today, Purnell only devotes an average of about 5 to 6 hours a day to career-related work, and insists on not working every Sunday, leaving time for church activities and family. When it comes to the biggest gain from starting a business, he believes that it is not money, but freedom.
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