Joel’s design on the future

10:50am Thursday 8th May 2008

Comments (2)   Have your say »

NOT going to school and having ADHD has never held back 14-year-old Joel Drapper from Ryall, and now he has started his own business.

Last year he sailed on the tall ship Prince William and won money in the Make Your Mark challenge.

Make Your Mark is an organisation that encourages young, enterprising people to make their ideas happen while at school and even though he is home-schooled, Joel has done just that and used his prize money to start up his own website design business at 1stclasswebsites.com Joel will be 15 on Monday and plans to launch his business then.

Like his 10 siblings Joel is home educated, and is now a self-taught computer expert.

He said: "There aren't very many jobs for teenagers around except washing up at hotels or chopping chips for a chippy.

"I wanted to start up my own business doing something that I really enjoyed, was good at, and that I could fit into my free time, at home - and hopefully I will be able to earn some money at the same time."

Joel says his goal is to provide first-class websites at competitive prices so that small businesses, charities, churches, or even families can have a professional presence on the Internet where they can advertise their products or services. He added: "Many local small businesses just cannot afford to have a website built by these big design firms.

"Small B&Bs or hotels need to advertise where the people are looking, and nowadays that's on the Internet.

"It's really exciting running a real business! I'm learning so much about being self-employed, time management, and business skills. When I'm old enough to work full-time I should be well equipped."