I wanted to be a pilot but left school at 16 and didn’t go to university… now I own a £4m business – anyone can do it
AN ENTREPRENEUR has revealed how he went from flunking out at school to starting a multi-million pound business.
Joel Rémy Parkes, 42, who was raised by a single mum in Peckham, south London, said his road to success began far away from the schoolgates.
The dad-of-four told Sun Online: “I think everybody learns differently and I wasn’t one that was good at learning in a classroom and I also couldn’t repeat it in an exam.”
“I learn through experiences and because of these struggles, I had the opportunity to fail a lot more when I was younger.”
Despite his difficulties, he said he got the itch for business as a teenager when he sold donuts and other treats to friends between classes at his south London state school.
Years later, this entrepreneurial streak helped Joel see a gap in the market for plastic-free kids’ tableware with silicone suction bases that stick like glue to any flat surface.
“We had just had my son and the plastic bowls and plates he was using just allowed the food to go everywhere,” he said.
That was in 2016 and now his business, Bamboo Bamboo, is worth a sizable £4million with 70 per cent of sales coming from Amazon.
And although he remained tight-lipped on the full financials, Joel said being an internet-based business has allowed him to keep the team small and expand profits.
“Most of the success has just been through word of mouth,” he said.
“Now the business is successful, I can now carve the sort of future I’d like to have.”
But his rise through the working ranks actually began by accident when Joel realised university wasn’t something he wanted to pursue.
“I didn’t go to uni as I didn’t do great at school,” he said.
“I wanted to be a pilot and my sister just one day suggested that I get a job in sales to pay for this.
“Through these jobs I got to work with successful brands and when you’re surrounded by people like that you get inspired and you’re like ‘maybe I can do this’.”
As for his school woes, Joel said running a successful business has allowed him to avoid problems faced in the past.
“I think I would say to not be afraid to do things differently,” he said.
“I was never good at maths, but now I’ve gotten myself into a position where I can just hire someone who’s good at maths for me.”
It comes after a former refugee who fled war-torn Afghanistan became a multi-millionaire.
And a teen who hated school quickly became a millionaire after growing sick of his part-time job at McDonald’s.