Doherty got the secret recipes for jam from his

F: When his classmates were still busy with making trouble, Fraser Doherty started to make a fortune. He was only fourteen years old when he decided to make a few jars of homemade jam and try selling them for extra money. Who could have guessed that those recipes would help him become the world’s best student entrepreneur? Today we reached Doherty via phone at his home to discuss his success story and future plan. Doherty, could you tell us how you got started?
M: It all started one afternoon when my grandmother taught me how to make jam with her secret recipes. So I started as a hobby making it in the kitchen and selling it to the neighbors and at farmers markets. It just sort of grew and grew by word of mouth while I was still in high school. At one point I was making about 1,000 jars of jam a week from our tiny little kitchen.
F: That developed really fast.
M: Yes. I soon realized I’d have to come up with some sort of big idea in order to move production into a commercial setting. After a lot of research, I discovered that sales of jam have actually been in decline for the last couple of decades.
F: Why was that?
M: That’s because jam has a very unhealthy and old fashioned image. I just set myself the ambition of changing that by trying to come up with a way to make jam a bit healthier, more fun and more appealing to the younger audience.
F: And what did you do?
M: I developed a set of new recipes where the jams are made entirely from fruits and fruit juice. All natural and healthy.
F: Now you supply about 500 shops across the U. K. , which is amazing. But Doherty, I guess the grocers and manufacturers are not used to negotiating with someone so young. Was your age an issue that you had to overcome?
M: Definitely. I, as a student, had very little experience, no capital and just sort of an ambition to change the world of jam.
F: That’s hard, wasn’t it?
M: Yes. I knocked on lots of different doors and I had a lot of doors slammed in my face. But eventually I managed to convince one factory to work with me.
F: Then how did you cope with your business and study at college?
M: I started at the university not really knowing whether the business was really going to be successful. But midway through my first year of university, the products launched and I found myself going on TV and flying all over the place. It was just ...
F: You had to make a choice, hadn’t you?
M: Exactly. After my first year, I started struggling with running the business and going to university every day. So I took a year off and waited until I got myself organized.
F: I see. And then, how do you handle time management?
M: It’s certainly a challenge. I always want to do things quickly, but occasionally, I find myself working long hours even though I have cut out things that aren’t necessary to do.
F: What about future plans?
M: There’s certainly a huge amount that I want to do just within jam. The potential for international expansion is huge. The U. S. is very appealing, so I’m starting to talk with some of the supermarkets over there and some other countries. Eventually I’d like to develop some other food products. Who knows what I’ll be doing in 10 years time...