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Press
Sussex Business Matters- 27.11.2009.
"Student’s million
pound web idea
A MILLION pounds is hard to come by,
but former Haywards Heath College student,
18-year-old Michael Roberts isn’t
leaving it to chance with a brand new website
he has invented.
millionpoundlist.com is a simple
idea hoping to hit the big time with the
investment of local businesses. Michael’s
virtual list hopes to attract aspiring entrepreneurs
who can’t afford to advertise.
They can add themselves and a link to
their website for as little or as much cash
as they wish to spend. The more money
they part with, the higher up the list they
are placed and the closer they will be to
attracting investors’ attention.
With the recent help of A-levels in maths
and physics, plus a qualification in web
design, Michael put his know-how to good
use. “I built the website for free using a
template called site monster pro,” Michael
told Business Matters. “I'm trying to prove
that you don't need a budget of millions to
promote an idea on a large scale.”
Michael has set up the website to fund
one of his many business ideas. “For a
long time I have wanted to set up a price
comparison website for musical instruments,”
he said.
“The only thing stopping me is the lack
of funding needed to set it up. When trying
to find ways of raising capital, I thought of
setting up the list, which would help local
companies, and hopefully raise enough
money for me to build the website.”
Michael’s budding rock star friends
‘Superlungs’ have already signed up to the
website, as have their record label Yellow
Fish Music. With more publicity Michael
hopes his idea will take off.
The Argus - 24.11.2009/ The Leader - 26.11.2009
"Top of young Sussex entrepreneur's to-do list is starting his own business.
A young entrepreneur has come up with a novel way of trying to raise money to start his own business.
Michael Roberts left school in the summer with dreams of becoming the next Richard Branson.
The 18-year-old said: “I have always wanted to start my own business and because I have been playing the drums for years, I came up with the idea of a price comparison website for musical instruments.
“But I don’t have any funding so I decided to try and raise money in a more creative way.”
Michael, who lives with his mother in Haywards Heath, bought the internet domain name millionpoundlist.com and has created an online directory offering businesses across Sussex the chance to advertise.
The twist is that, the more a company or individual pays, the higher up the list they will appear.
He said: “There is nothing quite like it out there at the moment.
Anyone signing up now will be online for the next five years and they can advertise for as little as £1.”
Michael bought the domain name for £15 and arranged for the site to be hosted for a year.
He has already raised £79, with the top listed business paying £25 for the privilege.
Michael said: “The website name is an attention-grabber so a business does not have to have a lot of advertising budget to get interest from the public.
“I did an interview on the radio and afterwards a lot of people phoned me up to ask me more about it.”
Although the site is called the millionpoundlist, Michael estimates that he needs to raise £10,000 to set up the price comparison site.
He said: “I’ve had a few brief meetings with banks but unless you have a house that you can put up as collateral they are not interested.
“I also thought about going on Dragons’ Den but they want your idea to be a bit further along than mine is at the moment.”
The former student of Central Sussex College has always had an entrepreneurial streak. He took part in the Young Enterprise challenge in Year 9 and used to make money selling sweets to classmates when he first started secondary school.
“I had to stop because it was become too much of a full-time job. The teachers were not very happy either.”
Anyone interested in joining the list should visit the website and email Michael with the information they want uploaded and the price they are willing to pay.
Visit www.millionpoundlist.com."
BBC Sussex Radio - 17.11.2009. Live interview on the Breakfast Show
Mercury FM - 12.11.2009. Featured on the News.
If you would like to run an article on this project please contact me at press@millionpoundlist.com |