Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.
LIFE IN THE FAST LANE
Henrietta Lake talks to a remarkable 14-year-old entrepreneur who is certainly going places. Between studying for nine GCSEs, including business studies, 14-year-old Dominic McVey has set up his own company, Scooters UK. The business, which imports motorized scooters and skateboards from the United States, has already made a profit of over £5,000 on sales of the equipment.
Dominic needed £3,000 to set up his business and pay for the initial stock. He used savings from birthday and Christmas money and cashed in some investments that his father had made when Dominic was born. The young entrepreneur had also invested in shares on the stock market. "I had to do the deals in my dad's name because I was too young," he says, "but he doesn't know anything about the market, so I told him what to buy and sell.”
"I realized the potential for the business when I noticed that a lot of inner-city streets were being closed to cars or they were chock-a-block with traffic,” he explains. “I thought there would be a great market for these scooters and skateboards, particularly now that more restrictions on cars in town centres have been introduced.”
"You can take a smaller one with you on a train in a backpack and then unfold it and use it when you get into town. Men in suits are riding them up and down Wall Street in the US and it is my aim to get them to do the same in this country. I approached the American manufacturer and, after doing some research into their company and the scooters, I was allowed to become their UK distributor."
The motorized scooters, which sell for 499 USD and can travel at up to 22 mph, are not classified as motor vehicles and do not need a license or tax. He also sells unmotorized skateboards for £129. They have special high-speed wheels and are capable of reaching 10 mph.
"I ride them around town in busy areas and usually end up with a crowd of people running down the street wanting to know where to buy them, or winding down their car windows at traffic lights," he says. Recently he went with his mother on a sales trip to Paris. "The scooters are really popular there because the centre of the city is pedestrianized at the weekend. I went out with 500 leaflets and came back with none."
In the early stages Dominic had to overcome one or two obstacles. When he tried to open a business account at his bank, he made an appointment to see the manager. However, the bank thought it was a joke, and when he arrived there they had not set up any time for the meeting. "This really upset me," says Dominic, "but I managed to get a good rate of interest on the account because they were so embarrassed. I think people should take children more seriously."
Now that he has succeeded in setting up the business Dominic wants to expand it. At the moment, the company is still importing scooters in small numbers. "But business is picking up and so I am ordering a big container of 106 scooters in the New Year.” Dominic is aiming to sell 500 scooters over the next 12 months. "I think it is worth taking the risk when you are young: if the worst happens, I have my parents' support and I am still at school."
He also plans to open a showroom for his scooters in the City of London, "right by some traffic lights so people stop and look". His idea would then be to sell the business and look for further opportunities to make money. “I'd like to be able to retire before I'm 40," he tells me.
How did Dominic raise the necessary money to set up his company?