Dan Reeves, a college dropout has been building his businesses since he was 13 years old. Unlike most young teenagers who spend most of their time worrying about their GCSE grades, Dan was more focused on earning money and starting his own business at just 15 years old. Now 20, he has launched three successful businesses since then and has some ambitious plans for the future.
Like a lot of children nowadays, Dan has been an aspiring YouTuber since the age of 9. When he was just 13 years old, he started making YouTube videos and joined a Multi-Channel Network that allowed him to run ads on his videos and make some money doing so. This was Dan’s first taste at earning a living and making money by himself. However, the channel took quite a large percentage of the money he was earning, which eventually led Dan to decide to start his own channel. Dan took his own initiative and launched the fastest growing YouTube Network in the UK, which connected hundreds of YouTubers to millions of subscribers. He then sold this network to an American Company when he was just 15 years old.
With the money he earned from that business, he bought himself a new gaming PC, in-game purchases, and some new gadgets. Dan quickly spent all the money he made from that business, something he now regrets. “Any purchase that would be considered ‘stupid’, I probably did it. This was a huge learning curve and I’m so happy I learnt that lesson so early in life.”
Due to some unforeseen circumstances, Dan and his Mum became homeless when he was just 15 and were living in various temporary accommodation including council housing and B&Bs. All of this was going on whilst he was studying for his GCSEs and was a tough time for Dan and his family. Because of this, Dan knew that it was really important for him to get a job and applied for a role at an influencer agency in Birmingham.
“Growing up without money has without a doubt given me that drive to be successful.”
A train from where he lived to Birmingham was two and a half hours away. On the day of the interview, he did this journey by himself, which was the first time he had ever been on a train. After a successful interview at the company, he got the job. He worked there for 6 months before starting up his own influencer agency.
His influencer agency hit the ground running and by the age of 16 he had started getting some major brand deals and began to enjoy the success of the business he had created. Although he was not able to even drive yet, Dan managed to purchase his first car all by himself, a brand-new Mercedes.
“I remember being sat by a pool at 17 years old in Ayia Napa and receiving a payment for an £8,000 brand deal thinking I was on top of the world.”
Although Dan’s business was thriving, he was still attending college. However, he was not enjoying the experience and often found it pointless as he already had successful businesses, which he was itching to keep growing. It became far less exciting for him when he was ‘forced to apply to university’ and did not really have a say in it. This was something he was not thinking about doing in the future, so was the final straw for Dan.
“I remember the distinct realisation when I was in a business class, being taught things I had already known for years, and then actually sneakily going on my phone to reply to some emails with a client and closing a £2000 deal before the lesson had ended. That prompted me to think how far I could scale the business if I weren’t putting so much time every day into college lessons that didn’t really mean anything to me.”
He dropped out of college after being told that he had to take his AS exams at the end of the year. He knew he would not have time to revise for these, due to his growing business ventures and had already decided that he wanted to put more time into his business rather than his schoolwork. His influencer agency continued to grow and be a success, which led him to be able to buy his first performance car, a brand-new AMG, at the age of 18. This purchase led Dan to decide to shift his focus onto something that he is extremely passionate about and that is cars.
In May 2021, Dan launched his new business, Hydroshine, a car care product that he spent over half a year developing. He is extremely enthusiastic about this venture, and this is now Dan’s full-time focus.
“I’m still at the start of my entrepreneurial journey, but I have big ambitions for my ventures ahead and will work hard to ensure my businesses are successful in the future.”