UK teen makes £48k helping Chinese parents name their babies
A 16-year-old school girl is earning £48,000 a year after creating a site that helps Chinese parents find the perfect English name for their bundles of joy!
Credit: Beau JessupYour name is obviously pretty important. It comes to define part of who you are, and is normally the first impression people have of you, so it is no wonder that picking the perfect name for your child is a really hard decision.
For 16-year-old Beau Jessup from Gloucestershire, she's found the perfect niche in the baby-naming market – helping new parents in China come up with the perfect English name for their baby.
Oh, and she's earns £48,000 a year doing so!
Why do parents in China need help with names?
It's popular in China to give your baby an English name as well as a Chinese one, in case your child ends up studying or working in a Western country when they grow up.
Chinese names can be difficult for English speakers to pronounce, so the idea is that having an English name as well will set their kids up comfortably for any future plans outside of China.
However, as the internet is restricted in China it makes it quite tough for parents-to-be to get access to English baby-naming websites, resulting in some parents naming their children after luxury items or film characters.
After catching wind of babies being named 'Cinderella', 'Gandalf' and 'Rolex', and being asked during a trip to China to personally name a few babies she met, Beau realised she could turn this into a serious cash-earning business venture!
How the site works
Beau explains that her website is called 'Special Name' because the names chosen are based on the personality traits that parents pick.
Her website gives parents the option to pick five personality traits from a list of twelve - such as honesty, elegance, creativity and optimism - and select the baby's gender to produce some suggestions based on these desired qualities.
After paying the equivalent of 60p, three names are short-listed and sent to the family and friends of the couple via social media to help them choose a name for their baby.
When the name has been chosen, the parents are then sent a certificate listing the baby's name, the traits associated with it and a famous namesake if one applies.
So far, Beau has helped name over 200,000 babies and made a small fortune. She says she's going to use the money she makes to pay for university fees.
Beau found a gap in the market and went for it! Check out our tips on starting a business at uni – with some hard work and a great idea, you could earn enough to be your own boss some day, sitting around in your pants drinking champagne. That's the ultimate dream... right?
