A YOUNG man’s student side hustle, originally started to fund him through medical school, quickly turned into his new career.
Ciaran Finn, 25 and originally from Manchester, amassed a lot of debt during his time at university in Liverpool where he was studying languages.
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In September 2020, his final year at uni, he decided his next step would be to study medicine.
In early 2021, he began his side hustle, in a bid to both pay off his existing debt – and to help fund the new degree.
He paid to join a course to help him learn about running a business.
He told The Sun: “It cost me a couple of thousand pounds, which was a lot of money for me back then.
“This was cash I was spending without knowing whether my business idea would work.”
That idea was digital marketing.
While Ciaran had never had a particular passion for marketing, he had, from an early age, taken an interest in running online businesses.
“I always saw this career path as a means to giving me time and location freedom, and being able to live the life I want to live,” he said.
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“Being able to earn good money without being tied to one location, and being able to travel while working, were always big goals of mine.”
Unlike many other business ideas, starting in digital marketing has low startup costs, unless you pay for a course like Ciaran, and can often be done from anywhere.
All you need is a laptop, an internet connection, marketing skills and any tools you may need.
However, to get things going, Ciaran had to juggle the demands of starting the business, while also studying for his first degree.
“Lots of people I know quit university to start similar operations,” he said.
“But I didn’t want to drop out. I was still studying hard, and ended up graduating with a first-class degree because of that.”
But it was hard graft and Ciaran was getting up at 4am every day.
“This allowed me to fit in five hours of work on my business before lectures and tutorials began,” he said.
“I also worked on the business in between classes, and stayed up super late at night. It wasn’t at all healthy.”
But for Ciaran, this was all part of the journey.
“Back then, I knew very little apart from how to work hard and grind,” he said.
“I had a goal and knew what I wanted, so I basically just powered through brick walls with pure forward pressure, as opposed to much else.
“Happily, I now have way better time-management skills.”
Doctor No
After Ciaran graduated, he was able to work full-time on his marketing start-up.
He said: “At first, I was handling all the work myself, but I quickly realised I really enjoyed the business side of things, and so I decided not to go back to university to do medicine.”
At this point, aged 23, Ciaran focused all his efforts on building his firm bluefinnmedia.com and turning it into his full-time career.
“Building a business was the right thing for me,” said the young entrepreneur.
“Two years on, I’m the founder of an award-winning seven-figure business with a team that’s fully remote.”
Ciaran puts his fast growth and success down to a few different things.
“I have always been super hungry to learn, and never been scared to invest in myself,” he said.
“Over the past few years, I’ve spent thousands and thousands on courses, coaching and consultants to teach me everything I know.
“This has been one of the best investments I’ve made.
“If I hadn’t been willing to pay to acquire the knowledge I needed, it would have taken me a lot longer to get to this point.”
Ciaran’s current set-up gives him the time and freedom to live abroad and travel a lot.
“I’ve relocated the business to Dubai, and now live there myself,” he said.
“I enjoy travelling to Latin America whenever I can, as this means I can make use of my language degree.”
Alongside his day-to-day commitments running the business, Ciaran also now offers coaching to other agency owners, and shares his expertise as a speaker at events.
For Ciaran, one of the big upsides of being the owner of a successful business is the fact he is now in a position to clear his debts.
“It’s almost impossible to go to university without racking up loads of debt, unless you’re in the very fortunate position of having parents willing to fund the entire thing,” he said.
“I ended up running up a total of around £65,000 on a combination of student loans and personal loans.”
In his early days of running the business while still at university, Ciaran was earning around £10,000 a month.
“But I was taking absolutely nothing out of the business,” he said.
“Everything was being reinvested. As momentum began to grow, I decided I needed to move out of my university accommodation so I could focus better on the business.
“At this time, I took the remainder of my student loan and moved into a house with barely any money left.”
When Ciaran did this, he had around £10,000 in his business bank account.
He added: “I literally emptied the entire account to pay for consultants and coaches to help me grow the business further.
“It was a huge gamble at the time, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling the pressure.
“But it paid off, and in the months that followed, the business exploded.”
Student loan repayments are taken from a person’s salary at the same time as tax.
The amount you pay back every month depends on how much you’re earning and, importantly, which plan you’re on.
With Plan 1, for example, student loan repayments are due at a rate of 9 per cent on your earnings over £22,015 a year for the current tax year. Other rules also apply.
Ciaran said: “What I’ve discovered over time, is that it’s really hard to pay off what you owe on student loans, especially as your earnings increase.”
But as the business now provides Ciaran with a full-time income, he’s in the process of paying off all his student debt in one full payment.
He said: “This is something I never imagined I’d be able to do. Once I’ve done this, my aim is to pay off my family’s mortgage too.”
Obstacles to starting a business
“For me, one of the biggest obstacles was mindset. I remember the goals I set initially were so, so low,” he said.
I’d look at other people and think they had something that I didn’t.
“After growing the business further than I imagined, I’ve realised it really isn’t as difficult as it seems.
“I genuinely believe anyone can do it, as long as they put their mind to it, and work hard.”
For anyone keen to start their own business, Ciaran’s biggest tip is to invest in people to help you get to where you want to be.
He noted he’s spent money on coaches, courses, mentorships and consultants to help get the business where he wants it to go.
He added: “I’ve seen a clear link between the people willing to do that, and the ones who see the fastest growth.”
If you’re earning extra income, remember that there are tax implications.
In fact, if you earn more than £1,000 extra a year, you’ll need to pay tax on your earnings.
