Coleg Menai's 'Entrepreneur of the Month' Brews Up New Coffee Business!

February's Entrepreneur of the Month is Sion Owen, a Business Level 2 student at Coleg Menai, Bangor.

Sion and his father, Colin, sell coffee from a converted horse box at their local home town of Llanberis. 'Bobby's Coffee Bar', named after Sion's late grandfather, opened on 25th of October 2020, the first day of the firebreak lockdown.

Sion suffers from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and has had to have an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) - which is similar to a pacemaker - fitted in his chest. However, he was determined to not let his condition get in the way of his dreams, and decided to set up the business shortly after his diagnosis.

Sion said, "The best thing about being an entrepreneur is being able to achieve personal satisfaction, as an entrepreneur I can work for myself and be my own boss."

"I also believe there is always a place to develop in a business, and not only do I teach myself how to develop the business, it also helps me with my personal development - such as becoming independent.

He added, "The biggest barrier that I had to overcome was the fear of making decisions, before starting a business I always doubted my decisions and wondered if they were the correct ones. However, since starting the business I've learned even if you do make the wrong decision you can always correct it and learn from that decision."

Shoned Owen, Enterprise Officer for Coleg Menai, said "The Enterprise Team are very proud of Sion's achievements as his story is inspirational. When we get back to a new normal we are looking forward to visiting Sion at his pop up to film a promotional video alongside Hannah Hughes- Grwp Menai Llandrillo's Wellness Officer. This promotional video will be shared on the college Youtube and internal links."