A charming business idea from two teenagers from Ballyhaunis has beaten off competition from 1,500 other young entrepreneurs to make the finals of the Foroige Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.
Chloe Hilson and Kirsten O’Neill, both 14, are the brains behind Mini Magik, a business which sells cute charms at a reasonable price.
“We were walking around shops looking for charms, but nowhere had any nice ones and of the charms we could find, they were super expensive so we thought we would make our own,” explained Ms Hilson. The duo were among the 1,500 participants who set up 600 businesses as part of this year’s Foróige entrepreneurship programme.
“Our target market is teenagers and people looking for presents. First though, we wanted to find out which charms would sell best so we sold our products at a local disco. From there, we knew which charms we needed to produce more of as they were our biggest sellers,” said Ms O’Neill.
“Our designs are unique - our mission is to create the cutest charms around. One of our most popular charms for instance is the mocking bird symbol from the Hunger Games films. I also love my Mayo jersey charm, which will be a huge seller as the GAA season heats up,” explained Ms O’Neill.
The girls marketed their products - which cost between €2 and €3 through word of mouth and Facebook and they now sell their products at local discos. They also have a strong social responsibility ethos and donate two per cent of their profits to the ISPCC.
