Meet Karina – she’s 24, and the co-founder of Flawsome! Drinks which is based in Cardiff. Find out about her life as the owner of a business that's tackling food and plastic waste. Part of our Bitesize world of work series.
Karina:
Hi, my name is Karina, I'm 24 years old, and I'm the co-founder of Flawsome! Drinks.
I was born in Lithuania and I moved to the UK when I was 14 years old. After secondary school, I decided to pursue my career and do a BTEC in Travel and Tourism, where, eventually, I thought I would become an air hostess.
My life has changed when I met my business partner and husband, where he inspired me to start up our own business and become entrepreneurs. Our business is a fruit juice company. We take imperfect fruit and vegetables that otherwise could be wasted and make juices out of it. Also we sell the juices we make in recyclable glass bottles.
The idea originated from a food waste campaign where it stated that we waste 4.4 million apples every day in the UK. We also donate our drinks to various charities.
We source our produce not only in the UK, but also Europe. One of the warehouses is located just five minutes' walk from our Cardiff office where we store our drinks and deliver them to local, independent cafes and restaurants. Alongside running the business, I'm also studying a BA Human Resource Management degree. This helps me find new talent and look after my employees. It's also improved highly my communication and leadership skills.
Karina's business partner:
Karina brought so much enthusiasm to our business. She's passionate about helping others and tackling food and plastic waste. She also keeps me challenged, everyday she asks me so many questions – how we can optimise the business, and how much we can improve our impact to help to solve those social issues.
Karina:As a mum of twins and an entrepreneur, I believe in a sustainable future – a future where there's no food waste and no food poverty.
I believe in a sustainable future where there is no food waste and no food poverty.
- Karina's company makes drinks from ugly, but edible fruit that would otherwise be thrown away. They sell them in recyclable glass bottles
- The business was created to tackle food and plastic waste in the food and drink industries
- To enhance her skills and knowledge of running a successful business, Karina is studying for a degree in Human Resource Management.
What to expect if you want to be a business owner
The salary and working hours when you own a business can vary enormously but what's most important is that you work hard and love what you do.
Working for yourself looks different for each person and each business, but in general it means you:
- run your own business and are responsible for its success
- can decide how, when and where you do your work
- charge an agreed, fixed price for your work
- sell goods or services to make a profit
- can hire people at your own expense to help you or to do the work for you.
You can be both employed and self-employed at the same time. You can work for your employer during the day, for example, and run your own business in the evenings and at weekends. It’s important to contact HMRC for advice if you’re not sure if you’re self-employed.
You can get help with setting up or developing your business, through the government’s business support services, for example, for advice about tax or about how to find funding to start your business.
This information is a guide (source: GOV.UK).
For careers advice in all parts of the UK visit: National Careers Service (England), nidirect (Northern Ireland), My World of Work (Scotland) and Careers Wales (Wales).
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