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\n\t\tThe Apprentice star Dan Miller turned his teenage dream into a multi-million pound business (Picture: BBC\/ Ray Burminston)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tThe Apprentice star Dan Miller turned his teenage dream into a multi-million pound business (Picture: BBC\/ Ray Burminston)<\/p>\n
Just a decade ago, Dan Miller was a high school student with a dream to help others get their foot into the competitive job market.<\/p>\n
In 2016, the high school student from Derby decided to kick-start his idea to establish a business that would connect teenagers not wanting to pursue higher education with companies to secure apprenticeships, graduate and work experience programmes.<\/p>\n
His dream has become a reality \u2013 with his business Young Professionals now working with over 4,000 schools across the country. In the years since it was started, it\u2019s helped 600,000 students and is now worth an estimated \u00a34,000,000<\/p>\n
Dan, 27, was also one of the candidates on this season<\/a> of The Apprentice<\/a>,where he was in the running for a mentorship and a \u00a3250,000 investment from Lord Alan Sugar<\/a>.<\/p>\n Although he just missed out on making the final in last night\u2019s episode, Dan told Metro that signing up to be on the show was \u2018never about the money\u2019.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tGet personalised updates on The Apprentice\t\t\t<\/p>\n Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro\u2019s TV Newsletter.<\/p>\n Sign up to our newsletter<\/a> and then select your show in the link we\u2019ll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you.<\/p>\n Instead, he explained: \u2018I was hoping to use Lord Sugar\u2019s name and connections in the business world, but also if I could spread the word of apprenticeships and work experience \u2013 that is a big win for me as well,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n \t\t Looking back at his early penchant for developing business ideas, Dan said he always wanted to be self-sufficient.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019ve always been entrepreneurial from a young age and selling things at a market and doing car washes in the village. I\u2019ve always liked making my own money,\u2019 he explained.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m not from a wealthy family but my grandmother paid for my sister and I to go to a private school. <\/p>\n \u2018We either had to sell our house and move to a better catchment area or go to a local school, but my parents didn\u2019t want me to do that with my learning difficulties and thought I wouldn\u2019t be given the same opportunities or treated in the right way.\u2019<\/p>\n \t\t While his family \u2018scarified a lot to send me to a really good school\u2019, Dan was then exposed to an incredibly wealthy environment where he recalled others turning up to school \u2018in their Porsches and Ferraris\u2019. <\/p>\n However he believes this made him more aspirational and drove him to want to achieve the same level of wealth for himself one day \u2013 but off his own back.<\/p>\n As a student, Dan recalls travelling into London with some of his friends, who would \u2018walk into Christian Dior aged 17 and just grab whatever they wanted off the shelves because their parents were paying for it\u2019.<\/p>\n As he put it: \u2018There I was with not even \u00a3100 to my name.\u2019 Knowing he didn\u2019t want to go to university Dan \u2013 who is dyslexic and has Asperger\u2019s \u2013 wanted to create career fairs that didn\u2019t just sell high school students degrees and instead helped them get full-time jobs straight out of school.<\/p>\n \t\t Armed with his idea, he contacted two locally based companies \u2013 Rolls Royce and Experian \u2013 who both immediately signed him cheques for thousands of pounds.<\/p>\n \u2018I was 17 at the time thinking \u201cflipping hell this is a lot of money\u201d. But I put my money in with the company and started working with local schools and doing events across the East Midlands for students and then I made \u00a330,000 in school then I took a gap year before moving to London and I\u2019ve been here almost 10 years now,\u2019 he explained.<\/p>\n Although setting up a business as a teenager might seem ambitious, Dan believes it was hugely advantageous as he \u2018didn\u2019t have anything to lose\u2019.<\/p>\n \u2018If it didn\u2019t go well I\u2019d just build up some skills and would have ended up going to get a job somewhere or getting an apprenticeship. A lot of startups fail, but I believe that because I started so young I didn\u2019t have the financial burdens or a mortgage<\/a> or rent or children to look after \u2013 I was living at home for free with my parents. <\/p>\n It was a huge risk going on The Apprentice<\/p>\n Quote \u2018So, every bit of money I was making from the business while I was in school, I was saving it to help me pave the way for later down the line for when I did make the move to London.\u2019<\/p>\n When that move eventually came, Dan would spend each day travelling into Canary Wharf<\/a> armed with a notebook and pen. He\u2019d go through the business district and would write down all the big brand names plastered on the windows and walls outside of office buildings.<\/p>\n \u2018Most of them, I didn\u2019t even have a clue what they were. But I thought to myself, \u201cIf they can afford an office here, maybe they can afford to work with me\u201d. <\/p>\n \u2018So, I\u2019d write down the names and would go home and go onto LinkedIn and reach out to people at these organisations and slowly but surely it all started coming together and people were getting back to me\u2026 but it was a long slog to be honest,\u2019 he recalled.<\/p>\n \u2018There were times when I had no money or thought I\u2019d have to move back home because it wasn\u2019t working out. It was difficult and I think a lot of people don\u2019t see that. They just see the company now.\u2019<\/p>\n Although he made it so close to the end of the BBC<\/a> business series, Dan admits he did have reservations about taking part.<\/p>\n \u2018To be honest, it was a huge risk going on the show. I\u2019ve built this business up from scratch by myself since the age of 17, and this was the first time I\u2019ve ever stepped away from my company, and it was also for two months,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n \u2018We work with some of the biggest companies in the world, like Goldman Sachs and PWC \u2013 these mega brands. <\/p>\n If I can open the door to one student, that means the world to me<\/p>\n Quote \u2018It\u2019s a huge risk going on such a high-profile show like this because if I\u2019m edited in a certain way when I come across as arrogant or disruptive or stupid, I could potentially lose clients because of it.\u2019<\/p>\n Despite his initial concerns, Dan said he felt he was able to stay true to himself while filming, and he learnt some invaluable lessons from his experience.<\/p>\n \u2018It has made me a better businessman because I had to make decisions so quickly, be able to work with different people from different backgrounds and diversity of thought and also haggle and get better deals,\u2019 he shared.<\/p>\n \t\t Since being on the show, Dan has also been approached by more and more students, who have thanked him for the work he\u2019s done over the years.<\/p>\n \u2018If I can open up the door to just one student and they get an opportunity off the back of it, that means the world to me to be honest. <\/p>\n \u2018If Young Professionals wasn\u2019t here doing these things for students, so many opportunities would disappear,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n \u2018For me, it\u2019s about keeping building the brand and business and keeping helping people, no matter their background or upbringing.<\/p>\n \u2018Whether you\u2019re at a private school or a deprived school, it doesn\u2019t really matter as long as you have the right attitude and want to achieve things. It doesn\u2019t matter about background or upbringing \u2013 if you have the right attitude, we want you part of the network.\u2019<\/p>\n The Apprentice final airs tonight at 8pm on BBC One.<\/p>\n Got a story?<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk<\/a> entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff<\/a> page \u2013 we\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"TX](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SEI_289013377-ecfe.jpg\")
\n\t\tHe made it all the way to the semi-final of the BBC business series (Picture: BBC)<\/p>\n![\"Metro](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SEI_292528900-4ea6-e1775744012653.jpg\")
\n\t\tHe launched his business, Young Professionals, when he was just a teenager (Picture: Dan Miller\/ Instagram)<\/p>\n![\"Metro](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SEI_292529086-394b.jpg\")
\n\t\tDan has helped over 600,000 students (Picture: Dan Miller\/ Instagram)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tDan said signing up to The Apprentice was a \u2018huge risk\u2019 but it had taught him valuable lessons (Picture: BBC\/ Naked)<\/p>\n
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