Harrison Nott, a 16-year-old from Maldon, Essex, who skipped college to run his towel business full-time, is now turning over £750,000 a year. He started CoolTowel in his bedroom in 2023 and later won a pitching competition, securing a £150,000 prize. Former England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand was among the judges and was so impressed he swapped numbers with the teenager and has since become an investor.
Business booms overnight
Harrison's business started slowly and then boomed on one night this summer, amid Britain's scorching temperatures. Despite some logistical problems, the teenager's business now boasts a revenue of three-quarters-of-a-million pounds. He has also been to LA, where he mingled with famous faces including entertainer James Corden and former Manchester United star Javier Hernández.
"One night it just suddenly went boom and exploded," he explained. "I never expected it to get where it is now. It just changed my whole life."
Winning the Alibaba.com CoCreate Pitch competition
Harrison's life changed when he won the Alibaba.com CoCreate Pitch competition earlier this year, beating 15,000 entrepreneurs from across the globe and taking home a significant cash prize. Ferdinand was one of the judges, and three months ago, he decided to fully invest in the business, using his connections to "open doors" for Harrison.
Harrison said: "At that moment it was a bit of a blur. I couldn’t believe Rio Ferdinand had taken my number. This was during my GCSEs so it was a lot of emotions at once. I was a bit overwhelmed really. I was very excited and optimistic for how he could help."
"Having that name backing the business is quite a significant thing so it was a no-brainer when he offered to spend his time on it."
Sacrificing college for entrepreneurship
Harrison's towel cools by evaporation: you wet it, wring it and snap it. He sells his products on TikTok shop and Shopify, securing around 80,000 sales so far this year. A few months after his contest win, Harrison met with Rio in London to discuss his vision for the business, and the sports star decided to get involved. At the same time, Harrison was completing his GCSEs which he managed to pass, but he made the hard decision not to go to college and university as he has always planned.
"I really do value school, but me and my parents made the decision that it would be best for me to not go to college," he said. "It is like stepping away from the norm. Not going to college is burning the bridge. I think it is frowned upon in the UK to not go into education and go full-time into entrepreneurship."
Harrison continued: "It is strange. All of my friends are going to college and seeing each other, and I am on a different path which was a bit sad but it was a sacrifice that had to be made."
Sold all stock in two days
Harrison flew to LA to see the former player and meet a horde of celebrities including Corden and Hernández. Harrison added: "Rio is a lovely person. He is not arrogant at all. He truly wants to support me more than just to make money from the business. He is helping loads of young people."
"I really look up to him," he added. "I am a fan, but not a football fan. I am a fan of what he is doing now more than what he has done before."
When Harrison landed back from LA, he saw he had 20,000 notifications. It turned out he had sold all of his stock in the space of two days - making £100k in revenue in one night. He then started a pre-order function as they were selling more than they had, propelled by the continued UK heatwaves.
In one week, Harrison says they sold £600,000 worth of stock - bringing their revenue this year to over £750,000. However, things have not all been positive, and after that week they decided to stop pre-orders as there was a huge risk if orders were cancelled. He then says TikTok shop took issue with their pre-orders and cancelled several, stopping them from selling for weeks. Because of these issues, he missed out on three months of heatwaves, which he says would have made him millions. He also had problems with copycats, with some even using his face in their adverts, and one scammer raking in 20,000 orders.
Though he is doing well in revenue, he says there are many hidden costs, including advertisement campaigns and commission for affiliates, which mean he is yet to turn a profit. "It was all a punch in the face at once. It has been very good, with a very terrible last few months," Harrison said. "The future is looking a bit brighter. We have got big plans."
"It is not just a business in my bedroom anymore, it is a brand that is helping people properly," he added. "It isn’t physical cash in bank yet but I have got a lot of stock and assets. If we keep going we should break even."
