Creating your own business and building it from the ground up is an adventure that some only embark upon later in life. For others, it starts at a surprisingly young age: Shane Vaughan is only 11 years old, but he runs his own egg-supply company. He is in sixth class in Lahinch National School in Co Clare, while on the side he’s also the proud owner of seven hens (there were nine originally, but one broke its neck and another got eaten by a fox, according to Shane).
He sells the eggs laid by his hens to a local restaurant every week. “I go down once a week and give them about 45 eggs and sell them for 40c apiece,” Shane says. He explains that the original price was 50c an egg, but he gives a small discount to the owner for featuring his name on the menu – under every dish that includes his eggs, the menu reads: free range eggs from Shane Vaughan.
“Shane recently adjusted the price for inflation,” says Denis Vaughan, laughing. He is the owner of Vaughan’s on the Prom in Lahinch. “Then there was a photographer that came and took pictures of him and his business, so he decided he was a bit of a celebrity and that made the price go up a bit again. He continuously tries to reinvent the pricing structure to suit himself.”
The names are no coincidence – Denis also happens to be Shane’s uncle (more precisely, Denis is cousins with Shane’s father). “Denis and Shane are constantly fighting over the egg prices,” says Shane’s mother, Jude Vaughan, with a laugh.
Vaughan’s chefs use Shane’s eggs to make mushroom sauce as well as poached eggs on black pudding. “I always get the black pudding when we go there,” says Shane.
He keeps the seven hens in the back garden, where they have lots of space to run around inside a fence set up just for them. Sometimes Shane also lets them out so they can get some fresh grass, as he puts it.
Jude, who works for medical device company Boston Scientific, says that she helps her son a little, here and there: “I help him out sometimes, with the cleaning out, for example. But Shane does 90% of the work, I would say. He checks on them every morning and evening, makes sure they have food and water, he does it all. I was averse to the idea of him having hens at first, but he kept at it.”
Shane Vaughan and his hens
Lawnmower
Asked how he feels about school, Shane replies: “A waste of time, it is not fun.” His business endeavours are what truly excite this young entrepreneur. “Next summer, I’m buying a lawnmower and going cutting lawns. I work for my daddy in his joinery, and I put the money I make aside so I can afford a lawnmower and a strimmer.” Indeed, Jude says Shane is very driven, that he prefers the practical things in life and likes seeing results – “he’s always up to some scheme,” she says.
Shane’s future lawnmowing business won’t be the end of his egg supplying endeavours – in fact, he has plans to scale up. “I’m buying 10 new hens. I was thinking of getting 60 of them, but then I had the idea of cutting lawns, so I’ll only buy 10,” he explains. Shane started out by selling his eggs to neighbours, but then decided to supply exclusively for his uncle’s restaurant – the plan is to keep this business model after he expands the number of hens to 17.
“That’s not his only business,” uncle Denis says “Have you heard about his sawdust business? He collects all the big bags of sawdust in his dad’s joinery and sells it to local farmers who use it for bedding their horses and cattle. It’s very popular.”
Indeed, entrepreneurship runs in the Vaughan family. Shane’s father owns a joinery, while Shane’s uncle owns two restaurants, one fish and chips place and an ice cream parlour. The Vaughans’ restaurants are famous for their seafood – 90% of their dishes are made from local fish. Their ice cream parlour, Spooney’s, follows the cow-to-cone strategy: “We collect the milk from local farmers, then pasteurise it and make the ice cream on site,” says Denis.
The first Vaughan’s restaurant was Vaughan’s Anchor Inn in Liscannor, and it was opened by Denis’ parents, John and Annette Vaughan, in 1979. When asked whether these culinary businesses bring in good money, Denis responds: “I’ve yet to meet a business person who doesn’t make money. The issue is keeping it. But we’re doing good, we can’t complain.”
His advice for young aspiring entrepreneurs like his nephew is the following: “Do something that you enjoy doing. Don’t do something purely for the money.” So, do you enjoy running a restaurant business, we ask? “That’s all I’ve ever done, all I know how to do. So I better enjoy it, I have no choice,” he laughs.
We hatched out some buddies for the summer holidays and entered them to win in Barryroe show. - Ryan and Sam Cuffe, Co Cork
10 year old Roisin Meacle from Co Offaly has 10 hens. One of them recently laid a unique egg that had three yolks.
10 year old Roisin Meacle from Co Offaly has 10 hens. One of them recently laid a unique egg that had three yolks.
• Shane Vaughan owns seven hens and sells about 45 eggs to a local restaurant every week.
• His eggs cost 40c apiece – that includes a 10c discount.
• For that discount, the restaurant includes his name on the menu.
• Shane’s uncle Denis Vaughan owns Vaughan’s Anchor Inn and Vaughan’s on the Prom, two seafood restaurants.
• Shane wants to be a construction engineer when he grows up, so he can build houses and be around machines.
Creating your own business and building it from the ground up is an adventure that some only embark upon later in life. For others, it starts at a surprisingly young age: Shane Vaughan is only 11 years old, but he runs his own egg-supply company. He is in sixth class in Lahinch National School in Co Clare, while on the side he’s also the proud owner of seven hens (there were nine originally, but one broke its neck and another got eaten by a fox, according to Shane).
He sells the eggs laid by his hens to a local restaurant every week. “I go down once a week and give them about 45 eggs and sell them for 40c apiece,” Shane says. He explains that the original price was 50c an egg, but he gives a small discount to the owner for featuring his name on the menu – under every dish that includes his eggs, the menu reads: free range eggs from Shane Vaughan.
“Shane recently adjusted the price for inflation,” says Denis Vaughan, laughing. He is the owner of Vaughan’s on the Prom in Lahinch. “Then there was a photographer that came and took pictures of him and his business, so he decided he was a bit of a celebrity and that made the price go up a bit again. He continuously tries to reinvent the pricing structure to suit himself.”
The names are no coincidence – Denis also happens to be Shane’s uncle (more precisely, Denis is cousins with Shane’s father). “Denis and Shane are constantly fighting over the egg prices,” says Shane’s mother, Jude Vaughan, with a laugh.
Vaughan’s chefs use Shane’s eggs to make mushroom sauce as well as poached eggs on black pudding. “I always get the black pudding when we go there,” says Shane.
He keeps the seven hens in the back garden, where they have lots of space to run around inside a fence set up just for them. Sometimes Shane also lets them out so they can get some fresh grass, as he puts it.
Jude, who works for medical device company Boston Scientific, says that she helps her son a little, here and there: “I help him out sometimes, with the cleaning out, for example. But Shane does 90% of the work, I would say. He checks on them every morning and evening, makes sure they have food and water, he does it all. I was averse to the idea of him having hens at first, but he kept at it.”
Shane Vaughan and his hens
Lawnmower
Asked how he feels about school, Shane replies: “A waste of time, it is not fun.” His business endeavours are what truly excite this young entrepreneur. “Next summer, I’m buying a lawnmower and going cutting lawns. I work for my daddy in his joinery, and I put the money I make aside so I can afford a lawnmower and a strimmer.” Indeed, Jude says Shane is very driven, that he prefers the practical things in life and likes seeing results – “he’s always up to some scheme,” she says.
Shane’s future lawnmowing business won’t be the end of his egg supplying endeavours – in fact, he has plans to scale up. “I’m buying 10 new hens. I was thinking of getting 60 of them, but then I had the idea of cutting lawns, so I’ll only buy 10,” he explains. Shane started out by selling his eggs to neighbours, but then decided to supply exclusively for his uncle’s restaurant – the plan is to keep this business model after he expands the number of hens to 17.
“That’s not his only business,” uncle Denis says “Have you heard about his sawdust business? He collects all the big bags of sawdust in his dad’s joinery and sells it to local farmers who use it for bedding their horses and cattle. It’s very popular.”
Indeed, entrepreneurship runs in the Vaughan family. Shane’s father owns a joinery, while Shane’s uncle owns two restaurants, one fish and chips place and an ice cream parlour. The Vaughans’ restaurants are famous for their seafood – 90% of their dishes are made from local fish. Their ice cream parlour, Spooney’s, follows the cow-to-cone strategy: “We collect the milk from local farmers, then pasteurise it and make the ice cream on site,” says Denis.
The first Vaughan’s restaurant was Vaughan’s Anchor Inn in Liscannor, and it was opened by Denis’ parents, John and Annette Vaughan, in 1979. When asked whether these culinary businesses bring in good money, Denis responds: “I’ve yet to meet a business person who doesn’t make money. The issue is keeping it. But we’re doing good, we can’t complain.”
His advice for young aspiring entrepreneurs like his nephew is the following: “Do something that you enjoy doing. Don’t do something purely for the money.” So, do you enjoy running a restaurant business, we ask? “That’s all I’ve ever done, all I know how to do. So I better enjoy it, I have no choice,” he laughs.
We hatched out some buddies for the summer holidays and entered them to win in Barryroe show. - Ryan and Sam Cuffe, Co Cork
10 year old Roisin Meacle from Co Offaly has 10 hens. One of them recently laid a unique egg that had three yolks.
10 year old Roisin Meacle from Co Offaly has 10 hens. One of them recently laid a unique egg that had three yolks.
• Shane Vaughan owns seven hens and sells about 45 eggs to a local restaurant every week.
• His eggs cost 40c apiece – that includes a 10c discount.
• For that discount, the restaurant includes his name on the menu.
• Shane’s uncle Denis Vaughan owns Vaughan’s Anchor Inn and Vaughan’s on the Prom, two seafood restaurants.
• Shane wants to be a construction engineer when he grows up, so he can build houses and be around machines.
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