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A 16-year-old British girl earns £48,000 helping Chinese people name their babies

townhaus

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/artic...8000-helping-chinese-people-name-their-babies

A 16-year-old has made £48,000 from a website she made to give Chinese babies English names.

Beau Jessup, a British A-level student from Gloucestershire, came up with the idea after a family visit to China.

They were out for a meal with friends when she was asked to give an English name to a newborn baby.

In China it is considered important to have an English name for future study or business with the UK.

'Special Name' requires the user to pick five of the 12 personality traits they hope their baby will grow into
In China they name their child based on the elements and Beau wanted a similarity between how they pick their Chinese name and how they pick their English name.

And she does this by assigning personality traits to each English name.

They also select the gender of the baby and pay the equivalent of 60p.

The three chosen names are then shared with family and friends on We-Chat, China's WhatsApp equivalent, to help make the final decision.

Each suggestion is printed on a certificate with its meaning and an example of a famous person with that name.

_91009598_specialnamestraits.jpg

Beau says that when she was first asked to name her father's friend's baby, she was surprised.

"I'm not really qualified or relevant enough in that baby's life to be the person to give it a name."

But after hearing of some of the "embarrassing" names, Beau decided she needed to act.

There was someone called Rolex
_91004995_1.beaujessup-15.08.2016.jpg

"There are quite a few examples where people have gotten the names wrong."

Beau explains that the Chinese are fascinated by western culture but their access to it is restricted by the government in China.

There isn't open access to the internet so they can't use standard baby naming websites that people may use in the UK.

"Being exposed to luxury items and things like Harry Potter, Disney films and Lord of the Rings means they use those for reference.

"I once heard of someone called Gandalf and another called Cinderella."

Amelia and Oliver were the most popular baby names in England and Wales in 2015
_91012213_topbabynames2015.png

That's according to the Office for National Statistics which released thecomplete set of data last week.

But Beau doesn't know which names are the most popular on her website, and she's "happy about that".

"It is called 'special name' and it's based on individual preference and what they personally want their child to be."

Beau says it's quite strange to know she's named more than 200,000 babies
"It's nice to be a part of such a happy experience and be a part of those young stages in a baby's life."

The site's success has been a pleasant surprise.

"I wanted to do it just to see if an idea could turn into more than just simply an idea.

"And I never expected it to become more than just a small project because I never really considered myself very academic.

"It is obviously a nice surprise, but it is definitely a surprise."

The website doesn't make a feature of Beau's age.

In fact it shows an older woman in the "about us" section.

"It is a photo of a lady from [stock photo site] Stockshare which I purchased as I wanted people to take the service seriously - and I was aware they may not take it seriously if they knew my age," she explains.
 
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townhaus

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What struck me was this at the end

"The website doesn't make a feature of Beau's age.

In fact it shows an older woman in the "about us" section.

"It is a photo of a lady from [stock photo site] Stockshare which I purchased as I wanted people to take the service seriously - and I was aware they may not take it seriously if they knew my age," she explains."

upload_2016-9-11_18-48-14.png

Fake it till you make it?

Also, over 200,000 babies named and £48,000 translates to about £0.20 per sale. I wonder how she gets so much free traffic. I also think she could charge a lot more.

UPDATE: I think the 200,000k+ numbers are fake. Not surprising given China. Either way, i tried to make a purchase and it's only 9 yuan (under $2).

I suspect the numbers and story have exaggerated to get free press traffic. (16 year old girl, 200k names)

Whois reads

51b8cdb7efbf4abe2e26af76cc73d3128bc224a41c59424e83e9cf43b00a354c.gif


Creation Date
02/11/2015

Info on Specialname Ltd

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/09500183/filing-history

DateDescriptionView / Download
30 May 2016Annual return made up to 19 March 2016 with full list of shareholders
Statement of capital on 2016-05-30
  • GBP 1
04 Dec 2015Appointment of Beau Rose Jessup as a director on 12 October 2015
04 Dec 2015Termination of appointment of Paul Edward Jessup as a director on 12 October 2015
20 Mar 2015Registered office address changed from Turnberry House 1404-1410 High Road Whetstone London N20 9BH England to Turnberry House 1404-1410 High Road Whetstone London N20 9BH on 20 March 2015
20 Mar 2015Director's details changed for Mr Paul Edward Jessup on 19 March 2015
19 Mar 2015Incorporation
Statement of capital on 2015-03-19
  • GBP 1
  • Model articles adopted
 
Last edited:

Pete.Watson

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Awesome story though!

I hope it is one of many ideas Beau comes up with and makes it reality. I think it's very clever how she has managed to incorporate WeChat into her naming as well. I work with a lot of Chinese clients and a lot of my sales are done directly over WeChat, yet so many huge companies struggle or don't even know what it is!
 

Azure

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Read about this on reddit. Apparently her father started the business then used his daughter as a gimmick. Also the traffic numbers are skewed according to someone who ran an Alexa search.
 

Crossroads

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/artic...8000-helping-chinese-people-name-their-babies

A 16-year-old has made £48,000 from a website she made to give Chinese babies English names.

Beau Jessup, a British A-level student from Gloucestershire, came up with the idea after a family visit to China.

They were out for a meal with friends when she was asked to give an English name to a newborn baby.

In China it is considered important to have an English name for future study or business with the UK.

'Special Name' requires the user to pick five of the 12 personality traits they hope their baby will grow into
In China they name their child based on the elements and Beau wanted a similarity between how they pick their Chinese name and how they pick their English name.

And she does this by assigning personality traits to each English name.

They also select the gender of the baby and pay the equivalent of 60p.

The three chosen names are then shared with family and friends on We-Chat, China's WhatsApp equivalent, to help make the final decision.

Each suggestion is printed on a certificate with its meaning and an example of a famous person with that name.

_91009598_specialnamestraits.jpg

Beau says that when she was first asked to name her father's friend's baby, she was surprised.

"I'm not really qualified or relevant enough in that baby's life to be the person to give it a name."

But after hearing of some of the "embarrassing" names, Beau decided she needed to act.

There was someone called Rolex
_91004995_1.beaujessup-15.08.2016.jpg

"There are quite a few examples where people have gotten the names wrong."

Beau explains that the Chinese are fascinated by western culture but their access to it is restricted by the government in China.

There isn't open access to the internet so they can't use standard baby naming websites that people may use in the UK.

"Being exposed to luxury items and things like Harry Potter, Disney films and Lord of the Rings means they use those for reference.

"I once heard of someone called Gandalf and another called Cinderella."

Amelia and Oliver were the most popular baby names in England and Wales in 2015
_91012213_topbabynames2015.png

That's according to the Office for National Statistics which released thecomplete set of data last week.

But Beau doesn't know which names are the most popular on her website, and she's "happy about that".

"It is called 'special name' and it's based on individual preference and what they personally want their child to be."

Beau says it's quite strange to know she's named more than 200,000 babies
"It's nice to be a part of such a happy experience and be a part of those young stages in a baby's life."

The site's success has been a pleasant surprise.

"I wanted to do it just to see if an idea could turn into more than just simply an idea.

"And I never expected it to become more than just a small project because I never really considered myself very academic.

"It is obviously a nice surprise, but it is definitely a surprise."

The website doesn't make a feature of Beau's age.

In fact it shows an older woman in the "about us" section.

"It is a photo of a lady from [stock photo site] Stockshare which I purchased as I wanted people to take the service seriously - and I was aware they may not take it seriously if they knew my age," she explains.
I hope she goes far; she has the heart of an entrepreneur. Thanks for sharing this.
 

mrarcher

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As you aren't allowed to be a director until you are 16 it I possible that her dad incorporated the company for her when she was 15. I'm sure you would do that if your kid had a great idea. I know I would.
What struck me was this at the end

"The website doesn't make a feature of Beau's age.

In fact it shows an older woman in the "about us" section.

"It is a photo of a lady from [stock photo site] Stockshare which I purchased as I wanted people to take the service seriously - and I was aware they may not take it seriously if they knew my age," she explains."

View attachment 13158

Fake it till you make it?

Also, over 200,000 babies named and £48,000 translates to about £0.20 per sale. I wonder how she gets so much free traffic. I also think she could charge a lot more.

UPDATE: I think the 200,000k+ numbers are fake. Not surprising given China. Either way, i tried to make a purchase and it's only 9 yuan (under $2).

I suspect the numbers and story have exaggerated to get free press traffic. (16 year old girl, 200k names)

Whois reads

51b8cdb7efbf4abe2e26af76cc73d3128bc224a41c59424e83e9cf43b00a354c.gif


Creation Date
02/11/2015

Info on Specialname Ltd

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/09500183/filing-history

DateDescriptionView / Download
30 May 2016Annual return made up to 19 March 2016 with full list of shareholders
Statement of capital on 2016-05-30
  • GBP 1
04 Dec 2015Appointment of Beau Rose Jessup as a director on 12 October 2015
04 Dec 2015Termination of appointment of Paul Edward Jessup as a director on 12 October 2015
20 Mar 2015Registered office address changed from Turnberry House 1404-1410 High Road Whetstone London N20 9BH England to Turnberry House 1404-1410 High Road Whetstone London N20 9BH on 20 March 2015
20 Mar 2015Director's details changed for Mr Paul Edward Jessup on 19 March 2015
19 Mar 2015Incorporation
Statement of capital on 2015-03-19
  • GBP 1
  • Model articles adopted
 
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AgainstAllOdds

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Dec 26, 2014
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Also, over 200,000 babies named and £48,000 translates to about £0.20 per sale. I wonder how she gets so much free traffic. I also think she could charge a lot more.

My assumption is that Chinese people are using the site for more than just their babies. Salespeople, travelers, and anyone that's interested in having an international name likely uses the service.

Just scrolling through some of the salespeople I work with, the names are basic:
  • Alice
  • Sam
  • Sara
  • Max
  • Amanda
  • Amy
  • Catherine
There's a huge market for grown Chinese people to "change" their names.

I think it's very clever how she has managed to incorporate WeChat into her naming as well. I work with a lot of Chinese clients and a lot of my sales are done directly over WeChat, yet so many huge companies struggle or don't even know what it is!

I don't know how to sell through Wechat, but have heard that it's the easiest way to get traction in China.
 

GMSI7D

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Last edited:

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