11-year-old starts business to share passion for paddle boarding

Wednesday 17 August 2022

João Pedro Vieira (11) believes that "anyone visiting Jersey should be able to hire a paddle board at an affordable price to explore any beach they like."

It is for this reason that the young water-sport enthusiast decided to start his own business, called Jersey PaddleBoarding4Hire.

João Pedro was born in Madeira, but moved to Jersey with his family when he was just a year old. 

He loves being outdoors, and his hobbies include swimming, running, diving, and coasteering.

Pictured: João Pedro loves all different types of water-sports as well as paddle boarding.

He began paddle boarding at just six years old, and fell in love with the sport instantly. Now that he is older, he wants to share that love with tourists or islanders for whom it is not practical to own their own paddle board. 

João Pedro, who wants to study medicine and be a doctor when he goes up, says that his business idea “came naturally” when he was sat on the beach chatting about paddle boarding with his family.

He explained: “The main idea is that anyone visiting Jersey should be able to hire a paddle board at an affordable price to explore any beach they like.”

With his parents’ guidance, he found reasonably priced paddle boards online and ordered them. Once the boards arrived, he set up a Facebook page to publicise and run his business from. 

Pictured: João Pedro moved to Jersey with his family when he was one.

The 11-year-old’s business has only been running for two weeks, but the Jersey PaddleBoarding4Hire page has already amassed almost 300 followers and João Pedro has had around ten customers wanting to rent a paddle so far. He is excited to see his business idea become a reality.

João Pedro said: “I am very proud of myself and think this business is going to do very well and maybe become popular!”

Pictured: João Pedro has been paddle boarding since he was just six years old.

In order to ensure that the sport is accessible for as many people to enjoy as possible, the young entrepreneur is keeping his prices low with a paddle board costing £20 to rent for a day, £75 for a week and £120 for a month. 

His dad, Duarte Vieira, added: “We are very proud of João Pedro's idea and excited to see his enterprise grow!”