Street food entrepreneur, Siana shares secrets of her success

A street food business owner who established herself with help from The Prince’s Youth Enterprise Trust visited her former college to encourage others to consider the enterprise route to a successful career.

Siana Walker, owner of Burr-Eat-Ohh teamed up with Prince’s Trust representatives to deliver an Exploring Enterprise workshop to hospitality students.

Explore Enterprise is a free programme that helps 18- to 30-year-olds, who are unemployed or work less than 16 hours a week, explore the option of starting up their own business.

Siana completed Level 1, 2 and 3 Professional Cookery qualifications at Walsall College before graduating from a Culinary Arts degree from University College Birmingham.  She launched Burr-Eat-Ohh in May 2018 with an investment from The Prince’s Youth Enterprise Trust.

“I loved my time at Walsall College,” said Siana.  “It was an eye opener to the real world after leaving school.   I took advantage of the work experience they offered and extra events helped me gain a few more skills along the way.”

She added: “Having a passion for something is good and it’s even better when you are able to do that for your chosen career.”

The Explore Enterprise workshop the college’s students participated in looked at the advantages of being self-employed and employed.  It covered the differences between being a sole trader, going into partnership, setting up as a limited company or a social enterprise.

Students also looked at how to create a business plan, identify target markets, develop a brand, as well as sell their product/service and deliver customer aftercare.