Chelsea Sloan: The student who built a fashion franchise

"A glutton for punishment" is how 28-year-old Chelsea Sloan describes herself.

But having to juggle her studies with setting up the company, Uptown Cheapskate, was not always easy.

But as Chelsea puts it, her motivation was simple: "As an entrepreneur it all comes down to you.

But as Chelsea puts it, her motivation was simple: "As an entrepreneur it all comes down to you.

Clothes have to meet strict criteria for the company to accept them for resale

The idea for Uptown Cheapskate - a franchise "fashion exchange" - came about when Chelsea took a year and a half off from her studies to serve a church mission in Alaska.

Your business supersedes everything else you're working on.

Failure isn't an option”

Uptown Cheapskate is a very simple concept - bring your designer brand clothes, shoes and accessories into a store, the staff will assess them and if they think they can sell them on, will offer you cash for them.

"The resale industry just for our demographic is a $2.5bn industry.

We wanted to make an upscale resale experience that doesn't have to feel thrifty," she says.

We wanted to make an upscale resale experience that doesn't have to feel thrifty," she says.

On her return from Alaska, she went back to the University of Utah and enrolled in classes, while simultaneously continuing to work on the business idea with her brother.

Inevitably, she also missed some classes because of work trips and says that her university did not have a very structured work relief policy to accommodate that.

Inevitably, she also missed some classes because of work trips and says that her university did not have a very structured work relief policy to accommodate that.

"I graduated cum laude but not magna cum laude because I missed a couple of classes where attendance was mandatory," she says.

She believes if you are going to start a business while still at school, you have to decide whether you have time to do both, but ultimately you have to put the business first.

A franchise company gives individuals or groups the right to use its trademark and sell its goods at a certain location

Franchisees must pay the company (franchisor) a royalty fee

They are coming to sell their old clothes - to make some money, and to provide the store with its stock.

One of the perils of buying from the public, though, is that you don't know where they bought the product from in the first place, so you have to be careful to avoid buying fake brands.

"My parents had started a children's retail franchise called Kid To Kid, so we had learned a bit about the retail industry from them," Chelsea says.

The company is careful about only buying genuine products and not counterfeits

The company is careful about only buying genuine products and not counterfeits

She says the franchise model - whereby the company allows individual operators to use its name and sell its goods in return for a royalty fee - appealed to her because it allows you "to scale while limiting the risk".

She says the franchise model - whereby the company allows individual operators to use its name and sell its goods in return for a royalty fee - appealed to her because it allows you "to scale while limiting the risk".

While the return may be less - they receive 5% in royalties compared with 20% if they ran the stores directly - running the business as a franchise meant they were able to grow their brand faster than they would have through normal expansion or by taking on venture capital partners.

Chelsea is excited about the prospect of expanding outside the US - she has already been in discussions with people in Australia, Sweden and Ireland - and believes the resale industry has plenty of room to grow.

"When I look at the European markets I think they're prime for the taking," she says, "because there isn't really anything there already."