Reuben Owen has opened up about the struggles he faced when kickstarting his small business and revealed that he was “incredibly skint” during the early days.
During the second episode on Channel 5, Owen planned to expand his business by training up his workforce, including his 17-year-old girlfriend Sarah Dow.
She was put in the driving seat and trained so she could operate more of their heavy plant machinery, but her first lesson saw her come unstuck when she was asked to move a full load around a bog.
Whilst training Dow, Owen received a call from colleague Tommy McWhirter to break the news that one of their tractors had stopped working due to worn-down spoils.
Reuben’s ambitious business plans demand running a bigger fleet, and spreading the team more thinly, but it was a pivotal moment for the young operation and though there may be greater reward, there’s a risk of overextending himself.
Discussing the hard times he faced when getting the business up and running, Owen admitted: “It’s been hard for me to start my own business. I’ve been incredibly skint a lot of times. We have breakdowns now. Cost me five-and-a-bit thousand quid.
Reuben admitted to being skint during the early days of his business
CHANNEL 5
“If that had been when I started, that would have been the end of it. It’s not a walk in the park and it still isn’t a walk in the park, but I love doing it.
“When I was little, we always had to work fairly hard. Dad and Mum… Well, you were always expected to do plenty of work.
“I did all the repairs on the farm, and I kind of think whatever you kind of learn when you’re younger stays with you for the rest of your life.”
After the first show aired last week, it was met with staggering praise from fans of the Owen family, with his mum also sharing her pride in her son’s solo TV project.
Amanda shared her support for her sons new adventure
Taking to Instagram, she shared a rare selfie with her son and beamed with pride, with the accompanying caption reading: “So proud of big lad @reubenowen74.
“He’s a star,” she added alongside a star emoji, prompting floods of similar responses from her fans.
Owen has been in the limelight since he was a child and had to go through the public break-up of his parents, opening up about the split to Mail Online recently.
He expressed: “Yeah, they spoke about it, but it’s not really a big deal between any of us. It’s quite simple really. Everyone gets along great.
Reuben Owen opened up about the struggles at the beginning of his business
CHANNEL 5
“It’s not really changed for any of us if you get me.”
When asked if his parents had made sure not to impact their children with too much change, he replied: “Yes, they decided and that was that. They are happy as they are.
“Everyone makes it work. Beyond that, it’s not my business. All I want is for them to be happy. That is all that matters. They are happy, and that’s all that counts.”
