From a young age, James Taylor found it a struggle to accept authority. He preferred to do things his own way.

“I always felt I was different,” he said. “I had a bit of a problem taking orders from teachers. I think I’ve always known that working for myself was the only option.”

Taylor had a natural talent for entrepreneurial activity and spent much of his early years developing it. “I was always doing something, whether it was flogging designer clothes in college or doing jumble sales as a kid,” he said.

On completing his schooling, he took a gap year - during which he taught at a boarding school in Uganda. This proved a pivotal moment in his life.

Taylor discovered the children had a large, unfilled interlude each afternoon so he set up sports and arts clubs to occupy them. “From that experience I knew that child development and giving children great educational experiences – self-esteem, confidence and leadership skills - was the area I wanted to be in,” he said.

Taylor returned home and began a degree in psychology and teacher training at Cardiff University. However, by the time he reached his third year, he had all but abandoned his lectures to focus on what he felt was his real education.

“I lost my faith in the education system,” he said. “I realised that all I was doing was loading my short-term memory to pass exams. At school they teach you how to dissect a frog but nobody teaches you how to relate to people or how to start a business - the real issues in life. I realised I had to start doing that myself.”

Taylor enrolled on various business courses and started to read business literature. On completing his degree he took a job as a sports coach at LA Galaxy football club in America. Having gained some practical experience, Taylor returned to Cardiff with an idea for a sports coaching company.

The final catalyst was the government’s concern about childhood obesity. Taylor kept reading articles about overweight children, a lack of sport in schools and the video-game culture. But nobody seemed to be tackling the problem.

“I thought too little was being done – so I would do something about it,” he said. “That was where Sport Stars came from. I wanted to create an organisation that would help develop bright futures for children through sport.”

Taylor had received £1,000 from his parents for his 21st birthday to buy a round-the-world air ticket. Rather than purchase the ticket, however, he had saved the money. So he used it to start up Sport Stars, spending the £1,000 on tracksuits and sports equipment. He then convinced a group of sports coaches to join him and the team went round schools offering their services free of charge.

The feedback from children and staff was good, but surviving on no income was not easy for Taylor.

“I couldn’t afford to rent anywhere so I was sleeping on my mate’s sofa. My office was the university library and I was working every evening as a waiter,” he said.

Taylor needed to find a way to make his business more than an enjoyable extra for schools. It needed to be a part of the curriculum. His break came in 2005 when the government ruled that all teachers must spend 10% of each day away from the classroom to prepare, plan and assess (PPA). Taylor recognised this as an opportunity and approached head teachers with the proposal that they employ a Sport Stars coach to cover this time.

“PPA was a niche in the market for us. It was a real gem,” he said. “Not only was the headache of PPA sorted for the head teachers but we were able to offer all the benefits of having specialist sports coaches.”

After this, Sport Stars took off. Taylor secured his first five contracts almost immediately and then doubled the number in a few weeks. At the end of the first year, sales were £165,000 and Taylor was able to pay staff, find office space in Cardiff and afford the rent on a small flat.

By year two, sales went up to £500,000 and Taylor and Sport Stars were recognised in a string of awards. He was the Shell Live Wire Entrepreneur of the Year in 2006. Sport Stars received the HSBC Start-up and Natwest Community Impact awards in 2007. Public recognition did much to raise the company’s profile.

“These things are great PR. They give you confidence and they give staff confidence, and they have been fantastic exposure – I’ve had investors interested as a result,” he said.

Now at the end of its third year, Sport Stars has sales of £3m, offices in Cardiff, Bristol and Swansea, and Taylor has 90 staff. He eventually plans to expand the organisation to include coaching in art, drama, languages and business.

Sport Stars is aiming to change its name to Super Stars and Taylor hopes the business will grow to a point where he can take it international – to both developed and developing countries.

“The commercial side of things is great for developed countries, but our vision is to develop bright futures for children all over the world,” he said. “I hope by 2012 to have an international charity. It will be like a Super Stars foundation and I will send out coaches on gap years and career breaks to developing countries and apply the same model there.”

Taylor, now 26, puts the secret of his success down to his refusal to live an average life. “Being mediocre freaks me out,” he said. “I make a decision every day to refuse to be mediocre. I review my dreams, goals and passions daily – I think big and I dream big.”

He advises other entrepreneurs to follow his favourite Disney quote: “If you can dream it, you can do it.”

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