Student@Home is an award-winning social enterprise with a mission to provide paid work for students while improving technology access for the digitally excluded in the UK. This Q&A, first published in 2014, captures founder Kelly Klein’s reflections from the early years of the business.
More than a decade later, the issues Klein set out to tackle are still relevant. According to Social Enterprise UK estimates from 2024, there are around 100,000 social enterprises in the UK, contributing approximately £60 billion to the economy and employing around 2 million people. Digital exclusion also remains a significant barrier: the Good Things Foundation reported in 2024 that around 5 million UK adults still lack the basic digital skills needed for everyday life. For women social entrepreneurs UK, Klein’s experience offers practical lessons on turning a social mission into a sustainable business.
Why did you start the business?
I liked the idea of having complete control over my own destiny. Yet I also wanted to do something good and know I was helping others with my work. I loved my role at JP Morgan, but when I saw this opportunity I knew I had to take it.
A decade on, Klein’s decision to leave a secure City career for social entrepreneurship is a path more women are exploring. Women-led social enterprises often combine financial sustainability with community impact, and the 2019 Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship found that women-led businesses contribute £105 billion to the UK economy. Subsequent progress reports have continued to track the sector’s growth.
Tell us about the business?
Student@Home offered help for all ages and levels of experience, covering virus removal, Wi-Fi set-up, data back-up, email syncing and more. At the time of the interview, clients could pay a monthly membership of £2 and book appointments, with students usually available within 24 hours. An hour-long appointment cost £30, less than half the price of most IT support services. The students offered friendly, patient advice.
The model was simple but effective: students gained paid experience, references and confidence, while customers received affordable, accessible tech support. It is an early example of how a social enterprise can use a marketplace approach to solve two problems at once. Today, networks such as Social Enterprise UK and UnLtd continue to support similar double-bottom-line models across the UK.
What experience did you bring to the business?
I worked in private banking at JP Morgan. This helped me with the financial side of starting the new business, which is crucial in any venture.
That commercial grounding remains valuable. Understanding cash flow, margins and cost control is just as important in a social enterprise as in a traditional profit-led business. Women founders who can read a balance sheet and manage funding relationships are better placed to survive the early years. Free support is available through programmes such as the British Business Bank Start Up Loans scheme, which has provided more than £1 billion in funding to new businesses, including many women founders.
Tell us about a typical day?
There was no such thing as a typical day. Every day was very different. Some days I was interviewing students and reviewing their applications. Other days I spent most of the day training new students, recruiting them and teaching them how to code. I also spent time managing the call centre. I always had to do a little bit of everything. My days were always quite busy but also very rewarding.
For early-stage women founders, this “doing it all” phase is familiar. The key is to build systems and delegate as soon as possible, so the founder can move from day-to-day operations to strategy and growth. Tools such as HMRC’s Making Tax Digital requirements and cloud accounting software can reduce administrative burden as the business scales.
What were the high points?
At the time of the interview, Klein said: “Two years ago this was just an idea. Today, we are employing over 60 people. We employ students in deprived areas and give them a great job to put on their CV, as well as valuable skills they can use in any future endeavours. I know I am able to help these IT students and that makes it very worthwhile. Our company has also won some awards – we recently won support from the National Lottery and are a Social Enterprise of the Year finalist in the National Business Awards – and it feels great knowing that our hard work is not going unnoticed.”
Recognition from funders and award bodies can open doors, but the deeper reward is seeing individuals progress. For women founders, celebrating these wins publicly also helps to challenge the stereotype that entrepreneurship is only about personal financial gain. Award programmes such as the Social Enterprise UK Awards and the NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Awards remain important visibility platforms in 2026.
What were the low points?
The business was started in the midst of a recession. It was a big risk and I knew this going in. It was still very challenging at first getting the business going. But I realised the progress that we had made, and I knew that it was definitely worth the risk.
Starting in a downturn taught Klein to keep overheads low and focus on revenue-generating activity from day one. That discipline is useful in any economic climate, but especially when access to traditional finance is tight. In 2026, women founders can also explore business grants for women in the UK, social investment through Big Society Capital, and revenue-based models to reduce reliance on external debt.
Which marketing tactics worked best for you?
Online advertisements, such as Google Ads and PPC, have been successful. Over 8,000 people in London per month are searching for IT support online, so we are able to get a significant amount of online traffic. Flyering has also been a great help. A year ago we passed out flyers around Chiswick and we are still getting calls a year later about those flyers. Word of mouth is also helpful for us. Our customers recommend us to their friends, and we also get a significant amount of calls from recommendations.
While digital marketing has evolved since 2014, with local SEO, social proof and community partnerships now playing a larger role, the underlying principles remain the same: be where your customers are searching, make it easy to trust you, and deliver a service worth talking about. A Google Business Profile, consistent customer reviews and targeted local content now matter as much as, if not more than, traditional pay-per-click spend for service-based social enterprises.
What can social entrepreneurs learn from Student@Home?
Klein’s story illustrates several lessons that still apply to women social entrepreneurs UK today:
- Start with a clear social mission. Student@Home solved a real problem, digital exclusion, while creating employment for students. A clear mission makes it easier to attract customers, staff and funders.
- Use your existing skills. Klein’s banking background gave her the financial confidence to manage a startup. Founders should map what they already know and fill the gaps with training, mentors or co-founders.
- Test affordable marketing channels. A mix of paid search, local flyering and referrals allowed Student@Home to reach customers without a large advertising budget.
- Measure impact as well as income. Social enterprises must prove their social or environmental value, not just their financial performance. Tracking outcomes such as jobs created, skills gained or customers supported strengthens funding applications and customer loyalty.
- Build financial resilience from day one. Keeping costs low and focusing on revenue early helped Student@Home survive a recession. The same discipline protects social enterprises through economic uncertainty.
What next for women social entrepreneurs UK?
- Validate your social mission with data. Use sources such as the Good Things Foundation, ONS and local authority reports to prove the problem you are solving.
- Choose the right legal structure. A community interest company, charitable incorporated organisation or standard limited company each has different implications for funding, tax and governance.
- Explore social finance early. Organisations such as Big Society Capital, Social Investment Business and UnLtd offer funding tailored to social enterprises.
- Track impact metrics from month one. Funders and customers increasingly expect evidence of social or environmental outcomes.
- Connect with peer networks. Groups such as the Social Enterprise UK membership network and local women in business networks can provide mentors, partners and early customers.
Student@Home showed that a business can be both commercially viable and socially purposeful. For women social entrepreneurs UK, Kelly Klein’s experience is a reminder that the opportunity to build something meaningful is often worth the risk.
