When his family's Nottinghamshire home flooded in 2007 and they had to vacate the property for several months, entrepreneur Simon Crowther resolved it would never happen again.
Then aged 13 he started searching for a product to defend the property in Woodborough against future flooding and discovered a Canadian invention called Water-Gate.
When flooding returned the barrier was deployed and worked perfectly.
His firm, Flood Protection Solutions, was created from here as Mr Crowther decided to bring the product to the 海角视频 to help more people.
Now with a civil engineering degree and several awards to his name, the 25-year-old's firm, based in , has continued to grow despite issues within the industry.
Mr Crowther, who attended , said: "It has been a strange couple of years.
"There have been massive changes to the way the sector operates and five companies in the industry have closed.
"We changed a lot of what we did and we have done well from making those changes so I have been really pleased we have had to adapt and we have ended up thriving as a result."
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Funding for flood protection groups tends to be awarded on an ad hoc basis.
So, for example, during particularly dry periods the companies do not receive much money and find fewer customers coming to them as flood protection is not a priority.
While this has caused issues for other groups, Mr Crowther has expanded what his company can offer so it can gain custom all year round.
This has included drainage design, supplying water pumps, irrigation and work on swimming pools. The firm has also worked overseas in Malta and Barbados, which gets hit by tropical storms.
"I would like to do (more international work). It is just so tricky at the moment, not knowing what is going to happen with exports and the uncertainty around Brexit.
"It makes it a lot trickier than it ever used to be in terms of future planning."
Despite operating in uncertain economic times the company, which most recently turned over £600,000 and directly employs three people, is now on a solid footing and can plan for the coming years.
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Mr Crowther said: "We seem to have come out of the other end of the storm now and we are looking to the future. We have a strong business model and we are very respected, so we are doing a lot of consultancy work and we are seen as the go-to business for lots of different clients.
"I think we still have potential to grow more on the engineering side and in consultancy. We have increased our consultancy four-fold recently in areas including offering advice to people when they are looking to buy a new property. We will look at the risk and that is an expanding area.
"I can’t believe looking back at some of the photos how young I looked when I set up the business. I have learnt every single day, whether that is through things we do well or things we haven’t done so well at. It is incredible really, I am excited for the 10 year anniversary."
The businessman has been recognised for his work in recent years which has included being named Young Entrepreneur of the Year and entry into the Forbes 30 Under 30 List.
He has also been nominated in Nottingham's 30 Under 30, a partnership between Nottinghamshire Live, Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies and The Prince's Trust, which highlights rising stars who "represent the spirit, drive and energy of a thriving city".