Monthly Archives: March 2012

Entrepreneurship through the eyes of a 21 year old entrepreneur

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Business is a tricky thing for everyone – we don’t know how the market will react to our product or service, we’re unsure whether the bank will lend to us or not, we can’t guarantee that we are going to get the right people to work in our team – it makes no difference being 21.

People often ask me is it not difficult being young and in business? Just this afternoon a lady asked me whilst I was serving her ‘are you not scared having to run two stores at 21?’. My response generally to this is no. I have spent the last couple of years explaining to young people that they should start young, I mean what have they got to lose? I’m in my early 20s, I have no children, no mortgage, few direct debits and most importantly, little experience prior to working for myself. I’m creating my own experiences, learning as I go. If I’m not trying to figure this thing out called ‘business’, I’m talking to someone that is either doing the same as me or has done it. Learning from other peoples’ experiences and knowledge is fantastic.

When I was 13 I wasn’t happy with the typical teenager job. I spent a few months of my life delivering dairy products door-to-door, and I made around £10 per week. Slave labour or what? It was my mother’s suggestion that I should fix computers for people in our local area since I was already doing this for our family. So, on the 18th March 2004 I paid for our very first shop window advert and the first customer came along.

Eight years on and we support in excess of 500 users through our two repair outlets, remote help desk and onsite teams. None of this at any time has been scary. Over the past nine months I have been a business advisor for Young Enterprise Scotland. I have been back at my old high school assisting students to take their product to the market. From this experience I have managed to observe the learning experience that we go through when starting a business – we try things, we get them wrong and then we learn from them. A mistake is definitely only a mistake if you do the same thing twice!

I also have to contend with the usual statement from people my same age: ‘you own your own business so you must be loaded!’ Ermm, no. Starting any business is tough and we all know we are the last to get paid. This has been a huge benefit for me starting young. I have managed to provide myself with a decent lifestyle, whilst living at home and growing the company.

It has been nearly three years since the limited company was formed and we’re nearly ready for me to take a salary. Starting young has also meant I have lots of energy and usually plenty of motivation to keep the team going.

Lots of memories come to mind, the main one being the refurbishment of our second repair centre, Glasgow City. We signed the lease in August and had a four-week deadline to open in time for Strathclyde University’s Freshers’ week. We also had no budget for labour and an 800 sq ft store to refurb and kit out – Sarah Beeny eat your heart out! Most of the team assisted on this project with our Operations Managers’ building experience leading the way. We would work 9am until 6pm as IT technicians, then spend 6pm until around 2am knocking down walls, building walls, plastering, running electrics, plumbing and painting. When the opening finally came along we were exhausted.

When speaking publicly, I am often asked ‘do you regret not staying at university?’ I’ll always reply “yes, but I’ll go back when the business doesn’t need me as much”. Young people have the idea that the only way to get anywhere in life is to finish school, spend more time in education and then move into the world of work. How about switching that about? School, business and then university? It’s part of my plan anyway!

Nick Cohen is the 21 year old founder and managing director of award-winning IT company PCR Business. In the eight years since he started the business, the company has won acclaim in awards; Young Scottish Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 (Scottish Business Awards) – Short-listed, Princes’ Scottish Youth Business Trust Regional Award Winners 2011, Princes’ Scottish Youth Business Trust National Award Nominee 2011, Young Scot Awards 2010 – Award for Enterprise – Finalist, Most Promising New Business 2009 – Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce – Finalist.
His membership of the Exchange came as part of his prize from the PSYBT award last year.

How to turn your business into a billion dollar success story

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There are successful entrepreneurs and then there are super successful entrepreneurs. What they all have in common is a desire to share the secrets of their success, to help others learn from their mistakes and follow their winning examples.

Look at Sir Tom Hunter, Jim McColl, Richard Branson – all work hard to give something back.

Now consider Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx. The men reading this might not recognise the brand, but for women everywhere Spanx has had a life-changing, shape-altering affect on their bodies. Spanx is body contour underwear, created by Blakely in America but now sold in shops worldwide.

Want to know how to replicate her success? Author, investor and entrepreneur James Altucher wrote this blog highlighting the key attributes that saw Blakely take her business from startup to billion dollar corporation. It happened in America, but the key learnings from Blakely’s entrepreneurial journey are relevant to everyone, anywhere.


Sara Blakely’s Spanx Story

Managing Growth Effectively

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If you want to know how to successfully grow your business, then you need to listen to someone who has done it already.

So we asked Andrew Cope, executive chairman of Zenith. In the last eight years, under Andrew’s leadership, Zenith Intelligent Vehicle Solutions has gone from a £25 million turnover business to a £150 million business by organic and acquisition growth.

Andrew shared his experiences and learnings from that journey, and we’ve highlighted the best bits for you.

Firstly, Andrew said it’s important to understand there is neither a right nor a wrong way to manage growth; every business in every industry will be slightly different, but there are key things that will be the same in all.

Successful growth is an ever-evolving process, which means that what worked yesterday isn’t necessarily going to work tomorrow. That means propositions and relationships with customers might change, and that the people doing the job for you also have to evolve to meet the changes in the business.

Andrew said it’s also vital to recognise that the way you relate to people as a leader is going to change too, just because yesterday when the business was small you related to people one way, it’s going to be different when the business is large. In a smaller company you can have a personal relationship with employees, but as it gets bigger you do have less contact.

One of most important things about growing a successful business is managing to keep most of the people on board most of the time (it’s a given that you have got to be good and got to be competitive with a good proposition).

Assuming all of these are given, what will determine success is a clear message and understanding of how people are motivated. It could be very different from business to business, but at all times all of the people working for you need to understand why you are doing something, where they fit in and what’s in it for them.

Sometimes people are doing important work when you’re a small company but that’s not quite so important further down the line. When you’re smaller it might be a more personal relationship that’s important to them, but when you’re larger they might have to be remunerated in a different way, perhaps share options or status.

Essentially, keeping people on message is the most important element in delivering successful growth, rather than having a great product, said Andrew.

And you need to identify how you are going to get other people to take the lead going forward. If you look at strong growth businesses they have very clear people strategies. Rolls Royce, for example, or Apple, driven clear leadership and goals, bringing everybody with them. It doesn’t matter which successful business you look at, the people believe in the message and they value the message.

Andrew was CEO at Zenith for 13 years and has now stepped back a little, as executive chairman. “You can’t just spout the rhetoric and then say it doesn’t apply to me,” he said.

“Different styles of leadership are required in different times of growth. I was a war leader. When the business was smaller you rely less on structure either because you can’t justify it or it doesn’t really apply when there are only 20-30 people.

“You don’t want to lose that passion you have when you’re smaller, but as you grow you’ve got to have somebody more detail oriented.”

And he warns: ”A business that has one leader in total control for a very long time is a business likely to fail. A business has to evolve and you have to make that evolution wisely. “

Key tips from the evening

For John Anderson, who chaired the evening, there were many key learnings, but he highlighted his top
three;
1. The need to constantly reinvent the company
2. The importance of humility and humanity – take an interest in people
3. That you need different leaders for different stages, eg war leaders & peace leaders.

And some key tips from attendees:

“Regardless of whether you have 5 staff or 5000 staff we often face the same issues. Every business goes through organic stages, just like the life cycle. Born, grow and dies. Never be afraid to re position, re start or re develop your business “

“My key tips – 1. Appreciate you will leave people behind. 2. Stop trying to force people to get my vision and take the time to understand their vision. 3. Do more of the Learning & Development myself “

“Key tip for me – growth is the easy bit, it’s the baggage that growth brings that takes time, effort and resource to sort “

“Key tips – culture is key – hire the best people and communicate”

“My tip from the evening – the culture and motivation of the core management team is crucial – not just their skills and experience, so entrepreneurs need to focus on the rewards and support they can provide to the most important people in the business – the ones they rely upon to deliver growth and profit”

“Key tips for me – tenacity and determination – not being ruled by the rules – people are key whatever the business”

Andrew Cope – biog
Andrew began his career in the fleet industry as a fleet sales executive and a founder member of Zenith Vehicle Contracts at its incorporation in 1989. He progressed through the ranks, to sales and marketing manager and then director, until his promotion to managing director in 1998.
Andrew led the acquisition of Provecta Car Plan in May 2008, turning Zenith into the UK’s largest independent fleet management company. He has guided the company through four MBOs, the most recent event being the 4th MBO in September 2010 with new partner Morgan Stanley Private Equity. In the last eight years, under Andrew’s leadership, Zenith has gone from a £25 million turnover business to a £150 million business by organic and acquisition growth.

Social Networking for Business – Advice from the Experts

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“There’s no organisation, whether commercial, political or public, that can’t or shouldn’t use social media. If you’re not using social media in five years, you won’t get any new business”.

A bold statement from Gordon White to open his presentation, but it certainly grabbed attention.

Gordon, founder of FatBuzz, was speaking at the recent Social Networking for Business event where he shared top tips and case study examples to illustrate his point.

He explained that people use SM to check out others before they meet them, so they actually feel they know you even though they haven’t met you yet. That’s the power of SM.

Ultimately, if you’re not visible online, you’ll be excluded or could lose out on new business.

According to Gordon, the old way of marketing, advertising and PR is slowly going out of fashion. Merely paying for more advertising to get more exposure is no longer the way. It’s now all about investment in content and earning your space online.

Whether you are operating in a B2C or a B2B space, SM applies equally. Use it effectively to find people who want to do business with you and tailor your marketing to them.

Social media is ruled by content. Gordon warned that in future, advertising will be the price you pay for NOT building your relevant community online.

So how do you get started? Simply by asking ‘why’ and ‘what’ you want to achieve, then developing a strategy. You need to work out right at the start whether you’re trying to increase awareness, generate more sales, or drive more traffic to your website.

Said Gordon, doing it because everyone else is doing it, is not a good reason.

And he blew one of the biggest myths about SM right out of the water;
SM isn’t free – you need to invest a lot of time upfront in developing content and then keep delivering all the time. .

The biggest barrier to effectiveness of SM is that some companies block it in the workplace, believing it affects employee productivity. But Gordon disagrees, he believes all employees could become marketeers or ambassadors for your business, the responsibility for marketing no longer falls on just one person or one department.

And since SM is available on mobile phones anyway, is there really any point in blocking company network systems? Gordon suggests you look on SM as the new ‘tea break‘ – time to chill out, communicate with friends and having done so, be more productive during the rest of the day.

There’s always a worry about clients saying anything negative. But it’s better to have visibility and be seen as a company who deal with the problem, thus turning it into a positive, so don’t panic if you get a negative comment, look at it as an opportunity, but remember if it does becomes an issue, take it offline until its been resolved and then ensure you post the positive outcome online.

Most importantly, if you’re going to go down this route and allow employees access to social networking sites, it’s vital your company has a SM Policy.

It’s always better to introduce something through choice rather than being forced, so do the strategy, plan your implementation and engagement because in the future, SM won’t be a choice – potential employees (Generation Y) will be checking out employees online, including their websites and SM activity, before considering an interview.

Once you have worries about security and policy and strategy out of the way, the next question is what should you talk about?

Every company has lots to share. They simply don’t realise how much material or interesting information exists within their company. SM can be in the form of a tweet, a photo of a product or event within the company, a status update, a blog or advertising an event. It’s not necessarily about constantly generating new information. Look at what you’ve done or used in the past and how you can re-package and re-issue.
Watch what other companies and people are sharing online and learn from that, because that’s what they’re finding important or interesting.

And finally the most important question: what’s the ROI of SM?

It’s a question that’s asked often. But as Gordon asked, how often do companies validate their return on any form of marketing or business investment? The key here is to move more of the existing marketing budget to online, as opposed to increasing the overall budget.

SM has to compliment what you do offline. If you can’t afford or have the right resources in-house, then you can outsource.

Gordon’s final piece of advice?

Don’t put anything online that you wouldn’t want to read in the newspapers the next day.