Defining Moments

I began my business straight after leaving university in 1984, selling training shoes out of the back of a van. I then began to put the shoes in other people’s stores. One of the chains was called Keen Jeans, and they were supposed to take the money,… read more

Lifestyle Story

In order to be successful, you need to have tenacity, determination, and be able to take knocks along the way. People might think, I’d like to have all the outputs of a successful entrepreneur, like a nice car or a nice house, but that’s not really what… read more

Mistake To Avoid

The biggest howler I’ve made in my whole career was not getting to know my business partners well enough. Getting into business with the wrong people can cause a whole lot of problems. It cost me dearly. We ended up in court, along with all the… read more

Secret

In order to become an entrepreneur, you need to get yourself an education that prepares you 1) to see the opportunity and 2) to exploit the opportunity. By education I mean it in the broadest sense, I don’t just mean school, university, business school-… read more

Secret

For the entrepreneur, the biggest question you’ve got to ask yourself is, what are you not good at? We’re all good at telling you what we’re good at and that’s great, but recruit to your weaknesses; it’s so important. Be honest with yourself; no one… read more

How I... Guide

We used other people’s money. I borrowed £5000 from my dad, £5000 from the bank, but then suppliers gradually give you credits. My job was to make sure that the customers paid me before I had to pay my suppliers. That was the best cash flow experience… read more

Pearl Of Wisdom

I basically found out about being in business by just doing it. I’d love to be able to tell you about the grand plan, the research, the vision and everything else- bullshit in my opinion! I was very happy to get through the day without the van breaking… read more

Pearl Of Wisdom

If you’re going to start in business, find yourself a growing market. I literally stumbled across this market of shoes and shell suits, but it was completely just falling into it. A growing market makes up for a lot of mistakes, and believe me I’ve… read more

Challenge

You’ve got to be big enough to hire people who know more about certain aspects of business than you do. That can be quite tough- it’s the biggest joy but also the biggest challenge to be able to build the right team.… read more

Success

One of the most satisfying things in the business was seeing us come as the underdog, taking on the number one, toppling them, and then becoming number one ourselves. Since then, with the money that I’ve earned in the business I’ve been able to become a… read more