Sir Tom Hunter

Name:

Sir Tom Hunter

Business:

West Coast Capital

Web site:

www.westcoastcapital.co.uk

Years in business:

24

Number of businesses:

My business education began when I was six years old. My dad had a grocer’s shop and although I was made to work in it, I actually grew to love it. Round the kitchen table at tea time- business was what we talked about.

So 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 down or being broken into.

All the research in the world will get you so far, but it’s not until you put your product in front of the general public that you know for sure- if they buy it, you’ve made it. If they don’t buy it, you think again.

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- that’s only a small fraction.

My education was learning from my dad, but you can get it by working in an entrepreneurial company and seeing what’s going on. Be open to all these things; look, listen and take the lessons on.

There are more opportunities today than ever before, but you need to recognise them as opportunities, as well as being able to exploit them. So really think about putting yourself in the best possible position in which to be able to do that.

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, deduct a commission and send me the balance every week.

But they weren’t really doing that. One day the chairman called me into his office and said, “Tom, I think we should change the way we do business. I think you should keep the money, and you send it to me when you’ve got it.”

Six weeks later unfortunately that company went bust, but I only lost £140. Whereas when he brought me in he owed me £30,000. So I think someone was looking after me there.

Every entrepreneur I meet now there always been something that tipped them into what they’re doing, and that event was a tipping point for me. It made me look further as to where else I could sell the shoes, and I got into much better stores, and stores who paid me as well!

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 made an awful lot of them.

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 publicity that comes with that. We did win, but it took so much time out of my life.

You do due diligence on the businesses you buy; you do due diligence on all sorts of stuff. Do due diligence on the people you work with; it’s the best tip I can give you.

Anyone with determination can make a go of a small business. If you want to build a big business, you need to involve people. You need to create a team around you and be able to lead that team in a special way.

You’ve also 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.

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 person’s good at everything. If you’re not so good with numbers and finance, great, get yourself a boring accountant- they’re really valuable! If you look at the really successful entrepreneurs, there’s usually a fantastic team of people around them.

Another tip, if it is a tip, is that 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 I’ve ever had, juggling that. But it can be done.

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 it’s about.

There’s an awful lot of hard work, and there’s an awful lot of ups and downs along the way, and you’ve got to be able to deal with that.

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 philanthropist. Putting something back is a great privilege, and quite frankly has been the biggest buzz of all.

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