Defining Moments
- Author:
- Chris Quickfall
- Business:
- Invate
- Published:
- 10/11/2008 11:14:00
I spent seven years studying as an engineer and aimed to gain chartership, and also spent a year’s placement with Shell Oil in Aberdeen. Whilst I was studying I was diagnosed with dyslexia.
I went through this government grant scheme where I was provided with equipment and support, PCs with specialist software, which alleviates a lot of the problems you associate with dyslexia and studying.
The equipment I received was pretty bog standard IT, and the whole service of the company that provided them wasn’t very good. I couldn’t pay by credit card, I had to send them a cheque on the post. I’m a student I don’t have a chequebook!
The business had a very narrow market, but a guaranteed income. I did a bit of research into their margins. They were pulling £5.5m a year. I thought, how can a company clear £5.5m and be this bad?
If I could set up a company that’s better than them, I thought surely I could clear £5.5m easy. I found out after it wasn’t that straightforward. But I had done quite well during my placement at Shell and after I told them I wanted to set up my own business, they said they would keep a job open for me for two years. I had that window so I thought, the worst thing that would happen is I go bankrupt and wind up with a job at Shell and my student debt has ‘disappeared’. If I don’t do it now I never will and I’ll spend the rest of my life wondering what if?
When I told my family this, they didn’t talk to me for a while. The job with Shell was loads and loads of money and I’d spent seven years trying to get it. So when I turned it down they weren’t very happy to say the least. My mum actually works for us now so I guess she’s come round.
So it was a big decision, but if I didn’t take it now I might regret it. I’ve found that you only regret the things you don’t do in life, so I decided to give it a shot. After one year I would reassess the situation and see if it was a stupid idea not to take the job with Shell. Fortunately it wasn’t.