1997 – Landing a £350,000 European Disney Contract

By now I had moved from my humble first floor shop offices and farm barns which were used for storage and had moved to a 20,000 sq ft premises, which now had over £1.5 million in stock courtesy of my Korean Partner in search of the Glory Lands. We were now looking to impress and close some major Blue Chip and World Brand cusomters……..

My first trade show  for the promotions industry was held and the Birmingham NEC and was promoted the BPMA The British Promotional Merchandise Associaiton… The show was a great success but we just had not bagged the biggest visitor to the show….. The buyers for Disney’s Kids Club were at the show! My salesmen were tasked with bagging the prize jewel and bring home the bacon, but somehow i knew that it might just possibly come down to me to run the charm offensive!!!!

The contract was worth over £1 million pounds but if we could just take a small piece of the bigger pie then we would be well on our way…..  Christine was a lovely lady but not into the usual buyer seller nonsense and bravado.. My charm offensive included only a John Wayne style lasso a coffee and a grounded chat. Thats all it took and of course some innovative products backed up with some amazing embroidery techniques.

The order for the following months was worth around £350,000 and we supplied The UK and European Disney Channels with over 10 different and innovative products which were subsequently given away as prizes across europe…

You can if you believe you can!

1986- The Youngest Blue Button with James Capel & Co

At a young age I had always dreamed of working on the London Stock Exchange as a Blue Button (runner). I used to jump school and head up on the underground just to watch all the hype and buzz of the trading floor (which closed in 1986). I knew that with my energy and my crazy love for a fast paced work environment that this would be my home.

I obtained a members book and immediately began writing to all the member firms. I actually wrote about 220 hand written letters, posted them and waited eagerly for all the replies to drop from the letter box of my family home. I had no degrees and only had B,C and D grade CSE’s ad O Level’s and in fact was an average student that always played the fool at school but was always liked. I was the a sixer in my local cub pack, a school house captain and was liked for my fairness by many people.

  It seemed days before i received my first letter, which i ripped open with great excitement, my hands sweating and my heart thumping so loud that it sounded like the drums from Jungle Book. I was expecting Bagheera to jump out of the letter and grab me!

Well all i got was “Sorry we only accept Graduates, however, we will keep your CV on file for future reference” I was mortified, Graduates only! Wait till they get a load of me. After about 120 replies all saying the same thing i realised that i would not be able to get a job using this method.

I retrained my energy toward recruitment agencies and immediately started to send my CV out to the top City placement firms. I managed to secure some interviews and impressed the agencies and finally i had an interview with Chase Manhattan Securities…….. the interview well …….. it just did not happen. I got in there and froze like a Birds Eye Pea! I knew that i would not be offered the job, because i could not answer any question without being shy and withdrawn- of course they would not have recruited me! They needed the Tazmanian Devil instead got a quiet Monk..

After 5 interviews, my hope was beginning to fade. I even applied for a post room position and thought i could work my way up only to be told that my aspirations were way too high for someone who wanted to work in the post room.

WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO- I ONLY WANT A JOB – CAN SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE ME A BREAK

I was taking a maths exam at school and a teacher came in and said your mum said i had to leave. I had received two short notice interviews, one for 1pm and one for 2pm..

I left school ran home and put on my best suit and tie (Burton’s i guess at the time but i thought i looked good) and headed up on the Underground to Liverpool Street – First stop Nat West Bank…. By now i had nothing to loose. While in the waiting room i looked around at the nervous competition and thought “they don’t stand a chance this job is mine”. I interviewed for about an hour and if i don’t mind saying so, i blew this guys socks off and no sooner as i had finished the interview i knew that i had the job! The usual “We will contact you later” words came from the interviewers mouth and i thanked him then immediately ran to 3 Bevis Marks, next stop James Capel & Co owned by HSBC.

No competition this time and in i went first i saw HR and she said “I need to get someone else to see you” I then saw a trading Director and he said ” I need to get someone else in to see you”……… after what seemed a lifetime a monster opened the door called Barry Collins and oh my god i think i shit myself. I have never seen or felt such a presence…. I almost thought he was going to say “Obi One never told you who is your father….. I AM YOUR FATHER”….now i know what presence is all about! This guy put me through the pace’s but i did not take my eyes off of him even though i had just wet myself LOL……. during the interview he was asking various questions and all of a sudden he said “WHAT’S 9 TIMES 19″ and i answered without hesitation 171……… Do you know to this day i do not know where i got the answer from, perhaps divine intervention, perhaps i was so scared he would strike me down with his light sabre that i just got it right….. the words came once more “We will contact you later”….

The train journey home was perhaps one of the longest of my life. I thought to myself what else do i have to do to get a job! I was desperately low and had gone through over 200 hand written letters, 10 interviews,  the post room and top line agencies……… Perhaps i was not destined for the Stock Market after all?

I left the station and walked up the steep hill towards my home. I was embarrassed to have to tell my family that i had failed and that i would not become a Blue Button….

I creaked down the side gate of our house and proceeded sheepishly to open the back door. To my surprise and shock my parents and my sisters were sitting around the kitchen table with a bottle of champagne and 5 glasses……..

My mum said that both the companies had called, i was expecting the worst “YOU GOT OFFERED BOTH JOBS SHE SAID” at this point i burst out in tears and collapsed on the floor… one job offered me a £7500 start and one job offered me a £5500 start…… I accept the job that offered me £5500 start but had much better prospects. I was the youngest person ever to serve as a Blue Button the Convertible Bonds Floor…..

Dreams to Reality

2008- So many people want to see you fail, why?

When you have an Entrepreneurial spirit you first visualise something in a dream or a flash and then having no regard for the damage your idea could or might cause you, you have to follow it through to fruition and reach realisation of your dream.

If you are lucky enough to have a close and loving family and you have perhaps 3 or 4 Friends then you are very lucky indeed. My family have supported me through thick and thin and i guess it has been as much a hair raising journey for them as it has been for me- and it’s not over yet!

I have had many successes and also many failures, but then i guess most Entrepreneurs have. My latest venture that i have been involved in has been met with criticism, sarcasm, slander and libel against both the business and my personal name. I worked for somebody previously who was less than honest in fact the only thing i can describe this person as is a lying, stealing crook who will stop at nothing to hurt and destroy other people. A weak man who has tried everything from website slander to reporting incidents that never happened or took place. I pity this man, for one day he will wake up with no friends, no money and only a 6ft by 6ft cell to look at pictures of what he thought he once was- anyway enough of weak people.

Why do so many people actually want to see you fail? Is it because they do not have the courage to do what you do? Is it because they would not and could risk everything on a dream or do they have more sense? Most successful Entrepreneurs know why so many people do not take the chance and that is simply because in todays climate there are more and more obstacles to overcome before you can realise your success.

I went to a seminar held by a guy called Adrian Webster who wrote a book called “Polar Bear Pirates and their quest to reach Fat City”…. the essence of the book is that in your search for Fat City you will come across all sorts of people, head treader’s, molasses man, the neg ferret and many other characters or viruses that will try to stop you reaching your goal.. visit http://www.polarbearpirates.com/

 

My simple advice to you is this:- NEVER STOP TRYING TO ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS, NEVER FOR ONE MINUTE GIVE IN.. INSTEAD DRAW BREATH AND FIND ANOTHER WAY, ALWAYS FIND ANOTHER WAY AND WHEN YOU ARE EXHAUSTED, DEAD IN THE WATER AND YOU START TO THINK ITS ALL OVER- ITS NOT! FIND YOUR FRIENDS FIND YOUR FAMILY AND FIND OTHER LIKE MINDED INDIVIDUALS AND BOUNCE YOUR THOUGHTS OFF THEM AND A ROUTE WILL PRESENT ITSELF.

We are Entrepreneurs and your biggest asset is in never giving in and if we did not exist then jobs would not be created, industry would not flourish and innovation would suffer as a result. We can leave a wake of destruction or pavements lined with gold for people to follow.

If your people believe in you then they will go above and beyond the call of duty to realise your dreams with you. Entrepreneurs do not ever be afraid to share you ideas thoughts and actions, no matter how outlandish they may seem to you. Another perspective is a another point of view which used wisely can be a very powerful tool indeed.