People who set up businesses set them up for many reasons. Clearly there is the primary motivation of money but I think it goes much deeper than that. Peter Jones’ new series studying the characteristics and motivation of Entrepreneurs on BBC2 last night highlighted many other reasons why these successful people go it alone.
To See the BBC Episode click here
There is an intrinsic self-belief and motivation to prove themselves constantly and also a need for independence and in some cases to remove the ghosts of a failed education. Last nights’ episode focussed on Richard Reed – Co-founder of Innocent, the smoothie company with a £165 million turnover and Michelle Mone, the self-made inspiration behind the multimillion pound Ultimo lingerie business. Both are very contrasting characters but have this inner drive and motivation that transcends purely financial success. Yes, they are worth millions of pounds but it became very clear that their motives stem from much more than that, It’s a need to be successful, a belief in their brand, a belief in their staff and in Innocents’ case a desire to give 10% of their profit to the third world. I genuinely believe that for these people the money is a by-product and an added benefit rather than the core reason they set-up on their own.
The Innocent headquarters is so unconventional and is like a nursery for adults for the want of a better phrase with an artificial grass area where they cook barbeques during their lunchtimes. They are actively encouraged to come into work wearing whatever clothing they want and one of the creative staff members was interviewed wearing yellow plimsolls and shorts. The whole atmosphere of the place is very relaxed and laid back but Richards’ belief is that he gets more from his staff by having an ethos that accommodates his staff. I am inclined to agree with him having worked at similar relaxed organisations where staff are made to feel that anything is possible and lead by such an entrepreneur who started the business and is approachable to everybody at all times rather than a fully suited MD who has his/her door shut all day. There is an atmosphere of honesty and a feeling that everybody’s opinions are valued as everybody including Richard himself are situated in an open plan area where his desk is identical to everybody elses. In fact the only difference with his desk is that there is a swing chair hanging from the ceiling where his guests can happily sit and swing while they discuss business. Richard went to Cambridge University so clearly had an excellent education but comes himself from the far more humble backdrop of Huddersfield in Yorkshire and only made it to University through the determination of his parents who he admits had to work incredibly hard to give him the opportunity to do so.
To Visit the ‘Innocent’ Website click here - Even the website communicates the ethos of the business in the way it has been designed
Michelle Mone on the other hand is a more openly brash business lady who has a whole wall dedicated to her appearances in the press snapped with all manner of famous people. She quickly realised that being in the fashion business requires a massive marketing budget usually of £2m and that her £500 would not go very far so she actively sought to get free publicity mainly by replacing Rod Stewarts’ new wife with his ex in a brilliant PR move that grabbed the headlines for the company. Ms Mone certainly appeared to be a very shrewd operator where everything is painstakingly put in its’ place in an almost OCD type of way. On further questioning however she revealed the affect the death of her father had upon her when she was only 8 and the fact that she mildly bullied in school for always wearing the correct uniform. She comes from a hard working-class background in Glasgows’ East End and had children working for her delivering papers at the tender age of just 10 years old.
Click here to visit her website
There are also examples of such entrepreneurial spirit in Mid Wales, the iconic Laura Ashley brand was started in the small village of Carno by Laura and Bernard. KTK as was which later became the global company Control Techniques was established in 1973 by Trevor Wheatley, Kevin Curran and Ken Briggs to provide variable speed drives. Just over the border in Oswestry, Total Network Solutions (TNS) was started by the mercurial Mike Harris a former BT engineer who spotted an opportunity to provide all the kit for Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) and became a gold reseller for Cisco Systems eventually selling the company for £14m to his former employers. Harris would often turn up for work in flip-flops and shorts and throw stress balls across the open plan office at his staff!.
While we cannot pretend to be even close to such predecessors, the Design Store has been established to provide high quality design to anybody who maybe can’t afford the sometimes extortionate rates charged by the established design agencies. Examples such as £3,000 for a logo, £2,000 for a website are all horror stories to us in addition to a rate typically of £50 per hour. The adage of ‘you get what you pay for’ simply does not apply in this circumstance at all and is more to do with the ‘accepted’ rate of the design industry to the uninformed client. Our aim is to banish these accepted over-priced norms and offer clients an alternative without compromising quality. Due to this tradition, small businesses have in some cases been forced to buy template websites for £299 and enlist the services of an amateur volunteer. For a small amount more we can design a bespoke website that specifically meets your needs and will not publish it to the world until you are 100% happy. So many businesses want lovely customer areas and employ professional builders etc and then present a website and promotional literature to the outside world that frankly can look awful in some cases. We don’t have plush offices, we rely on lovely websites to show the quality of our work – after all, we are designers not architects. We do not create a veneer of mystique and there is absolutely no ‘bull’, ‘jargon’ or ‘geek’ spoken by us, it will be plain and clear what you will get for your money at an acceptable rate. The whole basis of our business is to ensure that every business can afford good quality design and ultimately boost sales not be excluded by an industry particularly during recession that is saturated and sometimes greedy….
Until next time…..
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