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| Duncan Bannatyne |
While rags-to-riches memoirs abound, I doubt there are many as genuine, gripping and just plain fun to read as this account by Duncan Bannatyne.
During his early years, though none of his friends or neighbors were wealthy, quite a few families could afford cars, televisions, and other conveniences of the time.
Whatever their financial position, no other child he knew needed to go without the occasional treat, such as an ice cream from a passing vendor. The standard parental response to the young Bannatyne questions as to why he could never have one, was simply that they were poor.
They viewed this poverty as an innate condition, not to be complained-of, as there was absolutely no expectation of change.
Indeed, When Bannatyne began his first major commercial venture, his father stated that people like them did not start businesses. It sounded as if they were born with a taint which would prove inescapable.
As this autobiography shows, while never anticipating the affluence he would one day obtain, he did not accept this predestined reality. At a fairly early age, he decided he would find or forge some pathway viable enough to provide himself and those close to him with those amenities taken for granted by others.
Today, there is a great deal of talk regarding overall concepts and the big picture. Often, however, this belief in future billions as the well-deserved consequence of a dream, tends to allow would-be entrepreneurs to ignore the finer details which create its groundwork.
It was this awareness of seeming trivia which garnered Bannatyne his initial small business. Having noted newspapers were not being delivered to his own and similar vicinity, he approached the lady in charge, to ask for a job in so-doing. She replied, in a somewhat high-handed tone, that no-one in those areas could afford such a service. Instead of accepting her snub, Bannatyne went door-to-door. Soon, he was able to offer a list of one-hundred potential partakers of such a delivery service. This documented number left the elitist lady with little choice but to hire him.
As a businessman, with savvy acquired by experience, he realized it would have been far more advantageous to offer to sell her his list. Still, for a boy starting out, he showed a strong instinct for economics development.
Later, this understanding of small things was to bolster his sales in his role as the same type of ice cream vendor who’s goods had eluded him as a young boy. Why not take a few seconds to draw a face on an ice cream, or to greet a boy with “Johnny” written on his T-shirt by asking, “What would you like today, Johnny?”
A few further examples of his acumen indicate his reasons for such astounding success, as well as his ethical framework.
If he signed a contract, then found several thousand pounds added to his bill as customary expenses, he refused to pay them. Limousine travel, nights in upscale hotels, exorbitant dinners with “clients, unless a provably part of the contract, he would not pay. In addition, he puts his name on any type of enterprise he chooses to enter:, health clubs, care homes and such. Every member of one of his fitness centers is given an email address where they are welcome to contact him, if they have a query or grievance which cannot be resolved by local staff.
In addition, from his outset, he prohibited waste. Although Paper clips are viewed by most companies as negligible, their incessant use can prove as costly as water left dripping from a tap. Hence, rather than purchase these clips, he instructed his clerical staff to remove them from any mail, and then reuse them.
When he decided to expand into care homes for the elderly, he pretended to be seeking a suitable residence for his mother. As such, he was granted investigative privileges not allowed to potential competitors. In this guise, he was able to contrast the foul conditions of some homes with the nurturing concern shown by others.
In ethical terms, at one point he was forced to realize a previously loyal employee was stealing money. When he confronted her in a direct but compassionate way, she conceded the truth of his findings, explaining her husband had abandoned her and their three children-her theft has truly resulted from need. He did not fire her, based on her vow not to defraud him again. Still, when he found she had defaulted upon this promise, he felt no choice but to end her employment. Still, though he could have brought legal action, he forbore to do so.
In recent times, Bannatyne is best-known for being a dragon on the widely televised ”Dragon’s Den”, a program in which would-be entrepreneurs are asked, in a verbal trial by fire, to justify why their idea is worthy of big-time investments. Although characterized as one of the most ferocious of dragons, in truth he cuts to the core of the question: if I invest in your plan, what returns can I expect, and by what documentation can you justify this belief. Unless the applicant has, or is willing to risk mortgaging a home and pursuing every feasible loan avenue, he says, “I’m out”, and that is the end of the matter.
Unless an entrepreneur believes enough in his idea to risk all he has on its chance of success, he has no right to ask anyone else to invest. Whatever his level of wealth, any investor has a right to know he will gain a significant sum beyond the amount invested. This bottom-line approach cuts through even the most eloquent pitch, or clever palaver.
