The Slow Route to Entrepreneurship

Growing up, I dreamed of running my own successful business empire when I was older. Running a number of innovative and cutting-edge businesses, all making a tangible difference to peoples’ lives.

How hard could it be?

My first foray into entrepreneurship was during adolescence. I was at school when mobile phones started becoming mainstream, and ran a successful little enterprise selling phone accessories to the other kids in school — phone covers, screen holograms, light up aerials, all sorts of nonsense. I was making serious, serious paper. Enough to walk into the snack bar every lunch time and order as many doughnuts, chocolate bars and toasties as I wanted.

This business malarkey seemed easy. Scaling it up when I was older would be a walk in the park. Surely.

After school I decided to study Business Management at university to add the final touches to preparing me for entrepreneurship.

So I did my degree, ready to take the world by storm and become a famous entrepreneur in the mould of Branson, Sugar, Gates, Jobs etc.

Then I became an accountant.

I don’t even know why I became an accountant. People on my course were applying for jobs, so I started to do the same. I mean, I had no money and no real business idea, so it seemed the sensible thing to do at the time. I applied for accountancy firms and business consultancy roles, which seemed like a pretty natural progression, and before I knew it I was celebrating being offered a role at a top 4 accountancy firm. I was literally whooping for joy, appreciating being given such a revered job (in spite of my entrepreneurial dreams).

Three years later I was a chartered accountant, hating every single day of putting up with corporate politicking, doing roles that none of my qualifications had really prepared me for, and just dealing with mundane stuff every day. One year later, I was made redundant. Fair. I didn’t have the passion for the job, and people around me were definitely making more of the opportunity they’d been presented with.

But all was good. Cheeky bit of redundancy money in my back pocket, now was my time to shine and become a successful businessman.

Four weeks later I was working in Private Equity.

The opportunity was great, but it very quickly dawned on me that I just am not cut out for the corporate world.

But — I had a great salary — woohoo. Who cared if I hated my life 50 hours of the week? I could afford to have a nice lunch and two Starbucks every day, spending my weekends merrily drinking away the pain.

Another year passed before my uncle, a dentist, came to me with a business opportunity. He had created a design for a new kind of dental implant, and the patent had recently been approved. Would I join him in a 50/50 venture? I thought about it… it was interesting. Ok — let’s do it. Finally, my opportunity to become an entrepreneur! I handed in my notice, and started daydreaming about running my own business.

This was going to be epic.

Three days after I left my role to start this new venture my uncle reneged on our agreement. He decided he didn’t want a partner any more and was going to do it on his own. Disaster.

At this point, my options were quite limited. Did I really want to apply for another corporate job and lose more years running that gauntlet? Not really. So, with my tail firmly between my legs, I went back to Manchester.

My parents owned a deli in the city centre — I bought in and became an equal partner. The next 2 years I spent rebranding the business — renovating, redesigning the menus, and trying to reinvigorate the place. It kind of worked. But it was never truly “my” business. I didn’t start it, and ultimately it was always still going to be my parents deli. Plus I just wasn’t passionate enough about it.

These weren’t great times. My girlfriend and most of my friends were in London, I was living with my parents, and I was working with them during the day. Something had to change.

This is when I decided to take decisive action. I started documenting lots of business ideas I had, and that I was really passionate about. I’d heard about something called Escape the City that ran start up courses for aspiring entrepreneurs, and took my pack of ideas, moving back to London for 3 months whilst I did this course.

During the two years I was in Manchester I had started to take much better care of my health, eating better and exercising more. I decided to supplement my nutrition with vitamins, and one day went to a high street health store to get some supplies. So much choice! I had no idea what to take. I asked the shop assistant for his recommendations — he looked at me blankly and then pointed towards a generic multivitamin. I was underwhelmed. Was this for everyone? What about if one person was a smoker? Or a gym nut? Or a big coffee drinker? And surely everyone had different health goals? Why were we all being recommended the same multivitamin?

So, I decided to create a business that truly cared about people’s health. A company that created unique vitamin and supplement recommendations for each person based on their specific circumstances and health goals, and then sent this bespoke plans to them on subscription. I finally had an idea that I was passionate about, and I was going on a practical course to put it into action. Enter, www.vitaminbuddy.co.uk

The next 3 months was some of the best of my life. Back in London, learning about business every day. Not at a corporate, or academic level, but the nuts and bolts of starting a business. How to create a first version without breaking the bank. Speaking with prospective customers about what they want, and building a business in their vision.

In the last two years since I joined that course, I have set up my business, hired my first employees, built a brand I’m truly proud of, and have secured investment. I’m nowhere near where I want to be, but I’m definitely on the right path (for me). There’s been a lot of knocks along the way, and there’s still setbacks I’m regularly dealing with. But at least I get to set my own rules.

My path to entrepreneurship was slower than I anticipated, although the rocky route I took will definitely help me in the long term. I’m more resilient, and have skills that I wouldn’t have had I gone straight into working for myself.

It also helped me realise that ultimately, if you want to do something you can’t wait around for opportunity or for the perfect time to come knocking. You just have to make a conscious decision to go for it, and work every day to make it happen. Ain’t no time like the present.