Dan Brookman of Airship and Toggle: Five Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Launched My Business or Startup
Get as much experience as possible — You might expect success, but it’s not easy. Get out in the world and experience as much business as you can. Learn the ropes, speak to fellow entrepreneurs about their experiences, and gather as much insight as you can. This will help you get to where you need to be. You’ll be amazed how open people are to give you advice.
Taking the risk to start a company is a feat few are fully equipped for. Any business owner knows that the first few years in business are anything but glamorous. Building a successful business takes time, lessons learned, and most importantly, enormous growth as a business owner. What works and what doesn’t when one starts a new business? What are the valuable lessons learned from the “University of Adversity”? As part of this interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dan Brookman.
Dan Brookman is the CEO of Airship and Toggle, hospitality tech companies focused on customer engagement through CRM, data-driven loyalty, and hospitality commerce. After selling Airship and Toggle to Zonal, the UK’s leading hospitality technology provider, in 2022, Dan remains CEO of both companies and is a member of the executive board at Zonal. Dan is also a Director and Trustee of the Archer Project, a homeless charity and social enterprise in his hometown of Sheffield and an investor in early-stage start-ups El Tab & Joli.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I started my business really early, I was aged 13. I didn’t do accounts or employ people, but I did build and sell products. I negotiated with customers and my suppliers (my parents) as it was their workshop floor where I was picking up off-cuts of wood that I’d then be turning into things to sell. I stumbled into business after falling out of education. I didn’t necessarily have a master plan, but I understood that I wanted to create something. I’ve now created 14 ‘things’ and finally after 30 odd years, I’ve managed to have my first ‘success’.
I’ve been working in the hospitality industry for 30 years, starting aged 18, becoming the landlord of my first pub at 22 and opening my first freehold at 23. I bought a derelict swimming pool with a 5% deposit paid on a credit card and raised £500k investment to open a 600-capacity live music venue. Being 23 years old at the time I had to jump through quite a lot of hoops with local licensing, the council, the local community and local MPs to get this place off the ground. After about two years, the business was thriving and we were hosting bands and live music, jam sessions, stand-up comedians, and entertainment nights — We then came up with a concept called ‘The DeepEnder Card’, which was essentially a membership card that we’d then sell to customers for £10 to give them ongoing discounts. We ended up with a few thousand subscribers, which was great, but we had nowhere to store the data. Text messaging had just started, and a school friend approached me with the idea to use it for marketing, so we hired a developer fresh out of university to build a platform. PowerText was born, and with a ready-made case study in our own venue, we soon signed customers like Promise Newcastle, Mint nightclub, and Gatecrasher. We ended up working for all the DJs and big nightclub brands, building VIP systems, TextTV and queue jump mechanics, as well as sending out millions of text messages every month to their customers — it was a great time, we were innovating in a brand-new space.
We were doing this from 2003 up until 2007, and then Apple launched the iPhone, meaning that text messaging pretty much died overnight. To survive, we added an email broadcast tool alongside the SMS. The recession came along, and we lost half of our customers. We had to rethink again. This is when we started to truly focus on hospitality, doing agency work and loyalty programmes for pub, nightclub and restaurant brands, and in 2013 we rebranded PowerText to Airship.
Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?
Early in our journey, we were self-funded and start-up/scale-up or high growth wasn’t really terminology around. We had to completely pivot our business after the introduction of the iPhone, and then within 24 months had the fall out of the financial crash.
We ran for a good few years as a lifestyle business but then in 2018, our biggest customer went bust and another pulled their budget, which meant that we lost 70% of revenue in just four weeks. My co-founder was the MD and he stood down. I stepped in to see if I could save the business. I immediately had to make the difficult call of letting 70% of our staff go and we literally had to reset the business, meaning it was time for another pivot. We had to stop being an agency and start building the tools for hospitality operators to use themselves. It is never easy letting people go, no matter what the situation, and that was the toughest time for me. When you’ve worked with people for so long, and you have no choice but to make people redundant, it’s a miserable thing.
Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
One of the main things that pushed me through was just the amount of time I had already invested in the business. I’d invested so much of my time and energy and felt I couldn’t do anything else but try my hardest to make it work. As long as you’ve got a business to run, you have to carry on running it — it’s not over until it’s over!
I think the key is resilience. I say the same thing to members of my team when we have a chat about how things are going, I always say resilience is what will help you. You cannot predict the future, and you never know when something else is going to come along and give you another massive slap in the face when you might not be expecting it. Whatever happens, you’re going to have to stand up again and keep going. There were many times throughout my career that I could have let something eat away at me, but I didn’t — my passion and determination in my business is what drove me to continue.
So, how are things going today? How did grit and resilience lead to your eventual success?
In our pivot of 2018, we launched Airship’s sister platform Toggle, with the objective of reimagining how gift cards work in hospitality. Many high-street brands had gift cards, but you couldn’t buy one for your favourite local independent pub or restaurant, so that was what we set out to do. Toggle processed £2.4m in its first 90 days. The following year it did £6m, and the year after £12m, last year was £23m. This year, we’re set to generate more than £45m which is just mind-blowing.
Airship is also going from strength to strength, and we’ve now got 26m people on our client accounts. We’re sending out 18m emails a week at the moment, which is absolutely crazy. The two platforms are just continuing to grow and grow and dominating the hospitality tech space.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The first pub I was landlord of was called the Belle Vue, which was in Sheffield and just around the corner from my house. It had been shut down previously because of a big fight that had occurred there, resulting in the landlord getting kicked out. I was offered the pub with a rent of about £20 a week, handed the keys in a car park and moved in upstairs! I was about three weeks into running the pub and had hired a local decorator. He asked me if his daughter could have a party on the Saturday, so I thought why not? It was still early days in the business, and we were only making £700 a week, so a party on a Saturday night with £1,000 behind the bar, it seemed like a no-brainer!
The party came in with buffets and we got a DJ, and it was a great night, no issues. It got to about 11 o’clock, I rang the last orders bell and the family asked if they could have another hour. I thought, why not, we were all having a nice evening, so I closed the curtains and front doors (which was quite usual locally but obviously against licensing law) and kept the pub open for them. 12 o’clock came, and they asked for another hour, and I reluctantly obliged. Everything was going smoothly, but at about half past 12, the whole pub suddenly went very silent, and the family had split to each side of the room. I had no idea what was about to happen, but then everyone ran at each other, and a huge fight broke out between them all. It was pretty vicious with punches and food being thrown, and chairs flying around the place. It looked like a comedy Western fight! Of course, I tried to break it up with my landlord authority and immediately got punched.
In the end the police were called, and I was told how much trouble I was in, and that my license was gone. I thought it was all over for me, only three weeks in and I was gutted it had turned out this way. I had to stay in a hotel overnight whilst the police were at the pub, so I went to the bar downstairs, all black and blue and not looking my best. It turned out that Paul Weller and Jools Holland both had gigs in the city that night, so they were also having a drink in the same bar. It was definitely up there with one of the strangest nights I’ve had.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
I was recently at an industry event, and one of the suppliers came up to me and said, ‘thank you for the Airship effect’. He was referring to how we’ve normalised the relationship between supplier and customer and helped facilitate a better working relationship. Being so involved in the hospitality sector, our culture is recognised as being more aligned with brands and operators than other suppliers, even though we’re not an agency. I think a lot of that is to do with our own brand positioning, and our personality which comes across through our team members, social media presence, and transparency with our customers. We are truly passionate about the sector, and I think that comes across in our work. We’ve previously held Mega Marketing Masterclasses in Manchester, where we’ve gathered brands together to give them advice, top tips and how to make best use of Airship and Toggle. We’re keen to educate our customers on what they can do to make their business the best it can be and continue to improve the efficiency of the hospitality business where we can. That’s what I think makes our company stand out and I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
There have been times where I have had too much to juggle, and I found myself burned out at 30. At one time I had seven businesses on the go including a piano bar and a cocktail bar, a record label and rehearsal rooms, a ringtones and graphics company, two tech companies and a beer supply business. I was having a lot of fun with it all, but in the end, I was just too overwhelmed, and I fire-sold the lot.
My advice to reduce burnout is to make sure you find the right ‘fun’ that works for you. For me, I have a small group of mates who I go to gigs and festivals with. We go on holiday and do things like that together. In the same way, somebody might find climbing a mountain, or running, as an escape. Having something other than work that you can escape to and enjoy, to take your mind off work and blow off some steam, is crucial.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for my parents, and the support they gave me. Not particularly financial support, but just general. There was never any negativity around any idea that I took to them, they always encouraged me to go for it and were with me every step of the way. My Uncle Jack & Auntie Sheila were also important people in my life that helped me get to where I am today. They had a post office in Chesterfield, which I worked in throughout my childhood. That was a big part of my growth, so I definitely have them to thank for instilling a work ethic.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I’m a trustee of the Archer Project, which is a homeless charity in Sheffield. I’ve had previous issues with addiction, and I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve had a community around me that has always kept me from hitting rock bottom. Most people that are homeless have suffered PTSD, or some sort of trauma in their early lives, and they don’t have the community to support them, meaning that they end up on the street. In my role with the Archer Project, I head up their business promise and work with a colleague who is paid by Airship as part of our CSR efforts. They help me meet local businesses, to try and get their support on an ongoing basis. The clever thing about the Archer Project is that they fund a social enterprise called Printed By Us which enables us to take homeless people right from the pavement back to employment and a more fulfilled life.
During the pandemic, with hospitality in a dreadful place, we announced we were going to give Toggle away for free. I posted the news on LinkedIn and said that we would not charge them until their doors reopen. We received a huge number of sign-ups, and throughout this period, we generated more than £5.5m worth of revenue without raising a single invoice. For us, it was about helping hospitality venues to survive, and keep the industry going in any way we could.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first launched my business” and why?
Success is measured differently for different people. I don’t think that I understood when I started out that I needed to know what success was, which brings me on to my first of five things I wish someone had told me in my early years.
- Think about your goal
What outcome are you aiming for? Is it high growth and exit in 3–5 years or is it a lifestyle business that enables you to work on your own terms?
It’s good to understand what you personally feel will be ‘success’, it’ll guide your decisions and make it easier to stay on track. High growth often means continuous fundraising which can be taxing. Running a business in high growth mode potentially means more stakeholders, more accountability, and more pressure. It’s good to have a clear idea to make sure you know where you’re headed.
2. You’re going to need to be resilient
Some days will be rubbish. There’s no two ways about it. And you, as the leader of the business will need to pick yourself up quickly and deal with every outcome.
In my view, to have resilience, you need to have the right people around you. You need to be proactive to your core, being able to quickly dissect a situation and make decisions that result in positive outcomes. Sometimes resilience is required over a long period of time, it’s the toughest part of running a business.
Over time, I’ve found myself becoming resilient for my team. Helping other people stand up when life throws inevitable curve balls is incredibly valuable to people.
3. Get as much experience as possible
You might expect success, but it’s not easy. Get out in the world and experience as much business as you can. Learn the ropes, speak to fellow entrepreneurs about their experiences, and gather as much insight as you can. This will help you get to where you need to be. You’ll be amazed how open people are to give you advice.
4. Take the money
It’s easy to get engrossed in a business, to chase its success, you can risk becoming arrogant. If your goal is to exit and the right fit comes along at the right(ish) price, you should seriously consider taking the money.
Why? Because having a successful exit under your belt will make your next venture much easier. You’ll have a stronger CV, hopefully financial stability, more credibility, more confidence, and you’ll have built resilience.
5. Recognise your weaknesses
Both personally and professionally. Hire people who are smarter thank you, I know everyone says this but simply, it’s so important! The better your team, the more you can achieve. You can delegate and focus your time on the business, rather than in the business.
Can you share a few ideas or stories from your experience about how to successfully ride the emotional highs & lows of being a founder”?
Definitely there will be lows, you have to take these on your shoulders and keep your team motivated. A big thing that has worked for me is to be transparent; own the issue, explain your proposed solution to your team and the timeline for resolution.
As for the highs, obviously they should be shared. Every milestone, however small, should be celebrated both with your team as well as with your support network. My highs have definitely been opening bars, particularly opening The Deep End, which was a great time in my life. We certainly made every possible mistake but that is a period I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Enjoy these moments and share your stories, and don’t take yourself too seriously. It’s also important to be in a business you’re passionate about. I always wake up and look forward to every day. The previous day might have been awful, but I still wake up in the morning feeling excited about what’s to come that day.
Get up every day and do your best. Take responsibility for your actions, keep people focused and don’t be afraid of doing a reset if necessary.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Such a big question! I love hospitality, I think it’s such a diverse sector and it offers tremendous opportunities to people. I’d love for it to be recognised more as a career opportunity for young people, especially post-covid, since we’ve seen an ongoing problem with mental health issues amongst the younger generation. Working in a team under pressure and dealing with the general public helps to build confidence and resilience. Hospitality sits at the heart of our communities.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn, and follow Airship and Toggle’s journey.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
