Raw 04 - December 2008 - (Page 8)

RAW ALEXANDER DAVIS first met Imran Hakim at this year’s Business Show held in Bolton. Imran was delivering a keynote speech about being an Entrepreneur and his journey with iTeddy . Imran has a very positive energy and you only have to speak to him for five minutes to realise why this young Entrepreneur is so successful. Imran possesses a “can do” attitude and clearly thinks outside the box which makes him a real inspiration for Entrepreneurs who embark on the wonderful and exciting journey of becoming an Entrepreneur. In February this year 29-year-old Bolton Entrepreneur Imran Hakim succeeded in winning over the infamous Dragons of Dragons’ Den and secured £140,000 investment for an innovative new I ‘edutainment’ toy. Since then Imran has enjoyed unprecedented interest and success with his invention which brings the traditional teddy bear into the 21st century with a built in personal media player, allowing kids to play their favourite cartoons, bedtime stories and much more. The idea was conceived in November 06 by Imran Hakim, an optometrist and serial Entrepreneur from Bolton, who has a passion for taking on new challenges. The idea came to him when he was challenged by his younger brother Zubair to invent a better gift than his in time for their niece’s first birthday. So who is Imran Hakim? I asked him the following questions while Imran gave me a few minutes out of his busy schedule. Who was your childhood hero? My childhood hero before Dragons Den was Sir Richard Branson because I really like his story mainly because he had lost his fortune and built it back up again. Despite being knocked down, he rose again and has consistently performed decade after decade in so many sectors. He has achieved so much, has an amazing business model and he is one of the few people who can promote so many businesses with one name “Virgin”. When did you first turn a profit and what was it with At the age of 13 or 14 I would organise trips for my school mates to Alton Towers. I would hire a bus or coach and negotiate with Alton Towers to get, for example, one place in every five free which was my profit. When I was 15 years old I went to work at McDonalds and found that I was asking too many questions and I guessed that I could do a better job than the people around me. I felt controlled and it was not at all an Entrepreneurial environment. I also had a brief stint a Morrison’s which lasted for about two days. I was asked to scan bar codes, I was totally bored and needed a challenge. I felt that I really wanted to be pushed to the edge of my capabilities and pushed way beyond my comfort zone. 8 millionimpossible.com http://www.millionimpossible.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Raw 04 - December 2008

Raw 04 - December 2008 Contents Imran Hakim Linda Klassen Brown Bradley Chapman Heidi Weir Colin Stroud Emma Thompson Raw Business Have a Care JPR Mortages TLB Events Alexander Davis

Raw 04 - December 2008

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