Your Business Magazine 2022 - 26

Interview
something themselves, so you have to be
resourceful and competitive. You need a
product with a genuine demand or you
simply won't survive.
You also have to be someone who
can attract talent - this isn't all about
you, it's about your team. You need
commercial acumen, and you've got
to be confident you can manage the
financials of the business. So many
companies go bust because they
are undercapitalised; they haven't
identified the demand or attracted the
people to fulfil the demand, so they
win work but then can't deliver.
What can an SME owner do if
they lack any of the essential
skills to run their business?
No one can be all things to all people.
Business owners need to recognise what
they are good at and when they need
to bring people in, whether those are
full-time or part-time roles, contracted
or outsourced. I follow the same model.
I have hired people
to complement
my weaknesses,
and I have paid
for outsourced
providers.
Don't think
that if you're not
adept at something
that makes you a
bad entrepreneur
- it doesn't.
It's completely
normal; you just
have to recognise
your weaknesses
and be able
to resource them.
What are the qualities you must
have to run a successful business?
You have to be a visionary, you have to
be a leader and believe in yourself, you
need to be excellent at execution and
delivery, and very good at marketing.
Should staff wellbeing be high on
the priority list for business owners?
You're only as good as the people around
you - and if those people aren't inspired
and excited about coming to work, you
won't be able to get the best out of them.
If you want the best people, you have to
consider their wellbeing, and that means
26
investing in their training and development throughout their careers
with you. Businesses and products change and market dynamics shift;
it's crucial to make sure people are equipped to deliver throughout.
James's career
What is exciting you about your businesses at the moment?
I'm on the most exciting part of my journey yet - I never thought I'd be
so driven so late in my career. One of the businesses I am involved in,
Recruitment Entrepreneur, has reinvigorated my passion and I find
myself working harder than I've ever worked before.
Sometimes, as an entrepreneur, you find something that captures
your imagination and reignites you. Recruitment Entrepreneur was
launched five years ago and has done incredibly well and we're now in
the process of taking it global. We plan to open in 20 countries over the
next 20 months (see page 244 to read more).
What have been the most challenging aspects of your
businesses during the pandemic and now?
The most challenging aspect has been dealing with the unexpected.
You don't know what you don't know - and over the past two years
we've had to navigate situations we hadn't dealt with before and make
decisions we hadn't had to make before. The pandemic threw us all off
course; the people who succeeded are those who adapted, were flexible
and accepted the new norm.
" The pandemic
threw us all off
course; those
who succeeded
are those
who adapted "
What do you like best about owning businesses?
Having the freedom to innovate, be creative, take
risks, reinvent, embrace challenges and learn. As an
entrepreneur, you are learning all the time. That's what
I like the most.
And what do you dread most about it?
I don't like uncertainty and I don't like red tape,
particularly all the bureaucracy around travel at the
moment. You need a PCR, then you don't... it's been a
nightmare trying to travel. Things are moving at such
a pace that trying to keep up with it all has been very
disruptive and expensive. Sometimes I've paid more
for Covid tests than for flights, which is ridiculous.
You've run several businesses. Which has been
the most challenging in recent times and why?
One of my businesses is an investment company that is correlated to
the stock market - that's currently the most challenging because the
markets over the past three years have been so hard to predict. The
world has been hit with leftfield events we couldn't have imagined,
which has thrown the markets. The impact of inflation and the effect
on the markets has led to a rise in interest rates, and the whole thing
is challenging and hard to follow. The emergence and impact of
cryptocurrency has also been a challenge.
What are your plans for the next year career-wise?
I am going to be laser-focused and not get distracted! I'll be focusing
on taking Recruitment Entrepreneur global. We are planning to
open five new operations in Q1 and six in Q2. We think we can
get to 15 operations by the end of 2022, which is way beyond
where we thought we would be. And by the end of 2023 I expect
Recruitment Entrepreneur to be established in 20 countries.
Your Business Magazine 2022

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