CEO & Founder featured in The Sunday Times

Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Are you dreaming of being the next Sir James Dyson, Sir James Ratcliffe or Sir Richard Branson? The Sunday Times 40 under 40, published alongside the Rich List, the UK’s leading wealth rankings, showcases young British talent from music, sport, entertainment and business.

Phil Beahon, who co-founded the sportswear brand Castore with his brother and ranks at No 11, says in his interview that when he was growing up on the Wirral he hardly ever heard the word entrepreneur.

"For my mum and dad’s generation it was all about getting a job, getting a house, starting a family,” he says. “These days it’s not so easy to get a job or buy a house, but it’s easy to get yourself a laptop and set up a website. Maybe that’s why our generation seems more comfortable with entrepreneurship and starting your own business — it’s often the only option open to us."

Barney Hussey-Yeo, now worth an estimated £128 million thanks to his money-management app Cleo, is clear-eyed and succinct.

“The most ambitious people in society shouldn’t aim to be lawyers, consultants or bankers; they should be starting companies,” he says. “Spend your early twenties becoming deeply technical, learn to build products and start a company. There’s never been a better moment to do so.”

If you think you have the perfect idea and have what it takes, some of the country’s brightest young business talents share here their experiences and tips.

1. Self Belief

Vishal Karia, the founder of the cosmetics wholesaler Affinity, believes young people need better education in “how to take and get comfortable with risk.” He says:

“I have a higher risk-tolerance than most people because there were very few expectations that I would succeed. Many of my teachers at school told me explicitly that I wouldn’t. But I persevered with immense self-belief.”

2. Focus

Reece Wabara, 32, may have played for Manchester City, but he quit football at 26 to focus on his fashion label Manière De Voir, and last year opened his first store on Oxford Street in central London.

“It begins by understanding your true calling, trying to grasp what you’re subconsciously drawn to, what makes you happy and what you have a high level of understanding of,” he says. “Looking back on your childhood interests can help — back when there was no bias and it was all just instinctual.”

The Gymshark co-founder Lewis Morgan, who is now the chairman of the athleisure brand Aybl, believes there are myriad ways to achieve your first million.

“It’s not written in a textbook and there are an infinite number of ways to achieve your first million,” he says. “It’s not easy, but with patience and persistence combined with an ‘I am unstoppable’ mindset, your first million is always within reach.”

Breaking the mission down into achievable steps can spark success. Eric Liu, who studied computer science before he set up the food delivery service HungryPanda and owns a 25 per cent share in the £600 million business, advises budding tycoons to

“start small by aiming for a targeted profit of £1,000.”

Liu adds: “Identify the key elements contributing to this success and work on enhancing them, aiming to make one aspect ten times more impactful while maintaining satisfactory levels in the others. It’s about optimising and repeating this process consistently, aiming for sustainable success over time.”

3. Be in it for the long haul

“Our success was rooted in innovation and trusting our gut,” 

say Dan and Melanie Marsden, who met at primary school before founding Lounge Underwear.

“Starting with £1,000 in our pockets, creating a unique product and utilising up-and-coming marketing strategies — in our case, influencer marketing — is proof that when you’ve got something that no one else has, you can reach remarkable heights.”

“We stick to our mission every day and that’s why we set up the Lounge Foundation: we want to make a positive impact on the world.” 

Similarly Harry Kane, the England football captain, says:

“Build resilience and remember your roots. Celebrate small wins, build a strong network and offer encouragement and support to others on their journey.”

4. Kindness

Kane is not alone in championing the art of goodwill. Ayman Rahman, who co-founded Dare International with his wife, Fateha Begum, says it is kindness that counts. Their firm employs 200 staff and handles trades worth billions a day.

The couple have done so well that they also rank at 323 in the main Rich List. Rahman says:

“Remember who helped get you here and take a moment to thank them,” 

which is why he takes every chance to thank his wife and parents for their “immeasurable support.”

5. Start early and form good habits

David Campbell, 34, is one of three brothers who run the Derby-based manufacturer SureScreen Diagnostics, which won a £500 million NHS contract to supply lateral-flow tests during the pandemic. He suggests running your personal finances like you are managing a business.

“Everything is a trade-off, so accept you will periodically have to make sacrifices in other areas of your life to achieve outstanding goals,” he says. “Understand that luck is a component to anyone’s success, so be kind to yourself and others, especially when things aren’t working out as well as you had hoped.”

6. Luck

James Asquith was 24 when he held the Guinness world record for the youngest male to visit all 196 sovereign countries on the planet. A decade on and he runs Holiday Swap, a rival to Airbnb that has helped him to an estimated wealth of £182 million, and has recently founded Global Airlines.

“It will be the last business that I start,” he says. “It’s also a business I’ll fight tooth and nail for because I see its huge potential. Just to get our first A380 across the Atlantic, as we did recently, has required all my reserves of time, energy and belief.”

His advice?

“There’s no substitute for hard work, saving and having a goal. I had that ingrained in me from a young age by my parents. If you see an opportunity, go for it. But rolling the dice requires luck. My luck was from being a student of the financial markets and investing in stock at record lows.”

7. Stay true to yourself — and your friends

“Success comes with a sense of duty to support others and that’s what I try and do however I can. People see through false humility very quickly,” 

Karia says. “It’s making the time for a quiet pizza on a weeknight to listen and share in someone’s problems that counts. The last thing that I would want any of my friends and family to think is that I have fundamentally changed in terms of my principles and priorities because of my success.”

8. Hard lessons

Dealing with failure is one of the hardest but most important lessons to learn. Almost everyone in the 40 under 40 list will have been rejected at some point in their journey.

The words may not fit on to one of his designer T-shirts, but Wabara’s final bit of advice is:

“Understand the power of compounding and delayed gratification and you will move mountains — not just financially but in all aspects of life.”

However, Karia believes that you also need to find happiness in the moment.

“When you are young, [you] take risks and spend money on experiences which are going to broaden your skills, horizon and network and equip you for the future. Deferring reward or happiness is an approach that I have seen taken by a lot of people in my parent’s generation as immigrants to the UK,” he says. “They make sacrifices to allow us to have the life that we have, but I think that they probably didn’t get the balance right. I’ve seen a lot of people pass away or lose their health before they have had the opportunity to enjoy their life.”

You can read the full article here: https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/celebrity/article/how-made-first-million-sunday-times-rich-list-9ptp8vxrx

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