GrowthBusiness.co.uk: Your gateway to entrepreneurial success

Gentleman wheeler-dealer Richard Denny is a direct descendant of Sir Walter Raleigh and former partner of Tariq Bin Laden. He has written five business books, runs his eponymous training company and tours the world giving motivational speeches.

When people ask me whether entrepreneurs are born or made, I believe most of us learn on the way because we want to succeed. Everything I learnt about how to be successful in business was through my own mistakes, and by asking people cleverer and wiser than myself.

Self-reliance
That said, one of the most important lessons I learnt was never be too dependent on other people when it comes to your business ventures. I realised this after being let down very badly in the mid-70s by my business partners.

My company expanded to the Middle East where we were selling Yugoslavian lamb, Greek cement and British steel. One of my partners was Tariq Bin Laden, of the Bin Laden family. However, it was the other two, based in London, who let me down when they failed to cash in the credit letters from our customers.

Consequently, we lost everything. I couldn’t even afford to go up to Scotland to see my son play in a school football match.

I was devastated, but later realised I was never again going to put myself in a position where I would have to blame other people for something bad happening. It was one of the best things that ever happened to me because I learnt that it doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks, says or does, it’s only what I do that counts.

Gauging interest
I always tell young entrepreneurs they should test the market before launching a product. With the rise of unemployment in the mid-80s, I made two cassettes on how to get a job and how to get an interview. We spent a lot of money marketing the products in a couple of daily newspapers, which we were advised were popular with unemployed people.

After spending a lot of time and money we only managed to sell 60 or 70 tapes. Later, they were given a good review in a business magazine and we sold more than 250. Even now, when I write a new book, I’m always careful to market test the title first.

I used to believe that if you had a quality product it would speak for itself, but I learnt very early on that in a competitive marketplace people have a vast amount of choice in what they buy. If you truly believe in your product, you must remove the risk for people.

All of my books, for example, have a money back guarantee on them. Also, no matter how good the product is, you must be able to sell it well. Marketing is key.

Value of expertise
Speaking to those who know what they’re talking about makes a real difference. When I needed to raise £20,000 a few decades ago, the housing market was going through a dip and my bank manager advised me to sell my house. That was the worst advice I’ve ever had because it took me a year and a half to get back on the property ladder.

I could have just remortgaged it or got a loan to raise the equity. I now know to always approach an expert first for financial or business advice.

Taking the right risks is also important. For a long time I had thought about getting into executive recruitment, but I held back because I didn’t like the way headhunters operate. I always viewed them in the same way I view estate agents. However, even then I always knew I’d do it differently by focusing on quality candidates. When I finally did go ahead and do it, I realised it was something I should have done ten to 15 years before.