Jonathan started his first business when he found out that a recruitment consultant was going to get paid £4,500 plus VAT to find him a £20,000 job. Jonathan turned down the job and set up his own recruitment consultancy charging a lot less. That was 20 years ago!
Jonathan’s uncle inspired him by saying ‘never to do more than one thing at a time and concentrate on what you do best’. Jonathan then ignored this advice and proceeded to set up lots of different businesses in areas he knew nothing about, because he loved doing new things all the time! Jonathan has never looked back.
Always look outside the box in business and try to think differently.
The biggest challenge that I had to overcome over the years, was learning to survive in a recession. I had to be prepared to put in huge amounts of hours at difficult times, in order to get something done or to generate enough income to survive. You also have to be prepared to work if a problem arises – e.g. we had a cyber attack in 2010 and I had to work through the night to get rid of it and safeguard our systems.
The best thing about being your own boss is Freedom! Freedom to choose who you work with, when you work, what you do at work, how your business grows, doing new things, changing the way you work and never having anyone tell you what to do.
My top tips for young entrepreneurs are that I don’t think you need to come up with an original idea to start a business. Very often the best ideas are things that other people have done already but managed to offer a fresh approach. Copying is good! Try to borrow as little money as possible, spend as little money as possible and keep hold of your profits for as long as possible. Get help if you can’t do something yourself and don’t be afraid to ask ‘silly’ questions.
My particular areas of expertise are Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), digital marketing, business growth, business development, recruitment, career paths and guidance, business sales, and anything linked to the legal profession.