GRIFFEN 2024 | 25 The Accidental Entrepreneur Merlin Dunlop (1997) I did not set out to be an entrepreneur. After leaving Abingdon, I studied Medicine at the University of Leicester and following junior hospital jobs, I trained as a GP. Computer systems in primary care were, and still are, ahead of those in most hospitals in England, but it quickly became apparent that our systems were (a) not as good as they could be and (b) customisable by a determined user. I set out with a colleague to start customising our systems to do more than they could ‘out of the box’. This included making templates to allow consistency for note recording, adding pop-up safety alerts for drug interactions and producing reports to analyse and improve our performance and that of our practice. This led to improved notekeeping, safer practice by my colleagues and myself, and more income for the practice as we could evidence performance and see where we were falling short. After a while, my colleague and I decided to offer our services to the wider GP market and thanks to our medical professional background, found it easier to be taken seriously by potential customers than if we had been ‘technicians’. My colleague and I now work very minimally as clinicians and spend our time running a company of around 120 staff who cover 85% or more of all English GP surgeries. My advice for potential entrepreneurs?: 1. Start a job you enjoy. This is key. 2. As you gain experience, ask yourself: “What things are making my work difficult?” and “How could things be improved?”. These two questions may lead you to an idea which you can potentially pursue into a business. 3. Be prepared to put in hard work and see little return for at least 2−3 years. The last 10 years haven’t been easy by any stretch, but I enjoy the challenges each day brings. Looking back at when I first left my job to set up my app, ‘Pub Club’, I realise I really had no idea about what being an entrepreneur would be like. I had joined a small business straight out of university in the hope that I would be exposed to the inner workings of business and the challenges that come with running a young company. I would encourage anyone with the ambition of starting a business to do the same; I learnt some really valuable lessons and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It still, however, didn’t fully prepare me for what was to come! Johan Cruyff once commented: ‘Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is.’ Similar to Cruyff’s observation, I’ve found it most difficult to keep things simple. It’s easy to lose focus on the basic demands of the business due to distractions from elsewhere. There are always a hundred things you could be doing as a business, but when you have limited hands, coupled with limited experience and technical abilities, it is necessary to pay attention to the core requirements for success. With Pub Club, the basic needs are: 1) driving a user base of pub goers who use the app, and 2) getting new pubs onboard and listed on the app. Brand partnerships, running events, networking and sourcing new revenue streams are all important (and very enjoyable) parts of growth, but they’re not the bread and butter that will determine the short to medium term success or failure of Pub Club; remaining focused on the hard yards of directly driving downloads and listing pubs however, will! Overall it’s been an exhausting, but at the same time exhilarating, experience so far and I would recommend it to anyone. The lows really do feel low, but the highs very much make it worth it! A Round of ‘Applause’ Freddie Bermingham (2017) I have shown an entrepreneurial trait throughout my career. After being Chair of the Chartered Institute of Marketing for its specialist consultants, I launched ACROBAT FCSM which remains my mainstay. My clients include: FC Barcelona, Manchester Giants, Volleyball England, Salford Red Devils and Manchester Rugby Club. I have also worked on projects related to the Commonwealth Games and the FIFA World Cup. More latterly I have accompanied the Turkish National Rugby Team, for which my son has played for the last two years, to European competitions. This has been the catalyst for establishing another UK-Turkish venture with Ragbi Stores. Entrepreneurial Trait Adrian Stores(1983)
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