Category: Uncategorized

This weekend saw the first big house party for my little girl Lexi, she celebrated her 5th birthday party in style, with 25 friends from school that came with their parents.
They all enjoyed themselves, we provided the food which parents and children alike enjoyed.
With everyone making the most of all the fun things that are already in the garden, the trampoline, the zip wire and the pool along with the added extras of a Magic Man, Face Painting and a Bouncy Castle.
I can’t believe that this is the first big party that we have had for Lexi at the house when it was a regular occurrence for Louis, already looking forward to the next one!

It seems I am formally back in the building trade. I haven’t made a post lately as I have not really known what direction to take, to go forward. I have had many discussions with close friends and acquaintances and most conversations have lead to the same conclusion, that I should be back in the construction industry in one form or another.

So It seems my life has taken a complete circle. I started in the construction industry on the tools in my early 20’s, I approached a construction site, Wallisdown collage, managed by John Lang Construction at the time and pulled up in my pickup truck with a labourer and got work straight away. I was in the industry now and became very successful within a period of 10 years.

In the early 90s when the recession hit I found myself doing contracts and not getting paid for them, which brought me virtually on my knees financially and I decided not again and since then I’ve been in various businesses, some very successful and some not so which has given me a wealth of worldly experiences in all aspects of business.

Last year I did find myself, in a bit of a quandrum, where my trading stock had dried up, website design and build was becoming harder and harder and a few other businesses I had at the time where grinding to a halt, which left me in a position to decide what to do next. So as the circle that I mentioned earlier has gone around, I now have a new van, and a few labourers, tradesmen lined up plus a few jobs which I’m working on thanks to my very good friend who was able to give me a start on a couple of sites straight away.

It isn’t exactly where I wanted to be at 55, back on the tools, working on site but hopefully it can grow as quickly and as strongly as it did back in the 80s obviously tweaking the market we are now in and I can make myself a strong success within a few years.

I’m certainly not going to have the energy in 5 years time to start something again from scratch, so let’s hope I can build a strong building company again and get the right team behind me and make “Self Builders” a great success.

Nerveless to say that one of the businesses I have carried forward, meaning OvenKing, seems to be going from strength to strength at the moment which is pretty good news for me as well.

Ill continue to write posts about the experience back in the building industry and hope they are all pretty positive and lets hope I am still in the game in 12 months time, flourishing!!

Following on from my last article, and being in a quandrum, unfortunately returning from holiday I am still in the same position, plenty of time though to sit back and think of what I want to be doing, but no real inspiration arose during my holiday.  I was hoping being along the beach or by swimming pool with the sun beating down may have activated some thought from the puturity gland in the back of my head, and a great opportunity to kick in, but it did not.

The holiday in Majorca with my kids was fantastic, we went to where we normally stay in Puerto Portals, and enjoyed it immensely, and what also made it a great holiday is quite a lot of my friends from Bournemouth turned up as well, not to mention James Bronson, Black Nigle, Bill Butler, Andy Price, Aide Price, plus many more!

It was quite an adventurous holiday with a few trips out to Western Waterpark in Magaluf, which was quite entertaining, I did joke to my wife, that I think i’ve found hell, but bless, the kids they enjoyed it.

We had a  good afternoon at Nikki beach and caught up with the lads, and had a stroll through Magaluf, which is actually not that bad, and another exploration day was the

Caves of Drach which ended up being a really funny experience, as we sat in the ordittorium , with 500 people waiting for the show to start, which was comprised by 3 boats on the water slowly coming towards you playing funeral music, everybody was really engrossed, you could hear a pin drop!

Lexi, bless her, started making funny noises and shouted out a word I wouldn’t mention on my blog!   It made many people laugh while others were horrified ,Jo Louis and myself were in stitches,  while people were telling us to be quiet!  The show was terrible, but we still enjoyed the day out as it was fun misbehaving!

Luckily we chose a rainy day to take that trip, we are now back and I’m putting things together with the team to keep us ticking over until the magic deal turns up!

Haven’t put a post on for while as my business life seems to be in a bit of a corundum . I’m coming to the end stages of my business life and I’m trying to build something that will continue to manage and run when I am semi retired , and one day complete retirement at a later stage.

All the businesses that I’ve had over the last 25 years since construction have all been short lived, almost fads as such, where they have made me plenty of money but have peaked out for various reasons, I.e that it might be a fad or that it’s because people have jumped into the business , meaning cut prices, lower profit thus killing the industry, unfortunately instead of building something that has had solid growth and can sustain a strong business for many years it seems that I am starting businesses, taking money from them, and watching their demise, not of course into bankruptcy, but into non profitable concerns.

OvenKing was set up as a pension for me on a 5 year plan which all looked good on paper and still looks good, everything has been set up right , the company style , the area, the marketing, it was set up well, and is ready to go, but you know what, it really, doesn’t suit my personality, I found myself at castle point last week, with balloons, free gifts, giving away flyers, and I thought to myself what the hell am I doing.

So I have decided it’s not for me, I am going to put it on the market and sell it, OvenKing has a great growth potential for a franchise business, so I am left in this big corundum, what do I. I’m 55 years old I have around 5 years of graft left in me..

All my colleagues, friends and family all say who I run my situation past, tell me why do I not get back into the construction industry, where in my early days, took me to unbelievable heights, so I am seriously considering going back into this, but the only way I know how to get back into construction, is start at the bottom with a van, and begin working with the lads and start on one site, then build upto two or three, then more and more. The big money for me is to work in London, as it is booming at this present time, but I’m not sure I really have the energy, to start work in London, traveling and being away from my family. Do I really want it that badly.

I could get busy locally but I don’t really want to get into the cut throat competitiveness of local work, I always seem to keep my old staff on wherever I go , so I can never really start anything without overheads, but I like to be loyal to my old staff, and not let them down when a business dries up.

So where I am at, at the moment I don’t know, London I don’t know, I’m not 100% sold on the construction! I still have a business running currently, I’m cleaning out the warehouse and getting rid of all my trading stock, as that business is completely crap now, as we have no continuity going on, I did however have a few good deals over the years but not enough to make it worth staying in.

So what does a man like me do at 55 that can do almost anything and run it well, haven’t got fortunes to put into something to get it started. I feel like I’m almost starting again .

Thought I’d just air my thoughts, hopefully my next post will be a bit brighter and I’ll be confirming my last direction that I am going in my life, and I will finally end up where I was destined to be, which is at the top.

I have reached the ripe old age of 55! And I celebrated this past weekend with some of my closest friends and of course my wife and children. When I was in my 20’s I thought that by age 40 I would retire. But as time goes on I have realised the true cost of retirement and I am not financially stable enough at this time and I look at people like Lord Sugar, Warren Buffet, Donald Trump and Richard Branson and realise that despite the fact they could retire now from a financial perspective just like them though I don’t think I could ever stop working, I could take a back seat and allow my managers run the day to day stuff but I could never quit and relax on a beach or golf course full time. That isn’t me.

I must admit my best birthday present was the loan of my best friends 458 Ferrari Italia Spyder which still only had 155 miles on the clock when I took delivery, so it was still almost brand new just out of the box.  This was great, so I was able to have a blip around Bournemouth with my son and daughter.  I know I am too old to be a boy racer, but you have to grow old, you don’t have to grow up!

We drove over Canford Cliffs, Sandbanks and Poole quay with the roof down enjoying the rare nice weather. And it is funny I still get inspired by nice things, as I drove through Poole quay I looked right to see Eddie Jordan’s new Sunseeker being completed and tested on the water.

What ever level you or your friend’s are at there will always be people with so much more but an entrepreneur always needs something to aim for and the Ferrari I was driving was a good achievement to aim for, even the luxury boat was inspiration (that I may never reach). But as they say if you reach for the stars and end up on the moon you have done pretty well.

Back in business land and franchising for Ovenking is all getting set with the marketing, we have had a great run on the business with our current vans creating work and re-bookings so we are pushing the franchises out now and I say to all the other oven cleaning franchise companies watch this space.

They may feel they are established and secure in the industry because of length of time they have been trading but they have never competed against me yet, We are right up there with the big boys in the industry with our cleaning quality and service, we have a few interesting twists on the usual franchise model offered by competitors to ensure our franchisees can make the £1000+ a week or more that all the other franchise companies are proclaiming.

Keep an eye on our progress and I am very pleased to announce we have in fact already sold our first franchise in the Southampton area, and Gary Knight is proving to be the ideal franchisee, after he signed contracts and before he came down for training he was already leaflet dropping his area. Gary had jobs booked as a result of his efforts before he completed the training and before we had done his promotional launch. So well done Gary welcome aboard and keep up the good work, Gary will be fully qualified and certified as of tomorrow and we know he has the makings to be a successful franchisee.

Just another quick note on our franchising exploits, as people understand that it is one of my main strengths and an industry I know a lot about I am being approached by a couple of different businesses to consult on their existing and future franchising. This is another good opportunity and I am open to consulting opportunities. As I have rambled on enough I will update you all on Self Global and Self Trading another time.

To finish off on a light note, we created a very funny marketing video for OvenKing which has been a surprise over-night success. I leant a very good friend the OvenKing Mercedes sprinter van and he assured me as he left with it that he was a good driver, I did have my doubts and he proved my concern was well founded watch this video and you can draw your own opinion.

 

It has been a great start to the new year in the self group. Things seem to be going to plan and I need to staff up!

Great excitement with the OvenKing franchise, as OvenKing is going very well. The clearance business is better than expected with the amount of stock I am able to buy and moving nicely forward. Our fitness training app is also coming along which we will launch 2015.

So if you know anyone out there who fits the description of a marketing assistant to help me drive the marketing for OvenKing forward, and our other projects please get in touch. The link is below!

We are also looking for partners to assist with the app development.

Click Here for Job Vacancies

I had a great time over this past Holiday Season with the wife and kids, it was great to see my wonderful young daughter, Lexi, busy putting her ‘Santa’s Christmas list’ together for the first time as she is now at that age where she understands the festive season. Hopefully, I won’t be tripping over the dollhouses and other prezzies that Santa brought her for too much longer!

My main-man, Louis was cool with it, and all-in-all, easy to buy now for as he is at the age where he is happy playing his X-Box and other games, and got his boxing gloves he wanted too, getting ready to get back into boxing this year.

As is usual, my lovely wife, Jo, was busy making sure we were all having a good time over the Holidays and were cared for, bless her. Next Christmas I will make sure that I take here away for a hopefully, bit more relaxing holiday so she can gear up for it! …

I’m now back at the office, after coming back in on the 6th of January, ready to take on the World in the New Year. 2014 is going to be the year for me!

After fulfilling the back-orders for catering and airline stock from the Holiday period, the office is already overwhelmed with emails and phone calls from people and companies wanting to sell their distressed stock. My people and I are already working flat-out in the first week back!

At this time, I’m working on closing a deal for 300,000 eyeglass frames and it looks like the international trade deal involving five countries I have been working on for a couple of months now, for 125 containers of tinned food, is going according to plan and should land on foreign shores on the African Peninsula within 2 months. This will be the first of many international trades that I hope to become involved in from now on, strengthening the name of Self Global as it truly will be a global enterprise. Every day the stock is coming in and we are in daily buying mode. Buy, buy, buy and sell, sell, sell.

Due to our buying success we are now gaining the confidence of the high street retailers, and we are busy putting deals to them and in turn getting the confidence to buy more stock in higher value and in larger quantities targeted for these type of clients.

It was nice to be acknowledged as having ‘bought right’ when others doubted the purchase, when a Production Company filming at Pinewood Studios called us to buy some of our Air Australia products. We will see them in a movie soon! Thank you Pinewood Studios. I will be delivering the goods myself, just in case they need a Denzel Washington lookalike!

And, even after all of this, in only the first week of the New Year, I have been contacted by TWO separate UK television production companies wanting to film a documentary about how I buy and sell products, providing an insight into the world of trading. And after all, who knows more than me when it comes to wheeling and dealing, bobbing and weaving, making money!

My oven cleaning company, Oven King, has got off to a great start already with oven cleans that were booked-in prior to Christmas.

I am now getting behind this venture also and looking to build up the daily business orders even more. I may begin looking into the marketplace further, before fully committing to franchising later this year, where I may consider hiring on a marketing person for this role, selling franchises nationally.

I’m still waiting with anticipation to start my fast-food outlet which will be a mixture of quality, fish, chicken and gourmet type burgers. The high-end restaurant will have a liquor license and takeaway facilities in a great location within a high-traffic town centre area.

2013 has been one of the most interesting and challenging years in my life, certainly for business.

Me and my team were excited to roll out ‘YBIS’ (Your Business Internet Solutions) on an International stage, expecting to maximise profits throughout 2013, building from the lessons learned in 2012, thinking we had got it spot on.

After a full redesign of our website we relaunched ‘YBIS’ in January 2013.

We evaluated the marketplace and established a solid marketing campaign for YBIS, generating a record month in sales for us, propelling us into February, which wasn’t quite as good as the January. Throughout the rest of 2013, we saw the website’s traction decline to a total halt in inquiries and ultimately, sales. The main reason for YBIS’s demise was that we couldn’t really get the sale people to understand the business model and sell it correctly on the world stage. I personally felt it was a great concept for selling as Affiliate’s marketing websites the way it was packaged, but after a gruelling 18 months of marketing it, I eventually lost heart in it due to me not being able to put enough into it and having to rely on other people that didn’t share the same passion for business and hunger for success. If you don’t love what you do, then it is just ‘work’, and I found that I didn’t have the passion for it anymore and so without me fully committed to it, YBIS ground to a halt where I eventually decided to close the company on October 31st.

Self Trading bought the YBIS website and its assets, and has since repackaged it and sold it, selling it to a colleague who may be better positioned to work it.

Self Trading and Clearance Catering Supplies have plodded on throughout 2013 bringing in steady cash flow, which to be honest, they have for a number of years now. During this year however, I have decided that it was better to look for a pension plan, so to speak of, as I’m not getting any younger; hence the launch of – Oven King.

This company is not about cleaning ovens, for me it’s about building a business that can be franchised, creating the track record of success. Once we are approved by the BFA (British Franchise Association) we will start rolling the franchises out nationally.

The formula does work. We have three vans are flat out all the time. If my guys were the franchisee, they would be earning £1,000 per week on a regular basis, which would satisfy anyone.

What is also been a bug-bearer for me this past year was that I was looking to launch my flagship fast food/restaurant in Bournemouth, but unfortunately the site I had in mind went into receivership which has delayed my plans for this venture.

I am sure this project will be a winner, but I will tell you what is funny; I went to my bank to see if they would finance 50% of the funding, and surprise, surprise, the bank turned me down. The govt say that they are helping small businesses, but as we all know, even with my many years of business experience and success and on top of that banking with the same bank for around 20 years, seeing my account balance anywhere from £10,000 to in excess of £1 million, they still declined to provide the loan facility, totally in contradiction of what we are being told in the Media. Doesn’t the public own RBS, aren’t we the shareholders? I would like to run a business that doesn’t make a profit, but will still pay me a bonus at the end of the year!

In light of these circumstances, this will not stop me from continuing with my plans. I will always find a way to get it done. Hopefully in 2014, the site will become available again and I can move forward with my project.

As things are now, with my various brainstorming sessions with myself, I have decided to really push on a couple of businesses that haven’t let me down in the past.

These companies are Self Trading, Self Global and Clearance Catering Supplies. I intend to get them flying in 2014, as they have not had the attention they have deserved this past year.

During November and December of this year, we have started pushing our efforts and full resources into these companies, redoing the website and restructuring the SEO for them, and so far, it is looking really promising. It is giving me hope for the future and I am excited about pushing it to the next level in the New Year, while pursuing the other ventures I have mentioned.

My conclusion to all of this for 2013 is:

Keep on going with business, and if it doesn’t go as planned at first, just keep on going and never feel defeated. If you feel you have the ability, then keep the enthusiasm high and the effort you put in just as high.

What has also kept me going during 2013 has been my loving and supportive wife and the love of my kids, and the continued support of my valued, loyal friend amongst all of my other great mates and colleagues, along with my loyal staff who are all looking forward to the new challenges that are ahead of us, where together, we will succeed.

For everyone that is taking the time to read my blog, I wish you all the happiest of Christmases and the very best of success in your endeavours for 2014.

I have had to write a letter to my landlord today as I need a reduction on the rent as my business like every other one in the UK is finding it hard going, I am also going to write a similar letter to my bank manager next week as 4 or 5 years ago I have account balances over £1/2 million and they can’t be even the slightest bit flexible.

I would love to opportunity to stand in front of all the pension companies, banks, landlords stuck in their ways and mortgage companies and give them a speech on business and how it really works. Perhaps they could learn something.