Peter Jones How we made our Millions - Full (Michelle Mone, Richard Reed)

it's the question that everyone wants an answer to what is the secret to extraordinary success is it grit the determination luck or is it who you know I've been in business now for some thirty years and I can tell you all successful entrepreneurs share a few unique qualities certain traits that give them the upper hand but what are they and can they be learned I'm on a mission to find out what drives Britain's best entrepreneurs this is it this is it I don't like something not being as good as it can be would you die for your brand almost it and uncover the human side that determines their success or failure they're driven by self-doubt maybe it was all that billion heartache I want them to reveal their individual recipes for success you definitely are a hippie with a calculator you are quite molecular t'v so I can discover just how they made their Millions if these guys haven't sold this business to me you guys wouldn't know what hit you mess with me I'm gonna turn into stone you take a hundred million pound check for your share now you success in business isn't a fine science I've turned tiny startups into multimillion-pound companies not all of my ventures have succeeded business is tough but I've always believed there are certain factors that can give us all a fighting chance I'm on a journey to get inside the minds of two of the country's top businesspeople and I'm hoping to discover the ways in which the most unlikely characters become multi millionaires I'll be spending time with richard reid founder of a smoothie company with a hundred and sixty-five million pound turnover a michelle moan the self-made inspiration behind a multi-million pound lingerie business and who according to the rich list is worth 50 million pounds have they both followed the same blueprint to success or is it their difference that matters most my journey begins at fruit towers in west london the home of the most successful smoothie company in the UK and its co-founder richard reid other ties offer that the doors are how are you good you're going very have you seen the different to the way that you trouble yeah but i must do a grass kivett bands and you're this i want to be in the grass cover band yeah let's go for action it dances it's got hydraulic so fat meters around and you can blare out music for those speakers at the front we take it to festivals go out sampling with it and a lot of my people have met their partners through it as well richard is leading a new wave of entrepreneur who have embraced a business style pioneered in the US by companies like google he believes that if his employees feel at home there'll be extra productive and despite opting for an open collar I still felt overdressed it almost doesn't look like a working environment that looks nice and looking like a London play center no but it kind of hits the most important thing is first of all have a smoothie Neri so this is the sort of chill-out area it's basically a big communal area for people to come in for informal meetings what's that oh we call this thing that's through the Wheel of Fortune so sometimes if we can't make a decision we'll put all the different options on here and then spin it and let the sweetie Wheel of Fortune decide look you put your ideas in here yeah that's me the other one it turns to someone that lives are you here for you make business decisions on a wheel of fortune not for like big decisions but when you've got a few different options as a bit of fun it's got sort of like a home feel like this the it's your kitchen yeah and then you've got people more sitting rooms you let people wear whatever they want to wear yeah no and that's the point if you want to wear a suit you extremely welcome to wear a suit but you look we don't we don't tell people you look a bit like me now would you I feel now as if I've come into a business environment for the first time and I'm completely out of place well I have to say I probably come into premier because you would never judge we would never judge someone on what they wore that's just we're not it's not that type of vibe you gotta wear what you're most comfortable is you can do your best work I've literally seen one person's sat at his desk in his dressing gown no even that was slightly pushing the sort of the limits of what you can wear about the office against dress again he said he was cold yeah after reading geography at Cambridge Richard set up the fruit juice company in 1999 with fellow graduates John Wright and Adam Balan we have a little house space which is if you're 70 percent sure then go for it don't wait around trying to be a hundred percent confidence the right decision I've had the very rare privilege I think to have spent the last 12 years doing something that I found to be incredibly exciting and interesting and mind-expanding and life enhancing and doing it with my two closest friends though who what's going to make some smoothies today Richard sells over two million bottles of smoothies a week but they're expanding their range moving into ready meals and taking on the Giants of the orange juice market it's about being natural natural ingredients making natural food but also the the idea of being natural talking naturally acting naturally people can come in the work it instantly their natural selves at work each day Kimberly is joining us as our new purchase ledger specialist so you can make the sound with dolphin we won't hide behind some sort of weird corporate facade we'll just be who we are it's always good to be exactly who you are as long as you realize that running a business is about making money and I wanted to find out if Richard had the money-making gene when did you actually feel think to yourself you know what I'm an entrepreneur it was I was 16 and I was working in a dog biscuit factory in his field and my job paid two pounds an hour and the task I was assigned to get down on my hands and knees and pick up the dog biscuits off the factory floor that fallen off the conveyor belt so I went up to the foreman and said do you have a brush I could borrow that you had to brush it I could buy I could do this job better and he's looked to me dead in the eyes I said son you are the brush and I thought that that is the split second I decided you know what there has got to be a better way than this so I left the dog biscuit factory that afternoon went home and set of a little business called two men went to moan which was just mowing lawns in the village where I grew up and before I knew I'm building myself out at two pounds fifty an hour and getting so much work that I could actually give jobs to my mates I've build them out to 50 now pay them 225 an hour so made a little bit extra there if you don't like the situation then go about changing it rather than complaining about it having the confidence to change what you don't like is an entrepreneurial trait I recognise but was this Cambridge graduate helped by having a privileged upbringing I'm from Huddersfield in the north of England my dad started as a bus conductor and works his way we can manager in the local bus company my mum was a nurse my mum dad decided they wanted to go bribe education that was funded by my mum going out and working night so she'd worked two nights a week my parents mean massive sacrifices for us as kids what was your school life like first year I came 44th out of 45 in my class in the exams right so one from the bottom you know I think something clicked with me and I worked harder next year if I came 17th and I member going home to sort of say you know really pleasing self I came 17 so my mum just said I think you can do better than that and I remember thinking wow so you think from that one defining moment that was the self belief injection that your mum gave you I think it's lucky you I think it made me recalibrate yeah I think it made me think oh that felt pretty good but then it was like I will actually you know better yeah you can do better you can do better and you did yeah and almost the rest is history yeah to truly uncover why richard has become so successful I needed the answers to some uncomfortable business questions but that would have to wait first I've got an appointment with an entrepreneur who is poles apart from Richard Reid the next stop of my journey is East Kilbride where I'm meeting Michelle Mon the tycoon behind one of the country's leading lingerie labels I wonder what her corporate headquarters might reveal about her particular approach to business hello hello I want you fine how are you very good nice to see you well thank you very much welcome Ian this is our Scottish headquarters and we've got Hong Kong and we've get China as well and I wanted to [ __ ] like a blessed so you know in the breast of the building and when we go upstairs you'll see you're not honestly you're not winding me up this is no ideal it's real yeah and it's kind of shaped like a double D so there you go so this is the worst yeah this looks far too staged for me you can't be all tidy workers this is how we run things and if you look any any cupboards that you want to look in there we'll all be organized what even the cupboard yeah they've all got to be organized [ __ ] I use cupboards in my office to hide things is it really like this for real it all felt too good to be true was this an act just for me and then in here is a meeting room graphics as well but as Michelle showed me around I knew there was one particular member of staff who could help me learn more the one employee who knows everything about their boss the PA shall we go and meet Laura Laura hi there I'm eat pizza what's it like working for Michelle yeah it's very it's very different from any bit of work before it's stressful at times but all in all good what's the hardest thing working for a busy big successful entrepreneur and you shall swear perfectionist you can plan one thing and within 10 minutes she wants it completely different she's just like so she changes her mind a lot oh yeah yeah I'm not scared of change annoys people are dangerous they've been working on it for so long but I know everything about Michelle so have to be one step ahead of her no more scares you have ever sure as a boss I can tell when Michelle's and not the best of moods I call it the Care Bear stare because she may look at you necessary with him but she can look in your like oh no do you think you're paid enough yes I'm looked after can you not see that Sports ad Sports Khairy out there but yeah yes that's a lot after the job cuz I don't really look after your team cuz II look after you Michelle's gel-filled bra became an overnight success in the year 2000 after Julia Roberts wore one in the film Erin Brokovich well you know I'm just a nice thing get off from the extended Glasgow and always had a dream Dalton was now one of the biggest laundry brands in the country after leaving school without qualifications she has risen to take on the biggest laundry brands in the world what we doing here were capturing the market for people who want an everyday bra Michele is a mom of three juggling family life and business commitments from day one I do believe that we will become the Victoria Secrets of the Yuki Michele knows how to manipulate the press as she does everything she can to keep her brand and has celebrity persona in the public eye I am very demanding I'm a perfectionist and it's illegal in this room no yeah sorry it's just not ultimately I'm impatient and I always want the best I think I'm a nightmare you expect quite a lot I think well I think that but why we are where we are yeah and this very very competitive market who's the last person to get psyched and well when was it this morning no it's a couple of weeks ago couple of weeks I went CSAT though we just heard the negative man okay okay I'm gonna find out a little bit more about this lady Michele comes across as a demanding leader upfront hours the business environment that Richard and his co-founders have encouraged couldn't be more different where's your office in this I don't have an office sir we were completely open plan to no one has obviously as I just said open the corner this is yours area here yes I sit in just in this desk here now I'm sitting here I can see you say that though I've Johnny come and take a seat up to me well we have this as well so you can pull out everyone's filing cabinet as them you can sit on because again we just want to keep it as easy as possible for people to speak into to each other rather than rely on email and phone calls we were big fans of going as much face to face as possible so other than with Abigail takes you seriously yes sitting there swinging a chip a bit it's like it's a bit sort of split strangers now well I don't think you cite diversity sitting there in a swing huh do they sit in there and swing and talk to you and Richard you're down today I guess I wouldn't have judged people on the seat that they sit on I judge no no I'm just late very distracting right I totally want to be accessible and have people if they've got something they just want to ask quickly we're not sort of putting walls up between each other I couldn't stop thinking about dressing down someone for not performing whilst they sat swinging a basket like Little Miss Muffet but I was trying to keep an open mind about the way Richard runs the organisation good afternoon creative team hello hi I'm Peter if you can call it organized so what's it like working here do I find it odd working on an astroturf and nice pretty get pretty used to it no thank you wouldn't you tidy up a bit no this this corner especially can't be tiling really yeah I don't think so because that's we're working it's a good working environment than to work in chaos a mess yes a slight you know controlled chaos if these guys have sold this business to me odd you guys wouldn't know what hit you I think Peter finds it a bit too untidy really your visa I've won it bit edgy which I it doesn't surprise me so now I'm seeing guys with you know that address very differently with respect I would never let my staff turn up to work like this but something's working Richards grown from nothing to having a 75% share of the smoothie market people work harder here than they will do ninety-nine percent of businesses people put in a huge amount of energy personal commitment take it very very seriously it's just because we're sort of wearing t-shirts as mean we're not working really hard is he really hard taskmaster on plus side is incredibly inspirational it's incredibly honest he'll tell you when something's rubbish and when something's great really quickly which helps it's probably gets really excited sometimes and a bit carried away and might change his mind about stuff he's always like thinking lots of things in his head and he walks out of meetings which I I didn't know it was true but they told me he had a reputation that that's it I know and then he goes out you're like okay really yeah you like you'll join this I'm good I'm so glad you say I'm so better come to your office with a camera Kevin and ask you all guys what they think about you she's great as you see you know beneath what seems like chaos I was starting to see how Richard inspires his staff to work hard for him up in Glasgow I had an inkling that Michelle Mon takes a much more traditional and orderly approach okay so this is my room Wow it's like a hotel room I have never seen post-it notes so evenly spread and so perfectly placed yep massive OCD yep I've had that for years since I've this child that's exactly how I run my life I get four hours sleep a night like Maggie Thatcher then four hours sleep that's what people say are you the Iron Lady of Brora knickers I did maybe my husband says get that bloody BlackBerry out of this bedroom house where was your partner in the business yes he's been there from the start he's seen it grow yep he doesn't like the limelight I told and people think that it's just old me but actually you know he's mentioned today too and very talented at what he does as well he's very much involved in business yeah very much so but whilst our husband keeps a low profile this tactical publicist is out there mixing it with the rich and famous but it's not just for fun partnering with good-looking celebrities is all part of her PR strategy so these are all of your girls are they for a selection of yeah selection of not all of them all right I recognize you've got Rachel Hunter Rachel Hunter penny Lancaster Helena Christensen Sarah harden Mel be in the list goes on and on and on Wow in 2003 Michele hit the publicity jackpot when she dropped Rod Stewart's girlfriend penny Lancaster and replaced her with Rachel Hunter his ex-wife was it a tactical move to get a many on board well that works with two penny for two years and yes we became close and everything else and but things just went just things changed it went on for months and months and months but you know I really did affect me personally how much of that was a turning point for your business in a positive way massive because it was worldwide chase for the brand it's the Richard Branson school of PR create a multimillion-pound business and use the popular press as free advertising for it what does that wallpaper yeah it's wallpaper uh-huh I thought it would be quite a nice idea to turn one more into wallpaper yeah Michelle moan that's it for my OB Michelle burn yeah anymore sure will lets me out with Welby that's New York Fashion Week male mission yeah what's that one paint Asst yeah hello magazine Michelle Oh slim damage yeah oh my goodness there Michelle wall there's a story board here yes one wall tells a story yeah you mm-hmm probably I mean when I was really overweight you know I put on six and a half stone when I went through all the hard times building the company and when put my house up to the bank three times security and piled on the weight and no as I pictured up there we finally lost six to one would you die for your brand oh I strove I've got kids but it's good that's weird when I tell you the story about how we almost M went bust em are almost I will go from here to hell for ultima and the race for bandit Michelle seems like an uncompromising boss but to fully understand how she became a force in the laundry business I needed to hear how it all began thought one day of starting a company yeah I got made redundant went to Donna dance one night we are now very uncomfortable cleavage Brian went back to the table drunk and said I'm going to invent a bra that's how it happened you and the three years I worked from my bedroom got into day of 240,000 pounds beg to rob meanwhile my husband just you know kept saying i was nuts.i went to the launch in London and we had surgeons well actors dress the surgeons I dress them all up this plastic surgeon scene ban the altima bra and they go so much press coverage and the police came up and said who's responsible for this I said me and he says well move right now we're gonna arrest you I said I'll give him what for busted arrest me so you recognized at that point that your business for it to be successful was based around publicity I had no money I had no money for advertising she's come to get in and I in our industry where some of the big launch new brands would spend two million pounds launching a product I had 500 pounds left 4% fibers yeah you very much strike me as all or nothing running this business and building this business has probably taken a lot away from my life but it is my life I'm starting to see two sides to Michelle now that started to come out for me the one that actually would take care of you and nurture and look after and the one that says if you mess with me I'm going to turn into stone and it's that L yeah and it's interesting seeing that psyche because I'm almost like the Silent Assassin that's not something to be played on no but in an interesting way because you're driving your business and taking it really forward nothing is going to stop yeah it's fair but for me there's M does one thing that if you brake with me you never really get back and that's trust self belief is a key trait in all successful entrepreneurs a Michele has certainly seen off some challenging times back in West London I wondered if the reason Richard Reid always seems to be smiling is because his route to success had been a much easier ride helpfully he's decorated the stairs with a brief company history business starting to gallop the bigger and we start doing our dancing grass fans this is our recipe Berkeley publishes the success Richard found in the early years of his business was based on an unlikely model it seems like they were more focused on giving money away than actually making it this is fruit stock which is a festival that we did in Regent's Park was free to go - we did it - thank you to all our drinkers we give 10% of our profits to charity each year mainly to I think all the innocent Foundation which is in countries in the developing world where the food comes from but spreading goodwill is only possible when you're making a profit right now we're up to 2008 which is your it's definitely the annus horribilis perfect innocent after four years of seamless growth Richard had to face the harsh realities of running a multi-million pound business a new competitor launched the pound crashed and fruit prices rocketed almost spelling the end we haven't put our prices up once in ten years and secondly a big competitor launched against and took a large part of our market share which meant that we lost a huge amount of money in fact some what did you lose oh it was it like it's in the millions and it was more we lost more in that year of 2008 and we made in the entire company's history so it wiped out any profits that we we've been making he had a tough decision to make drastically downsized the operation or sell a stake in the business relief came in the unlikely form of coca-cola yes these guys invested in early 2009 in a way that's just been it's been building for the businesses myself Adam and John have retained full control of the business and as you can see where we're continue to do business in a very innocent way I'm sure we're going to talk more about that yeah no absolutely absolutely I was surprised that a business focused on health and charity sought a partnership with one of the biggest corporate names in the fizzy drinks market but before I challenged him about it I needed to get a more precise picture of Richard and his business - Richard what's happening in there so this is our commercial team we test the adverts - we want to make sure they work and this is you test the Abbott in advance to see how does it score people do they like it do they remember it do they relate it to innocent and so you can you can judge before you spend all your money on media which is going to be the ad that people like the most and that's essentially what those different scores are testings are quite serious stuff happening in this room yes absolute we do take things seriously fruit towers is an interesting contradiction at first you walk through the doors and think you've entered Willy Wonka's chocolate factory which you want to cut anything up I like watching pieces but as I was joining in the fun in the juice lab I was starting to see where the genius of this business lay behind the astroturf and the lunchtime barbecues there's a hierarchy that demands the very best from its people the front-of-house is very much hey guys come and have fun we got grass we've got table tennis tables we've got a lovely environment for you to work in it was very intriguing walking past that office where I saw clearly some quite serious behind the scenes real planning going on it's not a contradiction it's all part of the same whole we want to take the bits seriously that you need to take seriously but we don't take ourselves seriously in the process of it one of your stuff it was early herbs that you walk out of meetings you have a short attention span in terms of right look I need to move on you're quite random in your decisions and you quite seemingly changeable I like change I like the future I like you know things to evolve am i indecisive I don't I don't like something not being as good as it can be and I don't like someone - you're a perfectionist then I think it's one of my drivers yeah I think that in to the extent where I do know it can cause chaos at the last minute by me sort of going well how about that time I have sort of learnt over the last couple years the moderator a little bit better richard is a clever an unconventional entrepreneur who believes he can make money by focusing on a mission but surely without profit there is no mission if your arms and speak to lots of entrepreneurs all up and down the country and you say to them what is your main objective well their main objective would be to generate income and make profit see I don't agree and that's not your objective at all I don't agree I think in my experience when you look at the world's greatest businesses they are led primarily by a deeply felt sense submission and money is fairly incidental like 2008 we got it wrong okay we made a mistake the market moved against us and we weren't prepared for its course the money is part of it I don't want to be disingenuous imply that it's not I'm hoping that you know I will become wealthy from from innocence and for that I'll be both appreciative and grateful I think the world's greatest businesses are led by a sense of mission and purpose Google you set up in the same month the same users and have grown at the same time to be an 80 billion dollar company so in in some ways you can say that beating is they talk about in one sentence that they exist to organize the world's information and make it universally available that's a simple clear mission and it explains what their business is all about and that's what innocence led by my journey has really just begun but I was already discovering that an entrepreneurs business is very much a reflection of who they are as people Michele mone is incredibly tenacious but I wondered where her relentless drive had come from and if her formula for success could last forever at first glance richard reads approach appears counterintuitive concentrating on the good his brand can achieve rather than the profit but we've also heard from his childhood just how calculating he can be most successful businessman and women i know can pinpoint exactly where and when their entrepreneurial journey began to find out where that was for Richard and Michelle I'm visiting places that lie on opposite ends of the country and of the social spectrum Michelle is taking me on a tour of our hometown of Galla gate you're getting into the East End of Glasgow really don't tear hard-working and Richard is showing me round Cambridge the city where his entrepreneurial journey began in Glasgow I was to find the rags to riches cliche for real lots and lots of memories growing up here and this is where I started my first name business when I was dead 10 years old you were 10 yeah in the papers in the East End and then when I was 11 I had 17 teenagers working for me and so you had a bunch of people working for you at 11:00 attached here the first stop would be Michelle's secondary school a place she left without any qualifications at the age of 15 this is it this is it yeah this was where she was told that a future working down the local supermarket was the best she could expect Wow how's it was it feel like to be back here really strange was it yeah but em what's your best memory yeah my best memory and I don't really have nice memories to be honest with you I really struggled at school academically I was awful um and I think always been told you know you're a failure and you'll never do well and I suppose everyone around me kept seeing Michelle you can't do this and you can't do that and you see why why did you see you can't surely you can surely we can find a way and I used to challenge everyone really bullied and kind of yeah I'm always a bit and yeah because I wore my uniform and she we always thought always nope yeah wear your uniform and what about your teachers did they have a little inkling that Michelle Mohan was going to become a successful entrepreneur I don't think so I remember when I was 15 I had to go and see my clears teacher says I want to be an entrepreneur and she said what does that mean it could have been a determination to prove her teachers wrong that drove Michelle in those early days but I was about to discover even deeper reasons for her desire to be an East End girl done good I always wanted my own room and my dad cut half of a single bed he put in the room cupboards and lorn to ceiling and up it's sticky they're stickers which were all stars above it and I loved it so much the next stop on our tour was the house Michelle grew up in so this is it yeah so which was the actual house which one and well first of all I grew up here one not so first floor just first floor yeah and then my dad's and when he was my age got confined to a wheelchair the paralyzed from the waist down a disease hemangioma what this was no spinal cords so he couldn't obviously get up the stairs no meal chair so we moved to 54 ground rate just whoo and that was a first time I had my own bedroom wow this is 54 yeah that's that was my mom and dad's bedroom I I dare you to ring the bell I knew I can't do that Henderson you're mean it's going to oh what's that she's like whoo I promise I've not to do anything up hey huh hi there come on is that okay yeah oh my goodness oh wow I can't believe this is my old house and that that is the bathroom isn't it as a bathroom as your room that was your the madness my room oh this is my water you know I love this bedroom this was my first bedroom bedroom and I kept to sue neat and tidy from this tenement Michelle embarked on a career in publicity that began with occasional work as a model by the age of 26 she was head of marketing for a national brewery her old neighbor Trisha still lives next door and has documented her remarkable rise to success the show you've got pictures I've actually got people cuttings as well but didn't it look at that terrible terrible model terrible Maria she won't talk to me is quiet thank you very much approves anybody that's got a dream and if they'll follow it through I can do it that's true Michelle was just basically what enticed and she done it all played I could see in Michelle's eyes how much this visit to our old house meant but facing up to her past wasn't going to be easy over dinner I wanted to find out more look earliest bad memory here I would say that there was lots of tough times that I try and blank out and that was the illness of my dad that was my mum you know going through depression losing my wee brother you know I always used to go to bed crying I'm not going my dad in the morning and it was just it was horrible then I won't be you when your brother done and I was about 8 years old yeah I don't mean but all of it you do every single bit of it yeah you come from a card background you've spent all of your life trying to get out here's something that makes Michelle special do you see yourself especially would you see yourself as lucky good you know bad news after bad news and I don't want that I will not accept when people see because you're from the East End you cannot be successful in contrast the hard work of Richard's parents to fund his private education paid off he became one of the elite few to make it to some John's College Cambridge so we have been in here for 20 years he shared a room with Adam Balan and John Wright together they would become the cofounders of the famous smoothie brand so this is a canteen yeah yes the innocent canteen three meals a day for three years here pretty much here is nice dinner and yeah this is definitely where it started because the the three became friends Richard from the first night in college we all met in the college bar and I think we saw bond didn't we ever loveth you know photos yeah exactly and what did you do because I needed geography didn't it mm-hmm was it because you couldn't think of anything else to all the honest answer is when I was looking at the different the different options the only topic that had less lectures was land economy which had seven hours a week and trouble he had eight hours a week and everything else had more and so I went the job okay so what economics oh wow okay I did manufacturing same gang stuff made it's almost like perfect doesn't it you got somebody that economics knows how to run a business you got something that season really care watch they did because just what he'd have fun I've got somebody that actually knows the whole manufacturing process to put all together unless that's interesting though isn't it cuz it does fit and we weren't here was that it was a lucky fortunate in a part performer what you had here was three really close friends that had very different skills but had a complete shared sort of set of values and vision and things that they wanted to achieve and that's I think that was the the starting place for the whole business where the successes come from it's incredibly rare that three mates thrown together at university go on to create a multimillion-pound business to try and work out just how it happened the boys took me to meet Colin their residential Porter so they were pranksters then they enjoy their college life a there's a soda kind of Porter's on the toes all the toilet but the pool has allowed them atomic autumn they all said we're innocent yes Richard business story begins here in Cambridge in a darkened dingy basement well this is it yes that's an underground garage yes it's likely the enterprising trio transformed this boiler room into the most popular student nightclub for miles around we'd be turning people away at the door I think neat people were coming for the free pizza not news hello is er that was a dreadful Aboriginal strategy that we were off a tree piece at nine o'clock sure I get people down early and what happened is loaded we've always turned up eight the free pizza then left and so we were left with an empty nightclub and for a peanut boxes this is where it all started I've had a lot of fun why you did it yeah absolutely and that doesn't that doesn't seem to change much no it's thin Ferg it's just one of the best bits of uni doing with your two closest mates oh it's just such good fun both Richard and Michelle wanted to create better futures for themselves because of the circumstances that surrounded them Richard desperately wanted to make his parents proud and repay the sacrifices they had made to give him a world-class education a michelle was driven by desire to do better than those around her oh how nice is that so what is it that links all entrepreneurs is there a formula for making millions if you ask the investors who discovered Michelle and Richard it wasn't their business plans that impress them borås Pinto bought 18 percent of innocent for a quarter of a million pounds I take care less about what the business in the industry is or what the business ideas and more about the people I thought they were extremely bright extremely articulate let me say it's the best management team I've ever worked with Sir Tom Hunter backed Ultimo with a hundred thousand pounds you can look at the business plan you can look at the numbers and you know you've read as many business plans as me and none of them really do what they ever say they're going to do you're really only investing in the person we saw something in Michelle that determination that would can and and her I've and you then you then make an investment and the parents it's reported that both investors made very healthy returns when they sold their shares in London Scotland's first billionaire was giving me a further insight into what has pushed Michele mone to succeed even though Michele puts forward this you know she can be quite fragile and then the thing people don't understand that most entrepreneurs is that we are driven by self-doubt a lot of successful people who outwardly you think are so confident but we're all trying to prove ourselves all the time yeah for my final encounter Michelle had invited me to her Mayfair apartment so I could have a glimpse into her private world it was here I hope to uncover the characteristics that have brought her success hello hello who are you why are you but nothing could have prepared me for the obsessive attention to detail that awaited okay can you come look at that that's amazing everything has its place that shouldn't be dirty is it no everything has to be organized so everything's in order five twenty fifty yeah same hangers yeah every single one the same color everything has to be the same and the kids I've got KP is that they don't mock the hangers up and you give you a kid not going to tell you guys KPIs key performance indicators which are business drivers yeah to measure against for success you do that with your own kids and the people no sure I do if your drawers are not organized and your cupboards are not organized your family are not organized then your life is a maze you have to compartmentalize everything in your life and you don't change between business and your personal life which is different a lot of people e yeah a lot of people were very different in business today are when they're at home to be successful you have to be able to exert control but Michele takes it to another level there must be a reason why she has to organize every detail around her and the words of Tom hunter were still ringing in my ears is it self doubt that makes her like this are you proud of yourself I think no I think no that I've lost you know all the weights and I'm getting fit you know I'm getting my life in order and I was punishing myself for 10 years and I just kept eating and eating and eating and eating because I did not feel that I should have money and success but I'm I feel I'm a lot more content but I still don't think I've made it yet so would you say that you're lonely or in search of something and I'm not sure maybe you're doing these things to perhaps fill a void or fill something as being a entrepreneur is very lonely you'll know it yourself and where you know you'll take all the worry and everything else on your own shoulders and um do you feel pressure oh I feel pressure 24/7 yeah and I can't imagine life without the pleasure to be honest I'm trying to understand the psyche behind an entrepreneur there's a lot of similarities I see in me and you mm-hmm I see that you have to have to control I can see that you are quite manipulative I can see that you're very forthright you know where you want to get to but at the same time I can also see a lot of insecurity when I was last in your offices you said something to me that we hit me quite hard because I've never spoken to another entrepreneur before that's actually said yeah I consider committing suicide and I was in a very dark place in my life yeah how take me back to that time of how you felt to get to that point I just think that I tried my hardest and I suppose I was feeling and who are you looking down I was letting down my family you know and it's the fear of going back to how I grew up of I suppose struggling I am but I just thought I just could not see our way out I just couldn't when he took me about to the East End of Glasgow there was a quite a touching moment when I got to see the neighbors you got to see your house hmm but there's a lot about it that almost says I can't remember a lot of things I'm not I'm blanking it all out but I suppose that you know that growing up and with my wee brother dying and my father you know been confined to a wheelchair at the age of 38 and I just thought well you know and I started to all come back to me oh dear I said I ain't cryin and but maybe it was all that just billion and heartache it's made me fight to get to here I'm so sorry don't apologize because it's something to be proud of and it gives a lot of people inspiration and the reality is that an entrepreneur is a a make up of all different things you've been through a journey haven't you yes and I think that everybody sees that journey is easy it's glamorous we see Michelle walking down red carpets we see on magazines looking beautiful but the hardness and the hardships of the journey and I would say that the next few years in pursuit of happiness and success I think you're going to achieve it thank you I really do hope so uncovering the reason why someone strives for perfection can be an emotional experience I wondered if my final meeting with Richard would be so highly charged I'm in the Mulvane hills to examine the relationship between Richard and one of his suppliers to hopefully uncover the savvy businessman behind the self-proclaimed hippie brand there's nothing hippie allowed in me nothing hello well hello although I've never been a fly on the wall at a meeting he does not suffer fools lightly where's the suit what do you think pretty good red and green yeah that matching we've got planned this who are you now going to use Edie Edward so now the most treasured dramas so this is all they're all blackcurrants that we see now yeah Wow we've been working together for a while mmm we started in 2004 that was officer sure that we and we did we bought less than a ton of heads blackcurrants where's this year which was bought 210 tons what I was really interested in was how Richard and Ed made money from each other it can't be cheap buying homegrown fruit and I was keen to find out about their margins probably for the first time in history our price to you per Brix is lower than our price to the concentrate people per Prix a doubt if that's ever happened before that's a decision on our part so the prices have gone up but we want these guys to be there tomorrow so interesting concept here written is business is supporting local farmer local farmer actually in reality is supporting Richard yes you've got a very interesting partnership between the two of you yes correct and we I think we both share this philosophy that we will do better over the longer term by collaborating it is a mutually beneficial relationship but that's the key it's not better fed he's financially willing to lower the price of that quality product to you to support your model well I think we should let ed say what everything well the black currant market is sometimes referred to as being the the peak of the software industry it is very cyclical and to always insist on the jackpot in the peak here is not necessarily good business they can take the product off the shelf tomorrow yeah you can price itself off the shelf we want that product to still be there Richard looked uncomfortable discussing profit margins with a price supplier I was relieved to discover that he does focus on a money-making model after all without profit he can't give to charity the clever thing is the farmer has bought into Richards mission and that's the very reason why he offers such a great deal now that's a shrewd way of doing business you have naturally found a place where you can really represent your brand by creating and maintaining an image and everybody's thinking oh this guy why doesn't everybody be like Richard you know he starts a business he's got high ethics he's helping the local community and he gives away to charity but the reality is you are all of those things but you're also a very tactical very shrewd entrepreneur as well I take that as a big compliment there's no money to give to charity if you don't make any money in the first place so we are absolutely proud to be entrepreneurs and businessmen and capitalists and we have an altruistic aim in addition to that as well I tell you the world would be a very different place if more businesses did because it's basic saying if we just took 10% and made sure it was allocated to people and to countries that quite frankly need it more than we do it would redistribute wealth whilst absolutely still protecting the capitalist system that we found to be the best way of working you definitely hire a hippie with a calculator we are not just six formers messing around I think some people assume that because we sometimes wear t-shirts to work but what you wear does not reflect on how hard you work it's been a big tough challenge all of the way it's been extremely enjoyable and exciting too the way Richard does business is admirable and for that I have to give him and his partners credit but there was still a burning question I had to ask with such a strong business ethos how did they justify selling a majority share of their business to coca-cola if you'd known me three years ago and I've said Richard you got this deal with coke Earl you could meet them four times a year they waiting to run the business they can give you thirty million and I said Richard I'm gonna give you the same day I'll give you thirty million which one would you choose coca-cola or Peter Jones all after having seen you on Dragon's Den I would definitely choose Coca Cola definitely that's outrageous man you're a tough negotiator and you definitely wouldn't have extended the terms that coca-cola did but I kind of liken it to a little bit like I've got a nice seriously famous health club chain and Cadbury's invested my business was there any of the three of you that thought I don't want to do this without that money coming in from coke we would have been a business hugely retrenching we would have had to make half the team redundant we've had to cancel our international expansion I feel like I'm interviewing like a politician you're not answering my question what was the great vision of you say now that we're all absolute so you were all a hundred percent off it was it was a very unusual deal that they did where they would put in money but apps you take a backseat like myself Adam and John to keep full control of the company even the hardened cynics would admit now that we are absolutely more innocent than we've ever been we've pushed even further into our sustainable agricultural projects we've continued to funder the charities it's mainly just asking their advice you know they've been in business running one of the world's most popular brands for 125 years in it in a very small way there are things that could take them innocent as well and so I really do think it's been a relationship that's been has been good for both parties have you got an ultimate goal I want to get rich and die poor the idea is I would love to sort of you know get to be you know as strong as you define actually but by the end of life have you know given it weight Coca Cola come to you knocking on the door and saying guys we want to buy you out is that conversation that you will have hmm don't know actually 20 million each 50 million keep going mate hundred each what price you put it I don't know is the short answer when you take a hundred million pound check for your share now well you've just gone from twenty to fifty to one hundred and twenty seconds I'm going to hold that a little bit further 100 million for your share in innocent cash in the back of the Maybach I'd have sweets my wife unsurprisingly it was an indecisive response from Ridgid but I felt had come as close as possible to him admitting he's in it for the money even if he'll eventually give it all away spending time with Michelle Mon was both enjoyable and intriguing under her tough exterior I found someone who is quite fragile not a trait you'd open the associate with being an entrepreneur but like many of us it's that self doubt that drives her I'm no happy with what I've achieved I do my best you know and I can if you can't do your best and there's no point Richard Reid was a tough nut to crack but now I understand why he's such a success he has very cleverly created a product that harnesses his values my business ethos is do something you love with people that you love the way that you can be proud of genuinely try and make something better these are just two inspiring ways to make millions every entrepreneur has their own eclectic mix of hard work luck skill and self belief and there's one thing for sure we don't readily take no for an answer your job as the entrepreneur is to hear the no and turn it into a yes I don't just accept no I always say why why why if I don't take risks every single day life becomes boring well Italy become the next victim of Europe's debt crisis news nights on BBC 2 at 10:30 after comedy with Ramsay Nesbitt next you you

Channel: Blitzking1807

Views: 2,332,686

Rating: 4.7824888 out of 5

Keywords: Peter Jones, Dragons Den, Michelle Mone, Richard Reed, Innocent Smoothies, Ultimo, Ultimo Bra, Scotland, Glasgow (City/Town/Village)

Id: foWMmY3xSuk

Length: 58min 51sec (3531 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 21 2012