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Good morning, ladies and gentlemen |
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I'm honoured to have this opportunity to talk to you |
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Eight years ago, I bought my first computer |
| [00:09.11] |
but I soon discovered that where I lived |
| [00:11.50] |
it was difficult to find accessories for that particular make |
| [00:14.64] |
That made me realise that other people must have the same problem |
| [00:18.58] |
Then I found that |
| [00:19.43] |
foreign magazines contained plenty of advertisements of mail order companies |
| [00:23.67] |
so I started buying spare parts and things |
| [00:26.98] |
that way and selling them on to my friends at a small profit |
| [00:30.32] |
That was how my company, Manshee,was born |
| [00:33.71] |
Four years later |
| [00:35.01] |
Manshee was making a profit |
| [00:36.70] |
and had reached a turnover of 6 million pounds |
| [00:39.83] |
We had four directors |
| [00:41.23] |
myself and three of my friends |
| [00:43.13] |
plus a staff of 17 |
| [00:45.27] |
The culture was young |
| [00:46.61] |
and the working environment didn't have any structure |
| [00:49.51] |
The company just grew and grew with its own momentum |
| [00:52.69] |
and everything we did seemed to strike lucky |
| [00:55.44] |
If we needed to buy some equipment or redecorate the sales office |
| [00:58.98] |
we decided yes or no in isolation |
| [01:01.67] |
only taking the short term |
| [01:03.51] |
usually the cash flow for that month |
| [01:05.50] |
into account |
| [01:07.14] |
However, the market became increasingly cut throat |
| [01:10.29] |
and that led to falling margins |
| [01:12.92] |
We realised, rather unwillingly |
| [01:15.36] |
that the time had come to structure our future |
| [01:18.21] |
but we didn't really have much idea how to set about it |
| [01:21.21] |
So we went to a firm of consultants |
| [01:22.98] |
who specialise in helping small businesses |
| [01:25.47] |
and it proved a turning point |
| [01:27.82] |
They insisted that we four directors sit down |
| [01:30.55] |
and rank our investments in order of importance for the coming years |
| [01:34.99] |
It seems obvious now |
| [01:36.64] |
but we'd never realised the value of doing it before |
