Adaptability, a relentless passion to succeed and accepting you can’t do it all yourself. These are the three vital qualities of an entrepreneur according to chocolate lover and businessman Angus Thirlwell.
The co-founder and chief executive of Hotel Chocolat, a luxury gifts retailer, shared his secrets of success as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week.
Speaking ahead of his appearance at Manchester Enterprise Centre he described his message to youngsters as a ‘carpe diem’ of giving business a go.
“I want to get across that now is the ideal time to start an enterprise, when they are young and not so fearful of risk.
“Instead of putting off an idea until next week or next year, students are much more risk aversive and they need to embrace that.”
To say that Thirlwell is passionate about chocolate would be an understatement because, as he willingly admits, it’s more of an obsession.
Together with his business partner, Peter Harris, he founded Hotel Chocolat in 2004 with three guiding principles that remain central to the brand’s success today – authenticity, originality and ethics.
And it has evidently paid off. The firm’s pre-tax profits rose 306% in the last six months of 2014 to £6.6m, with revenues of £47.2m.
'Ostrich' Easter egg from Hotel Chocolat
'Ostrich' Easter egg from Hotel Chocolat
But where and how was the seed of entrepreneurism planted?
“I was lucky to come from an entrepreneurial household,” explains Thirlwell. “Business and enterprise were the backdrop to my childhood.”
As the son of a man who helped to build the Mr Whippy ice-cream brand, it may seem that he was destined for a career in confectionary.
However, the path to success is never an obvious one and this idea of adaptability is key to the co-founder’s speech. I was doing French and economics at Sheffield University when I went to study abroad.
“A job came up at a hi-tech firm in France and I found what I really liked doing, which was business. The company kept me on and I never went back. You can start in one direction, evolve into something slightly different and then before you know it, it’s five, 10, 15 years down the line and you are somewhere else.
“Some students may have an idea of where they are going with a certain degree but things happen and goals can change.”
source - https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/professionals/hotel-chocolat-founder-encourages-next-10466550
The co-founder and chief executive of Hotel Chocolat, a luxury gifts retailer, shared his secrets of success as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week.
Speaking ahead of his appearance at Manchester Enterprise Centre he described his message to youngsters as a ‘carpe diem’ of giving business a go.
“I want to get across that now is the ideal time to start an enterprise, when they are young and not so fearful of risk.
“Instead of putting off an idea until next week or next year, students are much more risk aversive and they need to embrace that.”
To say that Thirlwell is passionate about chocolate would be an understatement because, as he willingly admits, it’s more of an obsession.
Together with his business partner, Peter Harris, he founded Hotel Chocolat in 2004 with three guiding principles that remain central to the brand’s success today – authenticity, originality and ethics.
And it has evidently paid off. The firm’s pre-tax profits rose 306% in the last six months of 2014 to £6.6m, with revenues of £47.2m.
'Ostrich' Easter egg from Hotel Chocolat
'Ostrich' Easter egg from Hotel Chocolat
But where and how was the seed of entrepreneurism planted?
“I was lucky to come from an entrepreneurial household,” explains Thirlwell. “Business and enterprise were the backdrop to my childhood.”
As the son of a man who helped to build the Mr Whippy ice-cream brand, it may seem that he was destined for a career in confectionary.
However, the path to success is never an obvious one and this idea of adaptability is key to the co-founder’s speech. I was doing French and economics at Sheffield University when I went to study abroad.
“A job came up at a hi-tech firm in France and I found what I really liked doing, which was business. The company kept me on and I never went back. You can start in one direction, evolve into something slightly different and then before you know it, it’s five, 10, 15 years down the line and you are somewhere else.
“Some students may have an idea of where they are going with a certain degree but things happen and goals can change.”
After returning to the UK the future chocolate connoisseur was hired by his now business partner and within a year had come up with ‘the most niche business idea you will ever hear’.
The Mint Marketing Company sold little packets of peppermints branded with company logos, with a 10,000 pack minimum order.
Taken in by what Thirlwell describes as ‘the allure of chocolate’ the pair went on to create the same B2B model for the cocoa treat.
This became the forerunner of Hotel Chocolat – an online gift delivery service for ‘all the chocolate that could fit through a letterbox.’
source - https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/professionals/hotel-chocolat-founder-encourages-next-10466550
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