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The Oxford Dictionary defines an entrepreneur as someone who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit.

But what does it actually feel like to be taking that risk? To be putting your – and possibly your family’s – financial security on the line for the sake of pursuing what might turn out to be a hopeless dream or fantasy?

Most of us will never know, but those who have taken the plunge describe it as terrifying, exhilarating, thrilling - and intensely satisfying when everything works out alright.

We asked some of Wales’ most successful entrepreneurs, along with some of its newest, to describe those moments when they risked everything for their dream.

Sir Chris Evans, serial biotechnology entrepreneur

Sir Chris Evans set up his first business in Cambridge more than 30 years ago at the age of 29. He had to sell the cottage he lived in with his wife Anne, along with some patent rights he had acquired, to raise the £130,000 he needed.

His first lab was built from scratch on what is now the Babraham science park outside Cambridge.

“I was totally fearless. I didn’t believe I could fail or any of my projects would fail inside a business that was a pioneer in European biotech and producing ground-breaking, life changing products.

“The staff were mainly young scientists with no commercial acumen so all the leadership had to be me – inventing products and doing all the commercial deals with partners and big pharma.

“I rolled my sleeves up and physically carried sinks and fridges etc into build the laboratories. It was an exciting, thrilling time. I even sold my cottage and invested all the cash in my first lab and staff.

“I had total self belief and confidence that my science was strong and my products would be desirable. Within a few years, pharmaceutical companies were queueing up to buy our products in multi-million pound transactions.”

Sir Chris repeated his own brand of business building and risk formula time and again with 20 stock market flotations and billions in trade sale exits to global pharmaceutical companies.

He brought his experience back to Wales and with his friend, the late Professor Chris McGuigan, injected energy and pace that helped put Welsh life sciences on the world map.

The sector now boasts world leading companies such as Simbec-Orion, Proton Partners International and ReNeuron, and there is also the Wales Life Sciences Fund and the Life Sciences Hub in Cardiff .

He added: “As get older and wiser, you do begin to look at risk differently. There’s risk to yourself and your family, risk to your reputation and risk to your thousands of employees who depend on you.

“The risk for the biotech sector in the UK now is short-termism. We need more investors such as Neil Woodford willing to create big funds and manage risk with patient capital deployed over many years.

“Things do come good in the end but in Britain we are starved of time and capital to build things steadily – in so doing investors increase the risk of failure.”

His advice to first-time entrepreneurs? “Go for it. Better to spend one day as tiger than 100 years as a sheep.

“Nobody knows you nor cares, so back yourself and your dream and sell it to investors and sell everything you possibly can to customers.

“Always, always focus on what your customer wants, what they really need. Visit them, talk straight and if you blow their socks off you win the contracts and the cash.

“Don’t guess anything. Don’t think you know better than the customer. It worked for me and, thankfully, still does.”

Doug Perkins, Specsavers

(Image: Chris Tostevin-Hall)

Doug Perkins is one of Wales’ most successful entrepreneurs, having set up the high street optician chain Specsavers with his wife Mary.

“The biggest risk for me ever was in 1984. Having been in the optical industry for 10 years we decided to start a business from nothing against national providers in optics, such as Boots and a well-known company at the time called Dollond & Aitchison which had 700 stores, with our own unique joint venture partnership (JVP).

“At the time, the model was pretty well unknown and certainly had not been used outside of America, with the likes of Burger King.

“The idea was that I had enjoyed my 10 years in the industry and realised that we could operate stores better than some of the big global companies. The only way to prove that was to evolve the JVP model to be able to compete with the large firms.

“At the time nobody, including the opticians, believed we could be successful, so I had to give unbelievable guarantees that their salaries, rents and staff would be paid, and I gave that guarantee to the first 10 stores that signed up.

“I had gathered some savings from the first 10 years in business, so I did have a cushion of money to lean on, but if one store failed, then it was likely that my guarantees would mean that this money would be wiped out.

“My bank manager was not impressed with the business model as there was no profit coming back to the business that could be quantified (as it was a unique JVP model) and it all depended on a much larger number of stores and the management fees being collected from them. So nervous was he that he would actually drive up to my house to make sure that I was still in residence, as that was the only security that he held.

“My feeling was that I knew that the service the JVP opticians could give would challenge the other companies and that we were establishing a low-price level that did not exist at the time.

“The only missing link was the ability to advertise, and in 1984 it was possible for the first time in the industry to advertise the profession in the local press, which I was able to do.

“It was a massive risk to take, but if you have a passion that there is a better way to do things, in an industry that you know, then the risk become much less.

“I have always been able to sell a business concept and I knew that over a relatively short time, people themselves would start to believe what I believed and this is exactly what happened.

“Of the first 10 stores, none of them failed, none of the guarantees were ever raised against me, and we went on to open 40 new stores every year. That way, the management fees established the successful business that the Specsavers Optical Group is today.”

Hayley Parsons, GoCompare

(Image: Front Door Communications)

Hayley Parsons, founder and former CEO of GoCompare , said her motivation to set up the company was the confidence in knowing that there was nothing she didn’t know about the price comparison industry, as she had set up the first website Confused, and a belief that she could do it better.

She explained: “It might seem to other people that it was a big risk leaving an established business like Admiral, but I had spent the previous five years working on Confused and talking the insurers into coming on board with it, so there was no one in the industry I didn’t know.

“There were a number of factors which gave me the push to go it alone, I was rather annoyed that I hadn’t got an internal promotion that, as far as I was concerned, had my name written all over it. I also saw someone else from a competitor move on to establish another business.

“So, after a chat over a few too many drinks with a very good friend and colleague, I said I was going to go it alone and set up my own comparison website. He introduced me to a major investor, I persuaded two of my best friends and colleagues to come with me and we went for it.”

GoCompare began life around Hayley’s kitchen table. She had a three-year-old child, two business partners and little else but a belief that what she was doing was right, but they ploughed on and eventually moved into an office space in Newport – which they then had to fill with people.

She added: “The next big risk we took was taking out a loan for £30m to build the business. That was when I did go into a cold sweat, but I knew it was something we had to do. To get GoCompare off the ground we had to market aggressively, we had to build up the market share and we had to go for it, so we did.

“The next big challenge for us was when we heard that Tesco was moving into the comparison market. It could have finished us, so we had to act, and act quickly.

“We spent four years’ marketing budget in one year, came up with the idea for Gio Compario and the rest is history. It was a massive risk – blowing that budget in one year, but I’m so glad we did. We had the foresight to see the potential risk Tesco could have had for us and by the time it launched we were already dominating and Tesco couldn’t get a foothold in the market.

“As it was, it was the best decision we ever made. If we didn’t take that risk there might not be a GoCompare. We saw the risk ahead, took on one of the biggest brand names in the UK and became a dominant force in the insurance comparison market.”

Hayley’s advice to entrepreneurs is to deal with hiccups when they happen and move on: “Bad things will happen, you just have to deal with them and move on.

“If you make your mind up to do something, just go for it. Don’t over analyse your decision, don’t think too deeply about it and just do it.

“Better to have a go at something than look back and regret not having tried. Sometimes you just have to strap your balls on and go for it.”

Lyndon Wood, Constructaquote.com

When Lyndon Wood first set up his own business in 1990 interest rates were at 15%, he had a £38,000 mortgage that was costing over £700 per month and he was in a job that paid commission only.

He said: “I knew I was born to do my own thing, so nine months into the job I took the risk and resigned to go at it alone. Without any research, I had put everything at risk with zero plan and zero income to go and make my own public liability insurance provider .”

The business faced a crisis in 2002 and Lyndon had to dig deep to survive.

“I had put almost £500,000 into the business and spent the lot trying to stay in business for five months by keeping over 30 people in their jobs while I figured a way out.

“At this time I had three children and two mortgages and some car finance to fund and I knew could have lost the lot had my belief wavered.

“This was an important moment in my life. I felt an inner belief, a desire, an ambition and determination along with the big belly flops and flips combined to make the number one feeling of fear.

“What I risked, as many do, it’s more than material things such as your house or car or savings. It was emotional esteem and confidence.

“Back then in 2002, I swear my brain snapped in two to figure out how to get out of the situation I was in. But it then put itself back again, with a very different mindset and approach to people and business.

“I went extremely insular and didn’t speak to any friends or family for months as if my brain was 110% focused on solving my position.

“People always say that ‘you are a risk taker’ but I always reply with ‘calculated’. This is because of my own belief in my ability to see the universe, not just my own world. The more people you speak to, the more successful you become.”

Shauna Guinn and Sam Evans, Hang Fire

Business partners Shauna Guinn and Sam Evans set up Hang Fire Smokehouse in 2013 as a pop-up restaurant and finally opened their own bricks and mortar, Hang Fire Southern Kitchen in Barry two years ago. The business model was based on a pop-up at pubs around south Wales, but three years ago they took the bold decision to set up a permanent restaurant at the seaside town.

Sam Evans said: “Most business is a risk. We’d owe a lot of money if our business failed, not to mention job losses.

“But you can’t really think about that. If you have a dream, you have to follow it.

“Sometimes you have to make high risk choices, but you offset those with a risk-averse strategy, meaning have a solid game plan before you make any decision. Owning your own business means you grow exponentially, both professionally and personally. It’s a cliché, but true; I’ve learnt more from my mistakes than my successes.

“It’s been the biggest decision I’ve ever had to make. We went from a simple, two-woman business with a lot of hands on support from friends and family to employing 22 members of staff and eye-watering outgoing figures.

“We’d be lying if we said we didn’t hit the pub a few times before we opened, asking ourselves if we’ve done the right thing. But almost two years on, business is still good and our staff team are incredible. It’s like working with family. We love and care about each other which we think really comes across in our food and service,” added Sam.

Shauna Guinn added: “The fear of failure is generally what keeps most entrepreneurs awake at night. You have to keep reassessing your position, question every business decision to make sure you’re staying true to yourself and the vision of the business.

“Failure means debt and job losses, neither of which we want to find ourselves facing. So you have to eat, sleep and breath your business, meaning you have to love what you do as you spend a heck of a lot of time thinking about it.

“Of course it was a risk moving lock, stock and barrel to a town we’d never even popped up in – we wondered if people in Barry would like our food and would our customer base in Cardiff still travel to see us?

“The people of Barry have been amazingly supportive, we couldn’t have been better welcomed. We feel privileged to be here in this awesome town and in this awesome building.”

Rob Dance, RockIT

(Image: publicity picture)

Rob Dance started RockIT, the Pencoed-based IT service business , after graduating from the University of Glamorgan with a business and administration degree.

“At the time the sacrifices that I was making were clearly far greater than any of my other university friends. While they were all out partying, I chose to set up a micro-business that serviced domestic PCs.

“Most of my university friends were securing themselves steady jobs and their first run on the ladder, so to speak. But I didn’t want to work for someone else’s gain, I knew I wanted to set something up for myself.

“It could have gone horribly wrong, and although I was super confident in my own ability, I was still taking a massive risk.”

He set up RockIT in 2008 and wrote his first business plan as the daily news bulletins reported the gathering financial storm.

“Banks were folding every day or having to be bought out by the Government, and there was so much negative publicity about the imminent recession. If there was ever a worst time to set up a business this was going it be it, or so everyone was telling me.

“To be honest though, I actually think the recession helped my business get a head start. What I and many other businesses owners found was that the recession hit the less reputable businesses the hardest, and businesses that were able to focus on the customer in the same way we did (and still do) were able to take a much larger share of their market.

“Back then the stats were not in favour of setting up a business, with almost 8 out of 10 businesses failing in the first year. If this had happened it would have meant a significant gap in my employment history and a fairly awkward conversation if I ever wanted to get employment elsewhere. No one wants to have a gap on their CV of 12 months or more, and especially if you would have to explain that you set up a business that went on to fail.

“If I’m honest though, this simply wasn’t an option for me. I knew what it would take and I was prepared to put as much effort as was needed to get the business off the ground.

“Even back then I was working all weekend to make sure the business had the best possible opportunity for success. I found the world of business exhilarating and I was 100% confident that I could make the business a thriving success, and I think it was this confidence that made everyone else around me know that I was going to make it happen too, even in times of a recession and such economic uncertainty.

“I tried to limit the risk by starting small, although I realised pretty early on that I needed additional staff and recruitment soon followed. This is something I still do now. I don’t hold back on recruitment, but it needs to be at the right time for the business and aligned to the business plan for the coming year.”

Matt Warren, Veeqo

Matt Warren was a successful retailer for more than 12 years, selling luxury watches online and in stores across the UK. He scaled the business to a multi-million pound turnover, before being sued, losing everything and having to start again from scratch.

Starting with nothing, he found running a large, complex, multi-channel ecommerce business incredibly difficult. There wasn’t anything that synced all inventory across all sales channels, that also allowed retailers to ship his ecommerce orders from a single platform. So he created Veeqo to do just that.

He said: “In the early days, Veeqo wasn’t making money. How do you live your day-to-day life? How do your pay team? These are questions I had to answer all the time.

“Having to persuade others to buy into vision and take a risk was a real challenge. Not only our early investors but also our first few hires at Veeqo took a very low salary because they believed in Matt’s dream.

“Once investors got involved, I realised I’d have to ‘go big or go home’ with Veeqo. Veeqo wasn’t just something to solve a problem anymore. It had to be a big, global product. Investors won’t invest unless they get a big return.”

So where did his motivation come from?

“Personally, I want to be successful. Fear of failure is really motivating – what will people think if it doesn’t work out?

“Having seen a struggling tech ecosystem in Wales, and the struggles we have with old industries like mining in decline, we need something to replace that. Wales has the lowest unemployment lavels in the UK so we’re not afraid to work. We’re also the poorest part of the UK. That’s not fair and needs to change.”

Matt says his appetite for risk has probably increased as Veeqo has become established in the marketplace?.

“Some success breeds confidence. I’m prepared to take more gambles now than in the past.”

And his advice for anyone thinking of setting up in business in Wales?

“​Don’t go after grant money from government or agencies. It leads you down the wrong path. Bootstrap your company to have customers without needing anyone else’s money. Prove you can create a success without investors initially.”

Sarah John, Boss Brewing

Sarah John had spent most of her working life growing someone else’s business as a sales person until there came a time when she realised she could do it for herself.

She said: "I felt excited by the idea of directly reaping the rewards of my own labour, building something that would be for my family’s future. I am a real advocate for personal development and believe we should all keep growing and improving, and having my own business seemed like the perfect way of stretching myself."

She thinks there is something "equally terrifying and motivating" about having your destiny entirely in your own hands.

"When you go it alone, you completely remove the security of someone handing you a payslip without fail at the end of every month. I believe everyone should strive to be the best version of themselves and there is nothing like having your own venture (that you must make a success of) to push you to everything you are capable of," she said.

When she decided to start a micro-brewery with her partner Roy Allkin, her background in sales gave her the confidence to take the product to market by approaching buyers. It means Boss is one of the youngest breweries to get their products into national retailers including Asda, Morrisons and Coop and has got listings with large national pub companies such as JD Wetherspoon.

And as if setting up the business wasn't challenge enough, she discovered she was pregnant the same day they launched the brewery.

"Balancing these two areas of my life has been a learning experience for sure, but having a young daughter has made me even more motivated to succeed and has given me a greater purpose for making the brewery work. It is for her future and I also want to be a great role model to her, showing her that in this day and age there is nothing that a woman cannot do or be," she said.

She said the adrenaline and excitement of running the business never goes away. "When you have a successful and growing business, there will be downs, but these are far surpassed by the excitement and adrenaline of all the wins and milestones along the way.

"For us, this started in the early days with winning our first pub accounts and seeing the first ever customers order a pint of our beer over the bar. Over the years, this has gone on the include winning our first supermarket deal, opening our first bar (Copper on Castle Street in Swansea) and winning CAMRA Champion Stout of Wales twice for our hero beer Boss Black."

So what advice would she give to anyone thinking of setting up in business?

"Consider carefully if you have the grit and determination to make it happen as those two things are far more important than talent. Do you want it badly enough?

"At least for the first couple of years, it takes sheer graft and you might not see the results of your hard work for a little while. My ultimate advice would be to persevere and hold the faith.

"Keep giving it your all believing that you can do it. You get out what you put in more than ever when it is your own business, so you have to stay unwavering in your conviction that you will get there - and you will!"