This week we speak to Simon Brown, founder of fashion and lifestyle brand, Joe Browns.

Simons tells us where the inspiration for the brand came from, shares with us the business ups and the personal downs of Covid, being told that he was unemployable, the three ‘i’s the brand lives by and a great checklist for starting your own business. Rasputin and Ivan the Terrible get name checks too.

INTRODUCING SIMON BROWN

Born in Leeds and raised in Bramhope. Simon Brown founded Joe Browns in 1998, inspired by a group of friends enjoying a beer in a beach bar called The Ty Coch Inn in Morfa Nefyn, North Wales

25+years later, he’s the proud founder of Joe Browns, the Leeds based fashion and homeware brand centred around creating remarkable product. The brand is on a mission to make people feel great while injecting as much individuality and colour into as many wardrobes and homes as possible. Simon lives by the motto ‘Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride’ words you’ll see in lights in our White Rose Shopping Centre store, which opened on 2nd December 2023.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

[00:01:00] Introducing Simon Brown and the route to Joe Browns

[00:08:00] The source and essence of Joe Browns

[00:11:20] The early days of the Joe Browns business

[00:16:00] Raising investment and a change in strategy

[00:20:00] Getting into third party catalogues and working with third parties

[00:27:00] Why expand into ‘bricks & mortar’ stores

[00:31:30] A trip to Russia…

[00:34:00] How was Covid for Joe Browns and Simon Brown

[00:39:00] Forward plan for Joe Browns

[00:42:00] How does it feel bringing in staff ‘above’ the founder?

[00:45:00] How to set up a business and what to consider

[00:50:00] The importance of being remarkable

KEY TAKEAWAYS & BUSINESS LEARNINGS

• The power of silence; first one to speak loses the deal

• Why borrow if you don’t have to borrow?

• The easy solution isn’t always the right solution

• Curiosity and creativity go hand-in-hand

• Never ever give up

• You have to understand the numbers

BEST MOMENTS

“When you stop enjoying something you have to move on

“We’re not putting you on the books, you’re unemployable”

“If we’d gone with that deal, we’d have been bankrupted

“I want my stores to be interesting, intriguing, inspiring”

VALUABLE RESOURCES FOR YOU

Website: www.leedsbusinesspodcast.com

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/leeds-business-podcast/

Website: https://www.joebrowns.co.uk/

Shout out: https://www.theheroesjourney.com/

Negotiate to Close - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Negotiate-Close-Make-Successful-Deals/dp/0002176289

Success is a choice - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Success-Choice-Make-Choices-Successful/dp/078523859X/

DON'T FORGET THE LEEDS BUSINESS PODCAST ‘FAIR DEAL’

My half of the agreement; Every week I bring you inspiring Leeds Business people FOR FREE.

Your half of the deal has two simple steps;

1) Share this episode with just ONE person who you think will get value from it

2) Post a review of the show or give this episode a ’thumbs up’

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

As mentioned by Simon;

https://leedsbusinesspodcast.com/podcast/christine-yorath/

On April 23rd 2024 I wrote a post on Linked in, titled ‘I hate Daniel Priestley’. See https://www.linkedin.com/posts/philfraser_i-hate-daniel-priestley-im-sueing-activity-7185564354442854400-nVXA/.

The post went viral! Off the back of it Daniel agreed to be a guest on the podcast.

Before you start listening to this week’s episode make sure you have a pen and paper ready. Daniel Priestly delivers a masterclass in Entrepreneurship and business ownership, with tons and tons of brilliant ideas and advice.

Note you can get Get 14 days for free and 20% off your first 3 months at ScoreApp via https://share.scoreapp.com/9aa33263.

INTRODUCING DANIEL PRIESTLEY

Daniel Priestley is the Founder of Dent Global and ScoreApp. he has founded multiple 7 & 8 figure ventures, been awarded Entrepreneur of the Year and is the author of six entrepreneurship books, including Key Person of Influence, Oversubscribed and Entrepreneur Revolution. He regularly speaks at conferences and have been a business coach to several fast growth (Inc5000) entrepreneurs and celebrities.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

[00:03:30] Introducing Daniel Priestley

[00:05:30] The number one thing all business owners need to decide

[00:08:00] Introducing the CAOS Theory

[00:11:00] How to build an audience

[00:15:30] How to create, and the benefits of, a Wait List

[00:21:30] The CAPSTONE Pitch structure

[00:27:30] Can anyone be an entrepreneur?

[00:32:00] What is a Key Person of Influence?

[00:37:00] How to be a Key Person of Influence; using the 5 Ps

[00:41:30] Your book should be a sales person or why you should your book away as a gift

[00:45:00] What is a product eco-system? And why you should have one. Listen to live example.

[00:53:30] How to create a scorecard campaign

[00:59:30] Lifestyle businesses v performance businesses

KEY TAKEAWAYS & BUSINESS LEARNINGS

• Develop an audience then a product/offer

• Entrepreneurship is sexy from a distance but up close its rough going

• The door to success doesn’t have a handle; you have to kick the door down

• The only way to get cut-through is the founder talking about the business

• Use the 5Ps to raise your position as a Key Person of Influence

• Assessment-based selling can be used in any business

THE BEST MOMENTS

“If you gave me millions of dollars to launch a business I’d leave it on the shelf”

“People don’t want to do the stuff that’s not sexy”

“I only build stuff if thousands of people want it”

“People like people more than brands”

VALUABLE RESOURCES FOR YOU

Website: www.leedsbusinesspodcast.com

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/leeds-business-podcast/

Website: https://danielpriestley.com/

https://share.scoreapp.com/9aa33263

https://www.dent.global/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielpriestley/

DON'T FORGET THE LEEDS BUSINESS PODCAST ‘FAIR DEAL’

My half of the agreement; Every week I bring you inspiring Leeds Business people FOR FREE.

Your half of the deal has two simple steps;

1) Share this episode with just ONE person who you think will get value from it

2) Post a review of the show or give this episode a ’thumbs up’

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

https://leedsbusinesspodcast.com/podcast/rachel-woolford/...

This week we speak to Dean Hartley and hear all about some of the darker sides of business; the threat of VCs kicking you out of your own business, being caught in the 2008 RBS GRG scandal and what happens when you’re at strategic loggerheads with your fellow board members, and the personal low point of exiting a business.

INTRODUCING DEAN HARTLEY

Dean Hartley is the former CTO and owner of Monitor Audio, a business he helped purchase in 1998 and exited in October 2018 with a 50x ROI. He was instrumental in growing the business from £1.5M to £25M. He now works as a Consultant, EIR advisor and fractional CCO (Chief Commercial Officer). He's also an Angel Investor in start-up/scale-ups.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

[00:00:30] Starting the business and then buying another one

[00:08:45] A new role in a bigger business

[00:10:30] Raising external funding and buying founders out

[00:21:00] 2008 financial crash, GRG and the RBS scandal

[00:32:00] Where to look for growth finance in your business

[00:36:00] Exiting the business and the emotional difficulties it causes afterwards

[00:46:00] How to develop yourself and your role in a business

3 KEY TAKEAWAYS & BUSINESS LEARNINGS

• You learn a huge amount of skills as a start up founder

• There are risks that you sometimes have to take in business if you want to progress

• If you really want to scale a business you do need to raise finance

3 BEST MOMENTS

“they told us if we didn’t deliver, they’d replace us”

“it was very similar to the current Royal Mail scandal”

“we need to move on….. without you”

VALUABLE RESOURCES FOR YOU

Website: www.leedsbusinesspodcast.com

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/leeds-business-podcast/

Website: https:// www.chevettechnology.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanhartley01

Shout out tags: https://www.luma3.uk/

DON'T FORGET THE LEEDS BUSINESS PODCAST ‘FAIR DEAL’

My half of the agreement; Every week I bring you inspiring Leeds Business people FOR FREE.

Your half of the deal has two simple steps;

1) Share this episode with just ONE person who you think will get value from it

2) Post a review of the show or give this episode a ’thumbs up’

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

https://leedsbusinesspodcast.com/podcast/michael-michaelson/

https://leedsbusinesspodcast.com/podcast/david-richmond/

https://leedsbusinesspodcast.com/podcast/chris-black/

https://leedsbusinesspodcast.com/podcast/colin-glass/

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Phil Fraser went from an accidental kitchen table start up, with no investment, all the way to multi-million pound sale to a PLC 18 years later. He’s travelled the full SME business journey of launch, growth, scale and exit.

As well as hosting the Leeds Business Podcast, Phil now works with ambitious SME-owners as a Business Sounding Board (think somewhere between Business Coach and Business Mentor). In simple terms, he’s ‘a pair of ears and an extra pair eyes’ for SME Owners helping them to be better at what they do. Phil’s mantra is It doesn’t need to be ‘lonely at the top’. He helps Business Owners to be better business owners, by helping with their clarity and focus.

As a Business Sounding Board, he gives SME Owners the time & space to regularly discuss their challenges and opportunities, with no sense of judgement or bias, and in complete confidence. This allows them to explore their options in...