WLB talks to Great Guns Marketing founder Liz Jackson
by James Agate
What was your first job?
I started work young as I had a real urge to get out, start earning my own money and experience a taste of the working world. When I was only 14 I got my first ever job in my local branch of Littlewoods on a Saturday morning, which gave my pocket money a welcome boost each week!
You run Great Guns marketing, can you tell us a little more about what the company does?
Great Guns Marketing is one of the UK’s leading business-to-business telemarketing and lead generation companies. Our sole aim is to work with our clients to increase their sales. There are four branches throughout the UK dedicated to generating leads and sales appointments, offering clients a stream of selling opportunities with prospects interested in buying their product or service.
Can you give me an idea of the size of the company, turnover, staff numbers etc?
Great Guns is an SME, which turns over £2.5million a year. We have four sites across the UK and employ 130 people.
Is Great Guns your first business and what gave you the idea for the service?
Just prior to setting up Great Guns, I was working for a company that outsourced its telemarketing. The agency that they used wasn’t doing a great job and I thought that, in all honesty, I could do a better job.
My employers at the time were incredibly entrepreneurial and being around them gave me a great opportunity to see how a business was run first hand. I had looked into corporate roles but decided that kind of career wasn’t for me, so I decided to set-up on my own – and haven’t looked back since.
What do you think makes a good entrepreneur?
A good entrepreneur needs to be able to lead and motivate people. To be successful in business it is crucial to get the people around you excited and sharing in your vision.
What do you think is the key to turning a bedroom enterprise into a nationwide success?
When turning a business enterprise into something far larger and more successful it is extremely important in the first instance to have a good team of people around you with a wide range of skills. Bringing in people with different talents to your own enables you to benefit from each other, boosting your productivity and enabling you to grow at a much quicker rate. Also, in order to get your company up and running, there is nothing more important that selling yourself to as many businesses as possible. Once you have generated a client base, it is crucial you retain it while striving to bring in even more.
Do you think education or experience are more important in business?
My advice to someone starting out in business would be to just take the bull by the horns and go for it. Those who feel they aren’t academic shouldn’t get bogged down in qualifications and tests. I left school at 16 and went straight into a job as an office junior. One of my roles was to answer the telephone and, on discovering I was quite good at it, my employers decided I could have a go at telemarketing. I basically learnt on the job and have loved everything about telemarketing ever since. Having no formal training certainly hasn’t been a hindrance for me. If anything, I would say it has been a bonus as I am extremely passionate about what I do – a passion that comes from my heart as opposed to having been instilled in me through exams.
Which great entrepreneurs inspire and motivate you?
There are so many entrepreneurs, who inspire me, and have been important throughout my career. David Rebbetts, my first manager was a huge motivator, and seeing the way he operated inspired me to set up my own company. Also, Karan Bilimoria of Cobra beers sets a great example of how to be an entrepreneur, never becoming big headed with his huge success and always acting with an air of humility. When his company went into administration, the way he dealt with the situation was very impressive – Karan is definitely someone who sets a perfect example to young business minds.
Do you have a mentor/do you mentor anybody yourself? Do you think having a mentor is important in business?
I don’t have a specific mentor, instead I have a group of trusted people around me to offer counsel and support. I meet regularly with likeminded business people where we share views and opinions on issues and learn from each other.
I don’t mentor anyone individually but think it is very important to have a good relationship with your employees and I always make sure I have time to speak with the team, not only in the work place but socialising out of the office too. Offering this support to your staff creates a good, productive working environment that people will undoubtedly benefit from.
You are successful despite losing your sight, do you think there is enough support in the UK for entrepreneurs with disabilities? If not, what would you say needs to be done?
As an entrepreneur, whatever disability you have is irrelevant. If you have the drive and determination to set up your own business, the problems you face at the very beginning are the same whether you have a disability or not.
I understand you do a number of speaking engagements each month, do you feel talking about your experiences helps to develop you professionally?
Yes of course, taking to the stage at these sorts of engagements helps me to develop my own presentation skills. Also, I enjoy stretching myself at the Q+A sessions – these are very challenging as people can literally ask you anything and you have to be fully prepared.
Great Guns offers marketing to other businesses but how do you/have you marketed Great Guns?
We do a lot at Great Guns in order to market ourselves. We have really embraced the new digital age with a substantial presence on Twitter and LinkedIn, as well as a blog (http://greatgunsmarketing.wordpress.com/), which is very well read and updated each week. Not forgetting our roots we also make use of traditional techniques including PR and direct marketing in order to publicise our services fully.
What are your plans for Great Guns in the future?
We are looking to continue to grow the company even further, developing our services as much as we can. Ultimately, our clients are our business so we will continue to evolve Great Guns to ensure we are providing the best possible telecommunications and lead generation offering in the industry.
If you could go back in time, would you change anything about the way you’ve built Great Guns?
Yes there are plenty of things I would change. However, I do not regret any decisions I have made. We all learn from our mistakes and without these, the company wouldn’t be where it is now.
Do you still enjoy running a business, and what about it really gets you out of bed in the morning?
Of course. I still really enjoy running my business, particularly the different challenges that come my way every day. I love working with clients and all the Great Guns employees – it is these relationships which get me out of bed each morning.
Do you think the UK is an entrepreneur friendly society?
That’s a tough one – we’re not terrible but could certainly be a lot better. In the UK there are two things we are not happy with, success and failure. No one really likes to see anyone be successful and always questions his or her route to success. Likewise, failure is looked down upon, creating a society where people are afraid to do anything because they might not get it right first time.
What would you change about the business system in this country? (taxation, bureaucracy etc?)
The way the country is currently operating gives less and less power to the employer, as heavy legislation in the UK restricts you in many ways. The work ethic of the population also needs to be seriously addressed and we should use the recession as a springboard to inspire people to want to get out and make something of their lives.
