I am here planning the next exciting stages of UKFast. Over the last few years I have been lucky enough to take advice from some extraordinary entrepreneurs. As a result I have helped catapult UKFast on to a very exciting stage in its development. We have grown year on year, not just in profits and turnover but in our resolve to make a difference.

By rubbing shoulders with people playing at a higher level than you, you most certainly develop at a faster rate.

We employ superstars. Are you in a position where you feel you have something extra special to offer?

You maybe like me 20 something years ago. No qualifications and no idea of which direction to go. On the other hand you may have every idea of your goals and direction. Either way, graduate or completely unqualified, seasoned professional, whatever your status, if you are a great person looking to do great things, I am waiting to hear from you.

If you are interested in meeting me and finding out what life and work balance is truly about, get in contact.

I can’t guarantee great weather. I can guarantee great food and great company, UKFast.

What are you waiting for? Destiny beckons……

Loz

Please contact Jayne Pitman and find out how to apply now on 0844 576 3999

UKFast
City Tower
Piccadilly Plaza
Manchester
M1 4BT

So what is wrong?

I am someone who enjoys a challenge and I spend time observing behaviour. So England’s performance and particularly the reaction of Wayne Rooney interested me immediately. I remember meeting Coleen Rooney and her dad and brother whilst on holiday in the Caribbean at Sandy Lane. I didn’t spend much time with them, but enough to understand their values and the sort of people they are. Clearly hardworking, proud working-class Brits (if there is such a thing anymore.) It would be safe to say therefore that Wayne Rooney is no different, and from watching him play on occasions for Manchester United his hardworking roots show through.

So why are so many people blaming Rooney and the team for the poor performance. It seems fair, after all they are the ones who are on the pitch. We in our millions however vocal cannot influence the game from our armchairs.

For Rooney to be that vocal about his performance and react so negatively to the fans, it shows he clearly has nowhere else to turn. Somewhere, someone is calling the shots and I assume that is the manager and he has not got the buy in from his players.

The negative attitude from the team demonstrates they do not agree with something pretty important with the current England set up. Be it the formation, selection, the banning of the wives. Somewhere behind the scenes there is a clear undercurrent undermining the manager.

So how do you combat this situation and get the team back gelling?

It is a very difficult one to fix, especially during a competition. Clive Woodward a man who knows what it is like to create a team that lifted the Rugby World Cup referred to certain individuals as “energy zappers.” He identified these energy zapping people and removed them from the team and eventually the squad. He got a great deal of resistance too from the rugby community who couldn’t understand why he kept out great players.

In my opinion the England manager is making some pretty basic mistakes of leadership and management. He has set his stall out, banning the wives, picking the team and creating the formation and it looks very much like he has not got the buy-in from his team members.

It is one thing to ban the wives, which incidentally is a good idea. However if you do not  sit husbands and wives around a table and explain what and why you are doing something, all you are going to do is create an army of influential people ganging up and undermining from the sidelines, and as they are not allowed on the sidelines they are probably on the phone ranting after and before every training session and game.

What Capello should have done was sit the wives and girlfriends down with the players, explain the importance of this once in a lifetime opportunity and got their agreement that 100% focus and commitment is required. He should have treated it as a military campaign almost as if they were off to war. He should have encouraged zero communication from friends and family throughout the tournament. Imagine the power of the players and the feeling of camaraderie amongst the team if he’d done this. All the players feeling and sharing the emotions together, not being able to rely on anyone else but themselves. Instead, he has created a nightmare for the players who are trying to keep their wives happy from 60 miles away. Not the sort of focus you want your players consummed with.

In this sort of environment he has a group of WAGS furious with the whole set up and hell bent on undermining it at every level.

On the pitch this was evident that the players made a public show that they do not agree with the current set up.

Whatever he does at this point is going to be scrutinised by the players. So the fact that he has now made a few odd selections and left out good friends and players who they can rely on, means that they start to question the whole set up. Throw in a formation that they dislike and hey presto, you have Friday night’s performance down to a tee.

So how do you fix it?

That is a really good question. Firstly the manager needs to listen. He has a difficult task ahead. He will have a lot of ideas thrown at him. Some good, some bad. He cannot agree with them all, yet change is necessary. If he wants to save face then he is finished and the boys will be on the next flight home. If he is big enough and he can sit down and have a sensible discussion and allow the team to contribute, he has a chance.

Whatever he decides, he needs to get the buy in of every player. Each player needs to understand their roles with in the team selection.

But to get them to “get onside” at this stage is particularly difficult as many managers have failed in the past. The main problem here is that the professional football player is overpaid and underworked. He has an entourage of yes men following him and his friends and family and they are treated not like celebrities, but more like Gods.

How do you manage someone with a massive ego, it’s not easy. So how do you manage a squad full of massive egos. Why anyone would want to be a football manager I don’t know!

His only hope is to remind them that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. This is England! The problem is he is NOT English and if he tries to wave flag it may be more like a red rag to a british bulldog.

Deep down, all the players want to do is make their friends and families and the millions of well wishers proud. They have one chance. I have just seen Gerrard on the TV talking about a team talk they are all about to go to and his statement to the camera reinforces what I say here. He mentioned that Anelka was sent home for speaking his mind, then paused before adding, well there may be a few of us on the way home then.

I have come across situations like this from time to time in business. It is easy to make a change in the hope that this will solve a bigger problem you may have, only to find out it compounds the issue. Sometimes I feel that I may listen too much. but at least if I have made a mistake, I know somewhere someone will speak up and set me straight.

It’s a balancing act, keeping your team happy and getting the results. The 2 are closely linked. Damage one and you damage the other. Get the spirit right and you can achieve anything. It is a quest that I strive for and continue to analyse. It is the ultimate puzzle. If you leave it, it stagnates and if you tinker too much you distract it. It requires care and attention and also great people on board. And it is the great people that invariably end up running the team. A good manager should not have to do anything, just observe. Sadly I am not there yet, but I am getting closer.

The event I was kindly invited along to started with a training session racing around the Velodrome. I was fortunate to get some one to one training with one of the Olympic team. I was keen to pay attention as I quickly learned that a break in concentration could prove disastrous. The bikes have no breaks and if you stopped peddling for any reason you were in danger of being catapulted across the track; which was incredibly steep on the corners.

Being in a room with the North West’s finest entrepreneurs is an interesting place. There is a huge amount of testosterone pumping around everyones veins and the bravado was evident amongst the friendly competitors. But once on the track, it was head down and down to business. It was clear why these business people at the top of their game. They all take competing very seriously in whatever they do.

It is also immediately evident that there is little or no difference between the winning attitude of the highly motivated business people and the Olympians and although we all got beaten, roll back the clock a few years and give us some proper training and I reckon there’d have been a few contenders in the room. My attitude was such that I thought OK, I am going to give these guys a run for their money. I was absolutely convinced that I could win. Of course I got battered, but at least my attitude shone through and it made me compete to my highest possible standard.

After a lovely dinner where we ate the food the cyclists eat on a daily basis, we were treated to what in my opinion was the best part of the night. Rebecca Romero and Sarah Storey sat down and were interviewed. They talked of the Olympic challenges and the drive that got them to the highest point in their sport. Rebecca is an interesting phenomena as she has achieved one of the rarities of Gold medals in different disciplines. She started in rowing and then transferred to cycling. With in 6 months she was hitting the speeds expected from the Olympic cyclists.

Sarah a para olympian has won medals in every games since 1992. She talked openly about her challenges. Having only one hand there were people throughout her life that treated her differently. What was lovely top see is just how that motivated her and drove her even harder. She explained how she was inspired at the age of 6 years old watching the Olympics on a tiny TV and saying, that that is what she wanted to do.

Goal setting! You can’t beat it, or her in this case.

During the questions and answers it was interesting to hear their reactions and opinions.

When asked;

Silver medal, winner or loser? Both firmly stated without even a second to think… ‘Loser!”

What do you think of skiing and snowboarding that are adapting some of  their races and styles to introduce bigger sponsorship?

Again both passionately said, “what is more exciting than 2 people competing head to head? The sport does not need to reinvent itself and we do not want any more money. We simply just want to compete.”

It was blindingly obvious that the attitude that these 2 Olympians have is identical to that of the entrepreneurs in the audience. The belief that you require to get to the top of your game is identical whatever you want to achieve. Although the goals maybe very different, the hard work that is involved in reaching the top of any industry requires stamina and determination. When the vast majority give up, there a few people who kick into another level. These are the natural born winners, although actually I don’t think they are born, more socially conditioned. Something in each of these successful business people and athletes lives inspired them to want to go to these extraordinary lengths.

So what are you going to be if you never grow up? That’s the million dollar question…. quite literally! Choose, take aim and go get it. And don’t stop no matter who tells you you cant do it. Normally if someone tells you something cant be done, it is usually from talking from experience, their own experience. Do not let other people’s limiting beliefs limit your own.

And most of all, no silver medals. Aim high and win.

I have a theory and I am in good company with some other wiser folk than me with this one too. The theory is this. In order to reach a great height in whatever you do, you have to set it in your sights as a target. You have to know where you are going. That sounds like common sense but so many people fail to grasp this one before they set out on their journey. You have to define the success you want or else you do not know when you have arrived at your destination. When I set a goal, I literally map out every single aspect of what I am wanting to achieve.

OK, so you have set your sights on something exciting, something that is now going to drive you forward. Well, welcome to the easy part, it might not feel like the easy part, but believe me it is. At this point in your journey you are under very little pressure, with maybe a few of the driving factors that got you off the couch in the first instance, a wife, the bailiffs, the annoying relative you wanted to prove wrong, a family you want to support. But essentially you are embarking on the exciting journey and everything is new and you are busy. And busy is key. Whilst you are occupied with very little time to sit back and over analyse you are far more likely to be successful.

I’d sooner work 7 days a week 18 hours a day and make lots of mistakes than take my time over something and dissect every decision. It’s the mistakes that make you a better person and businessman; if you learn from them.

So here you are flat out, obsessed with everything you are doing and so focused on the goal that you almost forget it. I think this is a healthy discipline. I am not someone who believes you have to have a photo of your goal and look at it every day. I revisit my goals just for an update 2 or 3 times a year. I am always amazed at how many I can tick off!

Then suddenly, at one of these points when you check up on your progress, you realise you have hit your goal that you had set years earlier. You are happy, still busy, still excited, but you have achieved something.

Firstly you deserve a pat on the back. The hardest part of this is that there are very few people who will understand what you have had to go through to reach the heights you are at and the sacrifices you have made. I am lucky, Gail my wife is my business partner and a best friend all rolled into one. When we set goals we also set rewards for whenever they are met. This way we are reminded forever by linking great memories to all the hard work and achievements. No one wants to remember the hardship and certainly you will be viewed as a real bore if you keep telling everyone how hard you work or all the problems you continually face.

It is at this stage where most people go wrong. How many times do you hear of someone who has made it, then lost it? Yet come back and done it again! It’s quite a common story. Once you have hit your goal and had your celebration you need to refocus. You have to sit down and set new targets that are equally as challenging as the very first one. Why? Because if you don’t, you will simply take your eye off the ball and start to relax, then fester.

In a lot of peoples cases, that celebration I mentioned, does not stop and it continues for years until people realise this is simply not a fulfilling lifestyle. So many successful people I know end up drinking, gambling or womanising or in some cases all three. They are simply looking for the buzz they used to get in work. My advice is get back to it, and pronto!

I am often told how successful I am and people very kindly congratulate me and say “well done, you really look like a person who deserves it.” I am always flattered and if I am honest slightly uncomfortable with a sense of embarrassment. The thing is, for me I am not the finished article. My success is relative. I have set my goals on much larger sights and this is not to be clever or outdo someone, it is simply because if I don’t, I am in danger of not taking my own advice and living by the values that I know are incredibly important. I have to keep developing. this way, however painful, is the only way I know. I am therefore a man on a continual journey where retirement equals death.

It is far easier for some people to have a lie in on a Sunday morning, but for me, if I am awake, I have to start the day and really give it my best shot. This morning I had a run around our lake in Wales, Llyn Cwellyn. It is beautiful and it is just a long enough distance to stretch me. In fact this morning it felt tough and I pushed myself slightly harder, knowing that it is good for me in the “long run” – pun intended. I’d also started the day with a drink of apple juice that seemed well past it’s sell by date! Leaving a warm bed and a snug cottage for the cold wind and hardship is not everyone’s cup of tea, but for me it is an essential part of my goals which I set years ago as a kid. Never to lose my youthful spirit and this requires me to keep youthful energy which means I have to remain a fit as a teenager. Now there’s a goal you can never settle back and congratulate yourself with, it is litterally and ongoing tread mill. but the rewards associated with being fit and healthy massively outweigh the negatives. In my book, I’d sooner be running in the rain with the wind in my hair, thinking about all the great things I have in my life. My wife, Gail, my children, my friends and family. It is a great time to say thank you. I am not sure who to, but yet I find myself always saying thank you. I take nothing for granted and I am busy reinventing myself.

I always admire Madonna. She is from my era, and yet she unlike most popstars, has been successful in every area of the pop industry. She continues to do it where others fail. It is safe to say, she keeps herself incredibly fit, which helps her to maintain a youthful spirit and I’d also bet money on the fact she sets incredibly challenging goals to reach. Who wants to maintain the Status Quo, God forbid you might end up like them!

So when you are setting your goals, and when you are on your journey, just remember to combine a bit of exercise and treat your body to some of the fresh air and fast pumping blood that it thrives on. In turn, your body will reward you with the stamina required for being super successful. And when you hit that goal, because I know you will, have the next set ready.

The body acts as a thermostat. It kicks itself into action when things get bad. Hence the saying “When the going gets tough.” But just like a thermostat. It also switches itself off from time to time to rest, and if you allow it, it is very difficult to get the momentum up and running again. Welcome to the race that never stops! If you want to discuss any of your ideas or challenges, drop me a mine. I am happy to help where I can.

Good luck on your journey.

Lawrence

But in real terms the journey started way before. And if Richard Branson has taught me anything, the brand experience is truly transferrable between Virgin businesses.

My first encounter of Virgin was Culture Cub. A great band in the 80’s. They wrote a song called Victims, which has truly the best piano introduction of any pop song.

I went on to approach Virgin Records years later with a demo after recording a song called “Whenever the Leaves Fall” on a load of old recording equipment once owned by John Lennon. It was in a tiny recording studio, not much bigger than this cockpit.

I spent months trying to talk myself into an appointment at the old Virgin headquarters on Ladbrook Grove and Harrow road, London.

It was there I learnt the art of instant relationship building and the importance of getting to know the gate keeper. I’d ring back in different accents, and the receptionist would say, “is that you again Lawrence?”

I never gave in and one day after hearing the receptionist ask a colleague “is Danny in?” after I asked to speak with the head of A&R, after getting knocked back again, I rang back 10 minutes later and confidently said, “hi there, is Danny in yet?”

I was promptly put through. This technique and confidence has stood me in great stead for many years since. On this occasion I was quickly brought down to earth with a bump after a lady answered the phone.

I said, “hi is Danny there?” “Danny speaking” the lady replied. I was taken aback as I was expecting a man!

In true Virgin style she was lovely and said on the basis that I had got this far, she agreed to see me.
I remember the meeting well, and she liked the track. The disadvantage I had was that I did not have a readily formed band. She was in the process of signing The Railway Children, ironically my next door neighbours in Salford! What is the likelihood of that?

In my opinion they signed the wrong act, and the Railway Children never left the platform. They spent their advance on MGB roadsters and were dropped after never cutting it.

I went on to get an offer from a chap called Brian St.James Carr, a well known solicitor involved with The Sex Pistols, PIL (Public Image Limited) and Andrew Lloyd Webber. He heard my songs and got me involved with a chap called Lawrence Roman an incredibly gifted classical musician who did all of Lloyd Webbers musical arrangements.

He did the clever stuff in my opinion and made Webber look amazing, however I was young and I thought I’d get loads of opportunities like this and I turned it down.

I then made a decision to make it on my own in business first and pursue my music later. I knew I would either be incredibly poor or incredibly rich but it was highly unlikely to be the latter on the basis of how the industry works.

I had also developed some friends who worked in the arts, and I quickly learned that I was not someone who coveted the limelight. I’d have thrived off a publishing deal, but being a star was not a motivator for me.

To be successful in anything you have to devote yourself to it fully. 20 years later, I am still devoted to the cause and although hugely successful in certain elements of our business I am only on the first few rungs of a very long ladder.

And the music? Well one day! That is if I ever calm down my love for developing people. When I met Gail, I sold my recording studio and focussed on developing UKFast.

Not a bad gamble as it turns out. Especially when you consider the odds that were against us.

If you use the Jim Collins 3 circles principal to identify should we have set up UKFast as a hosting business, I’d have quickly identified that this was a daft venture to embark on. However it does demonstrate that passion and determination can on occasions replace common sense and logic.

1. can we be the best at it?
   Well truly honestly at the time, no way. We were competing with multimillion pound corporations. That being said, we have won 6 years out of 10 the ISPA’s Best Hosting Provider accolade, so it is funny how things turn out
2. are we passionate about it?
   Absolutely. After trying to host our own domain name thegallery.com we had appalling trouble with a business called Newnet. Peter Coates (who recently sold his business for £3m) and his son Gary had huge potential, however they were techy people and appallingly arrogant. My wife just reading this laughed and asked if that was tetchy or techy? They were so bad that when we moved, we simply left our equipment with them as we couldn’t face dealing with them further.
3. is it financially viable?
   Well, if I’d known the difficulties ahead, I would not have ventured down this road. We were self-funded, which is a posh way of saying we had no money; so everything had to work immediately. We had to work so hard around the clock, if we made one error, we were dead in the water. That was the simple truth of the matter. Not something you want over your shoulder, yet that being said, you wont get a bigger driver! If I didn’t sell, we didn’t eat.

Times are very different now. I have 2 wonderful kids and a wife, who is still my business partner, with the added responsibility of a working mum. We have been very lucky. We still have no debt (which is a posh way of saying, now we have money in the business) and we have had numerous offers from competitors to buy UKFast including one for in excess of £50m.

But it is not the money that motivates us, it is the journey that we are on, and I simply love every day and I live for the challenge.
So why Necker? Well, when I was turned down by Danny Van Endon at Virgin, I set a goal. Right, I thought, I will get there myself. One day I will do business with Branson and Virgin in some capacity. I will become successful on my own.

A few years later, I hired a Grand Piano to the Virgin company for a new artist at a place called the Boardwalk in Manchester. I remember the Fax Header, with all of Richard Branson’s businesses and locations. It was incredibly inspiring. It had Necker as one of the destination boxes to tick. It was then that I decided, “I’d like to go there and one day meet the man behind the company.”

Last year whilst staying at The Lodge another property owned by Virgin, I said to Gail, we need to find out who hosts this business and get them as a client. It transpired they are already a customer, and have been a happy one for a number of years. We also host UKTV which is owned by NTL part of the Virgin Group.

And 15 years on from that Fax and that initial goal, here I find myself, mid air on the way to paradise.

view from the main house, Necker Island.

Lawrence Jones

I have been lucky enough to have met some incredibly successful individuals over the years, particularly in sport, business and music. These are 3 very different areas and you would think they all require very different needs to make the individuals rise to the top of their game.

In reality though, the answer is “not at all.” The people at the top of their game whatever their profession, share common values. This is evident in all successful people. You will hear experts on this matter talk about “passion, determination, motivation, self-belief.” Yes these are all common in high achievers, so they are the obvious ones to get picked up. They all might also eat 3 meals a day and this does not guarantee success. It is also easy to assume that the confidence a successful person has, once they have achieved greatness, was the same at the beginning of the journey, and this is not always the case either. So what is the secret common ingredient?

It is simple when you think about it. What is the most precious commodity known to mankind? The one thing in life that cant be cheated. Time. Successful people all understand the importance of time. By understanding the clock is ticking, just like in a race or a sporting event, every minute is a minute wasted when you are not working towards a greater goal.

Ironically, it is the one ingredient we also have in abundance, so much so, in my opinion this is why we take it for granted.

The only reason I started to become successful was after a near death experience. Once I experienced the possibility that death was just around the corner, I realised that life was to be lived. I made the slightest change in attitude towards time, and this made a massive difference to everything I touched from then on in.

The answer to every question is “do it now.” If someone had asked me before my accident “do you want to go to the gym?” or “do you fancy organising the house?” The answer would have probably been “maybe later” or “tomorrow.” Ask me the same thing now, and if I now say “tomorrow” it will be because I have genuinely crammed so much stuff into today or rather my wife has! My wife grasped this concept at the same time. When Gail arrived in France and found me in a hospital attached to 2 drips covered in wire and hooked to all sorts of contraptions, it was just as real for her on the other side of the fence.

So when you are doing your New Year’s resolutions. Scrap them all and just do one. Make a conscious decision to treat time as leverage to do more. Imagine what would happen if you crammed in a weeks worth of achievements in to a weekend. Pretty soon you will be doing a months worth in a week, and when you get super efficient, there are people who achieve more in a year than most people do in a lifetime. Think about it,  in today’s society, doesn’t that automatically make these people more successful.

So today, and what better day to make a change, New Year’s day; take 3 things that you have been putting off and just go and do them, now, with out hesitation. See how much better you will feel, then tomorrow, just do the same, and so on.

All these small achievements will amount to massive change a year from now. Try it. It is easier than you think. After all what have you got to loose? Only time will tell!

Time is the most underrated commodity in business and life in general. Have no regrets and live life to the full.

Happy New Year and have a great 2010.

Lawrence Jones

I always say, “well I’ll be leaving work at about 7pm this evening.” I hear this question 3 times a week.

I think it is important to know where you are going. Businesses need direction. I am a great believer in goals and raised a laugh at the How-Do convention recently when I admitted my wife and I have a “50 year plan.”

But why not? I work on the principal that you need to know where you are going. What is wrong with mapping out your life to when you are in your 90′s. You are far more likely to get to a desired location or destination if you have thought about it prior to setting out. One thing is for sure, I know we will be together as we are both integral to it.

What happens when you go shopping without a clear understanding of what you want to come home with. My wife’s wardrobe was littered with rubbish when I first met her. Shopping was haphazard and directionless and she probably felt this was part of the fun. Ask her now how much more fun shopping is, especially when she brings me along.

So when do you sell your business? You have to have made something worth selling first of all. This needs a plan in its own right. When we set up UKFast we were tiny. The smallest company in the fastest growing business environment and for years no one knew we existed.

But we had a plan, and we were sticking to it. And when the internet bubble burst and businesses were dropping out of the sky affected by the calamity we just carried on regardless. And still no one really knew who we were.

And over the years we have readdressed the plan, yet we still continue to stick to it. Even during the recession we felt it was more important to keep firmly on track than to falter.

And as the business got bigger so do our goals. Our latest 5 year plan includes a target and MAP to hit £100m turnover. Now as this plan unfolds people are begging to take note of us.

The problem with our initial plans were they were too small, and therefore so was the outcome. You get what you focus on so in my opinion you are better aiming higher. If you miss you still are probably better off than you would have been if you’d been conservative.

But on the journey of growing your business, when do you sell? UKFast is already worth far more than we anticipated in the first plan we wrote. So surely I’d be happy to sell?

For me it is not about the money.  It is about the game. I love work. I love people and I love competition. If I didn’t work at UKFast what would I do? I’d be bored sitting on a beach for more than 22 minutes. I don’t drink and I am consumed by learning.

For me, you sell when you stop learning or when you cannot learn at the speed you need to, to continue driving your business in a controlled fashion.  I am fortunate to work alongside my wife. When we have problems we are able to tackle them together.

We are on a weekend business trip and I am writing this, she is tackling a “too heavy for me” book on Balanced scorecard management, whilst we fly from Rome to Amsterdam for our next meeting.

If you have a business partner that is this close you are able to take on much more than if you do it alone.

What is most fun about UKFast is that we are having to learn at such a pace it is incredibly exciting. We take it so seriously that each year we review our goals together in the Maldives and have the final week of a 3 week break where we then strategise and plan for the future.

We have literally hit every goal we have set, and the crazy ones which take time all have a MAP (massive action plan) and we monitor their progress.

So when do you sell you business? In my opinion only when you are bored. But if you are bored, simply pick up a book and find another challenge. There is always something out there waiting to tax our hungry minds. After all isn’t that why we are in business in the first place?

The other actor was far less famous. Successful in his own right however on a much less grander scale. He was in a failure of a programme called Eldorado. A late night version of Crossroads. He was called Jude and he was a lovely guy, and he was dating my flat mate Caroline.

The argument was over “what constitutes a proper actor?” Ashley had touched on the subject of “how much you earn?” and tied that into your credibility as an actor, Also “how well known you were?” also cropped up too. Two things that immediately elevated him above Jude, as Ashley was being paid £7000 per week (a footballers salary in those days) to play the prince in Aladdin in Oxford.

Jude was quick to point out this recent role hardly made him Dustin Hofman. And so the argument continued. Although Ashley probably won the argument through pigheaded stubbornness and the fact that it is very difficult to discredit someone who is very successful and to Ash’s credit, he was, Jude definitely had the last laugh.

I also wonder what impact that discussion played on Jude’s future success as he was incredibly upset, passionate, determined to prove himself right that night. Yet sadly I never saw Jude again after he and Caroline stopped seeing each other later that year and Ash moved back to Adelaide and I am ashamed to say we never kept in contact.

A few years ago on a long-haul flight, I asked Gail what she was watching. I switched on my TV and joined her. I commented “that looks really like an old pal I used to know from yeas ago, Jude.”

She responded quickly saying “it’s Jude Law, He is one of the most famous up and coming actors in Hollywood.” I thought it cant be yet the more I watched I realised it was him. I remembered the argument in my flat all those years ago. I remembered what Jude had said.

“Mark my words, I may not be as successful as you yet, however I guarantee you, I will be the most famous British actor ever to break the US. I will live in Hollywood and if money gauges your success, then I promise you I will definitely be the biggest success.”

This was an emotional rant and left Ashley’s girlfriend who was sat on my piano singing and I cheering “go Jude!” as most people never confronted Ashley who was renowned for his headstrong tenacity.

I don’t know whether Jude Law wrote down his goals, I don’t know how much he actually planned his journey, however that night he was coherent and his determination did not sound spontaneous, quite the contrary, it sounded well thought out and everyone in that room that night believed him, so much so that when he went to bed we carried on the discussion about his passion and determination.

Earl Nightingale said “the most powerful thing in the world is a single thought.” It all starts with a thought and then develops. Although it has taken me more than 10 years to see the link between that passion and determination that night and the actual success in the flesh I cannot think for a moment that it is coincidence.  Jude Law is one in a million, the difference is that I have heard thousands of times people stating that they are going to do “such and such” but they lack the conviction, and without that belief a very different journey awaits.

The other girl in the room that night, Julia Worsley went on to be a very successful singer and one of Cameron Macintosh’s favourites making a real mark in the West End. She sang in Evita and became a friend of Madonna after getting the role as Madonna’s sister in the film Evita. Julia was a huge fan of Madonna and always said that she felt an affinity with her. It was later confirmed when Madonna faxed my house with a note for Jules arranging to hook up when she was coming to the UK.

Ashley failed to live up to his accelerated early start and shrank into insignificance in acting terms lost in Australia.

Musically I have not hit any of my goals I set in my early life, yet they are not forgotten and at some point I will rebuild my recording studio and reassemble some of my old friends for the next chapter. Meanwhile I have one focus and that is UKFast. It is as exciting as composing and conducting an orchestral overture and all consuming.

Is there more to goal setting than meets the eye?

What if goal setting was a scientific art form? What if you could literally pinpoint your every move in the future and design the outcome of every turn years before you arrive there, long after the memory of even setting the goal.

Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it. Yet my wife and I have built a business on this very principal.

I am in Amsterdam at present and yesterday went to Anne Franks house to visit a very important place preserved in our history. The one thing I came away with is the memory of something written on the wall.

“I have a goal, to be free from this place and to dance again and to breathe the air.”

This may appear to be an innocuous quote in amongst much more profound remarks, however it is the word goal that strikes me as interesting.

In a world long ago that I care not to even remember let alone imagine being a part of where countless millions did not survive, there is one child who defied the laws of everything that was controlling the world at that time in war torn Europe.

She had a goal and she wrote it down and she not only survived years of German occupation against all the odds she then went on to influence millions of people with her writing, long after she died. You might argue that her goal never worked, as she died in Bergen-Belsen in March 1945, less than 2 months before the end of the war. However she died of typhus and not at the hands of the Germans. She also lived an amazing life and for the short time on this planet her goal kept her determined and focussed on surviving, which she did for a great deal longer than most in her situation. Her father who is the most remarkable man who lived till the ripe old age of 91, it was he who was responsible for inspiring his daughter and family. He was the only one of the 8 to survive the holocaust.

My job here is not to convince you of goal setting though, I already believe in it and we have thousands of examples of it working literally to the letter.

A great example of this manifested itself this morning when Gail and I went through our goals we set on the 7^th January earlier this year. (2009) Gail brought my attention to a goal which was written simply:

“Weekend Amsterdam + Rome”
As we were sat in Amsterdam in the lobby of The Grand Hotel reading this we were able to tick this one off, however when we wrote this goal what we had really meant to write was a weekend away in either Rome or Amsterdam.

What is the likelihood of hitting an obscure goal like this, 2 cities in different countries thousands of miles apart, different climates. Not the sort of trip you’d plan deliberately.

Even though we had written this goal down 9 months earlier and had also forgotten it, a very strange thing had happened.

On the Saturday morning we were flying to Rome. I was not over-enamoured by the idea of a weekend queuing and site seeing, however I arrived in Rome with an open mind. We arrived at the hotel by the Spanish Steps, however there was some sort of rally on and the place was crowded to say the least. That night Gail and I decided to take the plane to a much more chilled destination Amsterdam after a lovely dinner marred only by the chanting of a distant crowd in the square adjacent to the hotel. The plane and pilots were still in Rome for the night, so Gail called the pilot and arranged to meet them on the runway the next morning. So we hitched a lift with them on their way back to the UK.

It worked perfectly, we escaped the chaos of Rome had a few relaxed days in Amsterdam, hit a goal in to the bargain, to the letter.

So as my wise old Gran used to say, “Be careful what you wish for!

Yet there are those amongst us who feel the need to talk about their goals. What they are going to achieve and what they nearly did. I am talking of the ones that you have a sneaking suspicion are “all talk.” Yet, they keep talking and that is all they seem to do.

And on the journey because of their gregarious nature and confidence they have a tendency to land great jobs and rise through the food chain. Yet they never take the plunge themselves.

I know a few people who fall into this category. I dont need to name them as my aim is not to embarrass them. It is something that intrigues me however.

One person in particular on the out side, has all the skills necessary to run a business, yet for some strange reason cannot take the plunge. Even when offered all the cash necessary to set up a business in a sector where they previously have a very successful record, this person chose the easy option. A slightly higher salary and share options (Fake shares as I call them!) over a slightly lower basic, true  50% ownership and zero cash investment from themselves.

Why does some one take what at first seems the easy path, yet it is a path they have trodden before only to find it leads to redundancy and ends in tears. Once the business is established you are a very expensive luxury and extremely expendable.

After selling my first business to Granada TV once I had integrated the 2 businesses and I had trained all the staff I was no longer needed. I was quickly squeezed out. It was a lesson that meant I could never work for another organisation again.

So why do they never take the plunge. Personally I believe it is because they are not true level 5 leaders. What is a level 5 leader? It is a person who shows the correct set of skills and characteristics to lead a business of any type through all seasons.

Yet a level 5 leader is not the sort of person that traditionally gets the job of the MD or other directorships in the UK and US. We seem to employ the loudest, most confident, best communicators, yet ironically these are never the best choice. Yet they rise to the top becasue they are more pushy than their fellow colleagues.

Often these sort of people want to take the credit for all the good that happens, yet when there is a problem, they are quick to point the finger and blame anyone but themselves. A level 5 leader is more likely to apportion luck to their success and be relatively shy when it comes to public speaking or taking the credit.

I suppose it is also about  what makes people tick. Their “significance” as Tony Robbins puts it. The person I am referring to in this article is very happy to have the lifestyle, the clothes, watches all the trappings of a senior director, yet does not want the responsibility or real control of the whole business.

So if you are put off by becoming a businessman or woman because you are not as confident as others, this is not a bad thing. In fact you are in good company.

A great friend of mine, Dan Innes has finally set up and gone it alone after a decade of growing someone else’s business in London. His new business Innesco is already super successful as he has a long client list of those strong relationships he has spent years developing. Dan merely needed the confidence to make that final push.

I gave up ranting and pushing him, knowing he needed to find his own feet in his own time. Last year at his wedding in Bath I said to my wife, “there you go, he will be self employed with in a year from now.”

A great man like Dan simply needed a great woman at his side. When you have someone you love to this extent, being in business suddenly becomes easier. You have someone to work for, someone to build a future for.

If you are not destined for the madness of entrepreneurship however, do not let this stress you out. I do not think any the less of my friend who prefers to work for other people than himself. Definitely not. When the businessman sits at home worrying about the bank, the tax or the detail, the managing director or senior manager is still able to switch off!

One thing I can say though, for Dan embarking on this new journey, “It is a lot like the day when you set off and rowed across the atlantic. You had a goal and a purpose. To that end, you achieved what you set out to achieve. The same applies in business. Set your goals out clearly and stick to them. Revisit them regularly, take nothing for granted. Have fun on your journey and good luck to you sir.”

If you are considering being in business and going it alone, take a pen and paper. Draw a line down the centre. On one side write down all the reasons why you want to be in business, and on the other the reasons why you have not done so yet.

If you find yourself procrastinating  and looking for reasons not to, seek help, but never give up. It’s easy.

It is a difficult answer and to define one event as anyone in business will know it is a fast paced journey of peaks and troughs and no 2 days are alike. The most difficult challenge I face and continue to face is the pace I am required to develop.

10 years ago the skill set I had to set up a small business was very different to the one I now have running a multimillion pound organisation. That in itself presents challenges year after year.

I know if I’d walked into a business the size of UKFast 10 years ago, I could not have managed it. Yet I dont feel I have changed that much. However it is very easy to under estimate the experience you gain from being on hand day to day.

If I take a snap shot of me a decade ago and me now, along with the aging process on the outside, the inside is very different too. Eight years ago I was interviewed on Granada News by Lucy Meacock. Last night at the National Business Awards in the Hilton Hotel in Manchester Lucy Meacock was the presenter. We had a chat afterwards and she remembered Gail and I, however she could not believe how much we had changed over the years. It made me think, she is right, I just assume I am the same person. I often describe myself as a man with “no qualifications” and this may be true, however I now have experience, and that is priceless.

Jim Collins describes “great businesses” in Good To Great as having leaders who grow from  within. It makes perfect sense now. Experience out ranks qualifications.

So why then do some businesses grow faster than others? Is it safe to say people are gaining experience at different speeds. I think the answer is obvious. This then explains why businesses evolve at  different speeds. It is relative to the amount of learning and experience the entrepreneurs with in the business encounter.

One of the responsibilities Gail and I have at UKFast is to continue to learn and every year we regroup. We go off to the Maldives for a 3 week holiday. 2 weeks of family fun and 1 week of intense preparation for the year ahead. We write huge lists which fill books and we review the lists from previous years. And we tick off our accomplishments and those we miss we carry forward. Imagine a graph that is steadily rising. This upward curve represents everything we do in our lives. It is easy to peak and trough in life, so we then draw a horizontal line at the highest point we are at at present. This line now becomes the platform for continued growth. Anything below this line is considered an area of dissatisfaction, there is only one way to grow.

So if that means, if I had done 6 hours a week of exercise in 2008 and if we consider being in good shape important to maintaining our growth, I would set a goal to increase that to 7 or 8 hours.

We apply this principal to everything we do.

To be truly successful you have to be disciplined. On that journey to achieve whatever you set out in the early days, you will be tempted to ease off, take your eye off the ball, but I have never met a successful person who was not incredibly disciplined.

Take Lucy Meacock for example. She was employed to present the awards at the ceremony last night. Her schedule of responsibilities from her employers that night would involve arriving early for a rehearsal, and being ready to perform between the hours of 8 and 10 o’clock. During those hours she is on show. She will be required to perform her duties at the highest level. For that she will have received her fee and her rider.

Yet she is the consummate professional. Once the show had finished she took the trouble for the next 2 hours to walk around the entire room greeting and thanking everyone for coming. This is a discipline which not only made her successful but keeps her at this elevated level.

I will give you an example of a fallen star. Do you remember Victoria Wood? The comedian. In a previous life before hosting dedicated servers I had a small business that Granada aquired from me called MDC (The Music Design Company). I organised events. I was lucky enough to win the contract for a charity fund raiser, Christies for Cancer. I chose the venue, The Palace Hotel, Manchester (a place I later got married in).

I wanted Steve Coogan ( a then rising star) however Angela Rodden the MD insisted we went for Victoria Wood. Between her and my PA I was out voted. What a big mistake. Steve Coogan was a mega star by the time the event happened. They both commanded the same fee. £17,000 for the hour.

I should have known when I saw Victoria Woods rider. Her list of particulars was ridiculous. I had put on events for mega pop stars with smaller requirements.

We provided everything to the letter. The flowers (a particular length) were ready in her dressing room, the particular alcohol, the flesh coloured microphone that she taped to her forehead, the Steinway grand piano and the spot light that resembled a bomber tracking light from World War II, we did everything. 

I went to her dressing room and introduced myself. My God, what a rude woman! I politely explained that Angela (who had chosen her) was a massive fan, and would it be possible for her to have a photograph with her at some point before the end of the evening. It was a flat “no” “you have employed me to do a stage show, and that is what I am here to do!” or words to that effect.

We got the last laugh though, when she was doing her stand up, the sound engineers tripped over a wire and switched off the spot light mid act, which was being operated by Jonathan Bowers who is now UKFast’s communication director.

But this sort of attitude explains why Victoria Wood is no-longer on our screens. It is a great lesson, whatever your profession, always be professional. I have a rule that I only do business with people I admire or have the greatest respect for. If somebody’s standards slip in any way, ethically or performance wise , I will not want to do business with them. I have been known to turf suppliers out if they have not stuck to an agreement, either verbal or written. If you agree something, stick to it. Honour it at all costs.

I had a supplier who  cost me a great deal of embarrassment and stress not so long ago. When I confronted their acting MD on the matter, I was told to read the terms and conditions. He said “I think you will find we are doing everything we are contracted to do.”

Two weeks ago, I wrote a cheque for almost £3,000,000. That supplier who has had a monopoly in Manchester on the service he supplied is about to find he has a very passionate competitor in his midst. At a time when they are planning expansion, they are about to loose their biggest customer and find out they have an exodus of existing clients who we already have undertakings with that they are coming on board with our new venture.

Lack of professionalism isn’t a one off. People who are unprofessional are consistently unprofessional, day in day out. And, if you want to be successful, in whatever profession, stay alert and learn from everything that goes on around you. Be disciplined and be a great person. Follow these simple practices and you cant go far wrong. 

I’ll see you at the top! Or on that great journey.

Lawrence Jones @ UKFast

It is a good ice breaker and for those of us assessing the candidates, it starts to give you a snap shot of what is to come.

A young lady stood up, and I don’t have her name to hand and she described her momentous achievement as creating a small shop on ebay and selling a variety of things.

When she sat down, I immediately asked, “so why are you here?” At first I think she might of felt that I was criticising her at least I hope she realises that I was singling her out because she was clearly different.

Out of the 40 to 50 soon to be leaving education, she truly had done something momentous. She has taken a small amount of cash, purchased something, found a route to market, built a shop however rudimentary and started marketing a business. This woman, because in my eyes, she is no longer a young lady she is a business woman.

Now that I write this blog, I realise that I need to follow up  her progress and make sure she is given encouragement. So often entrepreneurs are discouraged from school, university throughout careers. Usually by people who wanted to do things themselves yet, they never followed through.

If you fall in to any of these categories, it is never too late. My parents left their jobs in their 40′s and bought a run down hotel. Some in the family described it as a midlife crisis. Even I, the eternal optimist questioned their sanity of selling a beautiful family home and giving up great careers to become owners of a semi-dilapidated hotel.

20 years on, how wrong was I and what a hotel. They now have the hotels on either side and it sleeps 100 people. It has an awesome reputation and a massive returning customer base.

Ironically the kick that triggered my father was doing my first years accounts. After tax, it transpired I had earned more than my mother who had been teaching for 20 years.

Last year a young lady came to be interviewed for the job of PA. As soon as I read her psychometric test results, I knew that she would make an excellent personal assistant. However I also realised that  she had the perfect profile of a fledgling business person.

Her test also identified that she would benefit from traveling and it sensed that she was in a bit of a dilemma. I confronted her on this matter and sure enough she was torn between “going travelling” with her boyfriend and starting a job.

I suggested that she should be decisive and as her profile suggested a job working for someone else may just drive her bananas.She just needed a little motivation.

Last week I got a telephone call asking for an appointment to meet with her and her now fiancee. They were back from their holiday, and they had formed a solid business idea and they were putting a plan together. They wanted my advice. I was honoured to meet with her and excited to be a small part in giving her the confidence for her to choose the correct direction of her life.

After a a couple of hours, it turned out, she and her fiancee are about to become UKFast clients and it is looking likely that we will designing and hosting their software to run their new business idea.
If you have a dream, dont lie in bed and procrastinate, or talk about your venture to your pals for years and years. Get a pen and paper and start writing lists, start goal setting. Start organising what you need for your new future. And OK, if it fails, guess what, you pick yourself up, brush yourself down, remember the lessons of the failure and start again. You keep doing this until you get it right.

If a baby is struggling to learn how to walk, do we give up on the baby? Does the baby give up? Never! They keep standing up and falling down until they perfect the art.

Yet as adults this is drummed out of us. We become fearful of what our peers think. A great entrepreneur is born out of simply not caring what those around them think. This in my opinion is why so many dysfunctional kids succeed where clever folk fail. A dysfunctional child is reminded all through their life how much of a failure they are. So it becomes easier to go it alone than be reminded of this throughout a professional career.

My fathers favourite line which stuck with me was “son, you will not even be able to hold down a bin mans job” it was said so much I believed him. So when the time came I did not dare attempt to get a job. Instead I became self employed by default.

All the big entrepreneurs that I know tell a similar story.

Ignore teachers, parents and your peers. Get out and have a go! What is the worst that can happen. Especially whilst you are young and in a recession. In a climate like today’s there isn’t a more perfect time to cut your teeth.

Good luck!

Mid recession, with no clear understanding of how long is the tunnel or how dark it might get, I am drawn back to the hypnotic clouds.

There are some things in life you can’t predict or influence, “weather” you want to or not. But do these unpredictable elements stop you from going about your normal business or day to day lives. Of course not. Only in extreme cases, but even these are “blips” and they cannot halt progress.

I am reminded of Earl Nightingale and his anology of the ship. He describes the damage caused by a ship in a harbor cut loose without a captain, crew, charts or destination. He then describes the same vessel, but this time with a captain, a crew a destination and therefore a purpose. The vessel will reach it’s destination every time. It will seldom be on the exact course, the currents and wind will do their best to divert them. However their collective purpose is stronger than the outside elements.

Just like the plane overhead. It’s destination firmly programmed in to the captain’s head and the onboard computers. The elements are constantly changing, but the clear path is set.

I set a path a few years ago, and every day I tread closer towards my goal. Some days slower than others I might add, but I carry on unperturbed. One of my intentions was to continue learning in order to keep myself interested and able to manage our rapidly growing responsibilities. And even though I am forced to change my location as the rain starts to spit, my vision is not spoiled by the change of scenes.

Far from it in this case. One of my goals is to surround myself with successful people so I can learn from them. I think my wife took this too literally and booked us into a place called The Lodge. Sir Richard Branson’s private Ski Chalet in Verbier Switzerland.

Although Richard isn’t here this week it is a real eye opener to meet some of his team and to see how real everything he has created is. And to realise  just how achievable it is to set and follow similar goals.

So we take a couple of hours a day on the slopes carving our future strategies in our heads before cataloguing, discussing, arguing, debating our future in these sumptuous surroundings.

I realise  that not everyone can afford to take time out in such lavish style. However you do need to take time out! However you do it, it can be in a garden shed as long as you get uninterrupted time to yourself. The important thing is you have the time to reflect and think about where you have come from, what you have learned, and where you want to get to and what you might encounter on the journey ahead.

Planning and knowing your outcome in the reverse order are the two most important factors that separate the Bransons from the Brainless.

“So where do I go and how do I do it?”

Personally I always head for the mountains. At home in Wales, we have been lucky enough to find ourselves a house and lake in the Snowdonia National Park. It is a place where mobile phones aren’t banned, they simply wont work!

Before the Lakehouse , I’d put on a rucksack, pack it full of beer, squeeze in a tent and enough provisions and off I’d go. My first weekend away with Gail who is now my wife, was in a serious thunderstorm where we camped at the top lake on Snowdon.

It rained so hard that breakfast turned to soup and we had to pitch the tent on a steep slope to stop it from filling with water.

But I’d set myself a goal years earlier, I’d find the perfect partner when I was still poor and she would be resilient, determined and kind.

I got more than I bargained for. She indeed became my partner in every sense, wife and business. Yes she had all the traits, and my friends who know me would laugh saying, she needs to be resilient and determined to put up with me!

So what do I mean when I say I got more than I bargained for? Well, I’d set the goal to find Gail whilst I was still poor. A fundamental flaw in goal setting.

“You have to be careful what you wish for” my Gran always used to say. She must have been on a Tony Robbins course!

What I should have set was to simply find the perfect woman. As a result, I remained “poor” and unsuccessful until I met her.

This is not superstition. This is simple programming of your brain. Whatever you ask for you get, whatever you focus on you will feel. This is how seriously I take goal setting now.

To give you an example of a goal I set as a child, “one day I will have a house in the mountains by a lake.”  I also set a burning desire to have a home that was big enough for everyone in my family to enjoy.

Gail found the perfect place amazingly less than 2 miles from the summit of snowdon, with an estate that has a 250 acre lake and the properties combined are big enough to sleep 28 people.

Coincidence? No, I don’t think so. I remember not being able to afford the fee at the Snowdon car park, plus I have too many cases of other goals for this to be coincidence.

It is worth noting that every super successful entrepreneur that I know follows the same key principals. Be very descriptive about what it is you intend on achieving, be bold and don’t hold back.

So instead of trying to switch off from your business at the weekend, get in your car or on a plane. Get a note book and pen and take some time out to pat yourself on the back for all that you have achieved and focus on Stage II.

Your business journey consists of many rungs on a very tall ladder. You determine how high you go. You can get off at any time if you get vertigo like Nixon of MoneySuperMarket.com, or you can keep climbing new ladders. Or in Bransons case, when you run out of ladders to climb on this earth, go Galactic. All I can say in his wake, is “Go Branson!”

And to fellow aspiring entrepreneurs like myself, never stop learning, never stop pushing, and certainly never stop trying.

Nothing should distract you from the path you set and don’t be hypnotised by events surrounding the economy. Your purpose will outlive any economic downturn.

I blogged a few weeks back after Rob Williams from Dolphin Music  died on the mountains where we are now.It is humbling to be reminded that life is so short. So get up, stop procrastinating.

All you need is pen, paper and you have a purpose.

With rucksacks full of packed lunches, dog food for my two boxers (Indy and Lara) and plenty of water, we left the St.Kilda hotel, Llandudno in a convoy of cars after a full welsh breakfast. (Same as an English one funnily enough)

The were a few of the team nursing headaches from the night before and a couple still suffering from partying too hard at the awards ceremony on Thursday night where we won Best Business Host in the ISPA hosting awards in London.

So the weekend was part celebration, part team building, and with a few new additions to the team a great initiation to UKFast and the way interact. Every department was represented with almost 50% of the company involved.

So why do I think it is so important?

In a world where we set ourselves goals that are so far in the distance, it is important to have a series of smaller goals, to help you get in the habit of achieving them and get you used to succeeding. How many of us have said or heard the phrase, I want to retire by the time I’m ….? The problem with a goal like this is it is so far in the distance.

Part of the fun of goal setting is the achievement of hitting the target. Climbing Snowdon is a big enough achievement to make you feel good about yourself, yet it is also something you can achieve in a day, and also share with others.

If you have any doubt, try it. Take a day out and take a few friends or colleagues and go and share the experience. To hit the big goals you have to hit a series of smaller ones.

UKFast’s hosting team up Snowdon

In my opinion, a goal is not necessarily something you’ll hit every time. The purpose of the goal is to make you a better person during the challenge.