Publishing details
HARRIMAN HOUSE LTD
3A Penns Road
Petersfield
Hampshire
GU32 2EW
GREAT BRITAIN
Tel: +44 (0)1730 233870
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.harriman-house.com
First published in Great Britain in 2013
Copyright © Harriman House
The right of Martyn Dawes to be identified as the Author has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.
ISBN: 9780857193605
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book can be obtained from the British Library.
All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publisher. This book may not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, without the prior written consent of the Publisher.
Front cover design by e-digital
No responsibility for loss occasioned to any person or corporate body acting or refraining to act as a result of reading material in this book can be accepted by the Publisher, by the Author, or by the employer(s) of the Author.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank everyone who helped Coffee Nation on its way from the very early days through to the sale of the company in 2008 and beyond.
To our customer organisations – Welcome Break, ChevronTexaco, Tesco, Moto, Somerfield, Esso, Sainsbury & Malthurst Pace – thank you for choosing Coffee Nation and becoming our long-term partners.
To our suppliers – thank you for your unflinching support and loyalty over many years – I know we were demanding and a little difficult at times.
To the millions of loyal Coffee Nation customers across the UK – a huge thank you for trying our coffee and then coming back so many times. Thank you for telling us when we got it right and an even bigger thank you to those of you that told us when we got it wrong.
And finally, to our team, without whom my vision would have remained just that. It was through the combined enthusiasm, energy, talent, dedication, long hours and sheer determination of you all that we built something to be proud of. We shared many highs and a few lows along the way. Thank you to you all.
The early team (1997-1999):
Lou Saydrouten, Amani Standring, Helena Walbrook
The Coffee Nation team (2000-2008):
Aaron Potton, Andy Oliver, Annabelle Ward, Cath Everitt, Charlotte Taylor, Chris Miller, Chrissie Drewitt, Dan Aston, Darren Record, Delvene Bee, Dominic Taylor, Don Shirley, Emma Howard, Fran Ball, Gary Sawyers, Ieuan Andrews, James Repper, Kate Watts, Keith Waite, Kristofer Gibson, Mel Taylor, Sean Bowles, Nikki Starling, Peter Lynn, Paul Dempsey, Richard Evans, Roy Richards, Sami Williams, Sarah Kelly, Sarah Perry, Shane Moates, Simon Hawking, Stephen Hughes, Sue Stallwood, Tessa Johnson, Tim Cox, Toby Earl, Tom Stazicker
The Coffee Nation Board:
Derek Harris, Martin Harris, Scott Martin, Neil Wallace, Vivien Hale, Carl Jackson, Simon Vardigans
...and to my wife Trudi – who was my first inspiration, is my rock and partner, I will always love you.
About the author
Martyn Dawes is a successful entrepreneur. He founded his first business, MDA (Martyn Dawes Associates) in the recession of 1991. That business continues to trade successfully to this day under two brands, Coachmatch and Dawes Ryan Consulting..
His idea for Coffee Nation came from a combination of seeing how popular takeaway coffee was in convenience stores in New York and reading about the business model of a photocopier company. Four years later, after proving the concept, he raised £4m in development capital from a London-based private equity firm.
Coffee Nation grew fast and secured long-term contracts with major retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury, Esso, Moto, Welcome Break and Somerfield.
In 2008 the company was sold for £23m, returning investors four times their money and was finally sold to Whitbread/Costa in 2011 for almost £60m.
Martyn and Coffee Nation have won numerous awards, including:
Sunday Times/Virgin Atlantic Fast Track Awards 2006: Winner of the Innovation Award
Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2005, South Region, Consumer Products & Services
Coffee Nation featured in Real Business Hot 100 Index of the Top 100 Fastest Growing Privately Owned Companies in the UK, 2005 and 2006
Sunday Times/Virgin Atlantic Index of the Top 100 Fastest Growing Privately Owned Companies in the UK, December 2005, ranked no. 13
Sage Business Awards 2003, Best Business Leader (to 25 employees category)
Orange Small is Beautiful Award 2003; Best Demonstration of Entrepreneurial Passion
Introduction
When I started my business Coffee Nation in late 1996 I believed I had found a good opportunity. I also thought I knew something about business, as by then I had been running and growing my own consulting firm for almost five years. I set out a growth path in my business plan which I thought realistic.
I was soon to discover that this path was going to be a whole lot tougher than I had bargained for. My previous business experience counted for very little – the modest ambitions for growth I had set out meant that the entire venture was not worth the effort required and the idea that I thought so simple proved to be anything but.
I persevered but had to make drastic changes along the way. The business plan was soon out of the window and I was experimenting constantly with limited funds – and hence time – in which to find the answer. It was nothing like I expected and to be honest, for much of this period, it wasn’t a lot of fun either. I had to change and I learnt much about myself along the way.
For as long as I could hold on I was determined to never ever give up. It was truly at the eleventh hour – as I was thinking I would have to call it a day – that some light emerged at the end of the tunnel. From there events moved quickly and ten years later Coffee Nation had become a known and loved brand up and down the UK. By now that little business I started has probably served over 100m cups of coffee.
So why have I written this book? Many friends and colleagues with whom I shared the journey of building Coffee Nation encouraged me to tell the story. Contrary to what you might expect, it’s not intended to be an anyone can do it inspirational guide to starting your own business written by a successful entrepreneur. Although if my words do inspire you to start your own venture then that’s great.
What really encouraged me to write Wake Up and Sell the Coffee is the need to help more entrepreneurs not just start a business but to survive and grow. I noticed that so much of what is written and talked about relates to start-ups, not what comes later. The journey beyond survival and on towards growth gets little coverage.
Looking at the figures, out of almost 250,000 businesses that started in 1998 only roughly one-third survived to 2008. The odds are not great, but if you can start from the right place then your chances of success may be greater. Merely encouraging more start-ups is not enough. We need more of these businesses