'Blinded by self-belief': what it takes to run a start-up

While we often learn about start-ups once they’ve made their mark and earned all the trappings of success, the reality of establishing your own business is far from glamorous: leaving the security of a paid job, begging for investment, and working day and night for no money.

Robin Knox was working as a nightclub manager when he decided to start Urban Paintball Edinburgh in 2011.

“I was nervous to leave my job, but I was frustrated because I knew I was never going to get any autonomy and I really wanted to have a go at doing it for myself.”

With the aid of business partner and fiancée Debbie Milne, Robin worked seven days a week for three months to get his business off the ground. “The business became my life. I lived and breathed it. Luckily, I didn’t mind because I enjoy and care about what I do.”

When Urban Paintball Edinburgh prospered, it presented further challenges, which Robin used his business acumen to turn into opportunities. Wanting to advertise Urban Paintball on a billboard van, he realised it would cost as much to hire one as build one, so he established a second business to rent out ad vans – advanscotland.com – which quickly paid for itself.

And his third start-up evolved from a difficulty the paintball venture presented, as well. Realising he needed a proper till system to manage the business’ revenue; Robin looked into the cost of an electronic point of sale system and was stunned by the installation costs.

Instead of forking out, he teamed up with an ex-colleague from his nightclub days, Paul Walton. The pair set about creating their own app-based point of sale solution, for use on an iPad. Thus in 2012, Intelligent Point of Sale was born.

To kick off this tech start-up, Robin and Paul put their noses to the grindstone again. “We holed up in the kitchen, and all we did was work and eat.”

Robin noted it was fortunate his fiancée understood the rigours of the business world, “I have friends who don’t have this luxury. They struggle to get their other halves to understand why they might need to work late or on a weekend, or why holidays might need to be planned around the business and not the other way.”

Robin’s eye for a gap in the market, combined with his absolute dedication to his new business, yielded great results over time. “When we started, we just wanted the system to have enough subscribers to make Â£10,000 a month,” Robin said.

“We are now on Â£100,000 a month, have 70 staff, and we were acquired last year. If we had not been blinded by our own self-belief, and to be honest a little naïve, we wouldn’t have done it.”

Intelligent Point of Sale was acquired by Swedish tech giant iZettle for an undisclosed figure. And while some aspiring entrepreneurs may assume a major acquisition is the ultimate goal of a start-up, Robin disagreed.

“It was actually quite boring, it was days of paperwork. It’s all the milestones along the way that are exciting. Your first customer, your first sale, the small things that make the business what it is.”

Fellow entrepreneur Mark-Paul Buckingham had a very different starting point, but echoes Robin’s sentiments about the dedication required to grow a start-up.“The biggest commitment is time. At the start, you have very little funds, and you are not getting paid as much as you would if you were working a job,” Mark-Paul said.

He was studying for a PhD in Mechanical Engineering in 2001 when he founded his first business, Reactec, a vibration engineering company, after winning a university business plan competition. It was a steep learning curve, he said.

“We won the business case competition, and then I had to fill in the gaps. I attended a lot of courses and found out what I need in terms of business skills. Then I had to put it into practice,” he said.

“It’s tough, and I think some people are more inclined to do it than others. But if you are excited about what you are doing, you put all your energy into it.”

His fledgling company attracted angel investment, through the group Archangels, who provided invaluable guidance and business nous.

“It gave me access to business mentors, people you can sense check things with. People who have done it before and understand the pitfalls. You might still make a few mistakes, but you learn from them.

“You will come up against issues, but it’s all about dealing with them.”

Like Robin, Mark-Paul’s venture demonstrated that the ultimate goal of a start-up is not necessarily financial success or an acquisition, but the thrill of running a business itself. While Mark-Paul helped to grow Reactec to a Â£1.6m company, he didn’t take that success as a reason to step away from work – instead, he went on to create Xi Engineering Consultants, whilst still remaining a non executive director at Reactec.

He noted he loves the process itself, and that all the sacrifices and long hours are ultimately worth it: “There’s no question. It’s exciting, and it’s challenging, and that’s what makes it enjoyable every day.”

Robin agreed, “Is it worth it? God, yes! If you want to do it, do it. You only have one shot at life, so there’s no point having regrets.”

The Young Company Finance conference, in September, will offer a wealth of help and advice to people wanting to build their own business. Click here for more information

'Blinded by self-belief': what it takes to run a start-up

'Blinded by self-belief': what it takes to run a start-up