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The debate on whether a university education or general experience best prepares you for entrepreneurial success rages on. Mike Clare, founder of the successful beds chain Dreams will definitely side on the life experience side.
With a brother at Cambridge, a young Clare had something to prove – and prove himself he did. Two decades since opening his first shop in Uxbridge, Clare now boasts more than 150 stores across the UK with an annual turnover in excess of £160m and currently has his sights firmly set on the international franchise market.
“I was always coming up with little business ideas to make money,” says Clare. “While at college, I used to buy massive boxes of condoms and then sell them to the other students individually for twice the price. I’ve just always loved the excitement of trading.”
After leaving college at 18 with a business diploma, Clare started working for a furniture retailer in the beds department and gradually clawed his way up to managerial level. “If I’d landed a job in the carpet department I’d probably be the leading carpet retailer now,” he jokes.
At the age of 30, with a pregnant wife at home, Clare decided he’d had enough of being an employee. “I found a small store in Uxbridge that was in a terrible state, but the rent was cheap. I worked out I needed about £25,000 to start up. I had about £1,500 of my own cash, and sold my car to raise some more. I borrowed some on my credit card and told them it was for a kitchen refurbishment.”
He scraped together £10,000 and the bank matched it. “Once I raised the £20,000 I thought, ‘well the suppliers will just have to wait a bit for their money’. A lot of people don’t like the idea of starting a business in debt but sometimes you’ve just got to take that risk and work hard.”
Clare started up the Sofabed Company in 1985 and within two years he had a further three stores. After a while he decided to branch out from sofabeds. “We had a choice between selling sofas and selling beds. Beds took up less space so we could stock more. Also people aren’t as fussy about the look of a bed. They’re easier to sell – so that’s what we went with.” He changed the company name to Dreams, and hasn’t looked back since.
Clare describes the early nineties as Dreams’ most difficult time. “There was a bit of a recession and we did struggle but we got through it.” Developing a successful formula was the key, although Clare admits it wasn’t a strategic approach as such.
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