That’s the view of Theo Paphitis, chairman of high-street stationer Ryman and many people’s favourite TV dragon.
In the Dragons’ Den, Paphitis is blunt and clearly does not suffer fools. When interviewing him away from the television cameras, that no-nonsense approach is even more evident.
I wanted to discover what makes Paphitis tick and we’re barely a minute into the interview when he makes it clear that he’s driven by a relentless positivity, hence his opening quote. Of course, there’s also a ruthless side to him. Becoming as successful as Paphitis requires the kind of determination that does not let anything – including recession – get in your way. In other words, Paphitis’ bluntness should not be criticised, but rather celebrated.
It’s the “I WILL SUCCEED” attitude that marks out the best entrepreneurs and allows them to take advantage of any situation, any economic environment and any idea.
So rather than using the current economic downturn as an excuse to retrench and shelve new business ideas, Paphitis believes such conditions offer huge opportunities.
“In fact, now is a great time to start a business, because tough times build tough businesses,” he says. “If you can make it now, you will thrive when things get better. And, despite what some say, Britain is a great place to be. We’re a nation of entrepreneurs and it makes me proud to be among their ranks. There are an incredible 10,000 businesses starting up in Britain every single week. It shows what an excellent pool of entrepreneurial talent we have in this country.”
SUPPORTING SMEs
Paphitis is especially supportive of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). After all, he backs many of them through the Dragons’ Den.
“There are almost five million SMEs here and they represent a whacking 58 per cent of the private-sector workforce,” he says. “Without small businesses, Britain’s economy would go down the pan. They are pulling this country out of recession by providing jobs. By giving people work, they put money into households. That money goes into the wider economy and retailers like me are incredibly grateful to the small businesses up and down the nation. They are the engine room of the British economy.”
While Paphitis cannot heap enough praise on SMEs keeping the economic cogs turning, he’s not so complimentary about the banks or some stimulus policies. So what should the Government be doing to help SMEs? “There’s an election coming soon,” says Paphitis. “Whoever gets in must make sure that they recognise the importance of small businesses. One in five households rely on small business in this country. Their importance must not be underestimated.”
However, having got that off his chest, Paphitis does admit to being impressed with a Government-backed scheme offering SMEs interest-free loans.
“I’m backing the Carbon Trust’s brilliant £100 million loan scheme to help small businesses – the Big Business Refit. They are giving small companies loans of £3,000-£400,000 to replace old equipment with more energy-efficient gear. So if you need a new boiler, oven, lighting, heating or basically anything that uses power or causes wasted energy, the Carbon Trust will give you a loan to get it. They are determined to reduce the nation’s carbon footprint and, as a result, your business’s energy costs. It’s an excellent plan and what really excites me about it is that these loans are given with no guarantee required and, best of all, they’re interest free.
“It’s free money. I couldn’t believe it myself and asked ‘what’s the catch?’, but there isn’t one. This is a brilliant idea and I’m delighted to be backing the scheme.”
Of course, Paphitis is not just a television star. He would not have had the opportunity to enter the den unless he had built a hugely successful business career. So how is he being affected by the economic downturn?
“We saw this coming and we told our staff at Ryman that their jobs were secure,” says Paphitis. “They might not get pay rises, but there were no redundancies. And we told them, this is where we see the economy, this is where we see our budgets, so, I’m afraid, inflation is very low and pay rises are non-existent, but don’t worry about your job.
“In fact, we went a stage further. When we did our annual pay reviews we asked head-office and senior staff to volunteer pay cuts. We told them, if we hit our budgets, anybody who volunteers a pay cut will get it back and we will give you a retrospective pay rise.
“And I’m pleased to say that it looks like we are going to give people that money quite easily. I am so proud of the work everyone has done, because they have put their heads down and dealt with the difficulties in the economic climate. You can deal with these things, you just have to accept them, and you have to recognise them.”
Things may be all rosy for Paphitis these days, but that’s not always been the case. Like many who have built hugely successful businesses, he has faced tough times. What was his near-death business experience?
OUT OF WORK
“I did have a dark, very depressing, but enlightening and educational period in my life when I was out of work for a few months,” he says. “The business I was involved in got rid of me. It was all over, I didn’t see where the future was, which was not like me. After a bit of fishing, I found that that experience gave me the strength to go out there and do it for myself.
“But that was a long time ago and I was a young man. I think in business you have to take risks, but they have to be calculated ones. Do your homework properly to limit your chances of failure. Although sometimes things happen that are outside your control and businesses will fail. The important thing is to get up, get back on that bike and keep going.”
One question you just have to ask a dragon is what he or she considers the best investment. Paphitis mentions a few, but there appears to be a clear current favourite.
“Well, I used to say it was Imra Hakim and his iTeddy,” says Paphitis of their cuddly media and gaming teddy bear. “But, Magic Whiteboard is showing some unbelievable growth. It was a small business being operated out of a bedroom. Now it’s got a warehouse, it employs staff, is making profits and it’s handing out work to contractors for haulage, distribution and everything else. That’s what it’s all about.”
Magic Whiteboard was an obvious choice for Paphitis, the chairman of the nation’s leading high-street stationer.
The company, which offers a truly mobile solution to create a writing whiteboard anywhere, has expanded since appearing in the den in August 2008. It now manufactures unique portable rolls of blackboard, photo paper that can stick to anything, and even black-out roll to use on windows to create complete darkness.
So, the interview was coming to its natural end and I was preparing my killer question. There’s one person in his life that is mentioned over and over again in the den. Indeed, if Paphitis does not believe this individual would approve of a product, service or invention then it really does not stand a chance. But, we’ve never seen this person. Indeed, do they exist?
“So, Theo,” I ask. “Who is Mrs P? I’m not sure she even exists.”
Phew, he laughs rather than roars and goes on to provide me with a super exclusive. “The lovely Mrs P’s name is Debbie. She does have a name and she does exist, she was seen once,” he says. “My fellow dragon Peter Jones was spreading all sorts of nasty rumours about me, that Mrs P is a pure figment of my imagination, but he has actually met her now.”
So there you have it. Mrs P is a real person after all. And so is Paphitis, very real indeed. He’s a down-to-earth, straight-talking man, and we would not want him any other way.