On Monday I went to the April OxFocus meeting at the Oxfordshire Science Park to listen to Stuart Miller, MD of ByBox talk about being an entrepreneur. (For photos see here)  

OxFocus is organised monthly by Oxfordshire Town Chamber Networks (OTCN), Charles Russell LLP and The Learning Ladder. They have great speakers each month and it also provides the audience with an opportunity to network – and have some great food!

Last year we started audio recording the speakers about what they planned to talk about before they spoke. The idea being that potential attendees could get a flavour of that they would hear. You can listen to the archive here and to Stuart here.

This year we are trying something a bit different. We will still pre-record the speakers but we plan also to record an interview with them after they have spoken. The idea being that people who were unable to attend can at least hear some of that was said. It is also an opportunity for us to do some interviews with members of the audience.

Stuarts was a really interesting speaker. This is a guy all of us in business can learn from. From failure 10 years ago to a £40m PA profitable company today – having seen off his competition along the way –  there are lessons there for everyone in business. Stuarts presentation style was very engaging – not least because he rewarded the audience with free bottles of wine and books for correct answers to his questions (Note to self: Do not sit at the back next time Stuart presents). Rather than a plod through the history of the company he choose to look at the Wine industry, Cycling and Jazz and draw lessons from them that he feels are the essence of his success. He did not gloss over how poor his timing and judgement was in launching the company in the US in 2000 and how desperately close to melt down it came as they had to retreat to the UK and cash support from friends and family to keep going. It is hard to do justice in writing to what Stuart manage to get across to the audience but here goes:

Wine – the industry is always willing to experiement whether it is blending different grapes to perfecting the screw cap. Challenge the status quo. Think outside the box. But be realistic in what you want to achieve – set challenging goals. 

Jazz – working within a framework do not be affraid to improvise. To accept individuals who are ‘left field’ but not in a egotistical way. Said a challenge to hire ‘change agents’ but rewards are great. To be a good boss you need to manage your ego. 

Cycling – its about pushing yourself and equipment to the limit and being able to call on reserves of energy and will power when it gets tough. Its about making minute changes to a set-up in search of that extra competitive edge and accepting it is lonely sometimes even when part of a team.

The fact that Stuart had a queue of people wanting to talk to him after the Q&A session (and was still there talking to people after 25 minutes so risking missing his plane) gives you an idea how well his presentation was received.

Note: Stuart has agreed to do an interview so I can capture in his own words what he presented and share that with a wider audience.  

At the meeting I managed to also catch up with Dave Beesley, MD of B-Line Office Supplies to talk about his involvement with Woa!Rhino. You can listen to my conversation with him here. Dave is now the proud keeper of 2 Rhinos in his offices. I think he can safely claim to be the only office supplies company in Oxfordshire in that position. Maybe even the UK.

I also met up with Anthony Lloyd, MD of Fallowfields Resturant and Hotel who co-incidentally was attending OxFocus for the first time and was only just getting back into business networking after almost a year of absence. I met Anthony a year or so ago at one of his regular ‘Tweet-Ups’ at Fallowfields so I knew he was interested in social media. But I never imagined what sort of ROI he was getting. In the interview here you can hear him say that Twitter has been the source of £100k+ business in the last 12 to 18 months. Looking at the maths Anthony has EARNED over £170 per hour he has invested in social media in the last 18 months. Not a bad ROI.

I also met up with David Hurst who (when he is not being Biggles – see photo above) has just set up a company ‘Fly To The Past’. After a number of years at Blenheim Palace this years event is taking place at Oxford Airport on Sunday 21st August 2011. It features historic fly-overs from early bi-planes, fighter planes of the world wars, as well as modern jets. There is also a collection of vintage aircraft, including Spitfires and Hurricanes, and historical aviation films on giant screens. ‘Theatre on the ground’ will include a vintage fashion show, re-enactors, famous look-alikes from the past and the Glen Miller Orchestra with dancers inviting the audience to join in.