From Rat Catcher to Entrepreneur

Moving On and West

2011-03-27T05:45:00.000-07:00

Experiencing success from hard work, and suddenly being confronted with a business model that worked was almost too good to be true. However, it was true because I had achieved it through my own efforts. This, at the time unfortunately was short lived as success attracted the interest from the brewery and they could see what could be earned from it. On leaving the Borough Arms, Bodmin, I was left with feelings of anger, frustration and sadness that the business that I had built up was being ‘taken away’ and I was being offered ‘alternatives’. These alternatives were for establishments that did not have the same turnover / profit and would need a lot of effort and investment to address this. I was presented with a choice of 20 pubs across Cornwall, the truth was that most would never be able to reach the same earnings potential of the Borough due to many factors including location. Finally, an opportunity came up of having two pubs, One was the Daniell Arms, Truro, which had been a previous haunt and the Star Inn, St Erth. These establishments were very different, the Daniell being a city pub which had minimal seasonal fluctuation and the Star which was in the heart of the village of St Erth in West Cornwall which needed to rely on seasonal trade. Two years prior to this I had turned down the opportunity of a move to Penzance as I believed it was ‘too far west’. Here was I now moving to an establishment which was only 6 miles east of Penzance, what was going through my mind? Anyway May / June 1990 witnessed total upheaval with moving out of the Borough and into the two new ones. I decided to be based at St Erth and have live in managers at the Daniell with me visiting on a regular basis to provide support and guidance. However hard I tried I did have the lingering thoughts in the back of my mind of the successful business that had been left behind. Would the Daniell and the Star eclipse what had been so far achieved, only time and hard work would tell. As you live/work your way through life there will be times of pleasure and regret, these come hand in hand. What I do know is the importance of dealing with the here and now and making the most of shaping the future. If you would like to know more about what I do and how I help others to realise their opportunities in life, visit meetsimonhall.com.

Mehal Live Dec 10

2010-12-24T09:51:00.000-08:00

Success from Hard Work

2010-11-21T05:20:00.000-08:00

You don’t realise at the time how good things really are, not until they are gone. 1989 was to prove a mega year of success, it was hard work, but worth every minute.

At that time being a young enthusiastic publican, it appeared that everything I did just worked, it was if I was in control of a wealth tap which I could turn on and off at will. I wasn’t naive enough to realise the success had been built on a solid foundation of principals and standards which had jettisoned a pub which was doing an ‘OK’ trade, to one which was ‘the’ place to be.

Not only did the locals like it but the visitors too, what was also amazing was the amount of food that was produced from a small domestic kitchen. This was achieved because everyone worked together as a team, this was and still is one of my core principals, with team work so much more can be achieved. In turn this linked to my strong belief in sharing success, it wasn’t all about me, it was about everyone who contributed to that success.

Oddly, the licensed trade is one of those professions where a cost would have to be paid if you were ‘too successful’, this was something I was to find out.

Breweries can be quite greedy with a short sighted view on long lasting business. Under the agreement which was signed I was tied to the brewery for all beers, wines, spirits and soft drinks. This meant they could charge what they felt fit. The food was all mine, however if I was a manager, the brewery would keep this too.

Like I said, you don’t realise how good things really are, until they are gone. I do believe even though I was not aware of it at the time I did make the most of the good times.

If you would like to know more about what I do and how I help others to realise their opportunities in life, visit meetsimonhall.com.

Earning Money was never so easy

2010-10-10T09:29:00.000-07:00

Would you ever believe yourself saying ‘earning money was never so easy’? Well, that was true for me. The Borough Arms, Bodmin from the outside didn’t appear to be the sexiest of destinations but, it turned out to be a goldmine.

The date had been set as the 18th November 1988 to move to the Borough Arms as a joint tenant. It was all very exciting, a month before Christmas and full steam ahead. The Borough had a nice feel to it, it was a pub that had various extensions during its history and was located on the Bodmin Borough boundary, so it was nicely placed on the fringes of the town. Its locals were very friendly too. Due to its location, winter trade came mostly from Bodmin along with some outlying villages, so there was always someone propping up the bar.

In recent years leading up to my arrival the pub had received mixed fortunes with my predecessors unfortunately experiencing a marriage breakup. Being such a public lifestyle it is very difficult to hide. I genuinely felt sorry for the couple as not only they were about to pass over their business but break up at the same time. Pressures of the licensed trade in general make this an unfortunate regular occurrence.

However, this unfortunate circumstance was to present an opportunity as the pub needed a lift. So from day one, additional decor was added to make it more homely and a new menu to entice customers who may have gone elsewhere.

At that point at the tail end of 1988 which started in a different pub in a different county I didn’t realise how things were going to explode in the following year.

Looking back a lot of that success was based on some very basic rules, mainly being polite to the customer at all times, providing what they required and giving them value for money.

If you would like to know more about what I do and how I help others to realise their opportunities in life, visit meetsimonhall.com.

Cornwall Beckons, Another Business Opportunities

2010-09-26T07:50:00.000-07:00

As I sit here in my office reminiscing on my life, it’s hard to believe now that so much has been packed in over such a short space of time. When you are a child, time appears to drag. Certainly as we get older, time becomes so much more precious and the realisation of making the most of every day, every week, and every year. A little over twenty years ago a decision had to be made, either stay where I was working, doing very long hours for someone else or moving to the next level. It was time to move and with Cornwall beckoning another business opportunity was around the corner.

The Red House in Yeovil was a challenge but one I showed up for and learnt a lot about business and people in a short space of time. During that 12 months, news would occasionally trickle from Cornwall on what was happening, with the next opportunity appearing on the horizon. It came in the form of a pregnant lady!

Three years previously, I had trained under John and Kay Cook at the Eliot Arms, Tregadillett. Kay had fallen pregnant and was due to give birth, this would mean that Kay would not play such an active role.

You may think to yourself, how was this an opportunity? Well it was as it gave me the time to be on the ground as to new businesses coming on the market in Devon and Cornwall. Sometimes opportunities may not be obvious, but it is understanding that in time something that may seem quite innocuous can provide the vehicle to change your life right around, here it was.
During that time of working back at the Eliot Arms, John and I agreed to enter a business partnership with John for another pub. We didn’t have to wait too long either, after a couple of months the Borough Arms at Bodmin appeared on the horizon. From here on my career changed dramatically.

That is one thing about opportunities, listen to what your heart is saying, your head has an important role to play in this but don’t always thing the quick buck will provide the long term solution.

To find out more about what I do today and how I can help you build your own business visit, meetsimonhall.com.

A Different Challenge

2010-09-12T04:55:00.000-07:00

It was a wrench to move away from Cornwall but one that was felt at the time to be the right one and one which offered further development within the licensed trade.

After a short stint for training at the Catherine’ Inn, Bleadon near Weston Super Mare, next stop was to be The Red House Yeovil. For someone who lived most of their life within a 30 mile radius of Bodmin Cornwall, Yeovil felt like a foreign land, a new frontier.

The Red House offered a new challenge; it consisted of a large carvery restaurant, extended bar area, skittle alley and a large outside picnic/play area. Add into this a staff of at least 30; the Daniell Arms was a baby brother. Needless to say it was exciting and a real adrenaline rush..... and hard work.

Apart from all of the above a proportion of the local customers resented the change in management, which was the greatest challenge winning them over. Like many things in life, you buy from the person, not the product so it was about appealing to them and building a relationship that evening though a change had been made at the top, business continued as normal. This as you can guess did not happen overnight but over months and gradually one by one the customers were won over. It is fair to say that not all did stay some went onto pastures new.

From this experience and many since I quickly realised that you cannot please all the people all the time, but significantly, the customer actually buys you first and then what you are offering second.

If you would like to know more about what I do and how I help others to realise their opportunities in life, visit meetsimonhall.com.

Another Crossroads

2010-08-16T07:05:00.000-07:00

Being successful at first may not be obvious to the eye as you may be doing what you have always been doing but you are not only enjoying it but making money as well. This was very true in my case as a Publican. In the space of just over two years I along with my wife had built a good reputation within the Cornish licensed trade.
Hours were long, holidays rare but that was part of the sacrifice on the road to success. I had a clear focus on where I was going and my ambitions and being a pub manager was but a stepping stone.

With the changes in Truro, the Daniell Arms was coming up against stiffer competition with breweries spending barrel loads of money on redeveloping many of their premises. The majority of the Daniell’s patrons stayed loyal but as you can expect some customers would be curious to what was new.

A business decision had to be made on how to move forward. Was it worth sticking it out and wait for the honeymoon period to die down and hope customers would return or be pro active and look into moving to the next level. Without pondering the latter was ‘the’ option to take.

The licensed trade was incestuous and promotion was normally achieved through being successful at running pubs and not through being good at interviews. On speaking with a couple of contacts soon we were to be approached by not one but FIVE different organisations. Never before had I the choice on which to take and now I was spoilt. Each offer had it’s merits and time was taken over weighing up the options. Eventually it was decided to leave Cornwall behind and chance our arm ‘up country’ with a small pub/restaurant chain. That as you can guess is a story for another day.

What I had learnt from this was to listen to my heart and did it make sense to my head. Life’s decisions at times can be difficult, however believe in what you do and commit to it, then suddenly things don’t seem as difficult as they may first appear.

Hitting the Ceiling

2010-08-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

Time spent at the Daniell Arms, Truro from November 1985 – September 1987 was a fantastic learning experience and one I would not be change. The thrill of running a business (albeit not my own at that stage) set the adrenaline pumping along with the desire to improve and move onto the next level.

Over the first 12 months business continued to boom, each week takings were up and Truro being the only city in Cornwall it hardly fluctuated between summer and winter trade. In my mind every day was a competition to beat the previous days takings, I had/have that hunger to always improve on what had been previously achieved.

In the office at the Daniell which was part of the upstairs accommodation I kept a wall chart which plotted progress for the year. As I had now been at the Daniell for over 12 months I was starting to see a comparasion on my own trading figures and the progress made. Christmas was coming and I was expecting another busy one, the previous Christmas certainly had been busy with trade doubling on a normal week. As per the previous Christmas I stocked up and was ready for the busy season! Not only did I beat the figures from the previous year, they were smashed! In fact as it turned out the chart on the wall couldn’t show the turnover had risen so much. The graph went onto the wall and then onto the ceiling! It’s something I will never forget.

The reason I believe trade went as well as it did was not for the big things that I did at the Daniell Arms but more for the small everyday things. It was about being consistent, doing the same things day in, day out, not giving up on my goals, but keeping focused. Incidentally, I have never used graph paper again in the same way but used other forms to visualise my goals.

There are many ways you can focus on your success, for most it doesn’t come overnight. Usually it will take the form of hard work and not losing sight of the ‘why’.

Set Your Goals

2010-07-24T10:50:00.000-07:00

Are you a competitive person, do you set goals and how often do you achieve them? Goals have always been part of my life, I am competitive and have that desire to win but I like to play fair but hard. If you could see me, I’m certainly not built like an athlete but that has never been an obstacle, I just go for it!

Embarking on a new career seven months previously, and now I had the accolade of being the ‘youngest licensee in Cornwall’. Being the youngest never bothered me as I was the youngest of 3 boys so it was the norm. Thinking back to that time which is now a quarter of a century ago, I had a fighting spirit, a fear of nothing coupled with a raw naivety, it was a wonderful combination. The naivety may have gone but the fighting spirit and fear of nothing remains and burns just as strong today.

The Daniell Arms, Truro had a new licensee on 12th November 1985, and it was me. It was so exciting and I was so proud to be there, in fact I was on top of the world. Over 40 years previously my mother had been evacuated to Truro during the Second World War so it was a kind of familiar territory. The pub itself was a little bit up market, no spit and sawdust, carpeted throughout with nice furnishings and ambient lighting. There was something quite unique about the pub within the city, even before I arrived it was a bustling establishment, my goal was to make it even busier!

Two nights a week there was a local DJ Vince who came in and ran competitions, one in particular was very popular ‘The Paper Chase’. Each week Vince would bring up a batch of the previous editions of the local paper and run the competition on its content. This would end up with small teams of people spread throughout the pub tearing their way through the paper desperately looking for the answers to the questions. There were prizes but what it did it brought people into the pub on a midweek night, most of the other locals could not compete.

From this established base I worked on other ideas to make the pub unique. One of them was to buy old radios and site them throughout. This linked very nicely to the musical nature of the pub itself. Even the menu was changed to feature more snaky food to cater for the customer and each dish had a musical connotation. The Daniell was going from strength to strength, hard work and a steep learning curve but so much ground was covered.

My satisfaction was gained from watching and helping people to have a good time, that way they spent more money and the turnover kept going up. It all sounds so easy as I write about it now but it did take working long hard hours. Every week that passed I wanted to beat the takings of the previous week; I was never satisfied in sitting back and putting my feet up.

To succeed in life you do need to set your goals, without them you will never know how you really are doing. I remember a phrase I learnt a long time ago and it still rings true today. ‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail’.

Taking the Opportunity

2010-07-10T15:36:00.000-07:00

In those seven short months of coming into the licensed trade I had learnt so much and the bits I didn’t know I quickly found out about with my inquisitive mind. Whilst the knowledge on what was out there was growing, knowledge on our own existence was growing too, not just within the pub itself but the licensed trade net work.

John was now confident enough to go on holiday and leave me in charge. It is fair to say the staff he had were all well established so it wasn’t ‘that’ difficult. Never the less I felt very responsible in my temporary role and strived to do my best.

During this time I received a rather strange phone call. It came I’m sure towards the end of a busy lunchtime session with the person on the other end asking to speak to John. When I explained that John was in fact on holiday they then said ‘well in fact I would like to speak to you’, this puzzled me. The content of that conversation was simple, word had got around that a ‘young management couple’ in Cornwall were making a name for themselves and the Brewery saw them as ‘ideal’ managers! It is fair to say, not only did this come as a shock but when looking round several pubs in Cornwall even though the aim was to have one of our own, it never dawned on me it would happen so quickly!

On John’s return from holiday I spoke with him at the appropriate moment, he was a little angry as someone was going to benefit from his labours but at the same time was pleased that we had an opportunity to make it on our own.

Shortly afterwards, we were to make a trip heading west to Truro where the Daniell Arms was going to be the next chapter in a very successful licensed career.

Thinking back on this, which happened twenty-five years ago, I was so excited to be given the chance and no one was going to stop me taking the opportunity.

A Way of Life Not Just A Job

2010-06-27T03:08:00.000-07:00

Seven months now seems to pass by at a blink of an eye, however back in 1985 it appeared to be a very long time. With John and Kay (primarily John) as my mentors there was so much to learn and get to grips with in a new career. As I was finding out it wasn’t just a job but a ‘way of life’.

John took his ‘way of life’ very seriously and was constantly looking at ways to improve, always had his finger on the pulse with the market competition and maintained high standards at all times. This last point in particular has stood me well in my life realising that you can please some of the people some of the time but not all the people all the time. John always used to say ‘the customer is always rights..... except when it comes to money!’ Both John and Kay were a wealth of information, but from my side it was understanding how to access that and utilise it to my advantage.

Unlike most publicans, I had two days off a week (never had that with my own business) and would generally go back to my parents home and spend time there. From my perspective I thought that was all I needed to do as I was working 5 days per week (including weekends), long hours but I thought it was my right to ‘switch off’ from this new career, I was wrong.

One week after returning from two days off John was not in the best of moods (his moods did tend to vary anyway), I really wasn’t sure why. A few days later I remember him exploding with rage on how I didn’t seem to really care about this new career. He was clearly angry and accused me of not committing, this really did catch me on the hop, in fact I was quite hurt by his remarks because I thought I was working really hard and getting on with what was needed doing. However, the point that I was missing was when it came to being ‘my own business’ the success and failure would be down to me and that would be where the buck would stop. Quite clearly I had missed the point that having your own business you never really switch off from it and need to be constantly on your guard and develop your ‘way of life’. After spending a few days of licking my wounds, I decided I would ‘show him’ that I ‘did’ care and prove to him (more importantly to myself) I did have what it takes.
The next two days off weren’t spend relaxing at my parents, instead they were focused on visiting as many pubs in 2 days and assessing the opposition, seeing what they were good and not so good at, compiling a mini report on each and returning back to John on the Tuesday evening with the findings. In fact 19 pubs were visited over that two day period and much was learnt in a very short space of time, the penny had dropped!

From that point onwards, I had learnt a lesson which I have stuck to ever since. If something means that much and you believe in it, then you need to put in the spade work to give it a real chance of sustaining and growing. In fact it was a ‘way of life’ and realisation that by putting something in to it you will get something out.

The Steep Learning Curve & My First Mentor

2010-06-13T01:20:00.000-07:00

In some ways as we all find out in life ‘getting a job’ can be the easy bit, the work really begins when you start it and I wasn’t anticipating the steep learning curve either.

Being young, I had little fear and the bigger picture of buying a house, having kids etc really didn’t come into it, I would have plenty of time to do that later. As I’ve said I fell into the licensed trade more by accident than plan, I had to give up my DJ career; watching my favourite football team on a regular basis and being within a stones throw of my immediate family. But hey, this is a brave new world and it was exciting, a challenge and certainly a step into the unknown.

Not too sure if it was an omen but my licensed career started on 1st April 1985, April Fool’s Day! I remember it well; it was a Monday, the week leading into Easter and quite different from being a pen pusher with the council. I was there to learn about cellar management, serving drinks, taking food orders, completing dray orders and of course seeing the dray in, yes a very different world.
Going back to the first day I distinctly remember my first morning serving in the bar, never pulled a pint before or really engaged with customers in the way I needed to, in fact my stomach was churning. Getting through that lunchtime session was an achievement. We had lunch with the licensees John & Kay Cook, John was about 10 years older than me and Kay about six years older. By that time John and Kay had been in the licensed trade for many years, in fact Kay was only 18 when she started, even younger than me. But with hard work, long hours and sticking to their principles they had carved out a very lucrative business and were perfect Mentors.

John (who has unfortunately passed on) was to say the least an odd character, he had many quirky ways but had a strong sense of doing things the right way and constantly reminded me about the ‘small things’ that really matter. He clearly lived, ate and breathed his life/profession, never settling for second best, always looking to improve and expecting his staff to follow in the same manner. Kay was a little different, much more approachable, the same strong principles but you knew where you were with Kay as opposed to John. These were great mentors and the wiser I have become the more I realise what a profound impact they have and still have on me to this very day.

John loved his cars, when I started working for them he had a Rolls Royce and a Scimitar and there was me with my Mark IV Ford Cortina. He also loved good food, good company and a decent bottle of wine.

In those early days I didn’t realise at first how much I needed to learn/take in and focus on to be successful. The learning curve was certainly steep but I had the ideal Mentors to guide me.

The Youngest Publican in Cornwall!

2010-05-22T14:15:00.001-07:00

I never knew at the time but I never thought looking for jobs for my future wife would end up by me being the youngest Publican in Cornwall.

My career, I thought was mapped out, Council worker by day DJ by night, not quite having the final push be becoming a DJ full time. However, my wife to be was living up country with her parents and every day I would scour the job pages of the local newspaper, circle in red any that I thought were any good, and then pop them in the post. One day I saw this advert for a couple to train as publicans, without thinking I circled it and sent it off. The reason I had done this was because of a brief conversation I had had with her of ‘how nice it would be to run a pub one day’, nothing more than that.

A few days later I was on the phone to my future wife when she said ‘we have an interview’, I was completely puzzled. I said ‘surely you mean you have an interview’ the response came back, ‘no us’! It was fair to say I was not happy, probably shocked; my ‘little world’ was just about to change.
The following weekend we were due to go for an interview, it was a dreary January day, I even had to miss my favourite football team play (at the time that seemed like a huge sacrifice). We arrived at a beautiful country pub just west of Launceston, Cornwall. The interview was nothing special but I thought at the time we did enough. At the end of the interview we were told that a decision would not be made for a week.

During that week the doubts crept in to the point I couldn’t wait any longer so instead of waiting for a phone call, I phoned. To my surprise we were offered the job! At a later date I found out that we were second favourites for the job, it just so happened the favourites had an accident the previous week which stopped them from accepting the job.

Apart from starting on a very successful 10 year period within the licensed trade, it was a real opportunity to develop skills within my own business and start to believe everything is possible. Within six months we were to manage our own pub and I was going to be the youngest Publican in Cornwall.

Standing At The Crossroads

2010-04-25T04:56:00.000-07:00

How can this ‘Ratcatcher To Entrepreneur’ evolve? From those humble beginnings of nearly seven years before, the hobby of being a DJ on the side, to a full blown job of 5 nights per week, plus a full time ‘day job’, how did I do it? In truth I felt I was ‘Standing At The Crossroads’ of my life having to make some long term decisions.
The skills and experience of DJing had given me access to some busy nightclubs in the city; have to say it was nice to see my name in ‘almost lights’. I loved entertaining and watching people enjoying themselves, it’s truly a wonderful experience.

Unfortunately me being the person who couldn’t ever say ‘no’ found myself in a position of taking on more and more work. My working day ran something like this; wake up at 6, go to work, start at 7, finish at 5, go home, leave home at 8 to go to the club, start at 9, finish at 1, go home, wake up at 6.... etc, etc. Sometimes I wouldn’t need to start at the club until 10, however in these cases it would run through until 2 in the morning, those were particularly punishing!

The strain of this was starting to show and it would be only a matter of time until something had to give. At around the same time I had also visited the local radio station and had a meeting with the Station Controller – David Bassett. To this day I can still remember him saying ‘your voice was too light in timbre and you should go and does some hospital radio work’. This never dampened my enthusiasm, it only galvanised it to keep moving forward.

At the same time I met a girl (whom I would eventually marry) at the club I worked. She was the ‘busty barmaid’ (her words not mine). Ironically, the first thing that attracted her to me was my voice! So that just goes to show what do Station Controllers know, lol.

With love in my life this was going to have an influence on my decisions and career path. At that time I simply did not have the self belief to pursue a life as a DJ, and to jettison my ‘day time’ job for good. You may call it indecision, that was just the way it was. At that time I did not know but it would pay a significant part in my next career move which was just around the corner.

I was standing at the crossroads of my life. Looking back on it now it all adds up to life experiences. Certainly, I ‘may’ have prolonged by DJing career by various means, but probably I instinctively knew I could do more with my life. Simply there are no wrong decisions, just different ones and it would be no good thinking of ‘what might have been’. It is more important to think of ‘what will be’.

Broadening My Horizons

2010-04-11T06:23:00.001-07:00

As the 1980’s kicked in my services became more in demand and not just under the guise of ‘Dr Hall’. I was now gaining bookings from a variety of sources and broadening my horizons. So by day I was a Technical Officer for the Trading Standards Department and by night something completely different, not quite a Klark Kent and I didn’t need a phone box to change in.

During this time I was also learning to drive, my confidence was sky high about passing first time and fully believed I would, however life as you know occasionally puts in things to trip you up and that I certainly did. In fact, it took 3 times! There were periods with this I thought I would never pass but constantly battled with myself and each time I failed I took it as a test and just brushed myself off and focused on the next test, I was determined!

On the day of the third examination (19th Feb 1981) I had a heavy cold and wasn’t feeling too good, I didn’t mind not being well and in a strange way it took the edge off me and I was really relaxed. The test itself flew by and with it a ‘pass’ certificate was winging its way to me.

From passing my test this made it so much easier to run my business, the next target was to buy a van to complete my independence. I was and am very fortunate in the way of having a brother whom wheels and deals in cars and managed to buy a Ford Transit at a knock down price of £255 (instead of £500). I was so proud of my first vehicle even though it regularly ‘locked’ in gear, was painted using coach paint and whilst it was drying a downpour reacted with the paintwork. To top it all when I was driving it and it rained water would pour in the drivers cab via the wheel arches, so the only way to stop getting wet feet would have been to have worn wellingtons. All this simply didn’t matter as it was mine, bought and paid for!

Looking back on those times reminds me that I still have the same determination and focus now and not to be put off by things that can sometimes get in the way. These qualities have helped in all of my business ventures. That’s how life is and drawing on that experience helps to broaden one’s horizon.

Being Resourceful In The New Business

2010-03-21T06:49:00.000-07:00

With my equipment and record collection I was ready to conquer the world. Word soon got around in the neighbourhood that I was available for bookings and I didn’t have to wait too long. Being resourceful in the new business was essential for it to grow.

1979 kicked off with 2 bookings in the first tow months, that may not seem a lot but if you think about it, it was twice as many as the whole of the previous year. Both bookings were for birthdays, one for a friend and one was mine.

These early discos I kept to a play list within reason, I’m a great believer in planning and organisation, without it, I’m lost. Both gigs were well received, probably about 30 people attended each of them and my confidence was increasing. At the end of each gig I also wrote up what had happened which helped for future discos.

Forgot to mention, I had also bought a mic so I did a bit of intro too. That bit was the one thing that probably worried me as I was looked upon as being a bit shy so I was pushing myself out of the comfort zone. However, after saying that I was getting a real buzz from doing it, you could say addicted.

It wasn’t long before the local church had caught wind of the budding DJ/Entrepreneur and I was approached to do regular discos in the church hall. This could hold about 200 people and at the time it was a BIG thing. A deal was brokered that the profits would be split 50/50, to me that was a lot of money, in today’s equivalent it would be about £250 each for a nights work.

I had reasonability for ticket distribution and general promotion. Bearing in mind I was in the VIth Form I had identified my ticket distribution system as people of similar age and mind throughout the schools in Plymouth. Fortunately I had some creative friends too. One in particular, Ken Leake who was inspirational at writing quite bizarre posters and adding some wonderful artwork. It had to be different because I was different, whilst many of my friends were planning social weekend’s pubbing and clubbing my focus was on planning the ‘next Freak Show’.

On top of Ken’s creative ability with the posters which were distributed throughout our network, he had also come up with a novel way of printing tickets. If we went to a ‘proper printer’ it would have cost an arm and a leg. Ken had managed to find some old floor lino which he carefully etched out the ‘Freak Show’ logos for the front of the ticket. It was all labour intensive and took hours, but the costs were minimal and meant we had ended up with a unique product which was recognisable.

All of these experiences drew on being resourceful in the new business and using the imagination, not only was is fun to do but I was learning how to run a business on a shoestring and create interest that would last for years in my new business.

Entrepreneur in Development

2010-03-07T09:57:00.000-08:00

From the meagre beginnings of that ‘first’ gig in the garage of August 1978, I’d spent the rest of the year plotting on how I could develop my project further. That first taste of doing something that had made a difference to others gave me hunger for more. To take my ideas on further I needed to expand, money may have been an issue, but I worked around it. If I was to have a more professional stance I needed a double deck, lights, etc!
The double deck was something that would have been financially out of my grasp, you would be talking about hundreds of pounds that would not have been feasible, so it got me thinking.... how I could get around this, I did. A school friend of mine, David Voden, who was a bit like a professor come hippy was delving into all sorts of things, some were not legal. It’s not a place I wanted to go but at the same time he did have something I wanted.
David had dabbled in playing the bass guitar also he had helped at various discos and I’m not sure how he came about it but he had a chassis for a double deck unit. It was very basic, not even painted but to me it was something I could do a lot with. I don’t think it even cost me any money it was just taking up space in David’s parents home and quite clearly for David the good idea it had once been was now just gathering dust and I was the perfect solution to get rid!
So, I now had a double deck chassis and only one deck. The deck I had used for my first gig had been removed from its original casing and was now in its rightful place as one half of the unit. Forgot to mention I’d given the chassis a generous coat of matt black paint, cut out some star stencils and sprayed them with silver aerosol, things were coming together.
The second deck I am unsure where it came from, may be from one of my friends who took pity on me and had some sort of bizarre interest in what I was doing, I’m not sure. It didn’t even match up to the other deck, but that didn’t matter, I’d got a double deck and was proud of it.
The next bits of the jigsaw were going to cost a bit of money, being the amplification. Being the ever resourceful I’d managed to buy a guitar amp and speaker, the other speaker I’d build from scraps of wood lying about (my Father was a carpenter and joiner) and for a grand sum of £8 purchased another speaker to fit. The money I had used to buy the guitar amp/speaker was borrowed from my parents and I had agreed through chores and money from birthday and Christmas to pay it back (which I did).
The last part of the jigsaw was the lighting, I shouldn’t say but the circuitry for this was gained from one of those road side flashing lights. I looked at it as a long term borrow. The light boxes once again were built by me, my brother also worked for an electronics company and managed to provide some switches and a relay which were fitted into the chassis so that I could operate everything from one place.
So I was ready to roll! Over that period my music collection had grown further, still most was bought through second hand shops or cheap out of chart records, hours were spent ferreting through literally thousands of records, but it was/is my passion. My focus was still on developing Dr Hall into a marketable product.
You see many people tend to put money as the obstacle of why they don’t do things. I would be the first to admit a little money always helps but, if you are resourceful enough, determined and single minded it doesn’t matter what people put in your way, you will find a way around it, just think out of the box.

The Birth of Doctor Hall

2010-02-28T03:38:00.000-08:00

Digging further and further into music my tastes and genres expanded. I was one of 3 brothers, both older, Christopher being 6 days short of ten years older and Stuart 8 ½ years my senior.
Like me, Christopher would buy alot of second hand music, mostly albums, these were predominantly purchased when he was a student in Bristol. When he moved back to Plymouth in the mid 70’s and I would go around his house and record a lot of his albums, these ranged from Moody Blues, Spooky Tooth, The Nice and various compilations. Listening to these my musical horizons broadened, I still loved the chart music but there was so much more to get into.
On the other hand my other brother Stuart also liked music but not in the same depth. However, what he did do was become a DJ for a short while. Stuart was the wheeler and dealer of the family, an Entrepreneurial type looking how he could make some money. Due to his mechanical apprenticeship most of this was based around doing up and buying and selling cars. Consiquently he now does this as a full time business and has had his business for over 20 years.
So you can start to see where my musical path had taken me, but having so much to listen to I had a deep desire to give other people the opportunity to share what I was experiencing. It wasn’t only that but I wanted to present it and make something to remember. You see I couldn’t just settle for inviting the odd friend around and play him a record, I wanted as many people as possible to have that experience.
5 years had gone by from the first time I walked into a record shop to buy my first records. It was 1978, my music collection was a mix of singles and albums, it was the summer and I was just about to have my first ‘official’ DJ booking. The venue was a garage (just remember where Google started), sadly I can see his face but for the life of me I cannot remember his name. What I do remember was he lived with his parents in a very large detached house located only a couple hundred yards from my terraced home. I think it was his birthday and his parents had agreed to letting him have a disco in their garage. All of my equipment (only one record deck) including my records were carried from my back door, up the lane and along the road to the venue.
That first night was nothing special, the disco lasted about 3 hours but from it I knew this was something I really wanted to do. It gave me the chance to interact with other human beings, develop my ideas and give people the opportunity to have a good time. The Entrepreneur in me was born!

Dr Hall Finds A True Love

2010-02-07T12:36:00.000-08:00

Amidst all that was going on in the life of Simon Hall with regard to school, exams etc other things were also taking shape. Earliest memories of music were Telstar by the Tornadoes, a number 1 in the year of my birth and She Love’s by The Beatles, a global number 1 in 63/64 depending on which side of the pond you were on.

Anyway music has been a key part of my life and has always seen it at a wonderful therapy not just for myself but to share with others, the memories it can evoke both happy and sad. Never the less the key stage for me in this wonderful music journey probably started on 18th February 1973, the day after my 11th birthday. It was then I went to the basement record shop of the Co-Op in Derry’s Cross Plymouth to purchase my first ‘two’ singles. I can even tell you how much they cost, 49p each!!. Can’t remember exactly by but I had decided to purchase ‘C’ Moon by (Paul McCartney) Wings and Sylvia by Focus. For those aficionados of music the latter particularly wasn’t something an 11 year old child may have purchased, but I did and both singles I played to death including the ‘B’ Sides; Hi, Hi, Hi – Wings and House of the King – Focus.

Music was well and truly pumping through my veins; I would always listen to the Top 30 on Radio 1 on a Sunday evening and also started to buy up large amounts of second hand singles predominantly from a second hand shop called Pieces of Eight in Frankfort Gate. The singles were old juke box records most of them being Glam Rock and all of them with without proper covers. Being resourceful (like any true Entrepreneur) I made covers using old cereal packets and polythene insides to stop them being scratched further. I treated those treasured possessions; the budding record collection meant everything.

I wanted to share my music too so that others could enjoy. To this day I still have all my singles, all neatly catalogued and of course in their own covers.

The whole thing about this, music can be a wonderful way in which to communicate with others, a commonality and that’s exactly what you need as an Entrepreneur, you are human like everyone else, liking human things. So it is so important to relay that to anyone you meet. Being human and particularly one who is prepared to share will invariably attrach other humans.

2010-02-04T00:20:00.001-08:00

Good Morning Internet Highway, here's something of a lighter note for the day http://bit.ly/ck5MZ2 a selection of jokes

2010-02-03T00:30:00.001-08:00

Hey! Great Day, Great World, Great Life! Live to the Full, like me :-)

2010-02-02T10:32:00.001-08:00

The three "C's"of leadership are Consideration,Caring,and Courtesy.Be polite to everyone.
Brian Tracy

2010-01-31T07:32:00.001-08:00

Lift, Lead and Love.
Spencer W. Kimball

Exams Were They That Important

2010-01-28T07:11:00.000-08:00

Working my way through Secondary school was actually quite enjoyable. Time didn't really have much of a meaning, looking forward to school holidays, generally getting on with everyone and lots and lots of exams.
Reaching the 5th year was when the majority of exams were taken, a week didn't seem to go by without revising or taking another test. It's fair to say I took it in my stride, I suppose I was conditioned to it, it was what was expected of me.
One thing I did know though and that was I wasn't ready for the world of work, simply I felt too young, too inexperienced. My intentions were to have more of the same and that was to stay on for the VIth form.
The GCE and CSE results were pretty good and left me with a fairly straight forward decision of what I was going to take. Maths, because I had an excellent teacher, very systematic, logical, focused and respected. For me all the top ingredients for a role model, he also became my form teacher for the two years, Mr 'Pancho' Pearson. Sorry, but to this very day I do not know what Pancho stood for, it was the nickname he had and who was I to argue with that. Metalwork and Physics were the other two options. Metalwork because I enjoyed the practical and 'precise' methods and Physics because it made 'practical' sense although I had always struggled with it.
VI form was a real enjoyment, lots of work both at school and later at home but I lapped it up. For me it wasn't easy but I was in with a great bunch of people.
Throughout those two years I worked away, but always struggled with Physics, from the 5th year I only achieved a CSE grade 2 which wasn't good enough to study the A Level. However, the school let me do it, but I would have to take the O Level so that I could continue. Each time I took the O Level (3 times in all over the 2 year period) I failed with a Grade D. The school must have felt pity on me and still let me take my A Level Physics exam.
In the interim period I was applying for apprenticeships and I gained a place in the dockyard as a Technician Apprentice subject to me gaining an O Level pass or higher in Physics. My life appeared to be mapped out, what could stop me, I was preparing myself for the 'sausage factory' of life but...... things didn't go to plan.
On the day of the A Level results I cycled to school, I had nightmares about my results previous to this day, anyway they were nightmares and surely they couldn't come true... could they?? On looking at my results slip reality kicked in hard, very hard. I'd passed my Maths, just, only an O Level pass at Metalwork (I had spent 3 hours in an exam answering a question that when I finished I re read and realised I'd got it wrong) and worse to come FAILED Physics. From that moment I world as I knew it had imploded, no job in the dockyard, no sausage factory of life.
I was frantically looking around for excuses, my Physics teacher was to blame, he was crap, he couldn't teach, I had no chance with him. This result was being treated as someone else's buck to bear.... but in fact it was mine.
You see, I could have done something about it, I could have put into action things that would of given me a better chance of passing my Physics. I should have taken a leaf out of one of my friends books who arranged additional tuition with another teacher, he passed.
It wasn't until years later I accepted the responsibility of the buck stopping with me and me doing something about it.
So, the lesson to be learnt is be prepared to make change, don't blame someone else for your misfortune, take control and let the buck stop with you.
A year later I did pass my O Level Physics, even though it was too late for the dockyard, it wasn't too late for me.

2010-01-28T07:07:00.001-08:00

Leadership is getting someone to do what they don't want to do, to achieve what they want to achieve.
Toma Landry

2010-01-27T00:37:00.001-08:00

The real leader has no need to lead--
he is content to point the way.
Henry Miller

2010-01-25T02:31:00.001-08:00

Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it.
Marian Anderson

2010-01-19T02:18:00.000-08:00

Moving from Secondary Modern to 'Technical Secondary' was in the mind of a 13 year old 'going somewhere'. At that time 6 other friends from the same school made the break and here we were in a different environment, a school half the size of the previous and ......... no girls! By this time I certainly had at least a passing interest in opposite sex and all the mysteries that went with it.
So I was put into 3T, haven't a clue what the T stood for but 3 obviously was the 3rd year. At this school there was a 6th Form too for those who may have either thought their learning had not finished or in the case of me for those not ready for the world of work (didn't feel old enough).
From a school perspective this was a grand place, not in structure or design but one of belonging, one which you felt part of, you could say an 'actual community'. Fond memories flood back on this time, particularly of certain teachers. At the daily assembly Mr 'George' Hurst the Deputy Head would invariably remind us that to be attending the school we had to be 'above average intelligence', of you course you believed it and I'm sure it has guided my career path with it etched on the brain.
I certainly was not top of the class but what I did learn was that if I listened to what I was taught and put those teachings into practice I would succeed and this is what I still believe to this very day. Without listening first and understanding what you have learnt it will never be of use to
you.

Going to the Big School

2010-01-11T04:08:00.000-08:00

Junior school was soon behind me, even though I had friends, generally I was the 'quiet one'. Tests and things were not so complicated back then, it was simply the 11+, you either passed or failed..... I failed. This led on to going to a 'Secondary Modern' school. At the time it seemed very large and impersonal. I was in a class of about 30 which included another 5 classess of the same number, so (I thought) quite a few. My achievements there weren't particularly spectacular, like most others my interest in girls was starting to evolve. Also because I was in the 'top' stream I was put forward (there was about 8 of us) to do the 13+. This was like a 'second chance' exam to move onto another school and get a potentially better education.
Now learning from my experience two years previous I decided to 'focus' on what I was doing and bought a practice book for the exam, I think it was one of those verbal reasoning tests. Simply I practiced and practiced and on the day of the exam itself I found the test an absolute doddle, but I then heard nothing for weeks or was it months, just nothing.
One day out of the blue I was summoned to the Head Masters room, couldn't understand why as I had done nothing wrong. On arrival I found out that I had passed and would be changing schools in the summer.
Here is an example where I was given an opportunity and made the most of it, I grabbed the second chance with both hands. It's like life really make the most of what you have, use your time wisely.

Where did it all begin

2010-01-07T04:12:00.001-08:00

Well.... where do I begin, how can this small boy (aged 10 in the second row far right) become an Internet Entrepreneur? It's fair to say that I have always had an individual streak in me, always wishing to be different and not comfortable in being part of the crowd.

Posing for that photograph seems a lifetime away, in fact the wall behind is the very same wall which Trudy Thompson pushed me against which cut my head open. Yes and the same wall I sat beside when I learned about the 'birds and the bees' (don't ask how old I was because I can't remember. But I knew back then I wanted to do something with my life but was never really sure, in fact it took almost 30 years to discover what I do now and to understand the importanace of time and making the most of every day. There's alot to tell in my story and I'm not going to finish it today but keep reading to find out how my mind ticks and how I can help you.