Jamie Lloyd of JL Business Mobiles

Trailblazer sat down with a new-ish face on the North West's business scene Jamie Lloyd, owner of JL Business Mobiles. We talked, setting up your own business, making a choice between further education or entering the workforce, corporate social responsibility, grandmothers, and of course, magic wands!

Tell me about JL Business Mobiles.

The telecoms industry is booming, and the demand for controlled and secure connectivity is why. We offer companies bespoke business comms services and, right now, that has never been more important. The services we provide allow businesses; flexibility in the workplace while improving efficiency and productivity, a concern with the shift to remote working. We developed a full-service in-house portal that allows our clients complete control over spend, cybersecurity and how employees are using data. The pandemic has made the services we provide essential, and we had to evolve quickly to keep up with what looks to be a forever changed work landscape. Voice once reigned supreme now; it’s more about text, video and data. The corporate customer requires speed, quality, security and reliability, which is what JL Business Mobiles provides.

Walk us through a day in the life of Jamie Lloyd.

I’m early to rise, not so much because my business demands it but because my dogs Tifa and Yuna, whom I adore, do. My dogs are very special to me, they're both rescues, and I freely admit it pleases me to see them gadding about without a care in the world, particularly Tifa, who I rescued from kennels in Cyprus. She was stuck there for two years until she found her forever sofa in my living room. Every morning at 6.00 am, Yuna Tifa and I take a long walk. It’s peaceful at that time of the morning, making it the perfect setting for me to work on my daily to-do list. So, while Yuna and Tifa are playing fetch, I’m thinking about spend-trends, quotes I need to create as well as analysis reports I need to make. Once the to-do list is out of the way, you'll find me networking and developing new business. I genuinely believe any self-employed person should be networking at all times, wherever they are, whatever they are doing. I’m not obsessive, honest. 

Your first job was?

I became a salesman at 16, walking for hours on end, rat-a-tat-tatting on endless doors in miserable weather. Knocking on a person's front door and attempting to sell them something would throw most adults out of their comfort zone, never mind a teenager, but if you're good at it and I was, it builds confidence. You have to be comfortable with people and sales if you're going to be in business. It was a hard slog, but it stood me in good stead. I no longer knock on doors, but before I set up JLBM, I worked with select companies as a consultant and still do from time to time. I’m brought in to train or retrain sales teams that weren't performing at their best. I’d implement new strategies, provide new sales materials, mass or one-on-one training, make sure, if applicable, those that should be in the know were up to date with the latest social media techniques etc. Funny how one thing bleeds into another.

How do you define success?

That’s a tough one, as success is an individual thing. Depending on your circumstances, just getting out of bed or being able to leave your home and walk to the local amenities may be like climbing Everest. If that’s a climb someone conquers daily, in my book, they’ve achieved. I’m aware most cite money as the yardstick for success, but It’s not about that for me. Success for me is about stability, but more than that, happiness. You may well be a one-percenter, but if you’re sitting on your mega yacht desperately unhappy and surrounded by nothing but hangers-on, I can’t consider you a success.

There's an assumption successful businesspeople are cutthroat and would sell their grandmothers to close a deal. Are you ruthless in business? Also, how is your grandmother? 

Ha-ha, my grandmother is wonderful; she’s also a warrior. She beat cancer twice last year and, for now, remains unsold. Would I do anything to close a deal? Absolutely not! In business and my personal life, honesty, integrity, and ethics are paramount. I find management, employees and customers alike benefit from ethical practices. A businessperson without ideals or guiding principles may well build something, but it wouldn’t be long before it came tumbling down. 

What are your top tips for those thinking of starting up a business?

Firstly, networking. I’m aware some think it’s a practice that takes too much energy and time. However, in my opinion, a healthy professional network is a must. You’ve got to get out there, and you’ve got to be able to influence the people around you. You could create the best product there is, but if you can’t convey where your product or service fits into a consumers life, you will run into problems. Second, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'll hark back to honesty. You will find yourself in hot water if you overpromise so, be honest. Do not make the mistake of telling potential clients you can deliver something you can't. You won’t get away with that for long, and a reputation is a challenging thing to recover. Thirdly, do your research and focus. You hear of entrepreneurial types having ten fingers in ten pies, finger on the pulse, living at a frenetic pace and never needing to sleep, but what you forget is tycoon types have a team behind them. They’ve other eyes and ears to fall back on, so if you’re a standalone businessman like myself, I suggest you focus on one thing at a time.

What advice would you give to youngsters trying to choose between further education, working for the man, or setting up for themselves?

Without hesitation, I’d tell those youngsters to get a job or set up for themselves and to do so as soon as possible. I’d let them in on a secret that climbing the corporate ladder or starting a business of your own has little to do with how well you test in a chosen subject. The cache of having a degree, in my opinion, is long gone. Many aren't worth the paper they're written on, and we've all read puff pieces on Art History graduates slogging their guts out at McDonald's. Times have changed; people who come from nothing and pull themselves up by the bootstraps are celebrated and respected. Throughout my career, I've run across graduates fresh off-campus that have been placed in supervisory or management roles. I can tell you they hardly ever hit the ground running. Practical skills are what you need, not theory. Experience and on the job training is invaluable if you want to be your own boss sooner rather than later. 

How do you generate new ideas?

In all honesty, I look at what everybody else is doing and then do something completely different. I’m not in the business of throwing as much, you know what at the wall and seeing what sticks. I don’t think that’s productive. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot to learn from others, but what I see all too often is the out and out theft of others intellectual property. I’m often inspired, but my concepts are my own. There’s a difference between being inspired and copying. It’s a bugbear of mine that so many lift other peoples ideas and never give them credit.

Who or what inspires you?

I’ve to think about that. There are a number of people and things that inspire me in small ways every day. I’ve already mentioned my grandmother; she inspires me, and hot on her heels is Elon Musk. He’s hyper-intelligent and willing to buck the trend, and more often than not, he gets away with it. His ideas and innovations, PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX, have been and will be transformative societally. As he tells it, he had a hard childhood, an abusive father at home and relentless bullying at school. He was bookish and awkward as a child, but today he's a billionaire trying to make the world a better place; that’s inspiring.

The average self-made millionaire works 70 to 80 hours per week, and successful small business owners report working at least 60. Are you putting in these sorts of hours?

80 hours, not a chance. I did and do; think about work-life balance. I don’t subscribe to the, work your fingers to the bone, burn the candle at both ends, burn out and wonder where your personality disappeared to, method. I don’t have children or a wife to think about as yet. I work hard but always make time for friends, family, hobbies, passions. You’ll find a smile on my face when I’m surrounded by nature, hiking with my dogs. The golf course is my other go-to happy place, and it doesn’t hurt that I happen to bring in a lot of business via networking while attempting to lower my handicap. You do meet people for whom work is their entire life that seems an empty existence to me. I don’t want to fall into the trap countless business owners do of not treating myself well. 

 If you had a magic wand………

Sorry to interrupt George-Carter, but I will not be seen with a wand magic or otherwise!

Noted, if you had a magic lamp, what three things would you change?

Societal inequality! It bothers me that while we all publicly champion equality, people from particular socio-economic backgrounds still don’t have access to equal opportunity. Aside from that, homelessness and the way we care for our veterans are my biggest gripes. That’s personal for me, as my brother is an officer in the RAF. I will say that the British public is always willing to put their hands in their pockets and donate to charities that take care of veterans, but I'd like to see the government and local councils doing much more for them.

Speaking of charity, I know you’ve been doing some work behind the scenes for Claire House. How important do you think social responsibility in business is?

As soon as you're in a position to, you should start thinking about ways to give back to your local community. You don’t have to be a millionaire to support your community or a local charity. Large companies can afford to venture into humanitarian projects, and small companies can donate to their local food banks; it all counts. If you're lucky enough to have a successful business, you're obligated to pay it forward. My ties to Claire House came about because I sponsor Pro-Am tournaments held at Heswall Golf Club. I thought the funds raised at our last event should go to Claire House. It was a great day, and we managed to raise £700 for the hospice, which put a smile on my face. From there, I approached Heswall Golf Club and the PGA with the idea that we should bring Claire House on as a permanent charity partner. So in future, Claire House will benefit from funds raised at all amateur events held at Heswall.

Career-wise, what has been your most satisfying moment to date?

Without a doubt, it's setting up JL Business Mobiles and watching it flourish. When you finally leap and decide to create something of your own, the responsibility and financial risk you're about to take dawns on you. No sick pay, no time off, no guaranteed cheque at the end of the month. I doubted myself, and that's what kept me creating success and wealth for others rather than for myself. I will add that sitting here with you, being interviewed for Trailblazer, is gratifying. It’s a welcome experience that lets me know I was right to take the risk I did.

And finally, what’s your greatest fear?

I think all fears stem from the thought of losing something. I fear losing my friends, family, and of course, my business. I fear failure, but who doesn’t?