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Who is Don Clarke, and How Did he Build Up Businesses from scratch?

I come from a retail background, my parents ran a shop on the edge of town and we lived a village type existence. My parents were very industrious, working day and night but not making much of an income, and we lived over the shop.

My friends had a much better standard of living, their families had cars, nice houses and I envied them. I reached my teens with a goal: to own a terraced house, a little car and to have £100 in the bank, which is more than my parents had.

My father regularly passed a small construction company and discussed my future with the Contracts Manager. This lead to me gaining an apprenticeship. This man was one of the finest men I have ever known in the whole of the construction industry, and we gelled. He treated me as a son, but with strict discipline, and we respected each other.

I also trained at night school for 7 years and was made assistant Contracts Manager at a very young age, working to schedules and giving instructions to trades people much older than me. This was excellent training and good discipline for my future businesses.

I married the girl of my dreams and we bought a run down property that took us a year to renovate before we could move in. I put all my skills to use and was able to incorporate good design and interesting features and this impressed the local villagers, who then asked me to design and fit their shops etc. I ended up working for my employer during the day, and working for myself evenings and weekends.

Eventually I took the decision to take a chance and set up by myself in business, with 3 months work ahead of me.

I made mistakes at first, and what should have been an instantly profitable business was slow to make money. I quickly realised I lacked managerial experience and that I needed to be tougher with clients who were not paying on time. I had to change, to become more business like and to take control.

The business began to improve and I moved my workshop from the garage on the side of my house into a run down builders' yard in the city. I was able, over a period of years to create a works office and a car park, and took the business from a small turnover to orders worth £12 million a year.

My success has come from my passion of putting things together, taking old buildings and turning them into something that sparkles and makes my clients money.

Our expertise attracted more customers, including major High Street chains, particularly in the catering / fast food area. We eventually became one of the leading contractors south of the Midlands, and also won contracts from fashion houses, banks and building societies.

I asked one of my private clients why they used us. The said:

"Don, when you do a design for us you put magic dust on our business, that's why we use you."

To me, this is like receiving a standing ovation.

Another client, answering the same question said

"Because there isn't anyone else who can do what you do".

I gave these clients my full attention day and night. Many have become close friends.

Being successful involves more than just money. We all need to feel we have achieved something, to make something happen, to leave our mark. At times it will be stressful, but your business should be about giving more when you don't really want to. Then you watch the rewards arrive - and they will.

I gathered lots of information from dealing with these organisations, information that few others would have access to. The repeat designs used by franchise companies meant that we were able to fit their shops quickly and easily. I saw how quickly these companies made money and thought I could do the same. So I did. I set up fast food operations, ran them and sold them on for a profit.

I then saw how fashions and trends were changing and the fast food outlets were moving towards coffee shops. I was called in by many owners whose shops I had fitted out for fast food operations. They wanted me to design coffee shops for them.

I could see how profitable it was, how the hours were more convenient to family life, and I decided to set up my own coffee shops. I built up a business that turned over £1/2 million a year.

Nowadays, we are very much influenced by the American coffee shops but I believe we are on the verge of a trend towards more stylish coffee shops. You can create the styles for the future.

If I had the information, when I started, that I am providing you with now, I would have saved months of trial and error and many thousands of pounds!

You have the chance to take advantage of all this information in my e-book

So if you want to realise your dream, to be your own boss, don't wait any longer. Buy my book and start planning your future!