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Don Clarke, and how he built up his businesses from scratch

Don Clarke came from a retail background, his parents ran a shop on the edge of town and they lived a village type existence. His parents were very industrious, working day and night but not making much of an income, and they lived over the shop.

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

His father regularly passed a small construction company and discussed his son's future with the Contracts Manager. This lead to Don gaining an apprenticeship. This man was one of the finest men Don ever knew in the whole of the construction industry, and they gelled. He treated Don as a son, but with strict discipline, and they respected each other.

Don 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 himself. This was excellent training and good discipline for his future businesses.

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

Eventually Don took the decision to take a chance and set up by himself in business, with 3 months work ahead of him.

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

The business began to improve and Don moved his workshop from the garage on the side of his house into a run down builders' yard in the city. He was able, over a period of years to create a works office and a car park, and took his business from a small turnover to orders worth £12 million a year.  Clients of his company included Wimpy International, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King,  Next Retail and Grand Metropolitan.

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

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

He asked one of his private clients why they used his company. They said:

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

To Don, this was like receiving a standing ovation.

Another client, answering the same question, said:

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

Don gave these clients his full attention day and night. Many became 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.

Don 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 they  were able to fit their shops quickly and easily. Don saw how quickly these companies made money and thought he could do the same. So he did. He set up fast food operations, ran them and sold them on for a profit.

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

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

As Don says in his book "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 his e-book

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