It seems like it was only 2 minutes ago that I was starting my new venture, Volta Compliance, on a shoestring. Back then that shoestring was valued at £700 and it broke down like this: I had £500 to spend on a van which emulated in the form of a white Astra van bought 2nd hand on eBay and just £200 cash reserves.
It was just me on my own with one job to do. It was a large project and, the sacrifice I had to make was to leave my family for one month and work 10-12 hour days every day, including weekends. I missed them so much but, I had to do this for our future.
The result was a successfully completed project, finished on time to extremely high standards and a 5-year contract to maintain the electrical installations and manage the electrical compliance.
After that job the van blew up, the engine was not repairable however, the sacrifice enabled me to spend £5000 on a very nice looking VW Caddy. It was like driving a Bentley after the old Astra van.
I've always been ambitious and I met with Sophie Conboy from Connect Yorkshire who enrolled me. This was a turning point for me, meeting with other business owners and the EIR’s helped me to focus on my goals and my future and learning from the group is invaluable.
I also have a close group of friends we meet up with every week or so. We named ourselves the “Wolfpack” after Jordan Belfort, probably not the best role model. The group consists of Andrew Mason, Stephen Dobson and Gez Walsh, all business owners working for high growth companies including Pharmacy2u, Pentest People and Innergy. I think it is really important to have peers that challenge you and these guys do so a big shout out to you all!!!
What we have achieved in the last 5 years especially with all the challenges of recent is amazing. I’m so proud of the team and the support that they have given me because, without them, there wouldn’t be any confidence to grow.
All I can say is here’s to the next 5-years. Let's continue doing what we are doing. Focussing on the customer, our values and working as a team.
