I think the answers been staring me in the face..

Now the problem is this............

I sell to retailers...

OOO scary I hear you cry.. well yes actually, its a problem thats frustrating me somewhat.. maybe I should define it some more..

I sell to classic retailers...

You know the type... the family with the shop... think Dad's army.. but well, not Corporal Jones... definitely not corporal Jones.. more Joe Walker, thats a little less insulting I think..

Imagine Dad's army meets the modern world, small shops built with tender loving care with proper service, no all encompassing sheds... no faceless organisation, no pile it high, sell it cheap mentality..

But wait...

At least I thought I did, thats who I was aiming at when I set out... but it seems this recession, this market even, has rid the world of little shops willing to sell proper sausages..

Where did they go?..


I mean... they can't have moved.. there has to be a reason for this mentality.. or is this this just the Tesco legacy?

I used to think they had hopped on the A19 down to Leeds, that the North East was an enigma.. but its becoming increasingly apparent, if you want middle market goods, Kings Cross is about where you will have to go to find a specialist..

So where did the middle market go? I mean why are there such extremes between cheap and expensive? People have argued that there just isn't a middle market in the UK anymore, but hang on..

If a VW Golf is the best selling car in the UK, there is a middle market!!


So why isn't there one in bathrooms? I'm sorry Mr Retailer, but things don't add up.. its time someone sorted this little issue out..


So what do I do... do I battle on through, persuading the whole of the UK industry.. one by one that there is such a magical middle market, or do I box clever and change the game..

Be different..

Well this is me, Will Ryles.. the man who has always done things the hard way.. so yes.. its time to change the game.. bathroom market, you can take your billions, hard fought lessons and rigid ways.. be gone.. I'm changing the rules..

If there is one thing thats been slowly punching me in the face over the past few months, its that..

The internet is the future...


But in no way does our current strategy address the internet.. so what do I do..others have tackled the internet.. and it seems there is one over whelming strategy to beat them all.. the shed..

Should I follow the crowd.. pile it high and sell it cheap online? In one word.. NO..

Aren't there already too many people doing that, hogging keywords and funding expensive adwords campaigns? Information is so easy to access online these days, surely there can only ever be one winner.. so why compete.. join them if you can.. they could bring a whole world of exposure to my products..

So what do I do?


Well it all started with a man called Chris Baxter.. we were sat in my office, not having coffee, but discussing the low caliber of HR managers out there.. quite a serious chat.. and he said one thing.. one brilliant thing that changed the game...

"Will, if everyone else has tried and failed, why are you ploughing the same furrow.. "

Now when I was 18 I had this idea.. what if a manufacturer built a website that sold its goods, but then gave part of the cash to the store that stocks its products locally.. brilliant right.. unless your business link.. who wanted me to cut out the stores that the customer had seen the products in!

Anyhow thanks to a little thing called two way trading our bank blew that one out of the water!

But that willingness to think outside the box was good...

So I actually have a reason to be 18 again!


So, imagine it.. I'm 18, young handsome, full head of hair, and possibly the sexiest thing to walk the planet.. what would I do if I wanted to build a brand online.. the complete opposite to everyone else!

Thus far I know my ideal of independent stores with free design facilities, credit options, good customer service and display opportunities is the way forward.. but how do you combine them with an internet that thus far sells just products..

Simple

By becoming the independents marketing arm, they shift from being in a position of power, to one of partnership.. so all we really need to do is inspire people, get their details and let everyone else do the rest..

Local stores make local sales, all via a massive online presence under the brand Dovcor.. we could even offer free designs, knowing that the stores will do this without us having to lift a finger!

Ok, its not that simple

But why not, as yet, no one has brought the old local shop sales ethos to the internet on a country wide scale.. so why can't we.. best of all.. its just marketing.. the stores do the rest..

Its like having a network of franchises.. without the hassle... ish..

Hard way or what..













and then this new fangled internet thing came along and now everyones running scarred...

Don't sell to them they cry... they'll undercut us!

I used to dream...

When I was a kid I always used to get in trouble for day dreaming..

You see I used to have an amazing ability to ignore completely what was going on in the present, switch off from the outside world and live out my ideal day in my head. As I grew up the dreams changed from being a secret agent, to effectively ruling the world but that spark of inspiration, that ability to dream always stayed with me.

Now I can't speak for anyone else that runs their own business, but I started out with very grand ideas indeed... most of these came from this very dream world itself. I wanted the big house, the big car.. the jet-set lifestyle.. all of which I had been thinking about since I was little.

But the thing is, once I started.. once I pulled the 17 hour shifts.. once I worked in a freezing cold warehouse with lads on just over minimum wage, and realised that effort is in no means correlated to reward, then it became apparent that these dreams were everyone else's.. forced upon me by society.. rather than who I was.. or what I would like to be.

It became pretty clear, that big house had no real benefit to me, other than to make me feel better than my neighbours.. that jet-set lifestyle would take me away from my family and that big car.. well.. whats wrong with the one I have?

You see I changed as a person in that first year, I grew up.. I left image behind me as my sole reason for wanting to be successful...

Its interesting that as a person, I don't care about image.. I have written in the past how important image is to everyone else.. yet to me.. its not the big issue it once was..

I think anyone who gets to know me will see this. I have friends who will buy a new car just because their flat mate did, but to me, I don't see the point in buying something just because its shiny!

This puts me in a very interesting position... you see as I don't care about my image.. I have the unique opportunity to build my image into what ever the company needs me to be, I can make Will Ryles into anyone I want, because I understand how other people think..

The best example I can give of this is Lady Gaga... I KNOW.. I can't quite believe I am referencing her.. BUT.. actually her image is very inspiring..

For years record labels controlled artists public image to get a desired reaction.. and then came along the Gaga to throw it all back in their faces...

But all these people out there that love her for being an individual have got it wrong.. shes not anti-image.. she is all about image! 

Every outfit she wears, everything she does is even more fake than that Britney Spears stuff we were all used to.. Gaga is a prime example of a record label using image to provoke a reaction from the public. And thats my point, Stefani Germanotta has created an image for herself that is unlike her own, and I am willing to bet its probably because she doesn't actually care about her own image.

There is a reason for my change of heart. Around the time I started working with the lads in the warehouse, I came to realise that being a success, making something out of myself wasn't as easy as they made it look in TV. As I became bogged down by working in my company, I started to lose that vision, and sense of purpose I had always had.. I made the classic business owner mistake of trying to do everything myself, and to a certain degree I made myself feel guilty for not working anything short of 24hrs a day.

It must have been two years since I stopped day dreaming, focused on my business and decided to go for it.. but last night.. I started dreaming again.

You see over recent weeks we have made some pretty big changes to the way we work.. My Dad takes issue with some of the changes that I have made, but I think they are for the best.. when you actually analyse them, you will see I have changed my entire role within the business..

My Dad came to me a few weeks ago and said this very interesting line.. "William, I feel like your making me redundant in the business".. My honest reply was, no Dad, I am making myself redundant.

You see, as much as I don't want to admit it.. I am not perfect.. I'm close.. but sadly.. I am not as yet "a God".. I can't be everywhere.. I can't do everything.. so something needed to change.

It took me ages to realise this simple point.. I have to accept that there are people out there who individually can do every task at Dovcor better than me.. if put all these people together then Dovcor will be successful..

So thats what I set about doing.. we had some false starts, but actually now I have a team.. who I trust to do their jobs better than me.. and best of all.. it means I can work normal hours doing what I enjoy.. building the business, defining our image and opening the doors for the rest of my team to walk through.

Now this freedom to work on the business isn't the only reason I have started to dream again, to think about what I want to achieve and who I want to be.. you see there is one extra special reason..

For a long time now I have argued that the government has neglected the social and personal aspects of running a business.. they will help you with a business plan, but what they won't do is help you address the psychological aspects of running a business.. the pressures, the feeling of being alone.. 

Thats why I started the Young Entrepreneurs Trust.. to create a community of friends, each who run their own business, to at least try and fill in the gaps left by the current system.

But if I am completely honest, the trust has given me good friends, the changes at work have reduced my stress levels, but there is one more pivotal thing.. one more variable that has allowed me to dream again.. to think big..

Will Ryles is officially off the market.. 

The phrase next to every great man stands an even greater woman could not be more true.. if only I had realised this 6 years ago.

Can I run dovcor like a big company?

Now I was always told by a man much wiser than myself.. (he could have been a random man).. that the only way you can make money is to make other people do it for you..

"if you can't run your business from a laptop on a beach your not an entrepreneur"

Now I have been fortunate enough over my short time in business to meet some truly great young entrepreneurs, all of whom run their own successful businesses and are much more talented than I, but none of whom seem to run their business from a laptop!

Anyhow, in my eternal struggle to launch a brand (Will Ryles vs the world..) I have noticed that while I would love to delegate out all my day to day tasks, sit back and relax, I simply can't afford to!

What small business can employ an army of staff, surely we all rely upon the heroic actions of the man (or woman) at the top working at 900mph and doing the jobs of 5 people! (yes I did just compare myself to the likes of Superman).

But then I think.. is this what taking risks is all about... putting in the investment and hoping.. praying there will be a return?

Now on my journey into the business world I have learnt a few things, surround yourself with positive people.. don't take life too seriously.. and outsource! But I have also noticed that my ability to learn, mature and ultimately improve as both a person and a businessman are being held back by this supposed delegation dilemma.. how can you learn to manage without a team?

Luckily dovcor aside I have managed to find a way to prove this delegation theory once and for all. As you will by now know, I am leading a project called the Young Entrepreneurs Trust, which aims to bring budding entrepreneurs from all over the region (and eventually the country) together.

The team I have assembled around me is first rate for a number of reasons, firstly they are all experts in their own fields, finance, sales, web design but interestingly, they are all young entrepreneurs too, who truly have ownership over the idea itself, meaning the effort they put in is at the very least 450mph while sleeping!

I have been able to give them their areas of expertise to focus on, with general directions, not implicit "how to's".. and the pace at which we have moved forward is amazing..we are already discussing funding into the 100's of thousands, buildings and new events!

Hmmm I might have to take that risk after all.

Time moves on

Well you might have noticed I have not been blogging for the criminal length of time of 10 days! WOW..

A few things have been going on behind the scenes that have taken my time, both with www.dovcor.com and www.youngentrepreneurstrust.org.uk.

Ok, so firstly to my first love of sorts, Dovcor, Andy our apprentice has officially left the building! Now this leaves me in a dilemma, get out and sell, or let the company drift into chaos. Now even though Andy was a pain, he did actually help out in the office, and it seems with only me to do both our roles I am struggling to cope.

Luckily, we have a new apprentice starting on Monday Mr John "Neil" Diamond, so hopefully I will be released from the prison that is my desk and I can get back to doing my thing.

Secondly, the entrepreneurs group is marching forward at an amazing rate. I am building a brilliant team around me and quite honestly, I now believe more than ever that it will change the face of not only the North East but also the country. It is exactly what the current govnt is looking for and well, just a brilliant piece of private social enterprise.

But this is my problem. It is taking my time away from working in Dovcor, I need to bring in a second in command, I need some help! I think I will have to take on an apprentice to run the group admin wise, another cost!! Why do I do these things?!

On the Dovcor front, Andy leaving is not the only piece of news, if you go to the website and pick a product, you will see the info on the site has been updated. I have lots more plans, but as I am on my own creative wise at the moment its going to take me some time!

Also, I do have sad news for you all, two of the most lovely people I have ever had the pleasure to work along side have just lost their jobs. The office company they work for went down over the weekend, so these past few days I have been helping them empty the office and pack away things. A very sad process I can assure you. I do not think the recession, while it has massively affected our growth has ever hit home so hard.

BUT, we move forward, so we have just taken on a guy to run the South East sales for us, a major move as this is where 40% of our business will be done and it is so hard to find decent sales guys when you are a small company!! I am very excited, lets see how this one plays out.

The brochure is finally ready to print, I spotted a last minute epic spelling mistake, which put us back (Einstein or Einstien) so maybe next week I will be on the road full time pushing the Dovcor brand.. heres hoping to long days and plenty of wows!

Hmmmmmmm some how I think in the present client, even a free Ferrari could not persuade some people to try something different!

Am I out of the loop??

I did an interview this week for Business Quarterly Magazine. Turns out they are kind of a big deal, distributed to 10,000 business leaders from all over the region, both Chris Baxter (Geni) and Claire Barber (PR) think its a big coo.. but I have to admit, I had absolutely no clue what it was!

Now I put this down to complete inexperience in the entrepreneurs field, as you have to remember I am not exactly a business leader and really, I don't know any (or at least well enough to go through their post) so how am I meant to have come across it before.

Anyhow, the interview went great, they even said they could make me look like I am not slightly losing my hair! This could seriously improve my chances of meeting a future wife!

Interestingly though, I featured this week on www.ifwecanyoucan.tv in a video we shot a few months back about young entrepreneurs in the north east. Click here if you want to see me ramble on http://www.ifwecanyoucan.tv/home/resource/A9BE-LFA0-XZN7-7RIN-C4OJ about Dovcor and the need for a young entrepreneurs group in the North east. At one point I do say I have not seen one of my bathrooms finished, I have been told off for this!

Sadly as the manufacturer I am kept slightly out of the loop, as the shops/fitters are middle men in the process so I never meet the end customer. Its a shame I spend so much time on my products and never get to meet the person who uses them! I think I need to find a way of changing this!

As you can tell from the video, I am very passionate about helping young entrepreneurs from all over the region. Essentially I saw how organisations were ploughing investment in to creating entrepreneurs in schools but them dropping them in the deepend after school! I kind of realised some one should take up the mantle once these kids leave school, providing them with a launch pad and supporting them all the way through.

For this reason, while www.dovcor.com is my work, my hobby is now www.youngentrepreneurstrust.org.uk. We are now running the under 35's in business dinners once a month for all young entrepreneurs throughout the north east . Who said I had spare time!

When young people start out in business they don’t have years of experience to back them up. Usually the urge to go it alone is because they feel they have the raw talent to be better than the competition in their particular field, but from experience we know most are not experts in all the other areas needed to make a business tick.

The experience of starting a business is daunting no matter what the age, but we recognise that young entrepreneurs have a different set of social issues to the norm. Often young entrepreneurs can still be growing up, with friends that often do not understand the stresses and strains of running your own business. It can be both the most exciting and socially stressful moments of their lives.

The under 35’s in Business programme is designed not only to bring young entrepreneurs together socially, but also to provide them with the support needed to run a business by providing social and business mentors along with training to help them set up on their own.

Time to force my way into the loop I think..

What is this Adwords thing all about?

I can't say that this week has been the most thrilling of my life.. although I did venture to a swimming pool over the weekend, I haven't quite as yet managed to change the world... or even get a hair cut (note to self: hair cut first).

Well I say that, but actually I have both founded a charity, the Young Entrepreneurs Trust, and organised a new networking group to meet on the first Monday of every month in Newcastle as part of my world domination plans..and we reach 25,000 entrants into our competition to win a bathroom www.dovcor.com/comp.asp but it then if I measure success by good intentions I would probably be some sort of God right now... well at the very least Jesus.

Anyhow, after receiving some rather unwanted news this week, I decided to have a push with our website www.dovcor.com. Now whether its just me or not I don't know, but we have been piling money into our SEO over the past year for quite frankly shocking results.

As with anything, the slow climb to the top will take time, hopefully I will still be alive when this happens, although not at the current rate it seems.. but in an attempt to be pro-active I thought I would pick up on something I tried a few months ago.. google adwords.. a brilliant little system yell.com or some charlatan keeps ringing me up to tell me I cannot tame myself (maybe in hindsight they are right).

After reading a few articles on the internet it was with great enthusiasm I started playing around with keywords and traffic estimators, to come to the conclusion that google doesn't like the person that actually puts effort in..thats me by the way.

You see by my reckoning those that have a fat bank balance and are well LAZY.. could easily jump to number on on the google ads.. but for those of us trying desperately to do something different on a modest budget, life seems to be so much harder.

We could spend all the hours of the day searching in vain for that one overlooked mega keyword..only for google to screw us over in the process.. despite its claim.. google quite clearly does not love the little guy!

Now I am not going to profess to be some sort of expert at this, one nights googling doesn't make you a web god.. but when google says cost per click for bathrooms is £1, average number of clicks per day 1000, resulting in £1000 a day costs to us.. this seems obvious..

So how hard can it be to utilise a much cheaper keyword? Take the keyword bathrooms UK for example..a 0.04 cost per click, average clicks per day 200.. resulting cost £0... HANG ON this isn't rocket science is it? I am pretty sure google could take away the complicated analysis and simply replace it with such comedic phrases as.. jog on son.. or ..your avin a laugh mate..

If everything went to plan (according to adwords at least) I would right now be rolling in prospects, but some how I don't think so.. life just isn't that simple..

My first blog post

Well its finally happened, thanks to advice from friends, namely Richard Carter (www.peacockcarter.co.uk) and Claire Barber (www.clairebarber.co.uk) it has been decided that I should break free from behind the shower curtain that is Dovcor Bathrooms (www.dovcor.com) and establish my own name.

Lets see how it goes....