This part of the website has been set up to offer help and advice primarily, but not exclusively to people in business.
Using my unrivalled experience in all aspects of business and investing over 100 million pounds in businesses of all sizes as well as starting many businesses with Marilyn my wife.
Along with our girls Elaine and Joanne who naturally came into the business, that motivated us to grow businesses to the point where they would be worth more to others than to us, enabling us to sell some of them to eager buyers, then along the way with an increasing family, Scott and Andrew our son-in-laws joined us on our business journey which was another step in enabling them to eventually start their own successful businesses which they have today.
An example
We created a World Class business which we started from nothing in 1977 which was the children’s store Kiddicare, selling the first one in 1980 going on to build 2 more, then selling them separately again as going concerns, then in 2011 we sold the 4th shop for a staggering sum of 70 million in cash a business that had been perfected with the knowledge which we had gained from building and selling the other 3 shops.
A world record price for an Independent Nursery store that was still owned by Marilyn and myself as sole traders, it made us smile when it came to signing the paperwork as nobody could believe that we were not even an Ltd company.
There are so many aspects of business or just life that people want another person’s opinion on, the best place to get this from is mentors, but I would say only from the ones that have been there and done similar things that you are doing, possibly showing you how doing it in a different way, so making the process on the way to building a great business or a better life easier for you.
Having considerable board experience I am in a position to give help and advice to a large number of different individuals and companies alike.
The idea behind mentoring is simply to help people who own or manage a business to succeed in their chosen area by offering a realistic sounding board whereby owners and leaders can discuss their issues and opportunities with a seasoned and unbiased person.
- Business ideas and strategy
- Financials
- Motivation/development
- Recruitment/staff issues
- Boards and governance
- Technology
- Operations
- Marketing and sales
- Contract/negotiation
- Buying/Selling businesses
- And much more
I have particular skills and ability to get to the important points or issues very quickly, however uncomfortable these issues may be.
Where I am able to improve the strengths and tackle the weaknesses directly I will do so, but also I will advise where other individuals or companies can add specific help or resources to solve the problems or take advantage of opportunities.
In summary, I am offering you and your company my wide experience that I have gained from every day over my 70 years.
Please get in touch for details of my fees on 07899866201 or nw@nevillewright.com
Cricket Coaching
Telephone: 7815647892
Neville was extremely helpful In helping me to take a step back and trying to view my business more objectively and holistically something that had not happened previous. His insight and business knowledge is 2nd to none, whilst his drive to constantly get better underpins his business philosophy clearly and is infectious.
“I would recommend highly Neville as a mentor to your business.”
Website
I recently spent the afternoon with Neville. It was a fantastic investment of my time. Neville shared his experience freely and listened carefully to my story and about my business. His guidance, support and ideas were of huge value to me. It really helped give me clarity of focus and direction to push forward. I would recommend Neville to anyone looking for business support, advice or mentoring.’
Many thanks Neville
As a mentor Neville is unlike many other mentors I have worked with in the past. He sees the business world in a far wider spectrum than simply a set of numbers and processes. Although the component parts of business are important and things we discuss; it is his creativity, attention to detail and ability to see how the customer thinks that make such a difference. He is always questioning what things can be done better, what can be improved to make the customer journey better on a daily basis that make the sessions so worthwhile. He is inspiring to be around and I always leave our sessions with a clear motivational message. I would recommend Neville as a mentor and business coach. As Neville says’ you have to be in it to win it’.
Kind Regards,
Simon.
Jeannette Linfoot Associates
‘I first met Neville when I heard him speak at a property event and I was immediately inspired by his story and the incredible things he and his wife Marilyn have achieved in business and in their personal lives. Neville has a natural charm, openness and humility about him that far underplays his achievements. Neville is a natural mentor, not only because of his business knowledge and experience, but also due to his incredible intuition. His ability to read situations and people allows him cut to the core of any problem and offer pragmatic and practical solutions. Anyone that is lucky enough to spend time in Neville’s company will walk away feeling refreshed, energised and ready to reach for the moon’ – Jeannette Linfoot, Founder Jeannette Linfoot Associates, Co-Founder Busfoot Property and Host of Brave, Bold, Brilliant Podcast.
Best Regards
Jeannette
For specific things, there are people who need a Mentor and for others, they need a Coach, but I have found in business most people would like the experience and combination of both. They want mentoring not only to get new ideas from the mentor but also to stimulate their brains to come up with ideas of their own on how to improve everything in their lives, and a coach to encourage push and nurture them to develop those ideas through to success.
A mentor will ask questions, advise you and encourage you to think. The coach will tell you and show you how to push yourself to win. A combination of the 2 will give you the best of both worlds.
- Provides advice and support, based on the wisdom they have gained through experience.
- Is an expert in helping someone to learn, helping them to reflect and to make decisions for themselves.
- Is mainly concerned with the longer-term acquisition of developing skills and attitudes in life.
- Seek either to build someone’s confidence or teach them the skills or knowledge, so they can achieve their goals.
- Are often (but not always) an expert or specialist in the skills that the coached wants to learn.
- Is mainly concerned with the short or medium term improvement of performance and development of skills
- Must be willing to listen and act upon suggestions or instructions.
- Must not reject help or say it’s wrong.
- Don’t waste your Mentors/Coach’s time or your own, every second counts.
- If you’re not interested in some parts… make yourself interested.
Having a mentor allows you to increase your odds in every aspect of your life to become incredibly successful, to give birth to a new venture or rekindle your true love for your business if you have lost your passion for it along the way.
As I see it having a mentor also improves your chances to see your projects succeed. Mentors help to eliminate stress and facilitate clear thinking, It’s also known that mentors can bring a lot of rewards to whoever listens and acts on their advice.
Can you afford not to be mentored?
Learning new things every day for the past 70 years and then putting the knowledge into practice, condensing the things that work, teaching it to others is my passion.
I always encourage people to take their luck as is comes, to fit themselves to it by seeing the opportunities that others around them don’t see.
Most people see dyslexia and ADHD as obstacles, I see them as advantages, forcing me to find alternative paths through life and business.
Being dyslexic meant that I could not achieve my dreams and goals without help, so employing others was the only way whereas most people that go into business are afraid of employing others, I just took it as normal practice, eventually employing 125 full-time staff in one shop.
I have a vast amount of experience that has come through working in so many different businesses over the years along with having an open mind, embracing things when they move and change. As this is normal in life having this mindset has enabled me to build and sell some great businesses, making lots of people multi-millionaires in the process.
Seeing people along the way digging their heels in to stay the same when their business has to change or go under is sad, especially when they won’t seek any type of advice or mentoring. Some people see mentoring and business advice as expensive, they do not trust that their hard-earned money will get a return which is understandable as they think that they are putting good money onto bad.
They need to take a look at the mentors long-term history of what they have achieved and ask them why they are helping others, that is always a good indication of if their input will help your business and you.
I have a quick and curious mind, I like to get an understanding of where a business is when I first go into it, I am always interested to learn why the owners do the things they do, then I have no hesitation in advising people to give up or push on, on projects that really don’t appear to be working for whatever reason. I am always keen to help and encourage everyone to move on to something that could be more rewarding not only in terms of income but for other reasons such as a better life overall for everyone concerned.
Need a review of your business? A sounding board? Mentoring? Or just an hour to make a difference to your business? Get in touch.
You will increase your awareness of business, communication and life
This is often left out when you have mentoring or coaching, you must invest in yourself, both mentally and spiritually because without the feeling of well-being and serenity it will make your goals harder to reach.
A good mentor/coach will pass on detailed knowledge of their industry and business.
Contacts alone are worth their weight in gold, it will have taken the mentor/coach many years to establish them which you will have instant access to.
Understand how to treat and work with a supplier for a win-win outcome.
A good mentor/coach will provide you with a clear vision and goal.
Working with a mentor/coach means you are not alone. Often people feel as though they are up against the world and they are alone in business.
Understand how to save money and learn where you can reduce the costs.
Learn how to increase your performance and optimise your time. Get it right the first time and find the right solution to what you want to achieve
Get an honest opinion on the status of your business and how you want to grow it.
Start with the end in mind and be aware that as your business grows you will need to have an overview of the different departments whether it be accounting, buying, selling, locality etc.
Have you bought or sold your Business Today
Very early on in business I learned that every day you are either buying or selling your business. So, at the end of each day as I made my way home I would ask myself this question, have I bought, or have I sold the business today? In other words, has what I have done today increased the value or decreased the value of the business?
Then I would go over all the things that I had done in the day that I thought had improved the business to make it more valuable to anyone looking to buy a business like mine.
I would also question myself on the things that I had done to decrease the value, so, if I have not increased the value then I am buying it myself and is that what I want?
If your business by the end of the day is exactly the same as when you started in the morning, you are starting to lose out, you are buying it because situations in your business haven’t moved forward; someone else has taken a tiny piece of your business away without you knowing about it, and with your permission therefore in doing so, you are helping them to sell their business and you don’t even know who they are until it’s too late.
It is easy to lose the passion when things are going well. Having an abundance of money is nice but, if you get complacent and forget your business, thinking it will take care of itself, you will be mistaken. Businesses don’t run themselves; yours may coast for a little while after you have stopped working on it but, as sure as eggs are eggs, the business will crack and inevitably it will have broken beyond repair.
Now, it’s immaterial whether your goal is to eventually sell, or just to keep it forever, by the way, nothing lasts forever, things just evolve and If you try to keep the business the same as it was when it started, you will be driving it into the ground, failing to produce enough income to sustain a lifestyle that you would like until you die.
You don’t have to sell your business, but if you were to just work on the business then you will be ready to sell at any time as when an opportunity appears you will be glad that you spent the time and effort on the preparation.
Some tips
I ask myself every day: What am I doing with my business? Is it good or bad, is it right or wrong? Am I going nearer to or further away from my goals and my heart’s desires?
What are you doing with your business today?
Website
“I was so inspired after reading Neville’s amazing story in The Answer Is Yes Now What Is The Question, that I sought out the man himself.
Neville was kind enough to spend some time with me, and my One Percent Club group coaching clients, as we peppered him with question after question for almost two hours – how did you do x? why did you do y? How can I apply z to my business?
Neville delivered his answers in plain English – and didn’t dress it up in any way. My clients are still raving about how inspired and motivated they’ve been since this session – and so am I, because I learnt as much as they did!
Every Luke Skywalker needs a Yoda – why not make Neville Wright, yours?”
John Lamerton
bigidea.co.uk
Grandeur Property
Progressive Property
Neville’s success has clearly been driven by some very simple principles that in this age we have so easily forgotten.
Attitude is everything! Any time spent with him will reinstall the fact that all business is about relationships and people. Neville is an incredibly open and candid person. He says it the way that it is and is probably the most REAL entrepreneur that I have ever met.
The enthusiasm is truly infectious and I feel refreshed, invigorated and more hungry to succeed than ever. I have concreted my belief that determination and a “can do” mindset are vital and that this is only up to you.
If you want to be inspired then look no further than Neville for guidance.
The truth is that you can choose to enjoy whatever it is that you are faced with. Grateful for everything.
I am and will always be very grateful for meeting Neville and Marilyn.
aa chartered accountants
Telephone: 01733 555667
Neville has a wealth of experience. He started out as a window cleaner and has gone from strength of strength. He sold Kiddicare to Morrisons for 70 million. That doesn’t happen by chance. If you are looking to scale your business then Neville can definitely help you. He has been there and done it. He will save you all the pain, mistakes, time, money and effort – that’s called experience and wisdom. Neville has both.
Donovan property group
Thinking out loud
Neville has in depth knowledge around life and business, he has helped me with my own internal battles providing me with his time, empathy and experience which has been invaluable to me. Neville’s advice and support has helped me in my personal development which is enabling me to grow and expand my business. Neville has a natural ability to make people feel comfortable, his non-judgemental personality allowed me to speak freely and openly. I have never met anyone more approachable and would advise anyone seeking mentoring, coaching and business advice to contact Neville.
Case Study (without a mentor)
While I was on holiday a long time ago now, I got talking to another person, for this story I will call him Jerry, not his real name of course.
Jerry told me that this was the first holiday that he and his wife had taken for seven years; Jerry also said that he was a butcher; originally, there was just him and his wife in a tiny shop.
They were very hard-working people; as success came to them, things were so good that they opened another shop that also became a success.
Like many Entrepreneurs, they pushed the boundaries over the years until they had seven large meat supermarkets plus a factory to supply the supermarkets.
With their success, they gave many of their family relatives opportunities to work in the business which they took.
Gradually they started to live their dreams, big houses, lovely holidays, cars, everything one could wish for, and why not as they had worked so hard, took risks, paid the price, and now it was time to reap the rewards and, in his words, live the high life.
Gradually starting to live their dreams meant leaving the office on time going out for dinner with old friends that they had not seen for years, as everyone in business knows that when you are focused on building your empire there’s no time for anything else.
The business takes first place, all the time, nothing is as exciting as seeing your business grow, and nothing is worth taking your eye off the ball when you have competitors breathing down your neck.
The excitement that you have when creating, living, feeling and breathing life into your wants, needs, hopes, and your dreams are incredible.
Hardly any words can describe the feeling of when you are in the driving seat going around the track for the 50th time knowing you have to win to put those demons that you have inside of you to rest, proving that whatever happened to you in the past was not in vain.
Gradually went on to be full time, I suppose retirement could be a word most would use Jerry’s eyes went off the ball/business, why not after all he had lots of family members looking after the business for him.
Now I suppose if Jerry had a mentor, one of the questions that would be asked around the purchase of the third shop or definitely the first supermarket would be how far are you going with this business?
And how are you going to exit the company now? At this point, there probably wouldn’t be an answer.
But there would have been a seed sown in their minds that one day they will arrive at a roundabout with lots of exits. They would have to choose which one.
Over the next couple of years, it was party time travelling the world by car, boat, and plane and checking in the office on the odd occasion when home.
Seeing their accountant at the end of the year was a bit different to usual as there was no tax to pay also there would be no profit either, with that Jerry started to take a lot more notice without raising any suspicions.
One day unannounced he went to his processing factory purely by accident he caught his brother loading up his car boot stealing meat worth £1,000’s, then realised lots of staff were at it in the factory pricing meat at a fraction of what it was worth, then buying it in the employee’s friends and family shop
Jerry went back into the business to save it; this was the time before computers and barcode scanners and tracing systems;
He described it to me as having a bucket full of holes and trying to fill it with water; as soon as he stopped one hole up, he would find another.
Unfortunately, by the time Jerry got back in, the debts had grown, a recession was in total swing, customers had gone because Jerry had not been around, the business had lost his sparkle, lost the way, and died.
Jerry and his wife had to close everything bar one shop, which when I met him, he had worked in for the last seven years without a break so they could pay off all of the debts.
Case Study (without a mentor)
A person I knew in the 1980’s we will call him Tony; he had an incredible business supplying shop shelving to the shopfitting trade. He had captured the UK market and was importing his stock from Italy.
The Italian manufacturer decided to expand into other countries and offered to buy Tony’s company for an unbelievably 7 million pounds price tag, which no one could refuse at that time.
But unfortunately, Tony did refuse their offer; he told me that his company was booming because shops were expanding.
With the same shops in every high-street up and down the country, they were using the same shelving, so no competition as it was different from the British-made shelving.
He never stopped to think as he was so busy, and besides, he was making a fortune. What could go wrong?
Everything, what was he thinking? If he had got a mentor at that time, things would have been entirely different because the mentor would have asked some questions that would have not only made his life much a lot easier, he would have been very wealthy in the process.
You see, Tony didn’t think of the consequences of the refusal; did he think that they would go away? Did he think the business would never have any competition? Did he believe that the high-street would keep on expanding?
A mentor would have asked all the questions and many more, putting it into perspective that the business had virtually done its circle.
As it happened, the manufacture stopped Tony’s supply’s leaving Tony to find a new supplier to copy the product. In the meantime, the manufacturer was now supplying Tony’s customers, and ironically a recession hit the UK in 1989 and subsequently, they both went bust.
Like most entrepreneurs, Tony started again with a different business and hopefully will benefit from his unfortunate experience in the future.
A mentor would have asked all the questions and many more, putting it into perspective that the business had virtually done its circle.
As it happened, the manufacture stopped Tony’s supply’s leaving Tony to find a new supplier to copy the product. In the meantime, the manufacturer was now supplying Tony’s customers, and ironically a recession hit the UK in 1989 and subsequently, they both went bust.
Like most entrepreneurs, Tony had never given any thought to having a mentor, and if he had, would he have been able to have found one that had been through the process of building and selling successful businesses.