Start a Successful Business and Be Free

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              Darren Blakeley

HOME COUNTRY: NEW ZEALAND

CURRENT COUNTRY: THAILAND

AGE: 50

PROFESSION: BUSINESS OWNER/ENTREPRENEUR

  1. Tell us a brief history of yourself

I was born in a small town in New Zealand and I have been interested in travel since the early age. My parents left England to go live in New Zealand and my mother wanted to travel more but never really got an opportunity to do so. Consequently, she expected us three children to travel the world.

When I was in high school, I told the career advisor that I wanted to build bridges and highways in Southeast Asia. I was advised to look into an Engineering Cadetship. I knew I didn’t want to go to university as I was more interested in starting working and making money. Therefore, I attended technical school and got a job soon after finishing my diploma. At the age of 21 I moved to Sydney, Australia as my girlfriend at the time was transferred there. Sydney is where I got an engineering job, selling civil engineering equipment. Since then I had had several different engineering jobs in Indonesia and Singapore. I got fired from my last one for an unjustified reason.

One day I decided to change my career. Health and fitness have always been a passion of mine. It was natural to want to provide a fitness service. I love helping people achieve their fitness and health goals. Once I accepted this decision, I finished a master’s degree in Exercise and Nutrition Science and started a business. I gradually made my business very successful by starting with an outdoor bootcamp, which was followed by opening my own fitness studio, which we quickly doubled the initial size of, we then built more locations and now have 5.

  1. What is your biggest passion and when did you first come across this passion? Is it part of your life now?

My biggest passions are fitness, welfare of animals and also welfare of our planet. It all started with reading a book written by John Robbins, the son of Irv Robbins, The Food Revolution. Irv Robbins was a co-founder of the world largest chain of ice cream specialty shops. John stated that his father died because of eating too much ice cream. The book is talking about the exploitation of animals, government regulations and sacrificing the planet to make money. All of my passions are a big part of my life now; I am a vegetarian, I love helping animals, I am a volunteer at a dog shelter, I own pet cat named Bucky and I am promoting more awareness of animal rights.

  1. Tell us about what you do now?

I am coaching and inspiring entrepreneurs, in any kind of business, based off the back of my own track record. I started a company with $10 000 and turned it into $900 000 in five years. I sold part of the company and on top of that I still own 10%. I am also writing a book about the journey of business and I would like to help people realize their dreams for their businesses.

  1. How did you get started on making your dreams become a reality?

You have to be 100% committed to what you are doing. It can also mean you’re devoting only a part of your free time to it but when you write your task list and put a time line to it, it is essential that you meet the time line of your task list. And that is commitment. If I think back on how I started my business; I’ve daydreamed about it, and I could see in my mind it could work. Concurrent to that, each entrepreneur needs an USP (unique selling proposition) and it can’t be the entrepreneur him/herself it must be something that the person brings to the business! In this way if it is something the entrepreneur brings, he/she can teach others it. Many small businesses struggle to scale up because without the founder there is no business.

  1. What were your biggest fears before stepping out of your comfort zone and how did you overcome those fears?

The biggest fear of any entrepreneur is failing. Occasionally, it crossed my mind that I could fail too. My shareholders’ total investment was $220 000 so I was afraid people would lose money. However, most of the time I knew I can be successful. Now the company is worth 6 million dollars and the shareholders are smiling. If you are honest you will succeed.

Overcome fears with positive mindset and a smart plan. Smart stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.  Unlike most entrepreneurs, I love problems! I can put together a plan to solve a problem quickly and I think this is one of my key skills.

  1. Do you have any unfulfilled dreams?

Yes, I want to be more active in helping animals, I want to ride my Harley Davidson bike more frequently, read more biographies and play golf more often.

  1. What is the biggest inspiration for doing what you do?

My biggest inspiration is my family, my nieces and nephews, who are starting out in their life. I want to be the best I can be for them. Besides that, I find inspiration in reading biographies of successful people. Success can be evaluated in different ways. To me success means being an uncomplicated human being, someone people can trust.

  1. Do you have a person or a quote that inspires you the most? Who/what?

Napoleon Hill, a writer and an American success coach and his quote “Whatever the human mind can believe, the human brain can achieve.”  from Think & Grow Rich. It is a really old book but I feel it’s a must read for everybody especially budding entrepreneurs.

  1. What is your advice to our readers?

You have to have a passion! It is important for people to understand what their higher purpose in life is. Then you can ask yourself: “Is the business congruent with my higher purpose?”

  1. What are your future travel plans?

I really don’t know? I’d like to watch the Olympic rugby in Brazil this year. I’d also like to visit Machu Picchu at some point! But travel to me is immaterial to your well-being. A constantly changing landscape is not necessarily something I need to be fulfilled hahaha!

  1. Do you have a product of your own or service you would like the readers to know about?

I offer one on one coaching on how to develop your business idea and how to monetize it in the right way. Right now I am writing a book about building your own business.  I am hoping to create a resource for people that have an idea and want to start a business.