Hey Guys, Just finished an interview with Ramon Davis, a young entrepreneur with an amazing story, I spoke to Ramon before the interview realised how he managed to turn his life around, unlocking his hidden potential and following his passion.

I would also like to thank Enitan Sarr for introducing me to this amazing young man.

Hope you enjoy the interview.

How are you doing today? Tell us a bit about yourself and what you do?

Thanks for asking; I’m having a pretty healthy day so far. I was blessed to see another day, so everything else is breathing, believing and achieving. A little background on me well lets see, I was born and raised on the south side of Chicago and recently moved to London in October 2009.

I am Managing Partner of Media Basement as well as the founder for Evolutionary. Both companies deal in the creative marketing solutions arena. However while Media Basement is headquartered here in London, my other company Evolutionary deals with USA clientele.

Tell us a little bit more about your company and what role do you play?

Media Basement is a design agency based in London that was started about a year and three months ago by my business partner Pia Cabble. I recently became partner with the business in October of 2009.

As Managing Partner some of my duties include: overseeing projects from start to finish, strategically implementing new ways to acquire market share, make sure we are always consistent with our message and branding as well as building and maintaining relationships with clients, universities and government. And the list goes on and on and on… It doesn’t stop until the job is done.

How did you get involved in this company?

I became involved with Media Basement through a shared mutual passion for creativity and innovation. We both agreed that our skill sets complimented each other that we had a winning business recipe if cooked the right way. As my strengths are more focused on strategy, creative vision and new business development and Pia’s strength is more focused on the creative executions, ambition and forward thinking so it worked out for both us.

Is this your first business?

No. To date I can safely say that I have had almost 7 business ventures under my belt. Some were successful and some were not at all. Its just part of the game.

How did you get finance to start the business?

All financing came from personal funds and from client invoices. The beauty about a small creative based business is that the initial overhead is quit low. All you need is a smart phone, laptop, ideas and the drive to push the ideas. We have recently moved into our first office space as our team has grown a bit since we first started.

How has your market changed in the past few years? How has your business changed to keep pace?

One significant market change has been the expansion from USA to London. I had to learn how to adapt to the different cultural differences and adjust strategies to meet the market. Due to the recession we have seen an increase in business as more people are turning to entrepreneurship as a form of financial freedom. Fortunately for us that means that there are a lot of new business that needs a website and marketing solutions to push there companies.

Who are your customers?

Our customers range from companies in the wine investing industries to photographers and music groups. We definitely have a variety of clients at the moment. However we are starting to focus more on the creative sector and E- Commerce related companies.

What are the most crucial things you have done to grow your business?

Because we have realised that website design and marketing will not take Media Basement to the next level we have extended some of our services. For example this spring we will be launching a series of seminars for creative’s that will help them with their business practices. In addition we will begin hosting networking events at various locations to enforce the Media Basement brand.

What inspires you? What motivates you to keep going?

You know how when you sit down and contemplate on your life and you reflect on what you have done so far and what you plan on doing in the future? Well both motivate me, because my past was not a smooth road I am inspired by my progress. People that no matter how hard their situation might be, they still beat the crap out of those odds, they inspire me.

I’m a big dreamer, when I ride the train or bus I imagine my next stages of my life. I see it, I feel it, and I believe it and then it becomes a part of my mission in life. I’m motivated to constantly turn my dreams into reality and to defy the odds. And finally I’m motivated by God’s grace over my life.

You’ve had some rough times in the past especially growing up in an environment where drugs and crime were constantly being shoved in your face, Tell us about that and how you manage to escape that lifestyle?

Initially growing up as a youth in the city of Chicago I was definitely influenced by the streets. I cannot say that I did not indulge in the lifestyle for a long time. I dropped out of high school, ran with gangs, smoked weed all day went to jail a few times etc… But then I think I was like 17years old and I saw all my friends preparing for graduation and I guess it did something to me.

So I ended up moving with my father because it was only so much my mother could do for me. From there after getting in trouble a few times out there my pops gave me the book of Proverbs and the rest was history.

I graduated from high school and was fortunate to meet someone who gave me a full ride scholarship to go to school in Atlanta. From there I guess I adjusted to my surroundings and made it work for me. Overall I give all credit to God for changing my situation and blessing me with a divine purpose in life.

How do you manage your time?

I try to live by the 60/40 rule, meaning 60% enjoying life and having fun with loved ones and investing in my hobbies and learning new things and 40% strict discipline business executions. You have to enjoy life it’s to short handle your business but also try to enjoy just living, listening and learning. I believe it makes you a more balanced person.

What is your own definition of success?

The main stream always tries to manipulate the masses with success being material gain such as your car or you home or clothing. I think that you are success if you create a goal in your mind and honestly try your very best to accomplish that goal.

What do you think it takes to be a successful entrepreneur?

A mental disorder loll…. I think that you just need to have laser beam focus, believe in your idea no matter what all the critiques say, persistence, discipline, a hard work ethic and a ton of faith.

Do you have any upcoming projects you would like to tell us about?

Sure we are in the process of developing a social networking site that will be based around the global creative industry. My lawyer told me that’s all I can tell you for now (LAUGHTER)

Do you have any advice for young entrepreneurs looking to start their business? Those entrepreneurs caught making a choice to follow the streets or change their direction and develop their hidden potential?

Yes, you have to decide early in your life if you are going to be the low-key leader that’s developing self or the famous follower losing self. You know a lot of people turn to the streets because of the image it gives them, basically copying someone else’s lifestyle.

All I can tell someone is spend more time investing in things that you like to do instead of participating with activities and people that will take up your time and money because time is money. I would say if you are the smartest person in your group get out of that group. Surround yourself with people that are smarter, wealthier and more well off than you or who have the same goals, it keeps you on you’re A game.

Entrepreneurs hang around entrepreneurs. Don’t get me wrong I’m still cool with all my friends that are still living the street life, but they respect my hustle and there is no love lost. The great thing about life is you can write your own story, so when your contemplating what direction in life you want to take, think about how you want your story to end and move forward. But always let your next move be your best move.

Any last words of wisdom?

I would like to leave readers with two quotes that I live by.
1. Consistent persistence takes you the distance.
2. Amaze people never amuse them.

Thanks for your time Ramon

Today I have Joshua Mason Allen, An young entrepreneur who decided to jump on the entrepreneurial bandwagon after his company was made redundant and he realised he simply could not let his love for aviation go, he acted upon it and started LROPS Flight Simulation Limited.

Hope you enjoy the interview.

Hey Joshua, how is it going? Thanks for doing this interview with me.

Hello Joseph, thank you for taking the time to conduct an interview with me. The YHP venture that you have set up is quite unique and very impressive: I’m honoured to have been considered for a mention.

Thank you very much Joshua, I’m glad it is been seen like that.

Can you kindly give us some background information about yourself? What you do?

Currently, I’m the Managing Director of LROPS Flight Simulation Limited at nineteen years old and I’m based in Warwickshire. After leaving school, I knew I wanted to run a business but settled into a work environment for a little while to get some “real” experience.

I took a job with a bank, and got made redundant a year later which is possibly the best thing that had ever happened to me. Not only did the redundancy give me the proverbial kick, but I was elected as the employee representative for the 100+ of us that were being made redundant.

I dealt with negotiation of redundancy deals, holding meetings and conferences, as well as dealing with very senior managers. I was told by the senior staff that I did a fantastic job at it: and walked away with a very nice settlement, despite not being entitled to anything legally. As did everyone else who hadn’t been there two years, I should add!

Tell me about your company: LROPS – How it got started? What services do you guys provide? Etc

LROPS was started when I saw a gap in the market in the flight simulation community. Software was being provided, namely simulations of real aircraft that were so complex that they were tested by real pilots before being released. What we saw was a lack of training: it’s fantastic people get the opportunity to fly these sorts of simulations that, ten years ago, would have been unimaginable, yet there was no real training for them. The vendors did publish manuals, but these went only a short distance in proving a complete training solution.

At present, our main focus is on researching and developing the next stage of LROPS’ life, we’re working on two new business models that we shall provide side-by-side in the future, but also work seamlessly together. I can’t give too much away, but I can tell you that it involves the full motion simulators. The ones real pilots are trained on.

We then stepped in and worked with pilots to produce the sort of manuals and details that the enthusiasts wanted, this level of business took us to a level where incorporation into a limited company made sense, so that we could further what we wanted to do.

How did you finance your business?

The business has been grown from a nothing. I don’t mean I was given £2000 by anyone either, it was literally nothing, but eventually funds from profits were available for reinvestment. The only investment that I have ever made into the business is time, lots of it.

This way of doing things has certainly been interesting at times when cash was right for reinvestment for the business; however, it does make sure that you thoroughly plan every penny that you spend and that nothing goes to waste.

Is this your first business? You told me that you started making money at a young age? What were you doing?

It’s my first ‘legal’ business. From a very young age I started washing cars on a Saturday and Sunday, when I got a lot of customers, I started to get other kids that lived around me to work for me for half of the fee it cost for the car to be washed. For example, if Mr Smith needed his car washing, I could send my next door neighbour round to do it, and we both got £5!

When I was at secondary school, also, the school closed the tuck shop: preventing people from buying sweets and other sugary items. I stepped in and filled this gap very quickly: buying sweets in the morning on my way to school and then selling them on the playground during break time. It’s all very Del-Boy-esque now that I look back on it, however, at the time making money was the sweetest thing of all.

Is the business profitable? How do you make money?

Our current stream of income comes from the sales of our training materials within a simulator community. It’s got to a stage where the business is indeed profitable and is now in a position to start looking into where we want to go. We’ll never forget our roots, but I’m an ambitious person and hope to move on to bigger and better things in the not too distant future!

Who are your target audience?

At the moment, our products only appeal to people who use a computer based flight simulator, or those who are real pilots in some capacity. Our starting market is very niche indeed, but as I’ve said already, this is something that we hope to change in the next year or so.

Ultimately, our target market will be anyone of any age or gender who wants to experience the thrill of flying a commercial airline aircraft, such as those provided by Airbus or Boeing.

What type of technology do you guys use?

We use lots of different technology, especially for what we’re growing into. The training books are published through software on a Windows operating system.

In the very near future, we’re going to be using CAD software.

What was the hardest part in starting the business?

The hardest part is probably maintaining regular interest and custom. Setting it up, managing legal structures, managing the website, dealing with other companies and private individuals is all very easy compared to maintaining regular income.

Can you give an example of successful technology change in aviation?

There have been a lot of technological advances in aviation in the last twenty years: it’s been totally revolutionised. The depths of this question, therefore, are probably a little too geeky for this interview – but allow me to explain this: the way aircraft are built, the challenges the aviation industry faces from the economists and global-warmingists alike mean that aviation needs to be on the cutting edge at all times.

Conversely, however, aviation is probably the only industry in modern times that has taken a monumental leap backwards. Naturally, I speak of the retirement of Concorde, and with the bankers and the environmentalists running the world’s progress these days, your life will always be slower. I doubt we’ll ever see anything like Concorde again in our life time.

Your company has been shortlisted for this month’s Livewire “Grand Ideas”
Award” we wish the best of luck, what should we be expecting from you and your company in the future?

As I’ve mentioned, we’re up to a lot of R&D this year to develop something truly brilliant. Between you and I, then, we’re trying to develop our own line of simulators that we shall both sell in an affordable way to private individuals and also offer them for use to the general public.

Aircraft seem to fascinate a lot of people, and they have done for a long time. I want to everyone to be able to share a passion, even if it is only for an hour at a time, of being able to sit in the left hand seat of a flight deck and experience the thrill and the passion of it all. Initially we shall provide a platform for people to be able to locate this sort of experience, and then eventually provide it ourselves.

With regards to me personally, I intend to see the success of this company before I move onto something else. I have a dangerous interest in property development!

What has been your most effective way of marketing your company’s services?

Almost certainly by getting peer-reviewed in all sorts of different aviation publications has been the most effective way. We’ve had our publications reviewed by real airline pilots and then published in world-wide magazines; likewise we’ve had reviews done by the sort of websites that flight simulation enthusiasts read.

What tools have helped you as a young entrepreneur starting your business?

I’m not really sure there has been a specific set of tools or other devices that have helped me to start a business. I’m quite old-school in my belief that you can either succeed in business or not. The advice I’ve received has been very valuable though: even just by speaking to people in my local pub, I’ve got a good tip, idea or suggestion. Networking, therefore, I suppose has been a good “tool”.

What would you like to see coming out that could help young entrepreneurs?

I think there should be a place for young entrepreneurs to chat to other young entrepreneurs: sort of like a social club, together I suppose we can make a real good go of setting ourselves up as the people to lead this country through the next generation.

For example, I would like to meet other company directors who are my age; I know people around my age that are self-employed, but only (I think) one director.

I don’t think it’s a problem of there being no support or advice; I don’t necessarily consider that to be dependant upon the entrepreneurs’ age. Maybe a lack of motivation or confidence – but if I can start a company, I don’t see why any other person can’t.

What advice/tips do you have for young entrepreneurs looking to start-up a similar company?

I think the words of Getty have always stuck with me when I was working up to opening a company: he once said: “rise early, work all day and don’t sleep until you strike oil”. While oil is, of course, proverbial here – the reference to good hard work is a solid one and one I feel is taken for granted these days.

The ‘Dragons’ Den’ culture as I shall now call it seems to glamorise business and doesn’t give a true reflection of what it’s like.

Yes, there are five very well-off people sat in those chairs who have done exceptionally well in business, but that isn’t how it is. Even those who deem themselves successful have a couple of million in the bank, and not the fortunes these people do.

You don’t go into business solely to make money, it isn’t easy and nor should it be.

What should we be expecting from you next?

Hopefully a lot more interviews from different publications like yours, Joseph. I’ve told you a bit about what my company will be doing over the next year and hopefully I can come back next year and tell you where we’ve got with it.

Thanks for taking time to do this interview with me, I hope you guys got some tips and inspiration from the interview.

Jeff Chavez gives advice to Christine Cunneen of Hire Image staffing service on The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch.