MAGIC was always a part of the life of Marvin Berglas. His father was David Berglas, a well-known magician in his day, and Marvin and his brother Peter travelled the world to see him perform.

“We met lots of interesting people,” said Marvin Berglas. “But being steeped in this upbringing, going into the magic profession was the last thing on my mind. My brother and I were much more interested in playing football.”

Born and brought up in north London, Berglas instead developed a passion for business. As a child he would go to collectors’ exhibitions and trade fairs and when he was 18 decided to put on one of his own. A few weeks after leaving school he hired the banqueting suite at Lord’s cricket ground and put on a collectors’ convention, charging visitors a 20p entry fee.

“I just went for it. I didn’t have any thought of failure whatsoever. I had 1,000 people queuing round the block and it was great fun.”

He made a profit from the event and held it again the following year. He was then asked by an exhibition company to help with a collectors’ exhibition at Kensington town hall. But on the morning of the event police asked everyone to stay away from the area because there had been an attack on the Iranian embassy. It was a big lesson.

“That was one of my first wake-up calls,” he said. “You should never count your chickens before they are hatched.”

Berglas moved on to demonstrating products in the London toy store Hamleys and soon discovered he loved the job because it involved a large element of showmanship.

He formed a partnership with his brother Peter and a friend, Amos Weinfeld, and soon the three of them had built up a successful business promoting and selling all kinds of products in stores across the country.

“We were using showmanship techniques to make products more entertaining,” said Berglas. “What was great was that we could really affect sales. By applying yourself you can actually create demand. The better you are, the more you sell.”

They created a product of their own called a magic drawing board and started supplying schools with art and craft products they had imported.

Then one day Hamleys asked Berglas, by now 28, if he could source some good boxes of magic tricks for children. Berglas realised it was the opportunity he had been waiting for. “A light-bulb came on,” he said. Hamleys was persuaded to give him a year to research the product and create a range of magic tricks, which he packaged together in gift boxes.

Hamleys loved it and so in 1987 the Berglas brothers and Weinfeld started making magic sets, using £5,000 of savings to buy stock. Although all three were equal partners, they called the business Marvin’s Magic.

Berglas said: “Marvin is my real name and it just sounds like a magical name. We were thinking about Pete’s Pranks, but Marvin’s Magic sounded better.”

Then they set about creating a range of magic tricks for people of all ages from four upward.

As well as selling them in Hamleys, Berglas and his partners hired 70 people to demonstrate the magic tricks in shops across the country. But they quickly found that managing other people was hard work.

“We learnt that five or ten demonstrators were fantastically good, 40-50 were average, but the five or ten at the bottom were so bad that they actually caused you more hassle than anything else.”

So they decided to build up a brand instead of relying on other people to sell the product for them. A big turning point was their appearance on the QVC television shopping channel in Britain, which led to two appearances on a shopping channel in America.

It was a nerve-wracking experience for Berglas and his colleagues but very successful – one of their products broke all records for sales on the show. As a result, Marvin’s Magic was asked to run the magic department of Toys R Us in New York’s Times Square.

Berglas said: “They have a huge billboard over Broadway where I am on twice an hour, 24 hours a day, which is pretty cool.”

Marvin’s Magic is now also used to promote everything from cereal to fast-food chains in America. The educational side has also grown and supplies a range of numeracy and literacy products to primary schools. As a result, the business will have a turnover of £10m this year.

Perhaps inevitably Berglas has also finally embraced his family destiny – he now performs magic shows at corporate events. He is, however, keen not to be compared with his father and to be judged on his own merits. “My father is not involved in the company in any way,” he said. “People assume I had a silver spoon but it was actually more difficult. People do make comparisons. That is why I wanted to make my own mark before there were any comparisons.”

Now aged 48 and married with two children, Berglas thinks the secret of his success is to love what he does. “I am genuinely passionate about what I do, and I believe in it wholeheartedly. And I think that rubs off. If you are passionate about something you can’t help but do it with enthusiasm, which sets you apart from the next person.”

He has this advice for budding entrepreneurs: “If you feel passionate about something, think of a service you can provide that has a different angle, have a good business plan and surround yourself with experts.”

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