From a young age, James Taylor found it a struggle to accept authority. He
preferred to do things his own way.
“I always felt I was different,” he said. “I had a bit of a problem taking
orders from teachers. I think I’ve always known that working for myself was
the only option.”
Taylor had a natural talent for entrepreneurial activity and spent much of his
early years developing it. “I was always doing something, whether it was
flogging designer clothes in college or doing jumble sales as a kid,” he
said.
On completing his schooling, he took a gap year - during which he taught at a
boarding school in Uganda. This proved a pivotal moment in his life.
Taylor discovered the children had a large, unfilled interlude each afternoon
so he set up sports and arts clubs to occupy them. “From that experience I
knew that child development and giving children great educational
experiences – self-esteem, confidence and leadership skills - was the area I
wanted to be in,” he said.
Taylor returned home and began a degree in psychology and teacher training at
Cardiff University. However, by the time he reached his third year, he had
all but abandoned his lectures to focus on what he felt was his real
education.
“I lost my faith in the education system,” he said. “I realised that all I was
doing was loading my short-term memory to pass exams. At school they teach
you how to dissect a frog but nobody teaches you how to relate to people or
how to start a business - the real issues in life. I realised I had to start
doing that myself.”
Taylor enrolled on various business courses and started to read business
literature. On completing his degree he took a job as a sports coach at LA
Galaxy football club in America. Having gained some practical experience,
Taylor returned to Cardiff with an idea for a sports coaching company.
The final catalyst was the government’s concern about childhood obesity.
Taylor kept reading articles about overweight children, a lack of sport in
schools and the video-game culture. But nobody seemed to be tackling the
problem.
“I thought too little was being done – so I would do something about it,” he
said. “That was where Sport Stars came from. I wanted to create an
organisation that would help develop bright futures for children through
sport.”
Taylor had received £1,000 from his parents for his 21st birthday to buy a
round-the-world air ticket. Rather than purchase the ticket, however, he had
saved the money. So he used it to start up Sport Stars, spending the £1,000
on tracksuits and sports equipment. He then convinced a group of sports
coaches to join him and the team went round schools offering their services
free of charge.
The feedback from children and staff was good, but surviving on no income was
not easy for Taylor.
“I couldn’t afford to rent anywhere so I was sleeping on my mate’s sofa. My
office was the university library and I was working every evening as a
waiter,” he said.
Taylor needed to find a way to make his business more than an enjoyable extra
for schools. It needed to be a part of the curriculum. His break came in
2005 when the government ruled that all teachers must spend 10% of each day
away from the classroom to prepare, plan and assess (PPA). Taylor recognised
this as an opportunity and approached head teachers with the proposal that
they employ a Sport Stars coach to cover this time.
“PPA was a niche in the market for us. It was a real gem,” he said. “Not only
was the headache of PPA sorted for the head teachers but we were able to
offer all the benefits of having specialist sports coaches.”
After this, Sport Stars took off. Taylor secured his first five contracts
almost immediately and then doubled the number in a few weeks. At the end of
the first year, sales were £165,000 and Taylor was able to pay staff, find
office space in Cardiff and afford the rent on a small flat.
By year two, sales went up to £500,000 and Taylor and Sport Stars were
recognised in a string of awards. He was the Shell Live Wire Entrepreneur of
the Year in 2006. Sport Stars received the HSBC Start-up and Natwest
Community Impact awards in 2007. Public recognition did much to raise the
company’s profile.
“These things are great PR. They give you confidence and they give staff
confidence, and they have been fantastic exposure – I’ve had investors
interested as a result,” he said.
Now at the end of its third year, Sport Stars has sales of £3m, offices in
Cardiff, Bristol and Swansea, and Taylor has 90 staff. He eventually plans
to expand the organisation to include coaching in art, drama, languages and
business.
Sport Stars is aiming to change its name to Super Stars and Taylor hopes the
business will grow to a point where he can take it international – to both
developed and developing countries.
“The commercial side of things is great for developed countries, but our
vision is to develop bright futures for children all over the world,” he
said. “I hope by 2012 to have an international charity. It will be like a
Super Stars foundation and I will send out coaches on gap years and career
breaks to developing countries and apply the same model there.”
Taylor, now 26, puts the secret of his success down to his refusal to live an
average life. “Being mediocre freaks me out,” he said. “I make a decision
every day to refuse to be mediocre. I review my dreams, goals and passions
daily – I think big and I dream big.”
He advises other entrepreneurs to follow his favourite Disney quote: “If you
can dream it, you can do it.”
