Ron Jones trained as a chartered accountant and was a partner in Arthur
Andersen until he left to set up Tinopolis in 1989. Llanlelli-based
Tinopolis has since grown to become one of the UK’s leading independent
media groups. He sits on the board of UWS Ventures, a subsidiary of the
University of Wales Swansea, and was a founding chairman of Real Radio,
Guardian Media Group’s first successful radio licence application.
Q: What is your entrepreneurial background?
A: It was always clear to me in the early part of my career that at some stage
I’d be looking to develop and run my own business. In many ways that’s what
my initial training with Arthur Andersen gave me – not just the fundamental
business training which allowed me to understand business but also enough
exposure to business to realise that the part I really enjoyed was the
entrepreneur side. Increasingly over the years that became an issue and I
ended up starting my own business.
Q: Why did you agree to become a judge?
A: I’ve worked closely with the University of Swansea over the last 10 years
in looking at how to translate the intellectual property developed on campus
into business ideas. I’ve seen companies emerge from that academic
background and not make it because the entrepreneurial spirit was not there
and others where the actual idea wasn’t perhaps as brilliant but it had very
good entrepreneurial academics behind it and they succeeded. And being
offered the chance to have a look at some of these companies entering the
Entrepreneur Challenge is just intellectually enjoyable. With the economic
problems we see in Wales and the South West it’s good to find young
entrepreneurs that are going to find a way forward for us in developing good
local businesses.
Q: Why is the Entrepreneur Challenge important?
A: It offers a chance for the winner to get a better relationship with the
bank. And it brings to the attention of the wider public what being an
entrepreneur is all about and in a very different environment to the rather
artificial ones portrayed in various television series. Entrepreneurship is
about ideas, passion and all those things that are, frankly, a lot more
mundane than you see on television. Hopefully that will come out of this
process.
Q: What will you look for in a competition entry?
A: The main thing for me is the sheer dedication and enthusiasm of the people
behind the ideas. I remember when I first set up in business on my own, an
entrepreneur friend saying to me: “But are you prepared to lose the house?”
It’s that sort of question which really tells you whether these people are
genuinely passionate and dedicated in terms of furthering their careers.
This is not a low-risk option.
Q: What difference will a £5 million interest-free loan make to the winners?
A: I don’t think the existence of that loan does anything more than
demonstrate that they are people with a good business plan and a business
plan they can sell to bankers and to other business people. The loan will
primarily give them profile because if their ideas are strong enough and
their companies are strong enough and their enthusiasm is sufficient then
they would be able to get those sorts of terms, although with interest, from
other banks. What they’re looking to demonstrate here is that there is
something special about them, which will make the £5 million a starting
point for a more successful period for them in the future.
Q: Why is encouraging enterprise in the UK so important?
A: I think it’s where it’s at. We’ve done work at the company with the Welsh
Assembly – we now produce all the training material used in all of our
secondary schools to encourage young people who are interested in running
their own business. I think there is a recognition from communities that the
more we can do to get our good, talented youngsters to think in terms of
setting up in business, the more likely we are to have a vibrant economy.
The lessons of the past in terms of the inadequacy of inward investment as
an economic model are being seen for what they are. We have to look after
our own interests.
Q: What makes a successful entrepreneur?
A: Determination and a touch of drive and charisma, which you recognise
instantly when you see it. A successful entrepreneur has to have all those
positive characteristics but also not to have those characteristics of
deviousness, dishonesty and stabbing people in the back, which too often
come across in television presentations. You’re in business to be in
business for a very long time and the really successful entrepreneur has to
balance that one-eyed view of the world with realising that you work best
alongside other people and you prosper best alongside other people who
prosper as well.
Q: How important an incentive is money to entrepreneurs?
A: Entrepreneurship isn’t about money. It’s about lifestyle and control; it’s
about being able to do your own thing. I genuinely think that the cash
follows your instinct and your ability to run and develop a company. The
Del-Boy cry of, “this time next year we’ll be millionaires”, is a naïve way
to look at what setting up a business is all about.
