14 minute read
Is DIrect Sales a Career or Stop Gap
MY JOURNEY TO BECOMING AN ENTREPRENEUR w/ Rich-Snowden
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O
ur team here at is made up of an incredibly b r o a d range of
individuals. Some of them have been working in this industry for decades, some left University early to pursue this career and others never imagined that this was where they would end up. However, they all have one thing in common: an absolute commitment to their work regardless of any preconceptions they might have once had in terms of themselves or their career.
Rich Snowden is now an established Entrepreneurial figure in the Direct Sales Industry, having worked in the sector for 13 years; however, looking back over his initial foray into this line of work, he never would have imagined that this is where he’d end up over a decade later. Rich initially trained as an apprentice in the motor trade, an industry within which he worked for the next two years before being made redundant. Finding yourself in a position of redundancy can be a peculiar thing to process as you try to garner a sense of self and sense of placement in the world. After all, you haven’t been let go due to any lack of skill or misplaced motivation, and yet it can feel hard to know where to make your next move. Do you try to re-enter the same industry again? Do you re-evaluate your entire career path? Or do you try to find a ‘filler’ job to support you financially whilst you weigh up the first two options? Rich decided on number 3. He started searching for a new career, but was aware that he still needed to make some money in the meantime. Whilst he was ‘looking for a real job’, he managed to pick up some work in Direct Sales in an office in Southampton, a decision that he describes as simply ‘something to fill a gap and to keep me busy’.
It didn’t take long for him to change his attitude towards the industry. He quickly realised that it didn’t have to exist either as either a means to an end or a ‘stop-gap - it could be both. All too often we are pushed into making binary decisions based on nothing but impulse or ‘word on the grapevine’; however, there is merit in leaving your options open for a while. Rather than deciding on a career forever and finding yourself stuck in a rut, why not simply commit to working hard in the moment and see where you end up. Rich saw his initial role in the industry as both an opportunity to develop skills in an area he wasn’t used to, and, if he decided to pursue it in the long run, it could be a fantastic career opportunity:
‘I was young, you know, I was 20 years old so I hadn’t ever really given much thought to my future at all, let alone my career! My priorities at the time were very different to where they lie now; it was very much a case of ‘as long as I have money in my pocket and my lifestyle could be met by what I was earning at work, then that was fine’.
The pressure to put all your eggs in one basket regarding your career can often lead to an unhealthy work/life balance, whereby you end up investing a lot of energy into distinguishing between the two as opposed to integrating your work into your life and vice versa. Of course there are merits to working a 9-5 job that you leave ‘at the door’; however, if you are the type of person that possesses the core values of an Entrepreneur, you are far more likely to seek gratification and fulfillment from the integration of the two as opposed to one simply existing to serve the other. In consolidating your career with your sense of self, you are able to be cutivate an objective approach to your ‘development’ and therefore the trajectory of your life/ career. That isn’t to say that your entire existence should continued --->
be based around your work, or that you should seek validation entirely through your job; however, the kind of people who tend to succeed in this industry lean towards a more holistic approach to their work-life balance.
This leads me on to discuss the limitations of forming preconceptions about the type of career you think is right for you. Yes, some people have had a passion and drive for a certain career-path since they were a child, but this isn’t always the case (more on the importance of educating students on potential career paths later in this edition). For those people who perhaps could benefit from figuring it out as they go tend to be pressured into making a decision before they are ready. We, on the other hand, are very much of the ethos that you get out of this career whatever you put into it. In other words, you are given agency.
Not only can preconceptions limit your understanding of yourself, but they can also prevent you from exploring the potential of an entire industry. Often they are born out of a lack of knowledge and a habitual impulse to judge the unknown. Rich explains how he ‘definitely didn't expect (his career) to turn out the way that it did. My preconceived notions of what a career in Direct Sales was very much centred around a rather bleak idea of a con man on the doorstep trying to eke money out of an unassuming customer. I had images of myself being forced into lying to people, manipulating them into doing something they didn’t really want to do - essentially selling my soul to the devil!’. He explains how the biggest surprise for him was the realization that he didn’t have to be a certain way to succeed in this industry; it’s about finding yourself and pouring your personality into your work, as opposed to desperately trying to fit a mould and, in the process, stunting your development.
‘It’s much more about being a brilliant Brand Ambassador. The qualities that emerge out of taking on the responsibility of representing your company are professionalism, delivering extremely high levels of customer service and the ability to engage with people on a human level. I founded my business on these qualities and looking back I’ve really come a
long way not just in terms of my skills, but in terms of my attitude towards the industry as a whole.’
As you start to coalesce yourself and your career, you begin to care about the work you are doing. You move away from perceiving it as simply a ‘means to an end’ and begin to understand it more as a way of life. As you broaden your understanding of what it means to be an Entrepreneur, you begin to map out a trajectory in terms of where you see yourself in 5, 10, 20 years. You start to invest in a vision of a future. This is reflected in the way that our customers respond to us. Rich explains how ‘we bring in amazing customers that stay on board for years and years. Anyone can sign up to something that they then cancel as soon as you've left the house because they didn’t really want to do it, so we’re much more about customer attention and maintaining these relationships. Again it comes back to investing in the business, investing in a future career as opposed to just looking at it as a way to make some fast cash.’
The other thing that drew him in was just how quickly you can progress in this industry. The rate of advancement is really quite astonishing and within 9 months of stepping foot in the office, he was running his own business. In their first full year of trading, they turned over £1million; however, whilst being inspired by this, Rich remained relatively level-headed, describing how, ‘it all just happened quite naturally, driven, really, by pure enthusiasm and excitement’ as opposed to any sort of ‘plan’. He is a prime example of throwing caution to the wind, ‘going with the flow’ and ‘seeing what happens’ and there is a lot to be admired about that attitude towards life. I asked him to elaborate upon his relationship with his career over the last decade or so...
At what stage did you think, actually I’m really enjoying this, I’m going to make this my career?
I think my mindset towards the industry shifted when I began to visit the different offices. I first started working in Southampton and after a week or so, people started high-fiving each other - I had no idea what was going on - and then suddenly I was told that I was going to Bristol for the week. I jumped in a car with a group of strangers and found myself shadowing them - working alongside those salespeople was incredibly inspiring. It was an incredibly formative time and made me realise that the people you work alongside have a huge impact in terms of your perception of the industry as whole. When you are first starting out, your colleagues are really your only portal into what this line of work means, so I think, consciously or not, you place a lot of value on these early interactions. For instance, the office that I worked in previously - One Way Marketing - was run by a young Nigerian woman. She was fantastic and I’m sure I learned a lot from her, but we never really shared many of the same passions. Whilst I was inspired by her in many ways, I suppose the lifestyle that she was affording herself didn’t strike a chord with the ambitions that I had for mine? You know, she would parade around in her Gucci shoes and Prada handbags and whilst that was brilliant because it was a representation of her idea of success, it didn’t motivate me. I never aspired to fill her shoes. (no pun intended)
Yes, I suppose a big part of this industry is seeing yourself in others and finding inspiration that way? When you are able to pin an idea of success on a figure, how does that change things?
Yeah it was only when I travelled to Bristol and saw young guys my age running their own businesses, driving fast cars and living a great quality of life, that I began to see myself in those people - my sense of ambition started to come alive. It was a wake up call, a realisation that I could be whatever I wanted to be and create whatever I wanted to create: I was in charge of my career. I think that mental shift from viewing yourself as a passive cog in someone else’s business, to someone with agency that can make things happen for yourself is really what changes everything. Once you’ve asserted a sense of being your own Boss then the industry opens up for you. A lot of people who enter this business think that they have to copy, but I quickly realised that it’s not about replicating other people, it's about sourcing your inspiration from other people and then pouring that into your own version of the same career.
What was the next step for you once you’d made a commitment to this career? Where did it first take you?
So I ended up setting up a business in Colchester in Essex before I’d even set foot in the town! I’d hear really good things about that area and decided to jump on it as an opportunity, which in retrospect means that I had probably adopted the mindset of an Entrepreneur at quite an early stage. It was the best move I ever made; I loved the place to bits and ended up staying there until 2010. During this time we generated a huge amount of success, winning records such as ‘best quality in the country’ and this led to us opening a second office in Cardiff, followed by a third in London. By 2009 we had expanded into Poland and eventually things came full circle and I opened up another office back in Southampton in April of 2019.
How has your role changed over the years?
Over the years I suppose I have taken on more of a consulting role, helping business owners around the country with their strategies for development. I wanted to start a family and so that was a big part of returning to Southampton and basing myself there. I made the decision in order to be closer to my parents and began to think about the future in terms of how I wanted my life/work relationship to exist.
I think once you’ve tasted what it’s like to work for yourself, you can’t really imagine going back into regular employment where you’re working for someone else your whole life. This business ticks all the boxes I need: It allows me and my family to live a certain lifestyle, it gives me freedom both financially and in terms of where I want to take the business, and the best thing about it is the way in which the industry allows you to grow alongside your peers. It’s not just about one person reaping the rewards of an entire company’s work, it’s about collaboration - that’s the thing I find most gratifying.
Looking back upon the span of your career, how do you feel about the direction in which it’s taken you?
If I look back over the last 13 years, I never would have imagined that this is where I’d end up. It’s quite an unusual set-up in terms of business structure and the opportunities there are for self-development, so I feel very lucky to have fallen into this line of work, but also proud of myself for taking the reins and dedicating myself to this career. It really has been a combination of ‘stop-gap’ and ‘career’, but has meant that I have been able to find myself through my work and learn as I go.
What would your advice be for new recruits, or people that perhaps haven’t considered a career in Direct Sales before? What would you say to them?
Throw yourself into this! You might not have any idea of where you want it to take you, but that doesn’t matter; as long as you commit to the work and work hard, then the industry is your oyster. It really is a case of getting out of what you put in. By nature of being self-employed, you are our own Boss, which is both a liberating and daunting prospect, depending on which way you look at it. Personally, I find the agency that comes with this line of work incredibly motivating, so I would recommend digging your heels into the work, committing fully to this career and running with it. It essentially comes down to personality type and character traits, so if you’re worried about not having the right CV or the necessary skills to apply, go for it anyway; you can pick up these skills as you go. I would also say don’t let your preconceived notions of the industry or expectations you have for yourself hold you back; I never would have imagined this would be where I ended up, but I am very grateful that I took a chance on this career.
‘We’re looking for optimists. This business is 99% attitude and 1% concrete ability. If someone tells me something isn’t going to work, I will question it and find a way to find a silver lining. Even over the last few months with covid-19, insead of falling into a pit of despair, I naturally will look for new opportunities and I think that’s the key to becoming a successful Entrepreneur - your mindset’
- RICH SNOWDEN -
