An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Once you have launched you have to give yourself time — why? Because it takes time for your customers to understand your brand, product and to gain a level of trust before they purchase. Rarely is an idea an overnight sensation! This is important for your funding and for what you focus on after launch. Idea to launch is only one part of the journey. Running and growing your business requires more patience and money!

As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Richard Sharman.

Chief Bag Carrier at Gladstn London, Richard Sharman exhibits a profound appreciation for uncompromised quality craftsmanship and a strong eye for elegant, timeless design. The iconic British brand specializes in luxe, impeccably made bags, the perfect companion for one’s daily journeys.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?

My late mother, who was a strong role model for me, was told I was a lucky baby just before she was discharged early from Hospital on the grounds I cried so much! My early years consisted of growing up in a quintessential English Cotswolds village, the sort visited by many overseas tourists each year. My childhood could be best described as: study, sports, fashion and my brother, Christopher.

My younger brother, Christopher was diagnosed as mentally handicapped. Throughout my childhood I began to understand responsibility and vulnerability. My bond with him is very strong and he has always helped ground me and to appreciate the things he struggles with on a daily basis that many of us take for granted.

Reflecting on my childhood two things stood out — my passion and dedication to sport (sadly not quite as much to study) and learning to be prepared to win and lose. I learnt so much from this period of my life through achievement but also as much from my mistakes. There have been a few close calls! However from an early age I was always interested in business and set up my first little venture cleaning cars to earn some money! I also had a love for travel. I was always excited to visit new places on holiday and I have been fortunate in my career to combine business with travel and view the world. That’s where my love of bags comes from!

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Not everyone in life has the opportunity to be stressed by the potential to achieve exceptional things” [unattributed].

This has guided me throughout my life. Do your best with what you have and where you are. Don’t waste your talents and sit on the side-lines. Always want to play on the field. Throughout my career I have always had the confidence to back myself which has not always been easy, particularly in difficult times. If you work hard and are dedicated to your cause — whatever it is — then there is a chance you may have the opportunity to achieve exceptional things. Please don’t waste it or expect someone else to earn it for you. It’s easy to sit on the side lines in life and comment on others. It’s much more difficult and stressful to be on the field in the game. I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

I am not a big reader or listener of podcasts. My reading and learning has always been work focused and I find it difficult to read for pleasure! My daily read has always been the Financial Times and now The Business of Fashion & Luxury Briefing. So let me choose a film! So many that have had an impact. If I have to choose one it would be Top Gun (the first one!). A film that resonated for me in many ways as I was growing up. Style, glamour, aspiration, teamwork, skill, resilience, achievement, sadness and just so amazingly cool! A great piece of entertainment for being in the game and not on the side lines.

There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?

The diving board moment! I know I can jump (the idea) but what happens when I do (business). This is never an easy thing to do and from my own business experience it took a long time to do, perhaps to long. So how can we overcome it?

Firstly don’t beat yourself up for not doing it but ask yourself ‘do I have a passion for my idea or is it just a good idea?’. Do I want to play in the game with my idea or am I happy to be on the side lines watching someone with a similar idea? Often great ideas don’t have the passion to execute attached to them. I think that’s why we find it easier to watch someone else hesitate on the diving board rather than putting ourselves in that position. Confidence to back yourself, having the courage to say ‘I am going for this’, and if I am wrong, I will make a change and still be fine as well as a passion to find a result will give you energy to jump. Running a business is just like jumping off the diving board, it takes true character!

So I am going to do it! But before you do, have a plan and test whether it can work. The will to win should never be as great as the will to prepare to win. Ask family, friends, colleagues for advice, test your idea on them, sketch out a plan and think of as many of the things that can go wrong and ask yourself how would you overcome them. You can never plan for everything but its easier to jump in if you have thought through the worst that can happen.

Finally look after yourself mentally and keep an-open mind on the journey. Translating your idea into business is like having a child. You can take great confidence from your achievement but be as flexible as possible for what happens next. It will get passionate and personal and you will find growing your business is nurturing your child. Your passion, love for and attention to detail of what you are doing really become valuable.

Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?

Never waste anything! The simplest of ideas and routine detail is often over looked. Someone else may have had the idea before you but they may not have been inspired by it or had the passion or courage to execute it. So research thoroughly even it it results in an outcome you were not expecting. So how?

I would recommend researching your idea by looking at it as problem that needs solving. The trick is to solve the problem creatively by looking at it from many angles. As if you were viewing an object by walking completely around it observing new details from different angles.

Keeping asking yourself ‘so what?’. For example, it may be nice but who needs it? What’s the benefit for the customer? Is it solving a need in society? Can it be made? Can it be communicated so people understand it? Who’s doing it now and in what form? Does the world need another? Would I use it? Do I feel a passion for it? …….That way you start to build up a 3D researched picture of your idea and where it stands. Research then take a break. Then come back to it and look at new angles and detail. Your picture will evolve to a point that gives you enough confidence to make a decision either way. For some this is very quick, for others it takes longer!

For the benefit of our readers can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.

There is a lot to cover here but I like to keep things simple. I think of idea to launch and the steps required in three ways — Brand; Product; Customer Journey.

Brand — Some important steps. You have to create a brand story for your idea/product and the business. Your customers need to understand who you are, what you do and the story behind you and the idea. This has to be both simple and personal. Where I see many making mistakes is thinking this is just about a brand logo and off we go!

Product — Firstly absolutely register and protect your IP and brand. My advice is to use a specialist lawyer to guide you through the process as it depends on the jurisdiction you are in but it’s a wise up-front investment. If someone else has done it before or has something similar to your idea and brand here is where you will find out before you have spent lots of dollars on production!

Sourcing a good manufacturer is trial and error and a game of patience. Allow plenty of time in your launch plan for this! Understand first which is the best country in which to manufacture. It’s not just about cost — it’s a balance with quality. That’s why I would work hard to build relationships with your shortlisted manufacturers. There is no substitute for visiting them as you have to sell your brand story to them as much as they have to sell their quality and production capability to you. If it’s not possible to visit, use technology to get to know them.

Always sample! This is where you get to see the quality and also look to improve or make changes to your idea. This is one of the most valuable steps before you commit $ to production. Finally, continue to invest in the relationship with each other. Unless you own your manufacturing capability there will always be other businesses purchasing their production time so make sure they like you and understand where your brand and business is going.

Customer Journey — The importance of seeding! Steps here are all about making visible your idea and testing it with potential customers before you launch. For example it could involve early promotion, customer groups, using the product yourself, early conversations with retailers to get their feedback. This has to be done first — it’s not ‘here is my product now buy it’!

The retailer relationship should be just like your manufacturer, it’s a partnership. Same process. Where do you want to retail first given your potential target customers? Identify a prioritised shortlist that sit comfortably with your brand and work from the top to approach them. If you don’t have any relationships with a particular retailer research who is who and contact them. If you know someone who does, ask for an introduction. Again this takes time so start in the seeding process or earlier, don’t wait until the product is finished — use your samples! If you can visit the retailer to see what similar products are being sold to understand is there a gap for your product. Be very flexible with how your product is retailed in the beginning. The retailers are taking a risk on your brand first time so be realistic and flexible with your arrangement. If your idea sells, the relationship will work and benefit both parties over time.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why?

1. The conversations when things don’t work are often the most valuable — why? Because real time they can be frustrating and disheartening and test your resilience. However the result is they always encourage you or others to think differently and often through necessity come up with new ideas that work out better in the end. Learn to like these conversations!

When I first led the company everyone told me we had to do our own pop-up store. We examined it and found it was expensive and high risk. As a result of difficult economics and not being convinced of its short term value I decided a better path was to identify our preferred wholesalers and look to see if we could do a pop up with them, which we did!

2. Make risk based decisions early rather than getting excited by new things and wasting money — why? It’s very easy when you first launch your business to be told by experts or third-parties you have to do things a certain way or to a certain standard because that’s what expected if you want to compete, particularly in my case in the luxury industry. It’s also easy to spend time and money on new and exciting things the business may not need at that point in its life. If you are a small business you can get distracted, make mistakes and waste money on things you don’t really need! You will always have to accept trade-offs in your decision making so try and get in the habit of doing it early.

The investment we made in out very first website was limited. We were advised as a retailer we had to use one of the major brand platforms and on day one needed certain digital capability. As the brand has evolved this was right but not at the very beginning of our journey from launch. Our designs were still new and our brand not well known. We invested differently and built a simple site with strong visual content but limited capability to start with. It was more an on-line catalogue than a fully functioning website. A trade off we were aware off and we tried not to get distracted by a shiny new website!

3. Everything takes longer to execute than you think or you are told — why? Because as humans we like to please and often underestimate things. It’s clear in recent years we live in a world more dominated by external forces and more competition which means things may take longer to deliver than you agree to. This is really important in your business and financial planning. I have found that adding an extra 25% to timescales , costs etc is a really simply way of factoring this into the business. If it takes less time and costs less than budgeted, that’s great!

Our very first packaging order was late! We had planned it to arrive in a particular window based on a committed delivery schedule to coincide with the delivery of product. Unfortunately it arrived a month late and taught me very early to have a plan B which we did for a month until it arrived. A combination of quality and external factors led to it’s late arrival.

4. Don’t get distracted, you can’t do everything — why? Because when you launch you will be competing against others who have more or less resources than you do. It’s easy to be distracted by what others do rather than having the focus and discipline to execute your own priorities. As a leader it’s always a series of trade-offs and getting comfortable with and regularly reviewing what you are focusing on and what you are not is important for your own sanity! Some things have to be well thought-through and executed whilst others may be experiments with a different expectation and outcome.

When we first launched the business I had an idea to develop the Gladstn London Exchange where our customers could buy and sell any bags through our platform. It’s an idea we have since developed and will be launching in the future. However I tried to do this on launch alongside our core business of designing and making beautiful bags. It taught me not to get distracted and try to do to much to soon. I learnt to focus on our core business and not spread ourselves too thinly too soon.

5. Once you have launched you have to give yourself time — why? Because it takes time for your customers to understand your brand, product and to gain a level of trust before they purchase. Rarely is an idea an overnight sensation! This is important for your funding and for what you focus on after launch. Idea to launch is only one part of the journey. Running and growing your business requires more patience and money!

Having learnt this I think about the business in two ways — maintenance and momentum.

Making sure we are investing our time and money into both in differing amounts depending on where we are in the business cycle. Maintenance is continuing to run and invest in

activities that keep the business running. Momentum activities move the brand forward in new areas, collaborations, product etc.

Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?

If you only do one thing it’s this — ask yourself ‘am I inspired by the idea and do I have the passion to execute it with the help of others?’. Make a conscious decision, even if you decide not to take any further steps. Don’t just dismiss the idea because you think someone else must have thought of it before or wish you had considered it carefully when someone else does do it. In other words don’t sit on the sidelines, play on the field — however briefly — to make your decision. If you are not true to yourself at this step it will show in your future work.

If you are inspired and have the passion work at cause not affect — by this I mean set yourself some research objectives, put yourself under pressure, take some actions, be flexible rather than just waiting to see what happens. Research your idea as if it’s a problem that needs solving and keep testing your picture until you have a level of confidence or not to go further.

The previous steps very often don’t have to cost much money but they do have to involve a serious application of time and emotion. As a third step bring your passion and research together in a ‘what to do next plan’ with an idea of costs that need to be funded. Here it starts to get real for you and the idea. Can both be given the time and money to launch the idea into a product and then a business? Very often I see entrepreneurs struggle with this step. Here more than ever I would ask for help.

There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?

Try and strike out on your own — you can’t outsource your own individual inspiration and passion for others to own.

What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?

For me the answer is try both if you can. I would always start with some form of bootstrapping however small to follow my passion. You need to put some skin in the game! Even if at a minimum it’s funding yourself to take the time to really decide you want to do it and researching it carefully to underwrite the business plan and funding requirement. Having also been an investor I have seen many “conceptual” proposals with idea owners not being in the detail enough but asking for funding. Where ideas require large funds to test and refine or funds to take a business to a next level of growth, then external funding plays a very important role.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

The answer is not enough yet and this is a good reminder that I have more I want to do. For me personally helping others learn and develop and become future leaders and entrepreneurs is very important to growth in the world. Too often the focus is on money rather than skills and human capital.

If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

A growth movement — Very simply to create an accessible marketplace where people who want to develop new ideas can come and access free time and funds from business leaders around the world who can help them execute their passion. Each year business leaders with different skills and experience sign up and pledge a certain amount of their time. Those who need help can come on the platform and access it — coaching on real opportunities. A movement of new ideas to launch to help more people establish businesses and stimulate growth rather than us continuing to rely to heavily on large corporate organisations to deliver future global growth.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

That’s a difficult question! As Chief Bag Carrier of Gladstn London it would be great to have a private breakfast or lunch with the Chief Twit — Elon Musk. Why? Because here is an individual who can teach so much & help so some many because he only plays on the field. Like any successful individual or company he divides the crowd but just imagine what we would not have had if he’d decided to sit on the sidelines. I’d also love to chat through putting a bag into space!

IG HANDLE: @GLADSTONIAN

WEB: https://www.gladstnlondon.com

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.


Making Something From Nothing: Richard Sharman Of GLADSTN LONDON On How To Go From Idea To Launch was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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