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Gregor
Sokalski
University of Chicago GSB,
MBA
1999
gsokals@gsbalum.uchicago.edu |
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Company name:
Moxie
Restaurants Ltd.
Company website:
www.moxie.co.uk
Founded:
June 2004
Current
Revenues: £3,800/Week (10%/week sales growth)
Number of
employees: 10
Age of
entrepreneur (now/at foundation): 31 / 30
How did you fund
the company?: £220K in equity
from industry investors, friends & family. £100K in government guaranteed debt. |
EC: Briefly
describe the product or service your company provides.
GS:
High quality food take-away store in the city of London.
Stone baked Moxie flatbread made from scratch each day on site.
Fresh tossed salads. All meals assembled upon order. Very
high volume assembly line kitchen copied from Chicago chain.
EC: What is
your role in the company? How many people in your founding team
and what are their roles?
GS:
Managing Director / CEO.
One founder.
EC: Current
stage of development:
GS:
Operating five
days per week. Working towards breakeven.
EC: What do
you consider your greatest achievement?
GS:
Personal, professional and mental survival.
EC: What do
you wish you could do over again knowing what you know now?
GS:
-
Never open a retail store in London
in early June.
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Make sure the product is 100%
perfect from day one.
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Raise more money than you think you
need.
EC: What do
you find the most satisfying about your life as an entrepreneur?
GS:
-
Having something that is 100% my
creation that incorporates five of the things I love most in the
world: Food, Art, Music, Architecture & People.
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The challenge of doing better today
than I did yesterday.
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The knowledge that I have made it
this far.
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Owning a business with tremendous
potential.
-
Knowing that I am personally
responsible for my own fate.
EC: What is
the hardest part of daily life as an entrepreneur?
GS:
Knowing that I am
personally responsible for my own fate. Not going on a real
vacation for over two years.
EC: Would you
do it all over again?
GS:
Absolutely! There is no purer form of business than starting your
own company from nothing more than an idea, without a penny.
EC: Do you
have any words of advice for students from the IESE MBA that are
considering starting their own businesses after graduation?
GS:
-
Pursue something you love, don't
just write a
£1,000,000,000
plan, your heart won't be in it.
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Surround yourself with people that
know more than you do.
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The commitment required is huge!
In the short term, this will take 3x the effort and 3x the time for
50% of your expected result.
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Don't worry about the competition.
Do your thing and do it as well as you possibly can.
-
Clearly separate work from
pleasure. Have hobbies. Challenge yourself outside of
work. If you are open minded in life, you will be a better
entrepreneur.
-
Do not, under any circumstances,
give up on your dreams.
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