'Foolish' Small Business Idea: Spotted potential for mobile phones in the consumer marketplace.
Start-up Capital: Savings of £6,000.
How small business idea was launched: Put an ad in the Evening Standard. Did business over the phone at first, working from a flat on London's Marylebone Road.
Sales: Opened first Carphone Warehouse UK shop within a year. There are now over 180 branches of Carphone Warehouse in the UK and 160 overseas.
Earnings: Charles has a half share of the company profits which last year were about £20million.
Charles Dunstone worked for the Japanese electronics company, NEC. When he got transferred to their mobile phone division as a sales manager, he began to see the potential of selling mobiles to the consumer market place.
He left NEC, and using £6,000 of savings, he hired three staff and started up Carphone Warehouse uk.
From an advert he placed in the Evening Standard, orders came in by phone. He knew a few people in the business who could supply him and within the first year, Charles and his three staff moved from working at a flat in Marylebone Road to opening the first Carphone Warehouse uk Shop.
Charles's goal was to establish himself as an honest broker who would recommend the best and most cost-effective mobile phones based on people's needs. This commitment paid off when his company secured a concession to sell mobile phones at Harrods. While the profits were not high initially, the partnership with such a prestigious retailer provided the company with significant credibility. Every day, Charles wakes up early to review the pricing of all their competitors, ensuring that his company stays one step ahead in the competitive mobile phone market.
He puts the success down to:
Giving top quality service, good value offers, good ads, location of shops and coming up with exciting new ideas to impress customers. Charles spends a lot of his time with people in networks and supplies negotiating good deals for his customers. Selling mobiles has paid off for Charles Dunstone, company profits (around yr2000) were about £20million, of which he has a half share.