Wayne Hemingway, co-founder of Red or Dead and HemingwayDesign, addressed an audience at Alliance Manchester Business School at the second Entrepreneurs@Manchester speaker series in which he talked about his entrepreneurial journey and the lessons he has learnt from business.
Wayne said that his one piece advice for potential entrepreneurs was to invest in something that you ‘really believe in’ and that has been the keystone of all of his business plans. He told the audience that ultimately ‘if you believe in things, then you have a great chance of succeeding.’
He told the audience that his businesses grew as quickly as they did due to a network of family support and told keen entrepreneurs that it is important to have the support of friends and family. His father suggested improvements to his business model and his mother left her role and recruited her friends to assist him in his ventures.
He advocated that it is very important to really know the customer’s reactions to products, which can be ‘difficult to gauge’ on the internet. Instead, he told entrepreneurs to really try and connect with customers face to face and to be able to consult with them on future designs which can create a very loyal customer base that can be built upon as the company grows.
Speaking about his current design company, he said that ‘we are an issue-based design company, that’s what we have done all of our life is design around issues’ and called on students at the Business School to create wealth responsibly for the good of society.
Wayne Hemingway was speaking at the Entrepreneurs@Manchester speaker series organised by Manchester Enterprise Centre and supported by A2E industries.
