Had to trudge through the emotional stuff as i searched for business tips !
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
A true rags to riches story from a real innovator in the business world. Brought up with very little this boy got himself a paper round and a dream. Duncan Bannatyne wouldn’t settle for being poor like his father, too rigid in his beliefs to dare achieve any better, all Duncan needed was a direction and a purpose
Duncan Bannatynes ‘Anyone Can Do It: My Story’ follows a man on his journey to that better life he always treasured so fondly. This book portrays the true works of an entrepreneur from the very beginning to his current ‘skies the limit’ status.
Duncan was not born with a well laid path to instant fortune, reading this book you discover he didn’t start have much money throughout his youth. Kicked out of the Navy for throwing an officer overboard he spent nine months in a military detention centre. He then enrolled in a college course in fixing cars to try and get back on the straight and narrow and made use of this throughout his early years. Travelling around the country getting bar work for a roof over his head, and fixing vehicles for cash in his pocket, he saw ten years flash before his eyes. Standing in the same 10 year old pair of jeans, as the oldest one of his friends still clubbing the nights away, he took a long look at himself. He was now 30 years old and had built nothing but character. That realization determined the moment his life was about to change.
Repairing vehicles bought at auction, he stumbled across an ice cream van and his business brain gave him an idea. It wasn’t long before the business world had a new competitor, and this one would fight every battle like his life depended on it. Soon he converted a van costing £450 into a business he was able to sell for £28,000. It wasn’t long before he was able to sell a nursing home business for £46 million and amassed a fortune currently estimated at £200 million. Not bad for the 25 year old sleeping on the beach after yet another night on the sauce.
Duncan Bannatyne is shown to be a shrewd businessman that trades on principles as well as monetary values. He negotiates deals exactly how he wants them and doesn’t let anyone misguide him. Perhaps his strong family grounding taught him not to get caught up in his own wave of success. He believes in himself 100% and never lets anyone hold him back or deter him from his goal
Not just an entrepreneur clutching at every penny thrown his way he is also shown to be a very kind and generous man. This book also tells the story of his dedication to his 6 children, the heartache of falling out of love with his wife and the charity work he regularly partakes in throughout Romania. The latter earning him an OBE.
Even though he was a competent after dinner speaker who enjoyed a stint on TV, he never achieved real fame until he appeared on Dragons Den on BBC2. Being a man prepared to sell everything he owned to follow his dream he was only prepared to invest in those also willing to risk it all. Soon Duncan’s stringent approach made him the comical bad guy of the programme. The Simon Cowell of the Dragons Den world if you will.
With Bannatynes Health Clubs, Casinos, Property’s and Bars popping up across the North East, things are only looking up for the paperboy from Clydebank.
I read this book to inspire me to greater things and can genuinely say this achieved my aim. I found small nuggets of gold dotted throughout this book, so perhaps it’s highlighters at the ready time. Duncan Bannatyne really puts his heart and soul into this book and you really get the feel of what makes one great entrepreneur tick. Anyone looking to make a name for themselves in the business world should consider this a must-read. It brings you the dream, the ‘anything is possible’ mentality that makes ordinary folk into something special.
Duncan is hard nosed, passionate, committed and motivated. But above all else he is a regular Joe – a man just living the dream – who doesn’t consider himself anything special, and as the title states, ‘Anyone Can Do It’
Very engrossing, entertaining and inspirational – I highly recommend this book
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