Employer Case Summary Steve Parker-Brown

Steve Parker-Brown - Owner / Managing Director FARGO Scooters Coventry

Mike: Welcome to Coventry University and for taking part in this collaboration. Can you
start by telling us a bit about yourself, what you do, what is your experience in business,
about what role you take and where does it fit in the business?

Steve: Sure, a pleasure to be here. I have been self-employed pretty much all my life, and I
was in financial services in the past, although I started going into forces and serrated
cleaning cars for a living and graduated to selling cars for a living, later I was approached in
financial services and to try it and 27 years later I sold my practice and that was in 2015. I
wanted to make a living out my hobby and that was classic motorbikes and scooters. I
started a little unit at Fargo Village and opened a restoring shop there for classic
motorbikes, Vespa. Second day of opening, Piaggio showed up and asked if they can
become a dealer and initially I said no but then I became a dealer. Since then I gone
independent and we just had our fourth birthday.

Mike: This is interesting. Do you still see it as your hobby, your love?

Steve: Yes, and I learned with time that if you don’t do what you enjoy, you won enjoy every
day of work and if your heart is not in it don’t do it. In the end you won’t be successful.

Mike: One of the important aspects our students have to look at is leadership at whatever
level, can you comment on that?

Steve: Leadership in business is very important, it is a key benefit to a business person if

they can be leaders they become most successful and if they can delegate their business is
less stressful and better. I haven’t been very good at that and I learned, and I delegate now
as you can’t be on your own. Leadership is handling people, and there are certain ways you
do that, you can’t just tell people what to do and only to received feedback if they did
something wrong. The important things is to do give positive feedback and thank them for
this and doing things wrong becomes less rare.

Mike: Can you talk a bit about authority and starts with you- can you talk a bit about that
position?

Steve: There are times where you have to face the customers and explain the situations.
With humans, you have to put you had up and admit and explain your mistakes. There are
times when the pressure is hard, and you must delegate.

Mike: You must like that?

Steve: Yes, I can’t resist it and had the chance to do it but didn’t.
Mike: There must a be a position when you haven’t sold as much as you would’ve wanted in
a specific time and how do you do with that?

Steve: You just carry on. The thing to don’t do is to have a foot in the past and to be too
stressed over the past and future rather than enjoying life and the moments as after a while
you release that it wasn’t as bad you thought at that specific time.

Mike: At the end of the year, do you say we did better than we hoped, or we didn’t do as
good as we hoped – what do you do then? Adjust the plan?

Steve: It’s important to know where you want to be, and you can work on how to get there.
In business you need to measure the things that you’re doing and need to stop doing the
things that aren’t profitable and the ones which are profitable. You need to measure which
is which, so you can know what to apply and what to do

Mike: What do you mean by profit?

Steve: Look at the profit, input, it’s not just money as it’s time too. Make better decisions. If
you get approached by suppliers and like what they are offering be more careful about what
step you take in that direction even more that you with your own money, not borrowed
money and its harder. You can’t measure what you’re doing and how until you’re doing it.
You need to look back if it does better or not – we sold loads of a specific scooter and when
we looked at that very popular scooter the profit margin was too low because of the
competition and the number of dealers that were offering discounts to the point that
almost no profit was left in the vehicle.

Mike: As part of business, how do you view entrepreneurship?

Steve: There are different types of entrepreneurs and it depends but what it links all of
them is being in control of your own life and it’s down to me to be down the way I want it to
be done.

Mike: It’s a level of risk.

Steve: Risk is a part of life and you have to take it.

Mike: You enjoy that?

Steve: Yes, and almost to the point that even yesterday we were closed, and I was there and
picked up the phone and still worked and ordered 3 motorbikes with customers and if these
customers don’t show up and buy them I will be left with them.

Mike: The risk is based on your judgement and see if it was a good judgement or not.

Steve: You need to prove yourself right and you need to have a reserve there as you can’t
take only risks. You need to make sure there’s a way out.

Mike: Change is always part of life, have you found that change is being a good thing?
Steve: Change not always a good thing in life, there’s always a reason for it and you’re not
always in control of that reason. I think change is good, after I sold my practice I was
financially rewarded but unhappy, now, I am less financially rewarded but happier. The
change in business, Brexit, it is daunting, and it can be a good thing.

Mike: Do you find that your customers are the same group, do they change?

Steve: No. In the beginning, as we were mostly scooter and classic scooters focused, with
Coventry’s tradition and The Specials link, the shop was absolutely packed and the whole
Far Gosford street was full of scooters. Practically, things have changed, our product has
changed, the demographic of our customers is very wide now, you got people who are just
walking past the shop, the students, commuters and having 2 wheels rather than 4 is more
fun and economical.

Mike: With your customers is there is a balance between a pragmatism and pure that they
like it, is there?

Steve: We lean towards more they like it, there is something about classic bikes and
scooters, they are pretty, there is not just the matter of going from A to B, but we do have
customers who see us and want this look and buy from us.

Mike: How important is communication in business?

Steve: It’s extremely important in every aspect. We get people who didn’t knew that we
were there, but they get there, and they’ve heard we do a good job. You can’t rely only on
word of mouth, you must make a splash.

Mike: Do you take active steps to advertise as much as you can?

Steve: Yes, we’ve made mistakes in that direction financially. We had Father Christmas
riding a scooter trying to promote our business it takes I fun as well. I got friends which are
very good at raising money for charity by making a fool of themselves, it’s on the radio and
it’ more important than spending money on adverts. It’s far more effective. Communication
with staff, you must give feedback as you can’t just assume they know what you want from
them.

Mike: The last question is about the future, your view of the future and putting it in the
context of external influences, internal, opportunities, and potential barriers?

Steve: As an entrepreneur I am looking to the future now more than ever, and I’m leaning
towards the uncertain future this country has because I think if we steer right we can make
most of it, and I’m not one of these people to talk about the good old days as they weren’t
that good anyway, but I think if we have it in mind, anything is possible. The future is good
as long as you got your health, a sense of humour, I tell my staff, take your job serious and
take yourselves seriously too. Tremendous opportunities I see for the future, massive
opportunities, just need to have the eyes open so you can spot them. Whatever happens in
the future, still in Europe or not, the only I think it would change in the future is having
regulations for the sake of regulations and it’s a massive impediment to businesses. I don’t
like regulations that don’t make sense and I am against regulations if it’s not good. There
are people in the news now whose businesses are suffering badly, and they are that fees,
level of rent are a hindrance. This country has a great potential and there aren’t bad people
and we just need to be given a change.

Mike: Thank you. Your message is that if you go into business, you have to be positive, see
the cup half full because that’s in the nature.

Steve: It’s a good analogy to say the cup half full because there are bad days and you can be
extremely negative, but you have to make of the way if comes out especially to the staff. I
learned over the years, when young, you worry that your life will be over and wats the point
in 5+ years. I was thinking that in the year 2000 I will be 36 and will be an old man, but when
you’re 30 yore still young, and I say to this young lad that I work with, who is 20, you can
have full success and lose everything an in 5 years come back and do it again over and over
again, if there are opportunities just take them because even you fail at least you tried.

Mike: Do you say that opportunities come, or you make them yourself?

Steve: They definitely come but I think you make them yourself too and is the same with
luck. There is a guy I know who enjoys life the way it is without knowing how much money
he has, but he enjoys life, and says to me that if you think lucky will be lucky, that’s not
always right but it’s a good idea.

Mike: Do you have a question for our students to consider in writing their assignments?

Steve: Yes: based on the fact that it is vital that you have your foundations right when in
business, especially when starting, what do you think those foundations are?

Mike: Thank you very much.