faye_gillan

Just wanted to say how naff last nights prgramme was! Why would anyone go to the other side of the world and try to set up a business with no experience or qualifications. After watching the series since the beginning we are finding they are tending to repeat everything throughout the hour, which is very annoying other than showing you different situations!

Fair play to the couple as they both seemed to try very hard - but what a joke to plough all that money in to a sales business when you know nothing about SALES!

Sorry I just was very frustrated at the television last night! He also seemed very annoyed that he couldn't go work for anyone else! I was like well if that was the case everyone with money would "pretend" to set up there own business then work for someone else!

I'm sure there will be plenty posts! But did anyone else feel like this?????

Everytime we watch something about OZ we are getting totally excited and can't wait! Have a nice weekend ! x

brummie bird

That bloke was an idiot, you would try the concept in London first, then do it in Australia, not the other way round.

Even the most uneducated people would know not to tuck a business that relies almost totally on passing trade in a side street!!

This guy was totally unable to think small and build up, spending £300k on set up costs, and when it fails attempt to raise a further MILLION quid to revive it. He just kept saying i want a global business with an internationally recognised trade mark. Dont we all!!!

Then he held a party in the shop loads of alcohol every one pi**ed and his stock got nicked. El Suprise.

I bet the ozzies are having a real laugh at us.

OzTennis

Agreed! They seemed to do this because they met in Sydney for the 2000 celebrations and were trying to rekindle something. I couldn't understand the motives because they said they were doing 'really well' in the UK and they had no experience in retailing. You are right that the conditions for the temporary business visa have to be tight otherwise many more would slip in under the guise of setting up a business and then start working for someone else.

I couldn't understand why they started off with 4 employees, why they spent £1,100 per month on renting a swish pad, why we never saw any customers in the shop, why they located in a quiet backstreet in a building with 4 floors, why when the business was failing he thought the answer was to go global and then off to London to raise £1 mill of venture capital. Would any of you sink £1 into this guy's dreamworld? And what kind of business was it - it seemed to be a cross between Ann Summers, Boots and a new age shop and they didn't have a clue who their target market were.

Well, that will do I could say a lot more but I'll leave it to others. Sydney's loss is Esher's gain??

They said on the program that there were 6 million people in Sydney??? Someone in Sydney can that be right?

OzTennis

So 8 programs - 2 Sydney, 2 Gold Coast, 2 Perth, 1 Melbourne, 1 Bicheno (Tasmania); 2 success stories?

simbacat

Was it only 2 success stories? :scared:

OzTennis

Just my opinion FWIW - the Welsh family in Melbourne and the single parent with 2 children in Perth for me with one or two others 'borderline'. And we only saw up to 6 months after arrival at that!

OzTennis

simbacat

The one with the boating business where the wife set up her own business in hair pieces was a success story so I thought.

OzTennis

This was a separate program not in this series I think?

OzTennis

simbacat

I watched so many of these programs now I don't know which one was in which series anymore.

The Koalas

Agree totaly, but the people who go out and have a go are usually the ones who succeed. He never gave up trying and in 5 years time I bet he will be back there and have a string of succesful shops too.
Doubters never succeed, those who have doubts to start with usualy fail, you have to believe 100'/. it will work and it will.
I had a nervous stomach just watching him but he is back in the UK and is still fighting to be succesful.

Sheffutd

Just wondered last night why he didn't set-up a Marketing Company like he had in London (if it was so successful), instead of blowing £300K on a retail business that they knew nothing about.

With my limited knowledge of retail I could see that you get a small shop in a busy catchment area first, not a 4 storey place on a back street.

Who, no matter how much cash you had would pay £40K per year for rent on a shop on a none retail street, then over £1K per month on a apartment, when trying to start out.

He blew almost £300K, then within the first six months wanted people to invest a further £1m in a business that fails to get off the ground - dream world I think.

The girl annoyed me when she was in tiers - saying she had a busy morning - cleaning the flat, making hair appointments, making dentist appointments and getting coffee for more than one person - now that must be a hard life!

Their ambition didn't stop when they got back - did anyone see the size of house they were renting in Surrey? Not your average sized house for 2 people, plus he wants about 12 shops in the UK within 3 years - nothing like starting small and growing gradually.

young_lad

No, that was the very first in the series.

Incidentally, I changed my money with HIFX recently and they included an A4-size letter of thanks they'd received from a previous customer (to show previous customer satisfaction). I'm sure it was sent from the folks on that first show - it was on notepaper from 'Totally Fishing" or something like that.

trevd72

he ran a marketing company yet missed the marketing 101 lesson on location, location and location as being the three most important things to think of when setting up a business like his.

he started big then went small. learned the hard way i guess.

when they swam with the sharks and he came out of the water with that laugh and look on his face it had us in stitches had to play it back a few times for the hell of it.

they looked hard working and i am sure they will do well, especially after last nights one hour advert. the wife went to their site and it was to busy to get on.

OzTennis

I agree, but only up to a point. Just because someone 'has a go' doesn't mean they are going to be successful at what they do. You have to buy a lottery ticket to have a chance of winning but this doesn't mean you will win a prize. I'm not likening the odds of business success to that of winning the lottery just making a point that this guy won't succeed purely because he gives it a go -how many busineses fail in their first year (over 40% in the UK seems to 'ring a bell')?

The voiceover in the program said that you are 25 times more likely to succeed at starting your own business in Australia compared to the UK.

Only time will tell if he is successful but my feeling is that just because you have the entrepreneurial spirit this doesn't mean you are guaranteed success.

An interesting issue though.

OzTennis

simbacat

I still think some of the things didn't add up in the program. I think the only ones who succeed are the ones who don't live the high-life. You need to be a little more careful with the spending to be successful. I saw my own mother having a really good business and a lifestyle to match it but guess what it didn't last. Not because she didn't have any work anymore but because she spend everything on the luxury lifestyle so when the tax man came there was nothing in the piggy to pay him off. And looking at the guy from last night he wasn't cutting back on life style was he.

OzTennis

Program one was the people from Essex who ended up back in Essex wasn't it? She gave the poor interview at the temping agency and was depressed about the son who went back to his fiance after a week. Success story?

OzTennis