How did you become a writer?
In 2003 I negotiated the sale of our family business to a PLC. It was an intimidating experience which I was totally unprepared for. Leading a team forward and motivating them to achieve great things is very different from selling the business and the people in it. The very idea made me feel like a Judas. Looking for guidance, I realised there were few books that explained what was involved in layman's terms or how to succeed. Without the help of one man, an incredibly professional advisor I found by accident it would have been a disaster. He guided me through the process, constantly stopping me from making silly mistakes. Without his guidance I would have sold for a much lower price or possibly failed to sell at all.
I decided to write about how to sell a company to help others in the same situation but had no writing experience. My wife suggested a correspondence course for creative writing and I signed up. One of the first assignments was to get a letter published in a woman's magazine. I felt silly writing it but the exercise and the other lessons that followed did the trick. The first edition of 'Exit Strategy - A practical guide to selling your business' was published as a paperback in 2006. A second edition and eBook versions have followed.
What's the first story you ever wrote?
An embarrassing tale titled 'Birth of a Salesman' based on my own experiences. At the time, I was very proud of it and sent the first three chapters to a well know writer asking for his opinion. I was expecting a reply congratulating me on my style and wit. What I got was a lesson that brought me down to earth. He wrote back saying, 'I was writing rubbish and should stop immediately.' Fortunately he went on to add some more practical advice including my favourite, that you should write a piece, leave it to ferment for a few days, go back to it and cut, cut, cut. Since then I have reworked 'Birth of a Salesman' and published it in 2012.
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