James Murray-Wells:
Glasses Direct
by Christine Toner

Anyone who ever said being young can hinder your chances of success has obviously never met 22-year-old James Murray-Wells. It was looking at the business world through the eyes of a student that gave him the idea for his business - Glasses Direct. Since then he hasn't looked back. James has come from nowhere and taken the world of optometry by storm.

Curiosity Leads to Entrepreneurship
James was studying at the West of England University in Bristol when he discovered he needed reading glasses. So he visited his nearest high street optician and was disgusted when he found out his glasses, "essentially some wire and two pieces of glass," cost £150. To a student like James, £150 was a half-month's rent!

At the time, James was studying English and intended to go on to study law. However, his natural curiosity led him to investigate why a pair of glasses should cost so much money. He called manufacturers across the country in an attempt to find out how much it actually costs to produce a pair of glasses, but to no avail — nobody would talk to him.

Ever persistent, James carried on until a laboratory worker finally spilled the beans. "He talked me through the industry," says James. "And it turned out that my £150 pair of glasses probably only cost about £7 to make."

Birth of an Idea
Despite having revisions to do for his finals, James became fascinated with the eyeglasses industry. With more research, he discovered he could make and sell glasses for a fraction of the price they were being sold on the high street. This is when the idea for Glasses Direct was born.

Using the final instalment on his student loan and some additional financial backing from family and friends, James set up a website selling prescription glasses for less than half the price they were being sold by the major opticians. "An average pair of glasses is manufactured for less than £7," he says. "So if I charged just over double, even with advertising and overheads, I could still make a profit."

Attitude Makes the Difference
Although James hadn't studied business, he knew he his idea was good enough to work. "I had no formal business training at all," he comments. "I believe a business education is not necessary to start or run a successful business. What is necessary is a great idea, loads of enthusiasm for the product and the customer, and some guts to make it happen."

Within the first year, Glasses Direct had sold 22,000 pairs of spectacles. By 2005, the company had a turnover of £1 million, and James predicts that to soon triple to £3 million and reach £10 million by 2008. "We believe that the customer is king and that our glasses are the best thing we've ever seen on the net," James proclaims.

Typically, James credits his success to hard work rather than luck. "Sheer hard work and determination by great people shapes a business much more than luck." he states. "I surrounded myself with the best people I could find: a media team that journalists admired, an experienced accountant, top opticians, a former chairman of a PLC, high-level retail programmers — and then we worked hard."

And he's been rewarded in many ways. In 2005, James won the Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year award, picking up £10,000 in prize money and even more media recognition.

Patience Pays Off
Now with his business an obvious success, James is looking for investment from venture capitalists and it seems there is a queue of people waiting to invest. "We've literally been getting new calls from potential investors every day," James says.

However, James remains aware that his age may leave him open to bad deals and advises budding Managing Directors to be cautious. "Young entrepreneurs should be aware that venture capitalists have their own agenda and own exit strategies, which will not necessarily tie in with your plans."

James believes organisations like Shell LiveWIRE and the Prince's Trust are a better place for young people to get support. He says, "The government offers an unsecured loan guarantee scheme up to £250,000 which is infinitely preferable to giving away equity, which, at the end of the day, is all you've got as an owner of a business."

So what is his advice to budding entrepreneurs? Strangely enough, for the boy who has seen success come at a phenomenal rate, it is to be patient. "Everything takes longer than you expect," James explains. "As an entrepreneur, you want to do everything and anything right now, and sometimes you have to wait. Allow realistic time spans and assign realistic deadlines, even to yourself."