About the Book
When I
started, or at least co-founded, a small sales promotion agency called
Marketing Principles in Oxford 20 years ago, I had no idea about the dramas
that would ensue, or the mixture of fun and games and pain and heartache that
could be telescoped into 12 short years.
I needed to
get a lot of this off my chest for cathartic and purely selfish reasons, but in
doing so, and in my current role as small business advisor/coach/mentor/NEC, I
realised along the way that the lessons learned might be instructive as well as
just entertaining, which is where it originally started.
The title is
taken from the scurrilous in-house ‘newsletter’ our creative department took to
compiling a couple of time a year, to debunk any of our employees who… oh, just
anyone who worked for us (including me).
We begin the
journey in 1985. The key protagonists
(at the beginning) all have gainful employment at another local agency, and on
the face of it should be content with their lot. But then this thing
called ambition comes knocking, and a 12-year roller coaster ride begins.
For more
information on my description of a small-business start-up through growth and
contraction, to eventual trade sale, visit The Unprincipled where you
can also order the book via PayPal, if the spirit moves you.
Described by
one reader as part memoir, part business handbook, part comic novel, it will, I
believe, strike a chord with anyone who has ever run or been part of a small
business, and will certainly be useful to anyone who aspires to do so.
For 15 years David worked in marketing
departments of various corporations and international companies, in support of
direct sales forces. For the next 5
years, he moved to the agency side of the fence and worked in sales
promotion/direct marketing/ advertising; then set up his own ‘through-the-line’
consultancy in Oxford, which he ran for 13 years, before selling out to an
American multi-national. As an agency head, he necessarily has in-depth
experience of most business sectors, both FMCG and B2B.
His marketing experience is overlaid with
general management experience, having founded and grown a small consultancy
business from scratch to a £6million turnover with 40 employees. The Unprincipled is his unvarnished account of the roller coaster ride that was his 12-year business in marketing services - Marketing Principles (www.theunprincipled.com)
He is
currently working as an independent coach/mentor/advisor in the
small/medium-size business sector, specialising in helping the MD/Owners of a
wide variety of businesses in very different market sectors to grow and improve
their businesses’ performance and profitability.
He works with business owners to help them
achieve their personal and business goals, generally in one of three distinct
areas: general growth strategies and
plans; franchising as a specific means of achieving rapid business growth; and
exit strategies.
He also works as a marketing specialist – de
facto marketing manager – for some clients, developing marketing plans and
strategies, and more importantly implementing them. As a marketing services
business owner, he knows how to get things done as well as what needs to be
done.
His strong belief is that the principles of
marketing and business management remain the same, no matter what the product
or market sector (his business was called Marketing Principles, and his book,
“The Unprincipled” documents its roller-coaster 15-year history), though
obviously his experience of the service sector gives him a particular edge
there.
He is a strong team player (a zillion years ago,
he played rugby football for Saracens for 10 years, and believe he still holds
their all-time points-scoring record.)
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