Willie’s Chocolate Factory
April 9th, 2009 by hbourneI settled down under my fleece blanket last night to watch a bit of telly and who should appear on my screen but the real life Willy Wonka. I am of course referring to Willie Harcourt-Cooze who is all at once; brilliantly bonkers; entrepreneurial and energetic; father of three; chocoholic; oh and a good cook.
If you’ve seen any of his programmes on Channel Four you’ll see that he is singlehandedly trying to revolutionise the chocolate market with his wares made from Venezualan cocoa beans.
Last night he had to deal with big decisions about the direction of his company and also with a container load of cocoa beans turning up which, after 24 hours of unloading them, he realised were the wrong ones. His were in Japan. No documentary about an entrepreneur would be complete without some tale of mishap!
It made me wonder about the way his kids would view entrepreneurship. It’s well documented that you are more likely to be an entrepreneur if you know one. I myself grew up in a family of entrepreneurs and know quite a few cousins and friends of the family who have also gone on to run their own ventures, I’m sure partly as a result of seeing the advantages of running your own business. Seeing someone forging their own path, having the flexibility to make decisions and earning money on their own terms can be hugely influential.
For many of us Dragon’s Den or buying from local tradespeople is as close as we get to meeting entrepreneurs – which is why Make Your Mark has a bank of 500+ entrepreneurs who go into schools and colleges, talk at events and do interviews with the media. I’m not saying everyone should be an entrepreneur but at least if you’ve met a few you might consider it. If you would like an entrepreneur to get involved in your event or initiative please do get in touch – email emma@makeyourmark.org.uk – and if you do receive a visit from one do please come back and tell us all about it!
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