Dave Fishwick, one of the World’s Best Customer Service Speakers, made history when he redefined British banking. In his interview with Brighton Journal, Dave explored his journey into business, from humble beginnings to opening Bank of Dave. Learn Dave’s unique approach to entrepreneurship in our Q&A.
How did your journey into business start?
“I’ve never been to school or anything. I’ve not been to business school, college, or university because when I left school, I left school absolutely useless. I didn’t have the price of a chip butty. I had no qualifications whatsoever, and I couldn’t get into college or university because my parents needed me to work to contribute.
“So, that’s where I went, 16 years old, straight onto a building site as a builder’s labourer, on less than £30 a week, which was the YTS back then, the Youth Training Scheme. So, I was there, up and down ladders, a bucket of cement in each hand, working really hard, 10–12-hour days, for less than a tenner a day. That’s how life started. How do you turn nothing into something?
“I think this is a really good question. I wanted to get involved in cars. I loved cars. I mean, I didn’t have enough for petrol. So, how do you start a business with nothing? Think outside the box. If I go around all the car garages selling newish cars, they will have really old ones in part exchange. Perhaps one of them will let me take one away and sell it for them?
“I tried loads until I found one that did. The garage is still there today, and he let me take an old car away, clean it up and bring him back an organised amount of money. He wanted £70 in return. Now, this was 35 years ago, so £70 was still an amount of money, but he trusted me.
“So, I took it away, cleaned it up, sold it, and advertised it for 100 quid. I got £97 for it, which was 27 quid profit, even with my bad Burnley maths. And 27 quid back then was almost a week’s wages. So, I thought, Eureka! I went straight back to the guy’s house and paid him the £70. ‘Can I do it again?’ Of course, you can; you paid me.’
“I did it again and again and again until I learned another important lesson, which is, once you’ve got enough money upfront, you can negotiate a much better deal. That’s how the business empire started.”
What inspired you to create your community bank?
“Well, late in 2008-early 2009, my minibus customers were coming to me as they had done for years and wanted finance for the bus. I used to fill out the forms and send them off to the local bank, and the banks would then give me the money, and the customer would get the bus.
“But guess what? That all stopped, and it stopped overnight. The banks just stopped lending to the customers, and I thought, ‘Have I done something wrong? Do they have a problem?’
“You know what? They did nothing wrong. The banks literally stopped giving money out. So, I thought, either I stop selling minibuses, which would be a problem as I’m the largest supplier of minibuses in the country, or I can lend them the money. They pay me back; they get the bus. We’ll try that.
“So that’s what I did, and you know what? People and businesses paid me back. There’s nothing wrong with the Great British public in this country. The problem is with the banks. So, I thought, okay, can I make things bigger? Can I then start lending to other businesses unrelated to the minibus business?
“Well, I started lending money to people; they started paying me back, and I thought, this banking malarkey, it’s not that difficult! That’s why I set off on this challenge, and it proved to be a huge one.”
What can businesses learn from your community-first approach to banking?
“One of the things I like to discuss in my speeches is how people can learn to communicate better. If you can communicate better, you will increase your net worth significantly. I can teach you how to communicate. I had no skills when I started, but I can teach you how to make this happen.
“Communicating is super important. Most people are stuck in a box; they do everything themselves. For instance, if you’re a hairdresser, you’re sweeping up, cleaning up, taking all the phone calls, cutting people’s hair, doing the perms, doing the account, you’re doing everything.
“I’d like to come along and teach people how to step outside the box, look inside, and see where things are going wrong or where things can be done better or differently. Then, I can help you move on to the second, third, and fourth business rather than being stuck in the first one.
“That’s the big answer to this question: learning to step outside the box and seeing how you can then move on to the second because the faster I can make you redundant in that first business, the quicker I can get you onto the second, third, fourth, and you become a multi-business company.
“I started with one business, and now I’ve got six. I built six multi-million-pound businesses from scratch in all different departments, you know, from property to media to banking to vehicles to leasing to buying land and leasing it out.
“The big one is in America. It’s an investment company. I’m self-taught, and that’s the biggest thing I’ve got. I can teach you to do it in this country or two and a half thousand miles away. The choice is yours.”
This exclusive interview with Dave Fishwick was conducted by Jack Hayes.
