We may receive commissions for affiliate links included in this article. This is a sponsored post. Future Sharks makes no warranties about the statements, facts and/or claims made on this article. These are the opinions of the author. Read our advertising and contributor disclosure here.
City where you’re from: London
Hobbies: Taekwondo, Running/building businesses
Favorite quote: “Live life. Don’t just pass time.”
Social accounts (Twitter): Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Medium
What are you working on?
Richard Moore: I’m an investor in small businesses so I’m spending much of my time consulting with startups in the $0-$250k range. I have most impact there as I focus on action and commercialization. This allows me to get a good view of if I want to invest in the business or not.
How did you come up with this idea?
Richard Moore: I always invested in companies on the stock market, but found I preferred working with ones where I knew I had a good understanding of how they were working. So I decided to sit as an advisor to startups, so I could ‘peer in’ to businesses more. This not only gave me a better view of candidates to invest in but also allowed me to have an impact on those businesses that I put my time and other resources into.
How is your company different?
Richard Moore: It’s clear that many startup business ‘coaches’ don’t have much skin in the game. There’s a lot of advice flying about that is often just rehashed from books or common sense. That’s fine, but where my clients win is in working with someone that has actually been in the trenches. I’ve spent almost two decades in this space and directly built businesses of my own as well as help grow and coach leaders in multi-million dollar and higher companies. This is why I have corporates up to and including 9-figure businesses in London that have me as a consultant to their sales and leadership teams.
What’s your dream with your company?
Richard Moore: To keep bringing great value to those with incredible ideas that need help getting off the ground.
How do you creatively advertise?
Richard Moore: I’m a big content producer. I have blog posts and a lot of value-led content on my platforms each day. I’m also a contributor to Influencive.com. One of the main things I’m known for is my weekly Live Q&As on Facebook. My Startup Business Q&A is every Monday at 1pm London time and has been running over a year now with literally hundreds of questions being answered. The Sales Q&A is every Thursday at 1pm London time and focuses on pure sales. Further to this, my team works Facebook ads to get the most from the audience beyond my organic reach.
What’s the one skill an entrepreneur should hone?
Richard Moore: Sales. Without a doubt, one of the main reasons why I’ve been successful with my four businesses and my clients have done so well is because I understand sales, having made millions in the 2000s through selling different products in the City. With sales, you always know you can generate more money if needed and never worry about waiting for the next paycheck… you write them yourself!
What were your biggest failure and biggest success? What did you learn from them?
Richard Moore: Biggest failure would have been my first Facebook ad campaign. I spent thousands and didn’t get the basics right. I learnt a lot of lessons doing that and as a result became very strong in that space. Biggest success would have been my corporate consulting business. I never expected to be able to make more money than when I had my “9 to 5” job in the City. But I remember when I was first being paid $500 a day, then $1,000 a day, then $1,500 a day and so on. It was crazy. But I knew I was worth it and the value I gave produced a serious return on investment. Moreover, they kept inviting me back so I knew I was making an impact. Bottom line, I’d been through a lot in business, built teams, recruited, made multi-million pound companies, managed P&L, sold millions myself and so on. So I had plenty to give.
Value-add questions
Give the readers the best entrepreneurship advice you have.
Richard Moore: Consistency is king. If you can’t show up for your business at some level, every day, including if you’re at a wedding, if it’s your birthday, an anniversary, or even Christmas Day, then you’re not in the game enough. It doesn’t have to be all day long, but I liken the commitment to a business to being like having a child (I have two children, so I know). Be there for the business, whatever it needs, whenever it needs it.
Teach us something about {internet marketing, social media ads, fundraising, yoga, sales funnels or another topic you pick} (must be actionable)
Richard Moore: Whenever you are on a sales call, remember “question or command = control”. In short, if you ask a question or give a command, you have control of the conversation. This means that if someone asks you something, you can answer, but then ask a question or issue a command right afterwards to regain control of the conversation. This works with everyone.
What’s something new you’ve learned in the past month?
Richard Moore: How it feels when you have a team of people, each looking after a different part of your social media with you. Having a guy for Twitter research, one for Instagram, a video producer for YouTube and an operations team for Facebook, for instance, frees up a huge amount more time than I expected it would.
Teach us something we don’t know.
Richard Moore: Reading 15 minutes a day, twice a day, everyday will give you so much insight that when you share the knowledge people will start thinking you’re a voracious reader. Truth is, I never really read much, but this ‘little and often’ approach has had an immense affect on my content and the perception of me.
What do you think you do better than most people?
Richard Moore: Listen.
What should an entrepreneur focus on?
Richard Moore: Generating new customers every day… By a million miles this is what they should focus on.
What are some of the best books you’ve ever read?
Richard Moore: Seneca’s “On the Shortness of Life“, Seth Godin’s “Icarus Deception”, Simon Sinek’s “Leaders Eat Last“, Phil Knight’s “Shoe Dog” and Miller & Kanazawa’s “Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters“.
Where do you see yourself and your product in a couple years?
Richard Moore: I’ll have new products in a couple of years – I’m constantly about creation, with my courses. Still, I’m certain my Basics of Sales course, or EightStepStartup for example, will still be going strong.
Thanks Richard for sharing your story here with us at Future Sharks! Keep thinking big!
➡ Looking to get featured on Future Sharks?
