Dragon helps entrepreneur get on his feet
Although he was born with cerebral palsy, 49-year-old Stephen Collins’s life has been defined by his determination to work and support his family.
After poor health forced him to retire from his job as a computer manager for the NHS, he was dismayed to find how much prejudice he encountered once he went looking for work again. “People are far too ready to judge by what they see on the outside rather than what’s on the inside,” he said.
Always one to turn a negative situation into a positive one, Collins, who now runs Lazarus Mobility, began to see this as an opportunity to turn a vision he had had for years into a reality. “I’ve been using equipment for disabled people all my life, so I knew that there was good stuff out there as well as some complete rubbish. I wanted to be able to share that expertise with other people and help them in that way.”
Unlike most equipment suppliers which cater for specific types of disability, Collins wanted to establish a one-stop shop to help people across the full spectrum, offering only products that met with his high standards.
That’s when he encountered his next hurdle – raising finance. Does he believe that the banks were less inclined to help him because of his disability? “No doubt about it,” he says. Even where managers at local branches were sympathetic and supportive, head offices turned him down.
Eventually Collins and his wife Sally put around £20,000 of their own money into the business to get it off the ground. Then things started to go their way. The first boost they got was a £20,000 loan from Partnership Investment Finance, a fund set up to provide finance for small businesses that are unable to raise money from traditional sources. Then came a quite extraordinary turn of events.
“I won an award for outstanding achievement from the Shaw Trust [which provides training and work opportunities to people disadvantaged in the labour market due to disability, ill health or social circumstances]. Duncan Bannatyne from Dragons’ Den was presenting the awards and, being me, I thrust my business plan in his hand, but I never really thought anything would come of it.
“A few weeks later his secretary rang me up. She said that Duncan would like to meet me on February 4 and was I free? When I picked myself up off the floor I said, ‘if I was busy, I’m not busy now’.”
Bannatyne asked Collins how he could help him and Collins explained that the business was not generating enough income for him to draw a salary. Bannatyne at once offered to pay Collins’s salary for a year.
“This meant that I could come off benefits and hold my head up high. You can’t imagine what this means to me.”
From a practical point of view, being able to put Bannatyne’s name on the letterhead and business plan has made suppliers sit up and take note. Collins is serious about this business and determined to make it work. Whereas once he was virtually begging suppliers to give him credit, the tables have turned and everyone now wants him as a customer. The banks have started coming back to him, but now he’s very happy with Royal Bank of Scotland who, he says, have been hugely supportive.
Collins’s plans don’t end with the resale of products made by other companies . He wants to design better products because his ultimate aim is to help disabled people help themselves. At the moment he has a patent pending for a walking frame that he has designed. “I’ve used so many walking frames over the years, and I believe I have combined all the best bits in one.” He is looking for around £30,000 to bring the frame to market.
One of the things that makes Collins most proud is the fact that he now employs three people. “When I left school I was told I would never work. The fact that I can help three people pay their mortgage is a source of enormous satisfaction.”