James Taylor - Sportstars
YOUNG entrepreneur James Taylor, 27, is originally from Leicestershire but now lives in Cardiff city centre. He runs the successful Sportstars business, which provides high quality sports coaching for children aged four to 12 during term time and the school holidays.
James, who was named Wales Shell Livewire Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2006, is an ambassador for this week’s Enterprise Week, an international focus on enterprise with thousands of events and activities happening around the world.
How did you come up with the idea for Sportstars?
I moved to Cardiff to go to university and graduated in 2004 with a degree in child psychology.
I then did a Post Graduate Certificate in Education but knew I didn’t really want to teach, so I travelled to America and Africa where I coached children in sport.
I was fortunate to coach children in Africa and the sons and daughter of millionaires in California.
And it didn’t matter where in the world I was, I got the same reaction.
They all enjoyed themselves and got a real buzz from the health kick. When I got back to the UK, I was reading about the PlayStation culture and the fears of a rise in obesity and I wanted to do something about it.
How did you get started?
For my 21st birthday, my parents wrote out an IOU for £1,000 to spend on a ticket to go around the world.
I asked them if I could change it to cash to start up a business.
I got some tracksuits and talked people into working for me for free and then got going.
There was something that came up in school in 2005 called PPA for teachers, it meant they had to spend time out of the classroom planning, preparing and assessing.
So I went to the schools to offer high quality PE lessons for the children while the teachers were out of the classroom.
The first school we got into was Eglwys Wen, in Whitchurch, Cardiff, and now we are in almost 100 schools across South Wales and the West Country and I have 43 staff.
How do you manage to motivate children away from their PlayStations, computer games and the television?
I believe that you have to motivate children from a very young age.
If you can show them that sport is positive and fun and they associate it with that then you can start to set up that sort of lifestyle for them. If you can teach good habits young then they will grow into healthy adults.
Did you start young?
I started really young and all I really wanted to do was play football.
I remember my mum and dad being told at a parents’ evening that I had a good report for reading but it might be better if I read something other than sports books.
PE in schools didn’t used to be about fun, lots of people would forget their PE kit to get out of it, but I hope that we provide something very different from that.
Have you got a strong business background?
I have not got a business background at all. I was at university and it occurred to me that I was just filling my brain up with information so that I could pass some exams.
That was when I started to think about business and reading business books and success literature.
But my business background isn’t in theory. It’s all practical.
And I think that’s an advantage. I basically learn as I go along.
I suppose when I was young I would try and flog designer clothes at college and tried to make money by selling things at jumble sales but I think a lot about business is going on gut instinct.
I am not the most intelligent person, I am pretty much middle of the road but I want to be successful and I believe that you can achieve any dream you want to.
What is the secret of your success?
I refuse to live an average life. Being mediocre freaks me out.
I make a decision every day to refuse to be mediocre. I review my dreams, goals and passions daily – I think big and I dream big.
And I would encourage other entrepreneurs to follow my favourite Disney quote: “If you can dream it, you can do it.”