Page 102 - James Caan - The Real Deal

The Real Deal

and exactly what I said I would never do! However, I found the
business fascinating, and it didn’t feel like work.
By the end of our first year the business was pretty comfortable,
and as we geared up for Christmas 1983 we were stunned by how
much money the boutique was taking. I reckon we made £100k
profit that first year, and with my commissions tailing off at Reid
Trevena as the financial services market slumped, Aisha’s income
from the shop and from lecturing far exceeded mine. After
overheads and the manageress’s wages were paid, we’d had
enough left over really to invest in the shop. We bought new shop
fittings and new stock, and the following year was a good one. In
September, sales really started to come through as people bought
early presents and outfits for Christmas parties. October was also
fantastic; November was brilliant; in December, the till was
ringing all day long.
That Christmas we paid Aisha’s dad back and paid off the
overdrafts: from now on, all the money we made would be ours,
and I was definitely starting to get a sense of purpose, of direction.
I really felt that I wanted to create something in business, and that
the boutique was just a start. I felt I was developing as an
entrepreneur, and the more I realised that this was where my
future lay, the more I found myself coming to the inevitable
conclusion that I had to resign from Reid Trevena.
Although the legislation that would kill Reid Trevena wouldn’t
be introduced for a couple of years yet, business was already
starting to tail off. It was harder to recruit, and that meant my
earnings were falling, from around £50k or £60k a year down to
£30k. It was time to leave. With the shop doing so well, I thought
the time was right to work at it full time and do something about
our plans to expand.
It was a huge decision to walk away from a job I loved and that
still paid better than any other job I could get in recruitment.
Walking away from recruitment itself was pretty momentous –

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