Page 186 - James Caan - The Real Deal

The Real Deal

to buy, but my research was telling me the risks were too high.
Borrowing was expensive – interest rates briefly hit 15 per cent in
1992 – and it would have taken too long to make a profit, so I
rejected that idea.
The next business I investigated was a sandwich shop. Chains
like Pret A Manger were just starting to appear, and I wondered if
there was an opportunity to open a rival. People might not always
need clothes, but they would always have to eat.
I went to see a friend who ran a sandwich shop and started
looking at premises I could lease, but the more I looked into it the
less I could see myself getting up at 5 a.m. to be ready for the
breakfast trade. I was used to deals where I made £10k a time and
I just couldn’t get my head round making margins of 50p. It wasn’t
for me.
I enjoy business, so, although I was motivated by fear and panic
to find an alternative to recruitment, I actually found this process of
analysis quite interesting, and it helped me keep a sense of myself
and what I was good at. So much of business is the same regardless
of sector – maintaining good relationships with customers, getting
the margins right, seizing opportunities – and my brain was
buzzing with possibilities. In the midst of my terror, I found I was
having fun, which in turn meant I would rather look for something
new than sort out the ever-increasing troubles at Alexander Mann.
I looked again at fashion; after all, Aisha and I made a good
team, and if the retail climate wasn’t right maybe the wholesale
one was. We started talking to old contacts, people who had
supplied the boutiques, and I soon realised what a cut-throat
business it was. If you agree to supply a garment for £6, there will
always be someone who will do it for £5.50. Even if you had a
supply deal with a major retailer, the payment terms – they
sometimes paid months after you’d delivered the goods and paid
your suppliers – meant cash flow was a nightmare, and that was
something I just didn’t have the appetite for.

176