Andrew Robinson

Do you think there are enough role models of young people who have set up their own businesses?

To put it bluntly, no. The popular vision of business is dominated by too many people with the right social credentials who’ve made it partly by virtue of who they were or where they went to school. Not that the old-school lot don’t work hard for what they have, but they demonstrate very little of the appetite for innovative approaches (and the personal risk that comes with that) that, in my experience, is what makes for an entrepreneur.

Who has inspired you?

The glamorous outsiders that have made it all the way – Bill Gates, Richard Branson – are noticeable because they are so exceptional. But I don’t believe in icons in commerce: you need to be the next big thing, not a younger version of the current big thing. I believe in expertise and knowledge of the market, but sometimes the guy who packs the shelves in a supermarket has more useful insights than the general manager.

How did you get your first break?

I precision-engineered it. I built a record as an entrepreneur by growing a small business that sold inspirational flashcards through gift and novelty shops. It taught me the basics of sales, distribution, running a supply chain. Once I had my commerce degree through correspondence, I used the instincts I’d developed to pitch myself to a crew of specialized consultants, all at least twice my age. That taught me the finer points of boardroom dancing, and showed me the much wider real world of applied business models. Above all else, it gave me the personal confidence and presentation skills to take the steps that led me to where I am now.

Has this been an important part of getting you where you are now?

Psychologically, being the youngest consultant in a boutique firm was critical. It allowed me to prove to myself that I could handle the questions that high-powered, more experienced people would throw at me. It taught me to represent my ideas in sharp, succinct ways and give people a sense of where my competence lay in under a minute. Without those abilities being highly developed when I started my own business, I would have closed shop in less than a fortnight.

Have you ever been a part of a network which has helped your business?

One of my one-liners guaranteed to spark argument is my belief that the best network in the world is the Yellow Pages. All the information you need is there, provided you have the time and energy to do your research. Sometimes, it’s as simple as making calls and setting up appointments. Other times, you have to get creative.

Once you’ve broken through, you build your network with personal displays of good judgement and applying high standards to what you expect of your employees and suppliers. If you’re demanding enough, you get the best in the game working with you. If you’re competent enough, you keep it that way.

How did your idea become a reality? Was it a passion that turned into a business idea?

I discovered Sipahh when I was working at a leading investment bank in London. The Australian inventors approached the bank for backing and as soon as I saw the straw I realised it was the kind of market-forging new product that I had been looking for. Within two weeks, I’d resigned from my desk job and was on a plane to Australia to meet with the owners of the business.

That being said, it did allow me to use commerce to ends that I am indeed highly passionate about. I believe strongly in the transformative power of markets, as ways of better satisfying the basic needs we face as a society. Our logic at Strawtech is that children support us, and thus we support children. We contribute to a number of children’s charities, but are also developing a range of products designed to improve the daily nutrition of our core customer base – the world’s pre-teen milk drinkers – particularly in developing country contexts.

How did you get access to finance?

There comes a point where you have a track-record – and can come to finance pitch meetings with datasets and snazzy graphs showing how viable you are as company. Until that point, however, you’re selling people on faith in you as a commercial force – and I think any entrepreneur who’s ever had to pull together that first tranche of funding would admit they approached the people most likely to believe in them, ie friends and family. In the end, if you really believe in what you’re selling, you have to signal that by putting in as much of your own money as you can. I did that, and to this day would be ruined if we failed. That’s a pretty strong incentive to keep your head in the game.

Do you think employers allow young people to be creative in the workplace?

Smart employers encourage the development of sound professional judgement, because that’s how you develop people and – since people who find their jobs more stimulating are more likely to stay – that’s also how you inspire loyalty. But it’s also up to young people to demonstrate initiative – it’s got to be more than ‘keep your head down, be like everyone else’, or no boss is ever going to take a risk on developing you into someone who can fill a more creative role.

What would your advice be to someone thinking about setting up their own business?

Remind yourself that the longer you wait, the higher the personal cost of doing things the way you see them. It’s much tougher to take a bet on your vision when you’ve got school fees and a mortgage to consider. Also, if you’re thinking about it, someone else is thinking about it. It’s an old line, but you really do miss 100 per cent of the shots you don’t take.

Fear of failure isn’t an option, but you can also remind yourself that there will be hundreds of small failures along the way – everyone has them, because business, like life, is often about dealing with things outside your direct control. How you handle and learn from failure defines your capacity for success, not the extent to which you’re lucky enough to avoid it.