Act with purpose and passion and leave a legacy

Speaking at a recent CBI SME Network event in London, the CBI Vice-President talked about the importance of access to finance and maintaining the UK's entrepreneurial culture. He also shared the principles behind Cobra Beer’s journey from start-up to scale-up and then finally as a joint venture with Molson Coors:  

Having an idea is one thing – starting a business is quite another.

The principles of building a business is the same all over the world. Following your idea generally means having to give up other things. He qualified as a chartered accountant and gained a law degree, but opted instead to pursue his vision of finding a beer that better complimented Indian food.

To be successful, find solutions, not complaints

When he was eight years old, he was told teaching of the local Kerala language in his school was compulsory. As it wasn’t spoken outside the region, Lord Bilimoria couldn’t see the value and complained constantly to anyone who would listen. But he soon realised that there was little point in complaining about a problem – far better to try to find a solution. So instead, he convinced his father to persuade the school to hire Hindi teachers, a language much more widely used.

You need to be constantly creative

A creative spirit is fundamental to success. Lord Bilimoria was constantly told that he wasn’t creative when he was young, based on his lack of artistic and piano playing skills. Yet he believes his achievements wouldn’t have been possible without creative thinking.

Luck is very important in business

Lord Bilimoria didn’t go for the big idea first – he started his career by importing Indian products, such as polo sticks, garments and leather goods, just to build up experience. But he admits he was lucky (which he describes as “determination meets opportunity”) – as once he’d had his big idea, he met the right person at the right time.

Be passionate about your mission

From the beginning, he had a clear idea of what he wanted to do – to manage a global beer brand. He was passionate about manufacturing and is proud of what he has achieved.  It’s important to keep building on the original mission, he says.

Give something back

Ten years on, Lord Bilimoria realised that there should be more to what he did than just business – he needed to give something back to society. And he believes any company can – and should – do so.

For Cobra, it means giving away free beer at fundraising events and as auction prizes. This not only raises money, but also raises awareness of the Cobra brand. And he’s partnered with Belu water, which has raised significant amounts of money for WaterAid.

Other CBI members at the event shared examples of how they too supported their local communities. These included devoting company or CEO time to developing projects, to offering free coding training to the underprivileged.