I STARTED my working life as a mechanic – probably due to poor careers advice. As it turns out, this was a good foundation for my future career as an engineer as it provided me with practical and technical skills.

After a year of being a mechanic I soon realised I wanted to be designing the camshafts and valves rather than fitting them.

I have to say though this was where my entrepreneurial spirit began to show its wings.

After returning to college to get my A-levels I found myself accepting a place at Oxford Brookes to study its renowned motorsport course.

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Even at the introductory day I knew I had finally found my passion.

It was obvious that engineering would set you up for life, even on that very first day.

What employer can turn away a graduate who can solve a quadratic equation while fixing the office printer?

An engineering background provides you with so many skills to becoming an entrepreneur – logical thinking making you take good business decisions, mathematics meaning you are not afraid of spreadsheets and business plans, and technical understanding giving you a great overview of the technology around you – and technology is king.

But most of all, an engineer never gives up. Completing an engineering degree is hard work, and this prepares you so well for your journey ahead.

From as early as I can remember I have always wanted to create things, and manage situations – not always to my benefit of course.

I had this niggling feeling, and I suppose an arrogance that told me ‘I could run this company way better’, and after graduating I had my laser-guided plan at the ready.

I set up a limited company and got a contracting job paid hourly for a local laser automation company.

I learnt how to do my books and payroll and also learnt a lot about accounting, while also taking in every bit of information from my work place I could – this really set me up for taking the leap.

After 18 months of working for this company the niggling feeling I mentioned finally became to profound and I decided to take the leap and start my own business, and take my product to market and put myself to the test. Two major lessons I have learnt from the past three years are: 1. Find a like-minded co-founder. Preferably a co-founder with a different skill set. This totally changed the potential of my business. But be careful; you need someone with the same vision and approach to business.

2. Business revolves around relationships and networks. Once I realised this and started building a team things really started to accelerate.

The biggest challenge I believe any entrepreneur faces is overcoming other people’s opinions.

It is a very hard balance to get right. You have to take people’s advice and experience on board, but at the same time you have to be defiant and follow your own opinion and gut feeling.

After all, no one will see the vision you have.

At the start of my journey many people said to me “no one will buy that”, “no one will invest in that”, and many more negative comments.

And if I had listened to them I would have never achieved what I have.

You have to stay resilient and strong, but sometimes people are right, and you need to know when to pivot and change direction.

 

The case for the 'Mous'
JOSH Shires came up with his idea and design for a headphone holder case for iPhones while studying at Brookes.
He reached the semi-final stages of the National Association of College and University Entrepreneurs Varsity Pitch competition in November.
On December 8 Josh and his team also raised £12,500 on the crowdfunding platform KickStarter, with more than 600 pre-orders.
According to Mr Shires, the Mous Musicase has been hailed as the world’s smallest iPhone case that holds, unrolls and retracts Apple headphones and stops them getting tangled or lost.

 


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