Richard Dickson is one of Scotland’s most successful young entrepreneurs. He started his working life training to follow in his father’s footsteps as an electrician while competing as a junior MMA fighter. The young Glaswegian made his first steps as an entrepreneur after striking up a friendship with Scottish property educator Paul McFadden, which led him down the property investment route.
Richard has created a life-changing income through selling property, meaning in 2021 he was able to begin his passion project, the Young Entrepreneur Society, which helps educate young people around the UK on how to build and scale their own businesses. The 26-year-old was able to grow his first business into an organisation with interests across many sectors. All with no prior experience, no savings, no inheritance, and a huge amount of self-belief.
Richard’s focus is to continue to grow wealth for himself and his clients; and to take the Young Entrepreneur Society movement to every country in the world. We sat down with the entrepreneur to find out a little more about what made 2023 such a successful year for him as well as his future plans.
How would you describe 2023 for you?
It has been a prosperous year. I have had to be adaptive, there has been a lot of learning and a lot of quick pivoting, but the scaling up of my business has never relented. We finish 2023 not only continuing the trend of doubling business turnover year-on-year, but actually celebrating our biggest year of growth to date, which I’m really proud of.
What are some of the biggest lessons you learned in the last 12 months?
The importance of self-reflection as a leader. In the past I think I’ve relied a little too much on a natural ability to motivate people, and I’ve maybe looked at others before myself when performances or results have dropped.
Now I always take the time to do an internal evaluation first to see how I could support my staff further. This approach has led to a more positive community within the workplace, meaning happier and more motivated staff, and ultimately it’s the business that reaps the rewards.
How do you think the business world has changed this year?
The development of artificial intelligence (AI) has had a seismic effect on the business world, and wider society in general, during the last 12 months and I can only see that increasing moving forward.
In five years’ time, if you want to start or scale a business, it will be impossible to do so if you aren’t correctly utilising AI, so there is really no good reason to not be starting the process of harnessing that technology within your business now.
The AI application that we use in our business is likely to save us over £500,000 on salaries next year alone.
There is an argument that this is AI taking jobs away from real people, but I see it as quite the opposite. The technology is cutting out human errors and doing a lot of the administrative donkey work that previously took up so much time. As a result, our staff are doing more of the tasks that keep them motivated. They are less stressed, less fatigued and generally much happier. Everyone wants to feel like a productive and valuable member of the team and AI is enabling them to be just that.
What is the number one New Year’s resolution for your business?
This year, my number one business focus is to invest heavily in marketing. My goal is to be consistently spending £100,000 on Facebook and Google Ads every month. That might sound odd to some people as common New Year’s resolutions involve saving money rather than spending it, but I know that this investment in marketing will be the catalyst in taking my business to the next level.
What are your business aspirations for 2024?
I want to position myself as an expert in my sector not just in Scotland but across the whole of the UK.
The buzzword for me in 2024 is ‘scale’. I want to scale up everything in my business and that’s exactly why marketing, branding and exposure is of such critical importance.
At the same time, I know I have an amazing organic audience, so I’m never going to disrupt that by buying followers or doing anything cheap and inauthentic. I see a lot of coaching groups and course creators chasing these sort of quick returns but that’s not how I want to do things. For me to establish myself as an expert, I realise it is going to take a protracted effort over a long period of time.
What is your business outlook for 2024?
A lot of business owners and entrepreneurs seem to always be looking for their next investment opportunity. Everyone wants to find the ‘next crypto’ and get rich quick.
In reality, the business world just doesn’t work like that. If you want to be successful, you have be persistent and you have to be patient. More than anything though, your priority always has to be your business. That means investing internally before looking elsewhere.
We saw so many businesses collapse in 2023, and I think that stems from a naivety about what it takes to run a successful enterprise. You’ve got to live it. Being an entrepreneur is not a career choice, it’s a lifestyle choice.
Is there anything you think you will do differently next year compared to this one?
Over the last year, I’ve noticed the dynamics of the relationships between myself and my staff have certainly shifted, but in a positive way. This is something that has probably been evolving in a wider context for a longer period of time, but the structure of a manager giving orders and the staff carrying out those orders with no questions asked just doesn’t exist anymore.
A good leader should recognise that it can’t just be one-way traffic – respect works both ways. It is crucial to listen to the wants and needs of your staff members, otherwise you’ll be captaining a sinking ship.
I’ve certainly noticed that within my own business and I’ve made efforts to offer my staff increased training opportunities amongst various other things to ensure that, whilst our relationship remains professional, there is a mutual respect and understanding that fosters better work and yields greater results.
What advice would you give to someone looking to scale their own business in 2024?
If you have any degree of spare money within your business then my honest advice would be to forget Hargreaves Lansdown, forget Vanguard, forget buying to let – spend it on your business.
Everyone should be spending money on online paid traffic: Facebook, Instagram, Google Ads, Pay-Per-Click, Search Engine Optimisation, whatever it is. To scale your business you need to invest in digital marketing to build your audience.
Then think about the enterprise value of your business. Even if you’re running a start-up next year, whatever industry you’re in, while you’re building your business you should always be thinking about the day when it comes to selling your business. Are you looking for pennies on the pound or are you looking to make a serious profit?
Turn your business from a job into an organisation.
Is there an individual or company that you are keeping your eye on that you think might be the next big thing in business in 2024?
High Level, commonly referred to as Go High Level because of the URL (gohighlevel.com), is already fairly large but I think it’s going to get even bigger next year.
In your current business you might use SalesForce as your CRM; you might use MailChimp for automated emails; Twilio for SMS API; Calendly as your booking software; Zoom as your hosting software; and so on and so forth.
Go High Level puts everything in one place, all linked together and fully automated. It’s something that I think every single business owner should be using. Migrating to it can be tough if you’re already using other applications but it will prove worth it in the long run without doubt – it’s an absolute game-changer.
What is your biggest hope for 2024?
While I love growing my businesses, my biggest hope for next year is that I can continue to give something back to society, particularly in my local area in Glasgow. It’s something I never want to lose sight of because I know a lot of people are struggling at the moment and it’s sad that not many people in power seem to care that much about it.
What are your plans for the Young Entrepreneur Society (YES) in 2024?
We want to get YES to 1,000 active members before the end of next year. We’ve had over 1,000 members come through the training but naturally there has been some drop off, so aiming to the active membership to over 1,000 is a big target for us.
Is there anything (trend, gadget, app, celebrity, etc) that you would like to leave in 2023?
I would love it if we could leave the constant unfair attacks on entrepreneurs and enterprise in 2023 – and hopefully never to return again. The political parties in Scotland seem to think that every business owner is a millionaire with a massive house and a Rolls Royce, but these policies they’re implementing are affecting regular working class people and their families. It frustrates the life out of me!
Who was your number one artist and what was your most listened to song of 2023?
My number one artist was Lil Baby and my most listened to song was 48 Hours by the Vengaboys, but that’s mainly because it’s one of the songs that’s played at St Mirren Park during half time. Quite an interesting contrast there, I know.
Best TV show you watched in 2023?
I really don’t watch much TV but I started watching The Witcher on Netflix earlier this year and I really enjoyed it, so I’d have to say that.
Best film you watched in 2023?
Top Gun Maverick – and that’s actually now in my top three films of all time.
Best book you read in 2023?
The Bible.
Favourite sporting moment of 2023?
It’s tough to choose one as I have two real standouts. St Mirren got their best finish in my lifetime – and far beyond my lifetime, in fact – which was just amazing. Then getting to see Nate Diaz fight live in the UFC in Las Vegas for what has turned out to be his last ever UFC fight, that was a really special moment for me as a former fighter and massive fight fan.
