Gerry Murphy - The Accidental Entrepreneur. How We Turned €3,749 into a €100 Million Business in Three Years

The Accidental Entrepreneur

This is an adventure book! And dont believe Gerrys claim that it was all an accident. Its a tale of effort, enthusiasm and enterprise. Enjoy it.

Senator Feargal Quinn, founder of Superquinn

Gerry Murphys book shows vividly a restless entrepreneurial spirit in action, from the regeneration initiatives in his native Churchtown village in north Cork to the audacious establishment of the GreatGas service stations.

Senator Mary White, co-founder of Lir Chocolates

Gerry is a fantastic businessperson. This book is both interesting and insightful, a must-read for any business owner. Gerrys passion, creativity and determination are inspiring.

Bobby Kerr, chairman of Insomnia, founding panelist on
Dragons Den and radio broadcaster

Passion and integrity are two of Gerrys greatest qualities, qualities very evident throughout his life and this book. If you aspire to owning your own business, The Accidental Entrepreneur will inspire and set you on course.

John Lowe, the Money Doctor

The Accidental Entrepreneur

How we turned 3,749 into a 100 million business in three years

Gerry Murphy

Published by

Orpen Press

Lonsdale House

Avoca Avenue

Blackrock

Co. Dublin

Ireland

email: info@orpenpress.com

www.orpenpress.com

Gerry Murphy, 2014

Paperback ISBN 978-1-909895-59-1

ePub ISBN 978-1-909895-60-7

Kindle ISBN 978-1-909895-61-4

PDF ISBN 978-1-909895-62-1

Typeset in Minion Pro, 11 pts

Cover design concept by Keaney Design and Hayes Design.

Please note, some identities have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals and organisations.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior, written permission of the publisher.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

The Accidental Entrepreneur is dedicated to my wife, Dorothy; my daughters, Niamh and Deirdre; and my late parents, Jack (19202000) and Nora Murphy (19232013).

I also dedicate this book to Ailbhe OReilly, commissioning editor at Orpen Press; Eileen OBrien, my editor at Orpen Press; and most especially Jonathan Self, a friend for 28 years since we first met at the International Direct Marketing Conference in Montreaux, Switzerland in April 1986. Without Ailbhe and Eileens interest and support and Jonathans input, help, advice, research suggestions and encouragement, you simply would not be reading this book.

GM

Gerry Murphy holds a Bachelor in Financial Services degree from University College Dublin and a Masters in Business Administration from Fordham University, New York, for which he studied at the Irish Management Institute. He also holds an Advanced Diploma in Public Relations from the Institute of Public Relations in Ireland. All his studies were completed as a mature student.

Gerry is a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers in Ireland, having worked in banking for 25 years with Bank of Ireland and First National Building Society before setting up the not-for-profit Churchtown Village Renewal Trust in 1997. In 2001 he was named Cork Person of the Year for his visionary rural renewal initiative. In 2005 he founded GreatGas Petroleum (Ireland) plc. He holds many other non-executive directorships and works as an international management services provider.

Gerry is a former director and chairman of the not-for-profit organisation Guaranteed Irish (a national body promoting the sale of Irish-manufactured goods and services) and former chairman of the European Unions THERMIE project for Ireland. He was also the executive producer of Bloom, a feature film released in 2004 based on the novel Ulysses by James Joyce.

The authors royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to Churchtown Historical & Heritage Society.

www.accidentalentrepreneur.me

The Accidental Entrepreneur is as much about the authors attention to detail as it is about becoming successful in business by accident. Equally, it demonstrates the essential characteristic needed to be successful in business, whether by accident or design, which is the unremitting sense of passion for their business activity that all self-made successful entrepreneurs have in abundance.

Gerry Murphy, time and again, underestimates himself. Not only does his book illustrate his attention to detail, he is also extremely well organised with extensive knowledge and management skills.

Gerry concludes that building a business is a creative activity and says it is one of the most exciting, interesting and all-consuming activities that one can be involved in. It is a lifetime commitment, and, although making a profit is essential, and a method by which an entrepreneur can measure their success, I agree that it isnt just about money. Money itself is only a small part of the pleasure derived from being a successful entrepreneur. Gerry sums it up when he says, We are in business because we love it.

But that is not to say that there isnt a tide in the affairs of us all, in the words of Shakespeare, that, taken at the flood, leads onto fortune even by accident. Out of events and circumstances which no one could predict or indeed control, arise opportunities that a potential accidental entrepreneur will be the first to recognise and take advantage of.

Sir David Barclay KSG

At 5.30 p.m. on Friday 22 April 2005, while I was filling my car with petrol, I bumped into a business contact called Sen Lewis. During our brief conversation, I mentioned an issue that happened to be irritating me. Sens response was a casual comment, the sort of reply one makes when one is in the middle of doing something else, but what he said gave me the germ of an idea for a new business.

Although the idea immediately resonated, it seemed an act of folly to take it any further. I had no real experience of the industry concerned, I was working almost full time on a not-for-profit project that was very important to me and, anyway, I didnt have any spare capital.

And yet, having had the idea, I simply couldnt put it out of my mind. I thought about it on the drive home, as I lay in bed that night and when I awoke the following morning. In fact, I spent that Saturday writing up a very rough business plan and worked out a way whereby, for a relatively small outlay, I could quickly discover whether the idea had legs.

I think it is fair to say that it did have legs. Three years after it was launched the business was turning over 100 million and was profitable. Not a bad result, considering that my initial investment was 3,749 and I only ever worked for the company on a part-time basis.

The purpose of this book is not, however, to show off my entrepreneurial skills. Far from it. As you will soon find out, the venture was a complete accident, it came close to collapsing on several occasions and its eventual success was dependent less on me than on the companys full-time management. Moreover, my business career has been littered with enough failures to instil in me a proper sense of modesty.