Nothing is Impossible!

This isn't an article, this isn't an endorsement of someone else's perspective, it's my perspective on me, not in an arrogant way, but simply a self proclamation of my view of how to make a difference in this complicated world and how I made it this far without giving up.

For as long as I can remember, I felt different, but not in a good way. I believed I was lacking for the most part of my life in confidence, in my ability to interact socially with anyone other than those I was close to.

Yet, despite this, I knew I had some overriding and compelling desire to achieve. At school I was reclusive, I was classed as the "geek", but it didn't detract from my desire to make a difference. I was always musical from an early age and achieved an "houners" entry for best music project in my year.

It didn't exist in my day, so I taught myself programming on the Sincalair ZX80, both in BASIC and 6502 assembler. My IT teacher, Mr Bradbury was as keen to learn as me, and believe me, he was learning, more than he was teaching!! I produced our first social media service for Lord Grey, aptly named "Greyfax" and was a version of Teletext. Shortly after "defecting" from 6th form to take on a real job in Telephone Rentals, I produced a database application that allowed pupil subjects to be searched in a variety of useful ways, earning me my last entry in the school honours book.

In the transitional period, I did work with Acornsoft (sister company to Acorn Computers) to produce a Music Package that allowed music to be composed, possibly the last I would seriously spend on music for several decades.

My time at Telephone Rentals was enjoyable, programming custom software to automate time control machines for employees clocking in and out of work. It was tedious, as the applications were custom to each contract, so I identified a system that enabled "schedules" to be incorporated into the logic, such that we had one standard program for all customers. I left after 17 months, having a few dozen customers. I believe a couple of years later this had grown to some 700 or more customers.

After leaving my comfort zone in Milton Keynes, I had now landed my first serious position as a developer in the Banking industry within the City of London. I felt incredibly fortunate and proud to be working in London, but it felt a long way from my origins. I would read the manuals of the compiler and Operating System I was working on as light reading on the train!

Working in a banking software house was fun to start with, but my mind was yearning for a challenge, I was a small cog in a big machine and I wasn't satisfied. I made some advances on behalf of the company, but I knew I needed to push myself more than I was capable in this confined environment.

I did some research and became a contract developer at the age of 20, working for a company in Wellingborough. Earning double the money, I bought my 1st brand new car. I remember my foot shaking on the accelerator as I sat in the driveway, as I had previously had a total wreck of a car.

The job was thankless, I was bored, I was disrespected, as I was a "contractor" and I simply counted the hours before leaving from the moment I arrived. I was hated, young, with a new car and being paid more than everyone else. There was no pride in my position.

They always say luck plays a part in everyone's career, and events did transpire to change the course of my future. The Banking software house I previously worked for went into liquidation and my first genuine streak of luck presented itself. I don't know how I managed it, considering I was "shy", but I managed to locate and contact the Software house that purchased the copyright and code for the banking system that I'd worked on. I proposed that I could port the entire system that banks had paid ￡100,000s for to IBM PC within 3 month for ￡15,000.

I did, and on time.... less my relationship at the time. A consequence that would repeat itself for the exact same reason decades later.

So, it was now the end of 1990, I had achieved a feat that many would be proud of, but what next!? Well, I had a friend that had driven minicabs in the 70's and 80's and had conceived a blue print for a "cab booking system" on a bit of computer listing paper. So, what would you do.... bin it!? No.... why that would be the end of the "butterfly effect". I took that tatty old piece of paper and worked to produce a "noddy" program that I thought would make me a bit of pocket money.

I sent a few letters and managed to get a very small company in Milton Keynes called "Quicker Cars" based in Fenny Stratford to take what I had produced seriously, combining it's principles with a program called "Cabby". Within a few months, we'd completed the software and debugged it to a point it could be used live to run the business. My first piece of commercial software, developed by me and working! It was just a back street cab company in Milton Keynes, but it was a big moment and I was making almost no money out of it, and nor would I for many years to come.

Now the irony was that I was now working as a contractor for the Bank of Nova Scotia, supporting the same banking system I had converted to IBM PC and was earning a handsome sum. I developed the cab software (which became known as CabMaster) and supported it whist at the Bank for around a year, however, even the money wasn't enough. Money vs satisfaction played it's final hand and I left a secure position that only an idiot would normally sacrifice.

I would have to spend as much time again explaining the path that lead to today ... and some would say it would be the more interesting part.... and maybe I will finish it fully one day, but the point is that my determination has never waived, although my self confidence socially has exceeded my wildest expectation.  

It is ironic that I now own Bounds Taxis, both in Northampton and now in Milton Keynes. Bounds was my 3rd ever customer from 1991 and I purchased it from Stuart Russell in 2009. (The Bounds ancestors sold it to Stuart in 2000) Stuart was an inspiration and I am proud to have taken this business to heights even I could only have dreamed of at the outset.

The long path I have trodden over some 33 years since my first job has taught me one thing more than anything else, and that is that the only barrier to achieving your goals, dreams and aspirations is sheer determination, self belief and hard work. There will be moments of despair, when you feel you could simply give up, the period that I call "valley of the death" when you truly feel there is no point in continuing. But... this I know, from experience, we must endure, punching through challenges to achieve our goals.

Nothing is impossible .... IF you want it enough!

I can do it and so can you!