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Wake Up and Sell the Coffee!

The story of Coffee Nation and how to start, build and sell a high-growth business

By Martyn Dawes
Cover of Wake Up and Sell the Coffee! (Paperback) by Martyn Dawes Cover of Wake Up and Sell the Coffee! (Ebook - phone) by Martyn Dawes Cover of Wake Up and Sell the Coffee! (Ebook - tablet) by Martyn Dawes

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About the Author

Martyn Dawes

Martyn Dawes is a successful entrepreneur. He founded his first business, MDA (Martyn Dawes Associates) in the recession of 1991. That business continues to trade successfully to this day (now called Dawes Ryan Consulting).

His idea for Coffee Nation came from a combination of seeing how many cups of coffee were being sold in convenience stores in New York and reading about the business model ... Read more on Martyn Dawes

Contents Listing

Acknowledgements
About the author
Introduction

My Early Life
1996 - My Big Idea
1997 - One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
1998 - Breakthrough Year
Coffee Like It's 1999
2000 - Raising A Million
2001 - A Year for Learning
2002 - Making Lives Better
2003 - Enter a Competitor
2004 - AIM in Mind
2005 - Ganz Kaffee, Ganz Schnell
2006 - Trials, Negotiations and Cuts
2007-2008 - Coming Full Circle
Exit
Transition: Life after Exit
Serial Entrepreneurship
Designing A High Growth Business: What you should do before you start â?? and at each stage â?? when designing your business for high growth
Acknowledgements
About the author
Introduction

My Early Life
1996 - My Big Idea
1997 - One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
1998 - Breakthrough Year
Coffee Like It's 1999
2000 - Raising A Million
2001 - A Year for Learning
2002 - Making Lives Better
2003 - Enter a Competitor
2004 - AIM in Mind
2005 - Ganz Kaffee, Ganz Schnell
2006 - Trials, Negotiations and Cuts
2007-2008 - Coming Full Circle
Exit
Tr ...

Jacket Text

A high-growth success story

Martyn Dawes set out to build a high-growth business with a simple idea and the will to do whatever was required to make it a success. Twelve years later he sold this business - Coffee Nation - for £23m.

Along the way, among many highs and lows, there was the thrill of seeing an idea come to life, costly failed trials and false starts, countless business plans, learning how and when to raise funding, the personal journey of surviving when success seemed so distant and securing contracts with some of the biggest retailers in the world. This is the story of how a great British business was built - from a blank sheet of paper - and how it came to be one of the nation's favourite consumer brands. It's also a guide to help any aspiring entrepreneur put their business on the path to high growth.

Through the course of an exciting narrative, Martyn shares his experiences of growing a business and his knowledge of what you should and shouldn't do. Mistakes to avoid are revealed just as honestly as the good decisions, making this is an unusually frank and valuable account for anyone looking to build their own business.

All areas from start-up to exit are covered, including:

- How to come up with an idea and know if it's any good
- Researching and testing your business model
- When you should not write a business plan and why not
- The process of pitching to investors and raising funding
- Negotiating contracts and controlling your finances
- A special final chapter on how to set up a business for high-growth from the outset

Coffee Nation was based on the reliable principles of a simple idea, a compelling vision, a high-quality product and relentless enterprise. If you have the desire and vision to build your own high-growth business - or you want to read a fascinating story of how it has been done - look no further. It's time to wake up and sell the coffee.

Professional Reviews

"Wake Up and Sell the Coffee is set to help more of Britain's entrepreneurs dream big and achieve big. It's refreshingly frank and an invaluable resource for anyone with genuine ambitions to build their own business." - Franchiseek

"Martyn Dawes's book can only help an increasing amount of start-up companies survive and go on to become high growth companies." - UK Business News

"Offers today's start-ups invaluable guidance" - Flybe

"One of the most fascinating books about the coffee business." - Boughton's Coffee House


Media Coverage

InBusiness

Ireland has a strong enterprise culture and the number of new businesses started here continues to grow year- by-year. Nonetheless, the odds of survival let alone growth are not high. A new book, ...

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Smarta.com

There are hundreds of start-ups and small businesses looking to be the next big thing. Coffee Nation was one of the few coffee success stories despite the huge growth in coffee consumption in the UK ...

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UK Business News

Not to be mistaken with Ann Landers? ?Wake Up and Smell the Coffee? or ?Wake Up and Smell the Profit?, a guide to making more money in your coffee business ? Wake Up And Sell The Coffee is the new ...

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Management Today

This was on my holiday reading list as I headed to South Africa, along with the latest William Boyd novel. A real case of Yin and Yang.

Wake Up and Sell the Coffee! is the story of Coffee Nation, ...

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Real Business

Real Business catches up with Martyn Dawes to discuss how he built Coffee Nation before selling it for £23m in less than 10 years.

Martyn Dawes admits that when he founded Coffee Nation he wasn?t ...

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The Irish Times

Here, Dawes charts the story of how he built Coffee Nation from an initial £50,000 personal investment into a business that he sold for £23 million 12 years later. The story starts with him ...

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Startups.co.uk

Why is it some entrepreneurs find it so hard to ask for help? Entrepreneur Martyn Dawes shares how mentors played an integral part in his success

The idea of a coach or mentor may seem at odds with ...

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Fresh Business Thinking

When I started Coffee Nation I thought I had found an idea that was good to run with - simple to operate takeaway coffee dispensers installed in newsagents and convenience stores across the UK.

A ...

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Flybe Uncovered

In Wake Up and Sell the Coffee, Martyn Dawes, founder of Coffee Nation, aims to help ambitious entrepreneurs to think big and become tomorrow's high-growth success.
While Britain has a strong ...

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Boughton's Coffee House

One of the most fascinating books about the coffee business has appeared ? it is the story of Coffee Nation, the pioneer of self-serve real-coffee machines in service areas and other high-footfall ...

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Quality World

I imagine some Quality World readers wouldn?t pick up this book because they?d expect it to be lacking in quality management news. However, the truth is they?ll be missing out.
Martyn Dawes, founder ...

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