All businesses start with an idea. But how do you turn your idea into a real business?
Ben Treleaven and his business partner and friend Gregg Curtis met in 2010. Both of them always had the idea of running their own business. Eventually, they quit their jobs, borrowed a hundred grand, and finally built their business around an idea. Now, Ben and Gregg are the successful founders of ISO Space, an industry-leading and multi-award-winning company, ranked as the 10th fastest-growing private company in the UK in The Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100 in 2018.
In this episode (full podcast here), Ben shares how they have grown ISO Spaces from just a seed of an idea in 2012 to a successful business today. Ben and Greg are firm believers in turning ideas into reality, and that’s exactly what they did.
Stay tuned, be inspired, and learn how to turn your idea into a business!
In this episode:
[02:07] Ben talks about meeting Gregg Curtis in 2010 and how they always had the desire to run their own business.
[02:55] Their original plan was to start making shipping containers into home offices.
[04:04] Ben and Gregg eventually quit their jobs as stockbrokers and borrowed a hundred grand to start ISO Spaces.
[05:05] They ended up building from 50 to 150, then 210 houses out of shipping containers. Their business was growing.
[06:58] They settled on the idea of ISO Spaces because, at that time, nobody else was doing it.
[08:15] In 2015, they set up another business, Modular Mapper, a technology business compliant ISO Spaces.
[11:34] The biggest part of the business is the backend construction and a lot of that is managed by technology.
[15:31] The biggest challenge in the business is cash flow and cash.
[17:50] Hire good people, people you can trust. You can train skills but you can’t train attitude.
[20:27] Their employees are the most important in their business. They want them to feel valued, they want them to have fun, and not be burnt out.
[25:18] When you have an idea, do a product or market research but the most successful are the ones that would help you in your day-to-day life, or that are solving real problems.
[26:43] How they ranked as the 10th fastest-growing private company in the UK in The Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100.
[29:41] Tips: Don’t give away your equity, don’t be scared to seek advice, element of faking it until you make it, and don’t be scared to hire people.
[17:50] Have a plan but be prepared to change it.
[37:13] The pandemic allowed them to realign what we do and realign their strategy.
[41:23] Ben is a firm believer in the saying “You get out what you put in.” And goes on to explain what it means.
About Ben Treleaven
Ben Treleaven is the founder of ISO Spaces, an industry-leading and multi-award-winning company. ISO Spaces is a technology-driven modular construction contractor. It specializes in designing and delivering turnkey volumetric developments and creating industry software for process automation.
A firm believer in turning ideas into reality, Co-Founder Gregg Curtis and Ben have grown ISO Spaces from just the seed of an idea in 2012 to a business that in 2018 ranked as the 10th fastest-growing private company in the UK in The Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100.
With a consistent focus on innovation and high-end design and craftsmanship, ISO Spaces has delivered permanently portable offsite solutions for a wide range of blue-chip clients.
Beginning by pushing the design boundaries with container conversions, ISO Spaces started by producing container bars, cafes, classrooms, offices, and more.
Connect with Ben
On their Website
On LinkedIn