Gerry Harvey on the Early Days of Founding Harvey Norman скачать в хорошем качестве

Gerry Harvey on the Early Days of Founding Harvey Norman

An extended clip from the ground-breaking series, The Thread, exploring what connects different Aussie icons who broke away from the pack. Full episode on Gerry Harvey here: https://goo.gl/DHNVBQ Like watching? *Like this video above and comment below* Support us by subscribing: https://goo.gl/uQDYfu Follow Hugh Minson on Twitter:   / minceontoast   Like Hugh Minson on Facebook: https://goo.gl/VHkyGi Follow Jack Morphet on Twitter:   / jackmorphet   ======================================================== ► Transcript Hugh: You've touched on a bit between the age of say 18 and 25, when did you know you were good enough, when did you believe you were good enough to make it as an entrepreneur? Gerry: Well I started the day I was 22 in business. So when I was selling that real estate he had an auction business on the side because he wasn't selling any real estate. And I looked at that and I thought, I've got to make a go of that. So I went and saw a guy I knew - he was an old mate of mine - and his father had just died and he'd left him a bit of money and I said to him, 'Do you want to go into business, start an auction house, and sell second hand and buy second hand?' And so we opened up and from first day it just went off! And we used to buy second-hand anything, electrical, furniture, whatever. And have an auction every Saturday. Hugh: This is Norman Ross? Gerry: No, this is Harvey Norman. Hugh: Straight in? Gerry: Yeah. We called it Harvey Norman. It opened in October 1961. So that was called Harvey Norman. And it went right off and then it went so well that I found another bloke and we opened a shop in Neutral Bay called Norman Ross and that went off but that was all new stuff. It was all new furniture and electrical. And then we just kept opening new shops and they were called Norman Ross not Harvey Norman but the first one stayed the same, Harvey Norman, and then 5, 6, 7 years later we changed that to Norman Ross and then that had opened in 61 and we went public in 1972 and anyone who bought shares in the company multiplied their money by 15 times in 10 years from 72 to 82 and in 1982 I sold out and I think we sold for 23 million or something like that. Which was a lot of money in 1982 and then I started again. I went back and saw if the Harvey Norman name had ever been registered and it hadn't, so I thought I'd go back to Harvey Norman and opened up as Harvey Norman in 1982 and this time after 21 years of experience, you know, running a company, I thought I'll go out and just open a couple of shops. I didn't actually have in mind to do what I did. So I opened a shop and then another one and then all of a sudden I thought oh o, here we go. So I thought why am I doing this? Because I didn't go, in 1982, I didn't go in to think I am going to open 100 or 200 shops or something and so it just happened. I thought I can't stop. So that shop goes up and that shop goes up and the third one the fourth one and fifth one and it just kept going. So from 1982 to 1987, which was only 5 years later, I looked and I thought hell, this is a lot easier than the first time. I am a lot smarter. I am 42. I am 21 years ahead of where I was and so in 1987 we went public and then turned a dollar into to over a hundred dollars from 1987 to 2000. We were the fastest growing company in Australian history. We outperformed every other company, public company, on the stock exchange in Australia between 1987 and 2000. You know, if I'd tell ya how in 13 years you can turn one dollar into over 100, you are going to put a dollar on me, aren't you? And when I do it for you, you are going to say, mate, he's the best friend I've ever had. [smiles]. And that's what happened. And so it was amazing. But I didn't set out to do it. I mean I can't say to you that that's what I was going to do. I had already done it. When I was 40 people would say this guy is one of the best retailers in the country - they used to say that - and it was probably true. But this time around I had a lot more knowledge and that helped me a lot. So it was 21 years of business knowledge and so you know by the time I was 30 I was always the youngest top businessman anywhere in the country practically so everywhere I went I am the youngest guy in town because everyone else is 40 to 60. And so it comes as some great shock to me now that if I go out anywhere I am the oldest guy in town. But because you are dealing at a very young age between 20 and 30 with all the top people that's the big gain. That's when you look back, you think ah, that was SO important between 20 and thirty that I was mixing with all those people.