Fellows stories: David Jonas
David founded Vegetarian Express, the leading UK supplier of plant-based ingredients, including tofu, tempeh, quinoa, nuts, spices and pulses.
Advised by Initium, his dynamic, growing company secured investment from impact-investor Bridges Ventures, and he has since worked as a Non-Exec Director and business consultant, applying his financial and commercial skills to assist fellow entrepreneurs. His focus is on projects where he can make a genuine, lasting difference.
The luxury of exit is that if your exit was good, you don’t have the problem of earning a living anymore. So that’s a wonderful, privileged position to be in, and you can do whatever you want with your life, within reason!
The sort of things that would flag up immediately post sale is suddenly not having to use an alarm clock anymore, a wonderful luxury. Not having to have that thing wake you up every day was a real benefit!
First, I took some time out, taking a little bit of a holiday, reassessing. But very quickly – and I think most entrepreneurs go through this – you suddenly find your purpose in life is gone. I had been working 60 hours a week on a business that I owned, it was my raison d’etre. Suddenly it’s gone and you’re left with a void. No purpose in life, and we all need purpose in life.
Very quickly – and I think most entrepreneurs go through this – post-sale, you find your purpose is gone
I then became involved with an eco-village down near Seville, Spain, a community of about 50. It’s partly self-sustaining as they trade with the external community, but just a lovely collective to be a part of! They don’t require me to work, but it’s part of being there just to pitch in.
My big post-sale objective has been to help businesses because that’s what I enjoy doing. I will hopefully find an opportunity to invest in and help them as well, as an angel investor.
Along the way, I’ve picked up quite a lot of contacts with small businesses, helping them with their systems, finances, accounting, and business planning. The first was a wholesaling health food business, very similar to my own. It was quite a small business at the time, turning over about a million, but they were still underdeveloped in their systems. They were still working on spreadsheets. I don’t charge for this. Now, I work because I want to work.
Then there was a food manufacturing business I helped because they were in trouble. It wasn’t really for me as an investment, so I introduced him to a buyer. I’ve also been helping a software as a service (SaaS) business to prepare itself for sale. And even though SaaS isn’t something I’ve done before, preparing any business for sale is very similar. There are specifics to that industry that you need to learn, and I learnt very quickly. The starting point was finding the right corporate finance advisor for them. You were my first port of call!
My latest passion project is as pro-bono de facto MD / FD to a Community Farm in my neighbourhood which employs 27 people, some of whom live on the farm. It provides organic produce through its farm shop and a cafe for the local community. It also houses and employs three residents with special needs referred by the local authority.
It’s probably six micro businesses in one, a complex setup. They need better systems in order to understand their profitability, projections, and trajectory, in order to secure the business. It’s a fascinating project. It ticks my boxes and gives me the purpose that I’m always looking for. But it also connects me right back to the community again.
I commend your business philosophy and everything you’re doing. It’s great to be in touch with you still, and working with you. I really enjoy it.