Naked Wines Founder Explains How The Failure Of One Business Sparked Success In Another

Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan once said, “Behind every small business, there’s a story worth knowing.” We believe this to be true.

To highlight the trials and tribulations of being a frontrunner at a new company, we’ve partnered with Intuit, makers of QuickBooks, to speak with small-business owners from a variety of different fields — including law, retail and professional services — for their take on getting started, overcoming obstacles and facing challenges along the road to success.

The second interviewee in our series is Rowan Gormley, founder of Naked Wines. (You can read the first Q&A of the series here.) The online wine market funds winemakers around the world in return for exclusive prices, which are then passed on to the company’s customers. The business model of Naked Wines, which launched in the U.K. in 2008 and in the U.S. in 2012, allows customers to order wine in advance. This cuts out costs for the winemaker and, in turn, secures them a better price.

HP: Why did you decide to start your own business?

HP: What is your favorite part or parts of owning your own business?

Independence. The ability to wake up in the morning with an idea in your head, go into the office and say, “Guys, let’s try this,” and not having to go through three layers of bureaucracy, committees, lawyers and know-it-alls who are very good at criticizing other’s ideas, but have none of their own. That’s the greatest luxury.

Obviously, you need to work like a dog, as well.

Intuit QuickBooks provides small-business owners cloud-based tools to run and grow their business. From creating invoices and paying bills, to managing payroll and monitoring expenses, QuickBooks is the operating system that supports small business.

The Huffington Post