Good business is about timing

What have burger buns, student accommodation and power-boat racing in common? The answer is that they are all enterprises started by serial entrepreneur Asif Rangoonwala.

A portfolio career like this is the dream of many of the entrepreneurs that I meet, especially those that are naturally creative. To them it makes perfect sense; they find something new that interests them almost every day. Their plan is to start as many businesses as possible, on the basis that one of them will make them a millionaire.

When mentoring creative people I do my best to provide them some focus; they should concentrate on one business at a time, and employ some very tried and tested business practices, following Rangoonwala's example.

He clearly started in the right place, with the right background. He grew up in Pakistan where his father was a serial entrepreneur with many different businesses. Rangoonwala studied at schools in Europe and so developed an international perspective.

Important lessons

It was naturally expected that he would join one of the family businesses, so he found himself in Malaysia as CEO of a bulk liquid storage company and discovered some important lessons early on, centred on reliability, trust and honesty.

In his twenties and early thirties he had several roles in different countries, including the UK and Hong Kong, even driving a taxi at one time. There were always opportunities in the family businesses, but it was one that was turned away that caught his eye: burger buns.

Rangoonwala jokes that he was attracted to the business because of his fondness for fast food, but clearly there was much more to it than that.

He needed funding, so went to the usual sources of capital, securing not the most advantageous terms. But his father saw that he was serious about this opportunity and bought out his initial investors, who departed happily with a quick return on their investment.

The rest, as they say, is history, and Rangoonwala's company Eurobuns was acquired for a tidy sum earlier this year by frozen bread product supplier Lantmännen Unibake.

You would expect Rangoonwala's next adventure to be in the food industry, where he had experience and contacts. But he had already become involved with the Swanbourne Group, which supplies short-term student accommodation in the UK.

This model is based on continuing revenue, rather than appreciating long-term assets, unlike many property companies. I am sure this seemed like a poor model during the boom times; but in these hard times, when cash is king, it makes perfect sense.

He is also involved in P1, the power boating version of Formula One. This business is clearly about timing; Formula One itself famously took a long time to become profitable, so it is useful that Rangoonwala knows how to play the long game.

His success as an entrepreneur is not as the creator, but more in his skills as deal maker and trader. He must be pitched new ideas everyday, but only pursues those where a deal is to be made. Deal makers and traders are very grounded; they understand markets well, and have the gift of timing, the ability to do the right thing at the right time.

The writer is a best-selling author, keynote speaker and entrepreneur mentor, co-founder of Beermat.biz, an on-line resource for entrepreneurs