S03E03 Bootstrapping his business to £50m annual revenue - Gurinder Dhillon of Otto Car
10/05/23 • 89 min
Gurinder is the founder and CEO of Otto Car, the company that provides cars and finance to most Uber drivers in London.
Currently, over 5,000 vehicles on the road are provided through the services of Otto.
In the few years since the business was founded and they were operating out of offices in shipping containers in a West London car park, they’ve hit £50 million in annual revenue and are growing faster than ever - and they've done it all without having to give up any equity or selling to VCs or PE.
- Coming from an immigrant family background, Gurinder was quick to identify cultural shifts impacting his dad's business, and he used the same strategy to get on board with new and emerging trends in his own business. He realised the importance of hitching your wagon to a company or sector that was growing fast - a bit like a support frigate for a huge aircraft carrier - in his case the aircraft carrier was Uber.
- According to Gurinder, the foundations of Otto’s success are their core values and being mission driven. He explained that when it comes to values, ‘you can't do mission without marching’ - in other words, you need to walk the talk and demonstrate it through your daily actions
- He describes the period during COVID when his company was losing £6,000 every hour and he really found out who his allies were - and crucially, who they weren't. - he uses strong language, but it only goes to highlight exactly how important this is to him - and if you’re an entrepreneur, I think you will understand
Towards the end of our conversation, he shares an anecdote that involves expensive wine and a life lesson, and it’s worth listening just to hear that!
I learned a lot and was greatly inspired and entertained - and so will you be.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Gurinder Dhillon.Resources
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gurinder-dhillon/?originalSubdomain=uk
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future: Amazon.co.uk
The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership: Amazon.co.uk
This podcast is produced by GR Media
Sponsored by Capital Asset Management
Gurinder is the founder and CEO of Otto Car, the company that provides cars and finance to most Uber drivers in London.
Currently, over 5,000 vehicles on the road are provided through the services of Otto.
In the few years since the business was founded and they were operating out of offices in shipping containers in a West London car park, they’ve hit £50 million in annual revenue and are growing faster than ever - and they've done it all without having to give up any equity or selling to VCs or PE.
- Coming from an immigrant family background, Gurinder was quick to identify cultural shifts impacting his dad's business, and he used the same strategy to get on board with new and emerging trends in his own business. He realised the importance of hitching your wagon to a company or sector that was growing fast - a bit like a support frigate for a huge aircraft carrier - in his case the aircraft carrier was Uber.
- According to Gurinder, the foundations of Otto’s success are their core values and being mission driven. He explained that when it comes to values, ‘you can't do mission without marching’ - in other words, you need to walk the talk and demonstrate it through your daily actions
- He describes the period during COVID when his company was losing £6,000 every hour and he really found out who his allies were - and crucially, who they weren't. - he uses strong language, but it only goes to highlight exactly how important this is to him - and if you’re an entrepreneur, I think you will understand
Towards the end of our conversation, he shares an anecdote that involves expensive wine and a life lesson, and it’s worth listening just to hear that!
I learned a lot and was greatly inspired and entertained - and so will you be.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Gurinder Dhillon.Resources
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gurinder-dhillon/?originalSubdomain=uk
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future: Amazon.co.uk
The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership: Amazon.co.uk
This podcast is produced by GR Media
Sponsored by Capital Asset Management
Previous Episode
S03E02 Back From the Brink - the incredible story of a husband-and-wife team that built an amazing business over 30 years. And then nearly lost it all
This episode is a first.
After 35 episodes of the Bulletproof Entrepreneur podcast, I thought it was time we explored the dynamics where a husband and wife set up in business and have to manage two different relationships - the business partners working together and the life partners raising a family and having a quality home life away from the business.
Richard and Sonia Dixon met when they were young and started working together at a small travel agent in a less salubrious part of Birmingham where a business partnership blossomed kind of at the same time as a personal partnership.
Their story tracks the evolution of the travel industry front the time when the only way to book your holiday was by walking into a shop on the high street through the early days of the internet and online booking and took them to a position where they had a team of over 200 people and a thriving business.
Before it all came crashing down.
- You’re going to hear about what it takes to grow a business from almost nothing to become a significant player in a highly competitive sector.
- You’ll learn the meaning of the word Resilient when they explain that they were so close to hitting all-time revenue targets that they were about to take the entire team on a trip of a lifetime to Mauritius when the pandemic arrived, and their company was literally a few days from bankruptcy.
- And of course, you’ll learn how they cracked the code of building a world-class business together whilst building a happily married family life together - so many valuable lessons for all of us.
And towards the end, Richard shares insight for all business owners who find themselves in a position of leadership when they haven’t actually formally been trained for it - and let's face it, that’s most of us.
If you work with a family member or simply love to hear an incredible business and life story that encompasses more ups and downs than the average rollercoaster, you're going to enjoy this inspired conversation.
Ladies sand gentlemen, I give you...
Richard and Sonia DixonLinks:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-dixon-4aa76721/?originalSubdomain=ukm
Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose
The Leadership Book by Neil Jurd: A step by step guide to excellent leadership: Amazon.co.uk
This podcast is produced by GR Media
Sponsored by Capital Asset Management
Next Episode
S03E04 Lee Robertson - pioneering financial services entrepreneur on scaling his business through the power of PR and selling to colleagues via a Management Buy Out
Lee Robertson is a serial entrepreneur, having founded no less than 3 companies to date. One didn’t work out and is no longer around; one became a huge success, and he sold it to his colleagues in a management buyout; and the third one is currently thriving and keeping him busy.
Lee, who came from humble beginnings and spent his early career in the Royal Navy, entered the financial services industry as a direct salesman in his twenties. In the days before Google, he made cold calls every day from numbers he found in the Yellow Pages, which must be a fantastic way to develop thick skin—something that all entrepreneurs need!
He’s always been considered a pioneer and keen to employ forward-thinking innovations, which helped propel his success.
An early adopter of the concept of “personal brand”, Lee was a regular in the press and on TV, which gave his company a huge boost and provided fuel for their growth.
During the conversation, he shares a step-by-step guide on building your own personal brand to help grow your own company.
And he shares his views on an organisation called “The Company of Entrepreneurs”, a City of London Livery Company that he found incredibly helpful as he evolved his career and grew as an entrepreneur. - worth checking them out as they’re very much open to members - link below.
Towards the end, he offers some wise words about what matters and what’s really important - something that all entrepreneurs need to be reminded of from time to time.
And he signed off with some fantastic book recommendations, most of which I'd never heard of but will certainly be checking them out - and if you’re building a business, you should too.
Packed with insights and ideas that I know will be helpful to you, ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mr Lee Robertson.Resources
Lee Robertson Chartered FCSI FRSA | LinkedIn
Worshipful Company of Entrepreneurs
Break From the Pack: How to Compete in a Copycat Economy eBook : Harari, Oren: Amazon.co.uk: Books
High Frequency Change: why we feel like change happens faster now, and what to do about it
This podcast is produced by GR Media
Sponsored by Capital Asset Management
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