Tony Quinn's mantra for entrepreneurial success

Entrepreneur Tony Quinn has shared his secrets to success with business students at Bond University, telling them about his greatest deal and why he gives prospective employees a maths test.

The self-made multi-millionaire spent his early years in a caravan in Scotland before emigrating to Australia.

He founded a fat-rendering plant in New Zealand which led to a pet food business, VIP Petfoods, that he sold for $410 million in 2015.

He went on to buy struggling chocolatier Darrell Lea for $11 million, turning the business around and selling it for $200 million.

Mr Quinn spoke at the Pop-Up Entrepreneur series hosted by Transformer, Bond University’s free entrepreneurship program that helps students develop their business ideas.

The three most important rules of business

 “People talk about business opportunities but there are far more business challenges, and that is why a lot of businesses don't make it," Mr Quinn said.

“There are three things that I hold in high value if you're thinking about going into business.”

Brand 

“You've got to be careful how you brand whatever you're trying to do.

“I love the concept of a company in New Zealand called Stuff.

“I can imagine six people sitting around a table, wondering what to call this business they're setting up. Somebody must have said, `Just call it 'Stuff’.' And it's become very, very successful.”

DIFOT

“In the fast-moving consumer goods sector which I've been involved in, supermarkets are great customers because they place substantial orders and pay in full.

“But they have this thing called DIFOT which is the most important thing I'm going to tell you today.

“It stands for `Deliver In Full On Time’.

“You get a score and if you're not scoring high, you won't be on the shelves.

“Apply that philosophy (DIFOT) across your business and life - that's why I've been so successful in Australia.

“Half of the Australian companies that operate today spend half their time making excuses for why they can't deliver.

“Become a DIFOT expert and your company will have a great chance of success.”

Margin

“The third thing is something called margin.

“Do not do something for practice. I don’t practice business. I don't practice employing people. I don't practice servicing customers. I do not do something unless there is a margin.

“It's essential to have a healthy margin, and you should not be embarrassed about making a profit. It's what makes the business world go round and it's what pays people's mortgages.”

Why he asks potential employees a maths quiz  

“You're going to be confronted with deals that you're going to have to think through very quickly because a quick deal is usually a good deal, right? 

“You cannot say, ‘I'll get back to you’ because the deal will go elsewhere.”

On getting rich

“Money causes a lot of trouble and most entrepreneurs don't do what they do for the money. I certainly don't.

“They do it for the challenge, they do it for the game, and they do it for the win. I think if we set out to do it for the money, we'd be a lot richer.”

Ignorance is bliss 

“What I'm looking for is young people with good ideas, good ethics, enthusiasm and energy. And ignorance – they don’t yet know the amount of hard work you have to put in.

“I'm looking for people who haven’t experienced the pain of success.”

His greatest deal

“The easiest money I ever made was selling VIP Petfoods for $410 million.

“I knew I sold it to good operators. I asked to reinvest back into the business and they allowed me to reinvest 10 percent.

“Two years later we sold it for $1 billion.

“Two years, and I did nothing.”