UNEARTHING A NICHE

Don’t assume everything in business is already covered. There is a niche out there waiting to be discovered. James Nicholson uncorked a wine business and thirty years on is still in entrepreneurial mode. Dympna O’Callaghan gets a flavour of the ‘vine’ side of life.

James Nicholson Founder of James Nicholson Wine Merchant

The next time you visit one of Ireland’s leading restaurants or hotels, attend a corporate function or are the recipient of a luxurious wine gift, you’ll probably be dealing indirectly with James Nicholson, founder of James Nicholson Wine Merchant, a business which flowed from his passion for wine.

Nicholson’s long-term relationship with the grape began at twenty-one when running the family restaurant, The Villager in Crossgar, County Down. When other establishments were content with listing ‘ordinary’ wines, he was sourcing labels like Château Lafite from London, any vintage of which will now set you back over £500. This flair for finding interesting wines at auction gave Nicholson his business idea. He saw a gap in the market for a supplier of good wines and went for it, setting up his new venture in Downpatrick with personal savings of £4,000, one office girl and a Ford Cortina Estate car. He sold Monday to Wednesday and delivered Thursday to Saturday.

Grit And Hard Work

“It was hard work,” says Nicholson. “Thirty years ago, wine was not a man’s drink. Most men preferred a bottle and a half one’ and German wines were the norm.”

Raising capital was as big an issue then as it is today; his bank gave him an overdraft of £10,000 and refused to extend it further. “I watched the pennies carefully; the first three years in business were tough, with losses each year, but by year four I was in the black and have stayed there ever since. To this day, I’m always mindful that what’s borrowed must be paid back,” he says.

Striving Towards Success

The mid 80s was the beginning of ‘something progressive’ for Nicholson. He moved back to Crossgar, took on more staff, including a sales representative and grew his turnover to over £1 million per annum with a reasonable level of profit, which he re-invested in the business. Continual reinvention has been the hallmark of Nicholson’s success. He says it’s an inborn trait of an entrepreneur, “you set yourself a goal; when you reach it, you set yet another one; contentment does not sit happily with entrepreneurship.”

Sometimes he envies his wine growers, whose connection to the earth he says, makes them seem contented. He now deals with 300 grower families throughout the world spending twelve weeks each year visiting them personally. However, with a team of 45 on board now, he is allocating some travel time to staff. “It’s good for them too to see the product source. They embed more with the business.”

Letting Go Of The Reigns

This is the secret to the success of any homegrown enterprise, says Nicholson. “You have to let go of the baby sometime. It’s all about building a team of excellent people.”

Nicholson left school after A Levels; his encyclopaedic wine mind is selftaught. However, he has an eclectic mix of graduates among his staff. “They’re not all graduates, “I believe in nurturing young, good talent. The most important requisite is that wine must be music to their ears,” he says. With so much confidence in his staff, Nicholson says the business runs itself while he’s here or away. “Getting to that point requires belief in your ability to select staff wisely and to have them trust you too. You may say time builds trust, but it’s all down to you, the entrepreneur, to ignite mutual trust. It’s important to engage the best; it compels you to continually pitch yourself a notch above them; keeps you sharp,” he adds.

Entrepreneurial Qualities

Nicholson did not set out to be an entrepreneur; he saw a niche and worked hard to develop a ‘big, small business’, which is now multi-sited. An investment of €6.5 million in the last five years, has seen the business expand from its Crossgar roots to now include warehouses in Belfast, Dublin Airport, and a business in Cork (acquired via acquisition). Charles O’Reilly directs the ROI business. The company occupies 60,000 sq. ft., handles 1.5 million bottles of wine per annum, and generates a turnover of €20 million with annual growth rates of 18% for the past five years. Nicholson lists essential entrepreneurial qualities as, “independence, enthusiasm, energy, determination, competitiveness, fearlessness, high self image, good interpersonal skills, perfection, and a passion for what you do.”

Finding New Challenges

His advice to new entrepreneurs is, “choose a business model that suits your business niche. Know how big you want your business to grow and once achieved, look for other spin offs.” In Nicholson’s case, there are many spin off ideas coming to the fore; wine courses, annual wine tasting events with growers, wine and art, wine and food, a new olive oil and a new wine, REACH which recently launched to support the Integrated Education Fund in Northern Ireland. And he wants to conquer China! Nicholson also has another passion, horses. He’s an active member of the Boards of Down Royal and Fairyhouse racecourses and Horse Racing Ireland. He recently bought a new team member - French-bred Saltino. “Entrepreneurs need interests. It’s unhealthy to ‘hit the pillows’ straight from the work floor,” he concludes.