Julian Dunkerton built Superdry from scratch to be a multi-million business. In this interview with Rob, he talks through his journey from opening his first shop at 19 to setting up a new Gin and Juice bar in Cheltenham. Julian talks through his love of retail, and how focusing on others is the key to success in business. If you want to learn how to find what you love, and building something from a gap in the market this conversation is for you.

Key Takeaways

I love Cheltenham. The place has been very good to me. We are doubling the size of an old office building. It’s quite unique to have something like what we are building outside of London. There are new types of hotels which is slightly more informal but the quality is still really high.

How are hotels different from retail? It’s very similar but it’s a different product. It’s quite an accessible concept, that its so expensive that you can’t go. It’s about space and how you walk into a store. Everywhere you go it was visually exciting in the store. You’ve got to be the best in your environment to be successful.

Are you someone who is driven by numbers or the product? It has to be both. I’ve been on a long journey and every year I have increased sales, and profitably. You have to follow the consumer. Particularly with fashion, people tend to get caught in a particular moment and they think they have cracked it but the customer always moves on. It’s very easy to make clothes but can they be the best.

How do you stay in touch with what people want? The thing is not to get caught in the clouds and stay grounded. You’re here to serve and the moment you forget that then this industry isn’t for you. If you start thinking in isolation, then you will fail. I’m trying to get back into Superdry at the minute because they have made a strategic error, and have gone in the wrong direction.

How do you work out what the consumers want? You have to be well travelled, and observe a lot. Understanding your industry is key, then you know that that style of product is doing really well. It’s a very logical industry in reality. Fashion is not what happens on the catwalk but what’s been worn on the street. You have to know what people are wearing in Tokyo, New York, and Korea.

How did you get into retail? I didn’t know what else to do. I left school with three very bad A Levels. I went travelling for five or six months and contemplated what I should do next. I was in Turkey at a market and was very excited by it. I realised I was good at it and understood what the public needed. Taking something that is popular and then take it to a different environment is key you don’t always have to think of new ideas.

What would you say to someone who is pushing 40 and you haven’t found something you love yet? It’s hugely whatever your age to find something that you love. It’s not as complicated as one imagines. You have to put yourself 100% into it and think about other people first. If you find something that no-one is doing, and look where the gaps are.

It’s all about partnerships, occasionally they don’t work, but what a wonderful growing something together is creative. As long as you have opposite skills it’s a positive thing. It’s about thinking about other people. If you both come at it with a vision of creating something together then you’ll be successful. If you’re trying to make the best clothing possible. I would have a commercial view of the world whereas my business partner can design something from that, from anything really. But our biggest selling product I had nothing to do with.

What’s the connection with the Japanese styling? Japan is incredibly cool in terms of streetwear and street culture. What we found was that the packaging and the letter styling was the most exciting thing. This was more defined as an artistic endeavour than any other packaging I’d seen.

We did it completely differently. The rest of the industry would follow the norms, buying a year out from release a clothesline, and I wanted to do something different. Whereas I would go to a brand and just buy the product there and then. I changed how the industry worked. But at Superdry, this has been forgotten.

Are you a reader of books, other entrepreneurs? Yes and newspapers. I read every single newspaper, maybe four or five when I get time. I would only read the news bit, and the business section, not the sports section. It’s been useful to have a big picture view about what is happening in the world.

How did you finance the growth phase? I have been self-funding everything. I never spent the money that I made. I would always reinvest. When I sold businesses I would always reinvest the money. I did float at one point, and it did help the growth of the company and the structure that we needed to grow. That was when we were making 25 million profit and a couple of 100 million in turnover.

Do you have any mentors or people who have inspired you? I think Dyson story is incredible, and the Apple story is the ultimate. I admire what he achieved, and he was really thinking about the consumer, and the money was the secondary part of it. It’s a paradox, that it’s not all about the money to make loads of money.

Best moment in your career/worst moment in your career? The best was James, my business partner, says that he would come and work for me. I had to take him on a coffee journey, to get him back into the fashion industry. The worst moment was that Superdry was going to take a wrong turn and not being able to change it.

Best Advice you’ve been given: Share and experience together. I have equal partnerships, so it’s not overpowering and you're doing something equally together.

Is there something in the world that you would like to change? I’m a passionate British tax paying human being. I think how we run the country, I think we can do it differently. I don’t think we look at a problem and how we can affect change. If we look at areas that voted Brexit, they are the deprived areas of the country. We are in a stage where manufacturing could come back to this country because of technology. We could bring back manufacturing in those areas. You could affect that change now, as tax-free investment in those areas. No one is thinking about that.

What does the word disruptive mean to you? Looking at a market, finding a gap in that market and doing something about it.

Best Moments

‘I love Cheltenham. The place has been very good to me.’

‘I’m a retailer at heart.’

‘You have to enjoy getting to the product.’

‘Everything we do we try and be as best as possible.’

‘You have to follow the consumer.’

‘You have to put yourself in the consumer shoes.’

‘I’ve always warm our products.’

‘If you start thinking in isolation, then you will fail.’

‘our here to serve and the moment you forget that this industry isn’t for you.’

‘I will go back to Superdry and sort it out.’

‘You have to know what people are wearing in Tokyo, New York, and Korea.’

‘People are so focused on responding they forget to think.’

‘Moments of peace are really important.’

‘I’ve always had somebody else to help me.’

‘I always made sure it was safe before jumping in.’

‘The chances of inventing something are slim, but taking something popular to a new place is possible.’

‘Keep watching, keep getting better, keep focusing on the consumer.’

‘I had my first shop at 19.’

‘To find what your good at 19 is amazing.’

‘The Brexit is a very negative mindset.’

‘It’s all about partnerships.’

‘You have to have an appreciation of other people's skills.’

‘Japan is incredibly cool in terms of streetwear and street culture.’

‘We have done something that has been done before, that many times.’

‘I changed the market.’

‘I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved at Superdry.’

‘I really embrace intellectually new experiences.’

‘Pushing forward is something I really enjoy doing.’

‘Don’t be greedy.’

‘Don’t spend more than 10% more than what you earn.’

‘Try not to take on debt.’

‘Money can’t be the main driver.’

‘In business you have to be fairly confident in yourself.’

‘Sometimes you just have to do the right thing.’

‘We are at the forefront of various different things compared to the rest of Europe.’

‘The world thinks that Superdry is Japanese.’

[Business, mindset, entrepreneur, disruptors]

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ABOUT THE HOST

Rob Moore is an author of 9 business books, 5 UK bestsellers, holds 3 world records for public speaking, entrepreneur, property investor, and property educator. Author of the global bestseller “Life Leverage” Host of UK’s No.1 business podcast “Disruptors”

“If you don't risk anything, you risk everything”

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LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/robmoore1979

ABOUT THE GUEST

Julian Dunkerton is a British businessman, and the co-founder of the fashion label Superdry. At the age of 19, Dunkerton, along with his then business partner Ian Hibbs, founded the fashion retail chain Cult Clothing Co with a £2,000 loan. They started selling the clothing from an indoor market stall in Cheltenham. In 2003, Dunkerton and co-founder James Holder launched fashion brand Superdry.

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