Vehicle Alliance UK Ltd (formerly known as Cheap UK Cars Ltd) - Conrad Kreil
Mentor: Gordon Blair
Conrad is a Vehicle Broker, sourcing and organising finance for cars & vans for business customers such as Clyde Property and Currie European and for private clients for vehicles over £5,000. He also does some property development. After investing in some personal development training as well as seeking help for his business, Conrad heard about Business Mentoring at a networking event. He admitted that the “forms sat on my desk for a long time. As with many small businesses I did not really appreciate the value of this free service. Luckily the Chamber of Commerce rang me up and gave me an ultimatum that if I didn’t return them I would lose the opportunity, so they were sent that day!” He was introduced to Gordon Blair, a self made millionaire in the vehicle and property development world who had five years of Business Mentoring experience under his belt.
The first thing that Gordon encouraged Conrad to do was change the name of the company to “Vehicle Alliance – the UK’s number one car broker” which as Gordon put it “Says exactly what he does and sounds more professional”. Gordon also commented that “Conrad’s marketing strategy was a bit askew, but is now back in place with a new plan going forward and I check all new material that is being published. I have also told him to get involved with the local Chamber of Commerce”.
Conrad enthused that Gordon had made him “Change my outlook, and given me focus and direction. He is an incredibly knowledgeable person with a unique philosophy. I had been looking at other forms of business help but it was all ‘text book help’ and not based on personal experience. I would explain the issues I had and he made suggestions of what he would do in that scenario which opened up huge possibilities I had never have thought of!”
Conrad explained that Gordon had made a huge difference to his life – “On a personal level he has helped me obtain development funding to build a new home, and the bank have just accepted my application. Business-wise we had a turnover of £130,000 and after a year of Gordon’s help this increased to £200,000 last year and we are already turning over £100,000 in the first two months of this new financial year .”
Conrad and Gordon’s relationship was clearly strong from the outset, Gordon commented that he was “really nice to work with, enthusiastic and willing to listen. Not everyone is equally good at listening or accepting criticism. Conrad and I have an excellent relationship which I hope will be ongoing.” He said that too often potential mentees do not take up this free service and appreciate the hard work and opportunity that goes with it. He did add that he “just loves helping people”.
Conrad said that the key thing was that Gordon was genuinely interested in the industry and his business as it was a unique way of selling vehicles. He has even sourced Gordon a new car! Conrad was impressed with the speed that they were matched and it was “a phenomenal process which I would highly recommend”.
