TALKIN’ TOYS
WHAT’S NEXT FOR ZURU NICK MOWBRAY, CEO and co-founder of ZURU, shares advice for new entrepreneurs and discusses the future of the toy company. Toy Book: What advice do you have for young people who are interested in starting a business, or starting a toy brand specifically? Nick Mowbray: My biggest piece of advice for all those wanting to start a new business is to throw away the word “can’t” from your vocabulary. Being in business means you’re constantly encountering challenges you have to overcome with new and creative solutions. It’s the tenacity to keep persevering that fuels business success. In my early days, I was knocked back time and time again. It’s the ability to get knocked down seven times and get up on the eighth that counts. Additionally, I think the notion of being comfortable with trying the unknown and making mistakes is incredibly important. Mistakes are the greatest learning opportunities. You remember them more than the suc-
cesses. The key is to always have takeaways and to ensure you never make the same mistake twice. Passion for what you do is also vital—you need a reason to get up every day and work harder than anyone else. TB: What was the biggest surprise you encountered in starting and running ZURU? NM: The biggest surprise to me was how demanding the entrepreneurial lifestyle actually is. People on the outside only ever see the successes and triumphs associated with building a really successful company. In reality, there’s so much sacrifice to undertake before success even becomes part of the picture. We moved to China at a really young age with little money and no experience. Every day we fought for survival and battled to work out how to win—and even struggled to get the basics right.
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On a personal level, I also surprised myself. I never truly acknowledged how persistent I was. I pride myself on having a relentless drive for excellence, and I genuinely believe you can always be better in whatever you do. Lifting the bar every year is nonnegotiable for our company. I think complacency is the biggest killer for businesses worldwide. Staying a bit paranoid is important. Entrepreneurs should always observe shifts within the wider business environment and look for the right opportunities. In the last 12 months, the toy industry went through an unprecedented level of change, including the astronomical rise of YouTube at the detriment of TV, the hefty impact e-commerce is having on pricing and retailers, and the extremely sad loss of Toys “R” Us. ZURU had to pivot fast to keep up with these changes, and I am incredibly proud of our team’s agility and ability to adapt.
