---

Staff post about: Alan Sugar Become an Author

Tweet

---

---

Sir Alan Sugar did not start out life selling everything he could get his hands on, but it sure does seem that way. By the time Sugar was 21-years-old, he would marry his wife, Ann, and start his own electronic manufacturing business. Sugar would name that business after himself, Amstrad, based on his initials and the business he ran out of the back of a second-hand van. The acronym actually means Alan Michael Sugar Trading. After reflecting on the start-upof Amstrad, Sugar would say, “If there was a market in mass-produced portable nuclear weapons, I would market to them.”

This is how driven Sugar was about selling. Amstradfirst became successful by mass producing hi-fi stereo equipment. Amstraddrove its foot in the ground in 1984, when Sugar saw that personal computers would be the wave of the future. Within one year of Sugar deciding to expand his business into the computer market, Amstradwould come out with its own brand of personal computer, the PCW8256 word processor.

Throughout the 1980s, the decision to produce computers had made Amstradworth more than $2 billion. This would make Sugar reply in an interview with the BBC News, “The 1980s gave everyone the opportunity to succeed. The establishment was smashed, definitely. The old school tie went out the window. Anybody can do anything now.”

However, the 1990s saw the success of Sugar's company falter. During this time period, Amstrad would find that using the cheapest products to produce personal computers would eventually catch up with the business. Along with this, Sugar had decided to branch into the ever popular gaming market, which would fail miserably.

Through this struggling time, Sugar never gave up. By the middle of the 1990s, Sugar started looking towards the telecommunications industry and would slowly transition Amstradfrom a personal computer manufacturer to a telecommunications company. In 2007, Sugar would sell Amstradto BskyB for a hefty $250 million and concentrate on his other business ventures, such as the British version of Donald Trump's popular reality show, The Apprentice.

In 2000, Alan Sugar was knighted by the Queen and would later receive a peerage from Gordon Brown, Britain’s Prime Minister, in 2009. Sir Sugar would become Baron Sugar of Clapton and have a seat in the House of Lords.

The hard times from those early years has made Sugar the success he is today and have a estimated net worth more than $1.2 billion. The mistakes and triumphs over his life made Sugar believe anyone can be successful if they only work hard enough. It begins with his statement about fairness. Sugar was once quoted as saying, “Fair. The only fair you are going to get is your bloody train fare!”

Related Articles

  The Media Personality and British Entrepreneur, Alan Sugar Started From Meager Beginnings
  Lesson #5: Gain Experience in Your Trade
  Lesson #1: Always be Selling
  Touchy Feely Is Not My Style
  Lesson #3: Never Expect Your Products to Remain the Market Leader
  Reaching the Pinnacle of Success: How Sir Alan Sugar Succeeded in Business
  Lesson #2: Negotiate to Make More Sales
  Addicted To The Apprentice Already And What A Mess!
  Great Salespeople Can See the Pixels - The Rest Watch the Movie
  The Power of Choice
  Winning Recognition
  Lesson #4: Price Points Make You Money
  Reasons You Want to Pack Olive Oil on Your Next Trip
  E-mail Tip #5 - First Sentence Sets the Tone of a Note
  Improve Your E-Mail Openings
  Leadership 101: Integrity by Example
  So Many Things Hinge on Leadership
  Amazing Q&A with Alan Greenspan
  Lesson #3: Give Your Company a Shock Treatment
  Wanna Know a Weird Strategy to triple your Learning Skills, & Double Your Long-term Memory?

Related Forum Posts

Re: Quote of the Day - "If you enjoy what you do, don't be afrai
Re: Great start, but no finish
Re: How to do Link Building?
How do you know if you have a good idea?
Starting A Business

Share this article. Fund someone's dream.

Share this post and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet