Case Study Murray

j Case with questions Sara Murray – Serial entrepreneur Sara Murray is a serial entrepreneur, having set up three businesses so far. Born in 1968 to professional parents (her father was a manager at Chloride and her mother was a teacher), Sara graduated from Oxford University in 1990 with an MA in physiology, psychology and philosophy. She started work as a management consultant with ZS Associates in the USA and in 1991 moved to Hambros Bank in London to work in asset finance. In 1993 she started her first business, called Ninah Consulting. It used technology to improve companies’ marketing effectiveness, working for blue-chip clients like Coca-Cola and SmithKline Beecham. In 1999 she started her second business, inspop.com, an insurance comparison website. She expanded the site to more than 250 000 customers within 18 months and then sold it to Admiral Group who renamed it ‘Confused.com’. In 2002 Sara sold Ninah to Publicis, the French media group. Sara is married with one daughter and three step-children. She is a keen sportswoman – a runner, skier and yachtswoman who helmed an America’s Cup boat across the Atlantic. She claims that her mother encouraged her to set up her own business, telling her she would be in ‘control’ and that it was ‘better for having a family’. The idea for Sara’s latest business came when her daughter disappeared in a supermarket and she wondered whether there was a technological solution to this problem. She decided to find a satellite navigation tracking device that could be used in such situations and eventually found a company in California that had already spent $180 million on developing one. However it was not yet on sale and, anyway, would only work in US metropolitan areas. Having set up businesses before and with a range of contacts in finance through her brief City career, Sara decided to investigate the opportunity herself. A friend introduced her to two engineers. ‘I decided to make one myself … I knew the difficult thing would be building the hardware, because I had never done it before … I was completely consumer-orientated. I said – this is what I would like it to do for my child. They were completely technology-orientated. There was a gap … Most technology companies build technology and look at where they can sell it.’ The Times, 3 January 2009

Sara spent £200 000 of her own money on building a working prototype. Relying heavily on her network of finance contacts she then went on to obtain the first round of funding from business angels in 2005. The first Buddi device went on sale in 2007. A Buddi is about the size of a wrist watch and is hung around the neck. It sells for a small fixed amount above the cost of manufacture plus a monthly charge for unlimited use. By logging on to the Buddi website it is possible to find someone’s whereabouts on the relevant page of Google Maps. Their movements can even be tracked in real time. The device also contains a panic button, which alerts one of two constantly monitored call centres and has an audio feed to assess whether there is a real emergency. If there is an emergency, the centres contact a nominated guardian. It can be used for any vulnerable people, not just children, and operates anywhere in the world. So far the venture has cost just over £1.3 million, funded by two rounds of calls on business angels and further injections of cash will be necessary. Turnover in 2008 was £3 million 1 Up-to-date information on Buddi can be found on their website: www.buddi.co.uk

QUESTIONS 1 In what ways is Sara different from most women? How might these characteristics contribute to her drive and determination in setting up her own firms? 2 What challenges has Sara faced in setting up her businesses? How has she overcome them? 3 How much of what she has achieved has been down to luck? P. Burns, Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 3rd edn © Palgrave Macmillan, 2011