{"id":963,"date":"2020-07-06T16:12:57","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T16:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liz-taylor-consulting.co.uk\/?p=963"},"modified":"2026-10-06T10:24:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T10:24:30","slug":"linda-plant-working-on-a-market-stall-taught-me-everything-i-needed-to-know-about-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.liz-taylor-consulting.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/07\/06\/linda-plant-working-on-a-market-stall-taught-me-everything-i-needed-to-know-about-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Lessons from Entrepreneur Linda Plant"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

She may be known as the Queen of Mean, but when it comes to business, Linda Plant certainly knows how to succeed.\u00a0 In a new interview on the July 8, 2020 edition of the Events That Made Me podcast, The Apprentice<\/em> star has revealed that it was her humble beginnings working on a market stall in Dewsbury market that have been her \u2018best lesson in life\u2019. In this blog, I want to share some business lessons from entrepreneur Linda Plant. She shares her personal experiences and advice for others looking to develop a new business.<\/p>\r\n

\"business<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Self-made, multi-millionaire Linda built her wholesale clothing empire, Honeysuckle, from nothing after leaving school at 15.\u00a0 She was one of the first women to float her business on the stock exchange and believes her market trader roots to be the main driver behind her success.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

She said: \u201cHere\u2019s me, you know, uneducated, unpolished,\u201d said Linda. \u201cWhen I met all these velvet collared city men and they said Linda, \u2018how did you get this, what was your turning moment?\u2019 I said, \u2018you know what taught me the most about business? I stood on a market stall, and that gives you everything you need to know in life. You can\u2019t learn it at a university; you have to stand on a market stall. It\u2019s the best lesson in life.\u2019<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

<\/u><\/u><\/u><\/u>As a teenager, Linda drove her family from running one market stall to overseeing 14, which eventually grew into a multi-million-pound wholesale business.<\/u>\u00a0Talking of her experiences growing up, she said: \u201cThe truth is, it was a long time before I ever looked back and thought, my God, how did I do that? Was I afraid? Was I scared? When I think back, I was a kid. I just wasn\u2019t like a kid.\u00a0Listen Here<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cBy the time I left school at 15, we had one stall in Sheffield market that was very successful, and I just couldn\u2019t wait to leave school. So, I said to mum that I wanted to leave school, and she never dreamt of saying, ” Get an education, get GCSEs, she said alright, yes, leave.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Listen Here<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

It was this foundation that instilled her business sense and eagerness, she concluded: I came from very, very, poor beginnings we had a lodger to help pay the rent\u2026 but that drive, that motivation it\u2019s in you and it doesn\u2019t go away. It just doesn\u2019t\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

During the interview, Liz and Linda delve deep into an astonishing career, including the \u2018event that made her\u2019, a shrewd business deal to import sweaters from Korea that catapulted her Honeysuckle brand to become a major supplier of knitwear on the UK high street, done at a time when women were not viewed as equal in business. Linda continued: \u201cI\u2019m a woman negotiating with a man. In personal life you have to leave a man feeling like he\u2019s important, but in business you really have to. I walked out of that meeting with the rights to the sweaters and a ratcheted-down percentage for how many I sold \u2026. I had every single major retailer from England on that stand, and when I say you can drown in success, you could have, because I didn\u2019t know what had hit me.\u201d Listen Here<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

<\/u><\/u>Linda has overseen multiple businesses, which in 2015 resulted in her being called upon by Alan Sugar to become one of his \u2018no holds barred\u2019 Apprentice interviewers.<\/u>\u00a0On screen she has become known for her uncompromising interview style and leaving no stone unturned as she dissects the business plans of the hit BBC show\u2019s hopefuls. Yet her foray into television was completely unplanned.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cHe hardly gave me chance to answer,\u201d admits Linda.\u201d Had I thought about TV? Never? Did I think I could do it? I don\u2019t know. But I thought I\u2019d have a go! I\u2019ve had a go at everything else, why not TV? If I fail, I fail.\u201d Listen Here<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cMy brief was to look at those business plans and ideas \u2013 see where the loopholes were and see if they\u2019re worth a \u00a3250,000 investment. And to be tough. And I am tough with them, and the point is that sometimes they amaze me with the sheer lack of common sense\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

<\/u>Linda believes her willingness to take risks, coupled with a fierce drive to achieve, has allowed her to oversee numerous successful enterprises, grow her multi-million-pound empire, and achieve unrivaled success.<\/u>\u00a0 And her advice to others looking to follow in her footsteps?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cI never ever believe in refusing an opportunity; seize an opportunity. Always say yes, until you\u2019ve got to say no.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Events That Made Me<\/em>\u00a0with Linda Plant airs July 8, 2020 at\u00a0https:\/\/podfollow.com\/etmm-liz-taylor<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Liz Taylor is a successful award-winning event manager (www.tlc-ltd.co.uk<\/a>) and businesswoman, a media commentator, motivational speaker and consultant for hospitality brands (www.liz-taylor-consulting.co.uk<\/a>). She plans events for a range of blue-chip corporate clients across the UK and Europe, as well as a large private and celebrity clientele. This includes the likes of Eamonn Holmes, Michelle Keegan, Mark Wright, and Ruth Langsford.\u00a0Take That\u2019s Gary Barlow and Howard Donald, football stars, actors, Prime Ministers, global business leaders\u2026.a royal guest or two.\u00a0\u00a0Most recently, Liz has been sharing\u00a0the benefit of her knowledge on a number of topics for the\u00a0hospitality\u00a0industry, including how to react to the current COVID-19 situation in terms of business planning,\u00a0how the meeting and events landscape will look in 2021, and of course,\u00a0what it is like to be a female pioneer in her industry. Never giving up. Overcoming life and business challenges.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

She may be known as the Queen of Mean, but when it comes to business, Linda Plant certainly knows how to succeed.\u00a0 In a new interview on the July 8, 2020 edition of the Events That Made Me podcast, The Apprentice star has revealed that it was her humble beginnings working on a market stall in Dewsbury market that have … <\/p>\n

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