He’s the CEO of Key Person of Influence (KPI) Asia, and partner to equity firm Unity Group. He has built and sold half a dozen businesses in a range of industries and now works with hundreds of business owners to help them grow their businesses through KPI and Unity Group. He got started in entrepreneurship early, and now stands as a thought leader in his industry.

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In this Spotlight Interview, Callum Laing shares his dynamic experience throughout his business journey.

As a kid I was always doing odd jobs to scrape together some extra money. That fostered my entrepreneurial tendencies, and started my first ‘grown up’ business when I was 24.

Resilience Brings Success

Is your business or career all you dreamed it would be?

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”

― Douglas Adams

One of the processes we take business owners through in KPI is getting really clear on the intersection of doing what they love, adding the most amount of value and getting well rewarded for it. Right now, I feel like I am right in the middle of my sweet spot doing each of those three things. However, it wasn’t always like that and I made plenty of mistakes along the way; I know just how tough it can be as an entrepreneur when things are going against you.

Having been through recessions, over expanded, contracted, closed businesses, laid off staff, and all those other horrible things, I think it gives me much more empathy with the business owners we work with.

Change Brings Opportunities
What is the most exciting thing about your industry?

 

We live in very dynamic and fast-changing times; whenever that is the case it causes disruption, which leads to value differentials. This is where entrepreneurs thrive, so it is an amazing time to be in business.

I also think there are some incredible things happening around crowdfunding that make it possible for people to get started with next to nothing. More interestingly, I think the advent of ‘agglomeration’ in private equity is providing a huge opportunity for small businesses to grow faster through using the public markets.This ‘co-operative of entrepreneurs’ approach would not have been possible even a few years ago and that is very exciting.

Quote For Success

“Who should we be talking to? Get the right people around you and 99% of your problems will disappear.”

In my younger years, I was always trying to figure everything out myself. Today, I would much rather find people who already know the answer and go and work with them. Laziness or common sense, business is more fun when you’re winning and the best way to win is to align yourself with a winning team.

Callum Laing’s One Line

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