Alan Barton’s career started from humble beginnings and, finding himself disinterested and unstimulated at school, he eventually left before completing his GCSEs. After some years of trying to find a path in life, he started a job at a car business at 19 years old and found that selling was his true calling – he had finally found his passion. Just two years later, he started his own company but a lack of experience led to its closing after a couple of years. Despite this, Alan knew that one day he would look to start his own venture again. In the meantime he returned to employment at a large franchise dealer, quickly rising through the ranks and honing not only his understanding of the automotive industry, but also his personal skills. After around 7 years, he felt the time was right to go on his own again and created Motorclass. Since its inception, he has experienced an almost meteoric rise with the company consisting of over 20 executives and producing yearly revenues of £45 million.
From a professional perspective, Alan has practically always been involved in the automotive industry. Before the success of Motorclass he worked for dealers small and large and had a foray into setting up his own car selling business. The initial attempt at his own business demonstrated to him his strengths and weaknesses; he took the time to reassess his goals and approach by returning to employment with a large franchise, learning as much as he could to really round out his entrepreneurial qualities. These experiences matured him greatly, and played an integral role in the success of Motorclass, one of the fastest-growing prestige car dealerships in the country.
Alan’s first venture was a North West-based car dealership selling budget cars. The experience was both sobering and illuminating. Though he had always had great self-belief in his abilities and what he wanted to achieve, he realised that youthful enthusiasm doesn’t always translate to immediate success. There was more to learn and there was more personal growth he needed to manifest before he could accomplish the success he envisioned. Alan is the first to tell anyone: Ambition isn’t enough. From his experiences he’s learnt that a multitude of factors come into play, but the most important ones start with yourself, that you need to be sensible, disciplined and always maintain the most diligent work ethic.
Getting into the car industry was a mix of circumstance and motherly encouragement; it was Alan’s mum who got him a job as a valeter at a local car business. Before that, the automotive industry had not held any particular place in his career aspiration but a fortuitous introduction set him on the path he’s been on for nearly 15 years.
A unique part of Motorclass’ set-up is its core team. Surrounding Alan day in, day out are colleagues with whom he has established strong business and personal relationships, built over years of working together in other endeavours. What’s more, they have, in many cases, worked with each other previously. The result is a highly coordinated team structure with a deeper sense of camaraderie than other businesses with each person always striving towards the same goal. Instead of a group of individuals acting on Alan’s behest, his core team share the same values and ambitions, treating the business as stakeholders and sharing in the successes that are helping to create.
Growing up, the thought of success seemed unrealistic, something that would always just be a dream. Finding himself not suited to the school system, these negative thoughts were further compounded. It was only when Alan began working at a job that he was good at, and passionate about, that he realised it was in his power to dispel those earlier notions and take control of his own future. The automotive industry to him was like a beacon, and he saw not only the industry’s potential, but also his potential within it. Since embarking on his pursuits, Alan has retained one mantra: “I want to retire knowing there was nothing else I could give”. And he applies that mentality in everything he does. He knew setting up Motorclass was a risk — he used all of his savings of around £30,000 as well as taking out credit cards to the tune of £60,000 — but he also knew he was going to try and prove his younger self wrong. The risk was rewarded with a company that turns over tens of millions and sells some of the most high-end vehicles in the market.
Funding is one of the biggest obstacles, especially in the car industry. A solid business plan isn’t enough when there are so many competitors, so you ultimately have to grow as organically as you can with your own personal investments. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, ultimately. Though the initial growth might be a bit slower, having your own skin in the game, knowing that it could be make or break, fosters the discipline and endurance you need to make a company succeed. Once the business does begin to thrive in this way, it’s a strong signal to investors of the credibility of both the business and the owner.
To Alan, mindset is fundamental when starting a business. He believes that everything else can quickly fall apart if a robust, indefatigable mindset isn’t in place. When setting up a business there are so many events that can impact you negatively, and if you let them take hold it can lead to a spiral of self-defeat. With a positive mindset, each setback is a lesson, an opportunity. To maintain a forward- facing, focused mindset Alan looks to other successful entrepreneurs to see how they approach things and take inspiration from that. He says just a short clip or a quick read of such a person’s perspective is enough to reinforce his own mindset.
When asked what keeps you running when times get rough, Alan replied “The fear of failure, the fear of being the man I thought I would turn into as a young boy.”
Alan recognises that sacrifices have to be made when scaling a business, whether financial or personal. In the early days of Motorclass he kept his salary low, ensuring to reinvest anything that he could into pieces of the business that would lead to growth. Time also has to be put in — there are no shortcuts. The hours can be long, but every hour you put in initially is returned in multiples when the business starts to really take off. He also promotes the importance of the team you surround yourself with — in Alan’s industry a company can’t be built alone. You need to hire the right people, people aligned to your vision, and reward them accordingly.
Alan knows that a strong team is of paramount importance to a large, successful business. You can only get so far without further expanding the team around you, at which point it’s crucial to hire the right people. At Motorclass, character is as important as experience. The CV might get you in the door, but it’s your personality, the way you communicate, your body language — these are the decisive qualities Alan looks for when ultimately hiring a candidate. Now a veteran of the industry, Alan knows what traits are the most conducive to success within it, and he also knows what traits are best going to work with the culture, environment and existing team of Motorclass. He looks for people that are self-motivated, ambitious to make their own professional mark on the world and will be invested in the business’ growth, direction and reputation going forward.
When it comes to competition, Alan prefers not to expend energy second-guessing and comparing himself against the actions of others. The success he’s created so far has not been built around that strategy and he sees no reason to change that.
For Alan, his greatest success has not been about any monetary value, it’s been staying true to his character, staying humble and relatable while his world has expanded.
Childhood taught Alan that nothing is given, there are no free lunches. If you want something, the onus is on you to take the initiative, you cannot wait for opportunities to fall in your lap, you have to grasp them yourself. Sometimes reaching for those opportunities can involve significant risk, but he’s learnt that the greatest rewards often follow the riskier actions. Having nothing provided to him, has instilled a passion for working hard; knowing that everything you have comes off your own back is a great reward in itself.
For someone who struggled academically, unable to engage with the rigidity and predetermined nature of the curriculum; school doesn’t hold much nostalgia for Alan. He is very much a ‘learn by doing’ character — he wants to be hands-on, seeing the results of things in practice rather than in theory. This lack of connection with the schooling system and the society-held assumption that doing well in school translates to success in life reinforced his vision of a bleak, unrewarding future. It was only once he went into the wider world that the fog was lifted and he realised his future was in his own hands, and that has built a resoluteness and belief in his own self- determination. Knowing that he steers his own ship, so to speak, has given Alan the willpower and mentality to pursue his ambitions with a greater sense of clarity and focus.
Alan’s in perpetual motion, always seeking improvement and growth. To him, retirement represents a stagnation that he can’t see himself being comfortable with. Nonetheless, he admits that age might change his perspective a bit, but for now he has too many things he wants to accomplish before it’s considered.
Alan wants to be known as someone who stayed true to his values, never compromising them in the face of success or money. Years of society downplaying his potential as a child has made him want to eclipse all expectations and be a light of hope, of possibility, for all those who aren’t born into wealth or privilege and demonstrate that the own limiting factor to success is yourself.
There is no single piece of advice Alan could give in isolation to a prospective entrepreneur — starting and running a business involves numerous factors — putting the business at the forefront of all your actions, being able to take and apply criticism, removing the emotion from decision-making and acting with rationality — all of which contribute to the whole process.
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