Jim Venables: The personal touch was my key to success

While competitors used the internet as a way to stop talking to their customers, Jim Venables made his fortune by taking the opposite approach.

Jim Venables' first business "wasn't a massive success". But it taught him some important skills that he would cash in on later. In 1990, after leaving college at 19, he worked in jewellery marketing. "Over a couple of years I built up a network of a few thousand people that would sell jewellery through catalogues or party planning." Venables realised he was a pretty effective networker, but he wasn't making much money. So, he set his sights on recruitment instead.

In 2000, after spending a few years as a recruiter, Venables felt more than ready to start his own business. He and his business partner Andy Haywood an ex-colleague pooled together £30,000 of their own money and founded Internet Sales People.

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James McKeigue

James graduated from Keele University with a BA (Hons) in English literature and history, and has a certificate in journalism from the NCTJ. James has worked as a freelance journalist in various Latin American countries.He also had a spell at ITV, as welll as wring for Television Business International and covering the European equity markets for the Forbes.com London bureau. James has travelled extensively in emerging markets, reporting for international energy magazines such as Oil and Gas Investor, and institutional publications such as the Commonwealth Business Environment Report. He is currently the managing editor of LatAm INVESTOR, the UK's only Latin American finance magazine.