The West Midlands founder of HomeServe unveils his top nine tips on how to make a billion pounds in his new book - here's how he made his fortune

The successful entrepreneur, who founded HomeServe the multinational home emergency repairs and improvements business headquartered in Walsall, gave a talk at the Digital Skills Hub in the town to inspire the next generation.

Promoting his new book ‘How to Make a Billion in 9 Steps’ - he said he was delighted to be back in Walsall where HomeServe was founded in April 1993.

Under his leadership, the company grew from a £50,000 start-up - losing £500,000 in its first year - to a multinational enterprise operating in 10 countries with more than 9,000 employees.

Richard sold the company in 2023 to Brookfield Asset Management for £4.1 billion.

Prior to that, in 2015, he founded Growth Partner, a private investment firm dedicated to backing ambitious consumer facing challenger brands, and in 2023 he acquired Business Leader - a membership community for ambitious CEOs and Founders of mid–sized companies in the UK.

Having achieved so many dreams and successes, he decided it was time to put pen to paper to share his tips for getting to the top.

His book ‘How to Make a Billion in 9 Steps’ outlines nine essential lessons for building an ultra-successful business.

Had he known these things sooner, he believes he could have made his fortune faster.

From selling white rabbits to friends to becoming a magician and more

A self-taught entrepreneur, Richard - who was born in Huddersfield and raised in Northumberland - began his journey to business success selling white rabbits to his friends at school at the age of six. He then ran rabbit kennels to look after the rabbits when his pals were on holiday. That led to becoming a children’s magician at nine and at 15 he started a mail-order fly-tying business.

He studied economics at the University of York and his early career included brand management roles at Proctor and Gamble and management consulting at Deloitte.

He also launched a property letting venture with a colleague and it was challenges sourcing reliable tradespeople for emergency repairs that inspired the creation of HomeServe.

The money almost ran out when he started out, having invested his life savings into trying to build his business. Luckily, friends and family helped out and loaned him money and South Staffordshire Water saw the potential of the venture and invested £500,000 - in return for half of the company.

Fortunately the deal worked out and today HomeServe, which offers emergency cover and plumbing, drainage, boiler, heating and electrics repairs, employs around 9,000 people globally, including around 3,000 in the UK, and it remains a major employer in Walsall.

Now aged 60, Richard is keen to impart what he’s learned over the years and is partnering with the Careers and Enterprise Company, the national body for careers education, to find more ways to reach young people and inspire them to pursue an entrepreneurial career.

He’s also teamed up with Young Enterprise, a national charity motivating young people to succeed in the changing world of work by equipping them with the work skills, knowledge and confidence.

This includes direct school visits – which have been getting underway in Walsall and Birmingham - with Richard and his team sharing the entrepreneurial steps outlined in his book and speaking directly to students and teachers.

Showcasing the new book at Walsall’s Digital Skills Hub on Wednesday July 9, ahead of its official release date on July 10, Richard told the Express & Star: “I look back at my 30-year journey with Homeserve - taking the business from a £50,000 start up to a £4 billion pound sale. 

“I made loads of mistakes and there are nine things I know now that I wish I'd known at the start of my entrepreneurial career. If I had, maybe we could have got there as a team in 15 years rather than 30, I thought I want to get those messages out to every other entrepreneur that's running a mid-sized business and help them to create more large companies in the UK.”

He said proceeds from the book will be donated to enterprise education through his charity, The Enterprise Trust, plus an additional £125,000, to help give young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, the tools and confidence to pursue business-building as a career.

He said although 60 per cent of young people express a strong interest in starting their own business - only 16 per cent go on to do so.

His aim is to be able to change this and he believes a focus on business and entrepreneurship should be a key part of the education of young people like in the US where entrepreneurship is presented as a viable and aspirational career path through the education system.

“I think that journey should start with year 10 in secondary schools, 14-years-olds, hearing about the excitement of becoming an entrepreneur, running your own business and doing something that’s reality worthwhile,” he said - adding that he wants to see an entrepreneur in every school to give young people chance to learn from real business builders to help address “the worrying blind spot in our national education strategy”.

He continued: “If we’re not even telling our young children that starting a business is an option, how can we expect to build a scale-up economy?

“It’s no wonder we’re lagging on growth and innovation.

“We need to show young people that enterprise is not only possible, it’s essential for the future of our economy. My goal is simple: to equip every student in England with the knowledge and confidence to consider building a business of their own and help build the next generation of growth-driving business leaders.”

'How to Make a Billion in 9 Steps' is out now from major book sellers including Amazon. It's also available on Audible.