Risking it all for a dream

The sad fact is that few people notice. The window-shoppers will peer in to watch the builders strip the interior and start afresh as yet another wannabe-millionaire takes their first tentative steps on the road to success. And within a few weeks there's a new kid on the block, plying their trade.

But behind the to-ing and fro-ing of shop fronts and signage on the High Street lies a very human story. Behind every venture lies a person who has invested thousands of pounds and thousands of hours to get it right. If it fails, the fallout can be catastrophic.

So meet three couples who have taken the plunge to follow their dreams. Between them they have raised the small matter of £450,000; selling houses, investing savings and tightening belts to open their own shops in Shrewsbury.

With 17,000 small businesses folding each year, it's an enormous gamble.

"We have always wanted to open an art gallery with a coffee shop," explains Lesley. "I have been interested in art since I could hold a crayon. I love cooking and so does Paul. At the time Paul felt his career in the health service was in a rut and was looking for a new challenge.

"We did our research, looking at other galleries and coffee shops, but we have both always loved Shrewsbury and Shropshire as a whole."

Lesley, a talented artist herself, gave up her job as a health visitor and they moved from Lichfield in Staffordshire to Abbey Foregate in Shrewsbury.

"We sold our house and a flat in the Midlands took on a huge mortgage and had some savings to use to finance the venture."

But it didn't go smoothly to begin with.

"Going it alone was a tough route to take and the first venue we found took over a year to be renovated and then at the last minute things fell through. Not only had we used all our savings on living expenses but we had rather foolhardily spent money on this property that we did not own."

It was a mistake that cost them £100,000, but now the gallery is booming - albeit without a coffee shop.

"We love Shrewsbury and its people. It's proved to be a huge learning curve but turnover for year one is looking to come in about £120,000 so we are thrilled to bits."

The couple teamed up with Roger Boyle and Tina Eaton to open a Bang & Olufsen franchise a few doors away from The Reynolds Gallery.

With a total investment breaking through the £250,000 barrier, both couples sold their houses to raise their stake.

Their collective business acumen should certainly help. Richard has worked for Sony for 17 years; Tina with BMW for 25 years, and Roger with Mondial for five years.

After much searching, which included a look at Edinburgh, Sutton Coldfield, Derby and Newcastle Under Lyme, Shrewsbury was settled upon for the location of the brand new Bang & Olufsen television and hi-fi store.

Explains Richard: "Shrewsbury offered such a beautiful and varied selection of premises along with ample opportunity to live in the surrounding rural villages. Roger and Tina found a delightful barn conversion near Wem, while Tracey and I moved in to a cottage near Whittington.

"Moving house, leaving our jobs and starting a new business was hectic for everyone, but add the financial outlay into the mix and it was extremely stressful."

For Roger, the daily trek from rural Berkshire into central Croydon was beginning to take its toll. With a combined journey time of around five hours on a good day, it had reached the point where he was spending more time in the car than at his desk.

His partner Tina was also spending between one and two hours a day travelling to her job in Bracknell despite only living a few miles away. Richard's 40,000 miles-a-year had also lost its appeal.

Belief in the product is everything.

"Our first big sale was to a lady who wanted some speakers for her iPod. We showed her what we could offer and how the products perform and she ended up buying a 32-inch LCD television with integrated DVD and a full 1,000 watt surround-sound speaker package with an 850 watt subwoofer.

"Since then, we've seen her regularly and her home is rapidly becoming like an extension of our showroom."

So next time you get the hard sell when you stick your head through a shop door, cut the owners a little bit of slack. It's not just a business that's at stake, it's their livelihood.

By Nathan Rous