John Ilhan Quotes
120 John Ilhan Quotes (Crazy John’s Quotes, Mustafa Ilhan Quotes)
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I had to sell myself, because that’s all I had.
John Ilhan
When you believe in yourself it’s not the numbers that matter, it’s about, ‘I can sell.’
John Ilhan
I was basically in a situation I had to get out of on my own. Make it work. It taught me a lot of things…
John Ilhan
When you do something you love, it’s not really work.
John Ilhan
If you treat staff as your equals, they’ll roll their sleeves up to get the job done.
John Ilhan
The harder it got the more I felt I had to win.
John Ilhan
I thought, hang on – all I knew how to do was sell phones.
John Ilhan
If you liked me and liked what I was offering I would drop it into your home or office.
John Ilhan
Building a culture for the company, that’s what did it.
John Ilhan
Getting good people around you, looking after them.
John Ilhan
This may seem simple, but you need to give customers what they want, not what you think they want. And, if you do this, people will keep coming back.
John Ilhan
Be with the guys on the front line, give them motivation. That’s my drug.
John Ilhan
[On setting up his first mobile phone store in 1991 at age 25 which became the chain Crazy John’s now owned by Vodafone] I only had $1,000 in my pocket. I borrowed about $2,000 off Mum and Dad to buy a phone, and a lot of my mates were tradesmen so they helped build the place, which was basically just a bench with brochures. I had enough money in my pocket to buy one phone at a time – they were thousands of dollars each still at that stage. So I just sold off brochures. I’d sell a phone, shut the shop and drive to the city and buy it for the customer. I had to sell myself, because that’s all I had. I was a bit naïve and young and stupid because, when you worked the numbers, how could it work? But when you believe in yourself it’s not the numbers that matter, it’s about, ‘I can sell. People like me.’ It’s that young, naïve attitude, and you just work like crazy.
John Ilhan
[On suggestions that he once worked eighteen-hour days] No, it wouldn’t be that much. Let’s see: I start at 7 am and it would only be, sixteen hours a day. But then I do usually go until midnight, so it probably is eighteen hours. Oh my God! That’s a lot…
John Ilhan
When you do something you love, it’s not really work. And I’ve been doing it for sixteen years – it’s just part of what you do. I’ve been lucky, I’ve chosen a field I love, so it’s not work. I love dealing with people. I love the challenges of growing a business. It’s like a work of art – you always try to improve it.
John Ilhan
I relied on relationships and handshake deals…
John Ilhan
You just work hard and the rewards come. It’s not like winning Lotto overnight – you don’t think, Wow, I’m rich! I only really noticed it when they mentioned it but, being a bit competitive, I did like being No. 1. The $300 million figure was right at the right time. It’s a bit more now, but in the end you don’t work for the money. At the start you do, because you have to pay the bills. But after that it becomes about challenges and success.
John Ilhan
[On the first thing he bought when he started feeling rich – a second hand, smashed up brown Porsche 930] When I was sixteen I said to Mum, ‘One day, I’m going to have my own business, a house by the beach and a Porsche!’ I couldn’t afford a new one, but I loved that car. I never did buy a new Porsche.
John Ilhan
[On the house he bought for his parents] I built them a new house in Broadmeadows because they refused to move; they thought it was a big thing just moving across the suburb.
John Ilhan
[On buying a house for his parents whom he had lived with up till the time he was thirty years of age] It was wonderful to be able to do that for them. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for their support. They said, ‘If you fail, there will always be a bed here for you – we’re always behind you.’ And that support was crucial, because I knew if I failed they’d still love me – so I could try anything.
John Ilhan
All I’ve done, in horsing terms, is I’ve just been a stayer.
John Ilhan
Sorry to muck you around a bit.
John Ilhan
People thought I broke all the rules, but I actually didn’t ... The A-Z of a customer’s
experience was what we always looked at.
John Ilhan
I’m not the chairman of my company because I couldn’t be at this stage. I accept
that I’m not qualified for that” – and he was self-deprecating – “I know my weaknesses. I’ve employed people who are better than me in those areas.
John Ilhan
When you haven’t got a dollar in your pocket the best way to market is to have a crazy name. I mean, you need something to boast about. And you can’t boast unless you’re different.
John Ilhan
Customers don’t mind having fun, as long as it’s not at their expense and you’re not
ripping them off.
John Ilhan
I’m honest enough to say I used to open a shop just to copy the competitors. Wherever Telstra opened a store, I would open next to them.
John Ilhan
I would say to other businesses – probably 50 times – to never give up, stick to their core business and just keep going.
John Ilhan
You need to keep it as a family almost … We’d spend a lot of time – we’d go on conferences, we’d go bowling, we’d go skirmishing, we’d go to restaurants. And we still do the same now.
John Ilhan
We were the first ones to offer the $1 phone. The market hated me for doing that – they said you can’t do that. They even smashed my shop windows for discounting phones. They kicked my car in.
John Ilhan
If I can help their kids or their families, it makes me enjoy life a bit more.
John Ilhan
If it wasn’t for the Australian public I wouldn’t be where I am today. To be able to give back is so rewarding. You need a reason to go to work as well. For me, just running the business is not good enough – it’s being able to do other things such as this, and give other people a chance in life.
John Ilhan
Do I deserve to be here? I have to make something of my life because mum and dad struggled so much. And this country has given me opportunities that Turkey would never have given me.
John Ilhan
I spent all day, all night in the shop worrying about every cent. I used to sleep in the store on the floor.
John Ilhan
I grew up in Broadmeadows, a working class suburb. It was quite tough, not many opportunities. I remember in primary school, one of my teachers said, ‘As for you young man, you haven't got much of a future.’
John Ilhan
We'd make up to $700 on one phone - between $500 and $700 - I would actually give away some of my commissions just to look after the customer because the margins were great in those days.
John Ilhan
It was all about selling my own personality.
John Ilhan
I couldn't afford to employ staff so I approached the CES and I got about five people into the company and the Government paid, I think, it was about half their wage or three-quarters of there wage in Government subsidies and those guys are still here today and they're some of the best corporate salesmen and the best retailers in Australia.
John Ilhan
It's a very, very tough market. So unless you do a really good job, you buy the right products from the manufacturers, you service the customer, they keep coming back, they bring their friends in, it's all about numbers, numbers, numbers.
John Ilhan
By the end of 2005 we should have about 200 outlets nationally.
John Ilhan
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