Hot seat: Steve Williams

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Entrepreneurs all over Dubai are preparing their entries for the second annual Lloyds TSB Small Business Awards. Chief operating officer and awards founder Steve Williams chats to Kate McAuley about working your way up the career ladder, what it takes to get a business off the ground and last year's winners.

So, you're the COO of Lloyds in Dubai and you look about 12. How did you manage that?

[Laughs] I was born into it, yes. Actually, I joined the bank in 1989 straight from high school. My natural style lends me towards being hands on, I'm an extrovert, as opposed to being studious and sitting down and reading and learning something. I was a clerk on the lowest rung of the ladder. It was grim, but I did learn the fundamentals. Then I got onto the counter as a cashier and started dealing with customers, which is what I'm good at. It was fun - the highs and the lows of being raided and all that.

Hang on a sec, the bank was held up?

Oh yeah, a number of times. Obviously I worked in some of Birmingham's more salubrious places. I then went into account management, got promoted a couple of times and ultimately moved across into business banking. In the context of our small business awards, this is what triggered me off - the entrepreneurial spirit. At a fairly young age I was looking after a portfolio of customers who had small businesses. I worked with lots of people who were struggling to get their businesses off the ground, and what you find is that 90 per cent eke out a subsistence living, but every now and again you find one that's just rocketing. And you think ‘wow, I wish I could do that'.

Or ‘I wish that I had thought of that'.

Exactly. After that I started running branches, I then moved into marketing, which was a lot of fun because that brings out your creative side. I then ran the corporate strategy team for the bank. You know, deciding how to pitch ourselves against our competitors, how to do something that's different or unique. And then after a few other roles, this one came up in Dubai. I've been here for three years now.

So, Lloyds was a fairly small entity in Dubai when you first arrived?

Yeah, we only had one branch and a fairly small retail offering, but it's a lot stronger now and immensely profitable. But, it means that I kind of have an affinity with people who are getting their businesses off the ground and the hard work that they have to put in, albeit I've done it with a well-known brand behind me. So, I'd say it's been really difficult, but others would say I've had it fairly easy when compared with starting something from scratch with no brand.

You first had the idea for the small business awards, right?

Yep, completely. I wanted to raise awareness of our services, but also wanted to help businesses get a step up too. So we decided to do an awards ceremony, but not your average expat gong fest. I really wanted this to be a business-orientated event, so we did it at 7am and broadcast it live on the radio. What I love about the awards, is that we get the entrants in front of a panel of Dubai business heavyweights to present why they think they should win the ‘best customer service award', or whichever category they have entered. They're absolutely beside themselves with nerves. It's a bit like standing in front of Simon Cowell.

What was your favourite category last year?

The one that I enjoyed the most was the inspirational leadership award because you don't think about that part of it much when you are starting a new business, it's usually more about the idea. This award says ‘forget that, I reckon you can get any business off the ground as long as you've got the right passion and enthusiasm'. So, five people presented to us, which was rather unusual because they had to nominate themselves, and around three of them were just amazing. The woman who won is an Emirati who runs a media company. She walked in, very demure and petite, and just exploded all over us. She was unbelievable. I mean, she took all the cultural norms and stereotypes and blew them out of the water.

How do you define a small business?

To qualify as a small business all you need is less than Dhs25m a year turnover, a staff of less than 50 and to have been running for at least a year. There are seven categories in total, from customer service right through to the small business of the year award.

Who was the overall winner?

It was a company called Wet Fish, run by a couple, who supply fresh fish and seafood to the catering industry. It's done amazing things for their business. Mark, one of the co-founders, phones me up about once a quarter and tells me what they're up to now. I think it's great.

Applications for the Small Business Awards close on July 22, and the awards will be presented on November 26. To find out more visit www.sba.ae.

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