Alan Manly, The Unlikely Entrepreneur

The Power of Bold

Alan Manly is an Australian entrepreneur who founded Group Colleges Australia, a private educational institution based in Sydney. Alan is also the author of The Unlikely Entrepreneur, a story of how Alan, armed with a ninth-grade education, embarked on his entrepreneurial journey. Alan spoke with Adam about his trials and tribulations as an entrepreneur and how listeners can learn from his experience.

The conversation begins with Alan explaining how he became an entrepreneur (01:31 - 06:06) and how he analyzed the opportunity to leave a safe, corporate job to start a new venture (06:07 - 08:21). Alan explains whether he would have done anything differently on his journey (08:22 - 10:55), why he chose to focus on the education industry (10:56 - 13:02), and how entrepreneurs can determine the competitive advantage of their new venture (13:03 - 15:00). Alan proceeds to speak about extensive litigation that he faced as an entrepreneur (including his appearance before Australia's highest court) (15:01 - 21:14) and the lessons that listeners can take from his experiences in the legal world (21:15 - 24:35). The interview concludes with Alan sharing why entrepreneurs should be looking for other critical needs that your product or service fulfills for customers (24:36 - 28:49).

For show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit www.thepowerofbold.com.