Comment

Plenty to smile about James Sinclair has turned being a clown into a booming business Picture: DAVE HENDERSON ETEAP10

NOT bad," says Jimbo, talking about his £1million turnover, one-year-old company, "for a firm run by clowns". For once, this ebullient entrepreneur is understating his case.

Jimbo, real name James Sinclair, is one of the most unlikely and colourful whizzkids to hit the Essex business scene in living memory.

That's because he dresses up in funny clothes to ply his trade.

But behind the red clown's nose lurks a red-hot business brain and a scorching ambition which has made him a millionaire at just 22 - and that's no joke.

Jimbo's work rate is also serious stuff.

Although he now employs 22 people, one for every year of his life, he still spends much of his working week entertaining kids, doing an average 12 parties a week.

He visits private homes for children's parties, pops up on stage for regular knockabout acts, and tours the floor of Partyman World - the play emporium he built and now runs.

Out front, he acts comical, wild and hyper, keeping the children and their parents happy and constantly amused.

But let there be no mistake. Jimbo means business, even if that business is fun and games.

Alongside the £500,000 play emporium, he also runs a performers' agency, an online business supplying party bags and other goodies, limos, a bouncy castle business and a face-painting operation.

"I keep identifying activities I can add on to the existing business operation, so we keep on growing and diversifying," he says.

At first, hearing a statement like this, you try to work out where the gagline is.

Then you realise when he talks business, Jimbo stops doing jokes.

Twenty-two might seem a strikingly young age to turn a million, but Jimbo did get a head start. His business life began at the age of 15.

"I started performing at parties then moved on to being a DJ, and it all just took off from there," he says.

"I found really early on that I enjoyed, and was confident with, the business side of things, as well as the entertaining. It just came naturally."

At 18, he had raised enough money to buy his first house, funded entirely from his own earnings. He went on pouring his takings into property purchases. He then used his houses as collateral to grow his business.

At a time when most people are lucky to be able to raise the money for a first mortgage, this funnyman's creditworthiness has been strong enough to raise half a million to build his own play centre.

Partyman World, which opened in May last year, represented the next logical step in developing the Jimbo conglomerate. Until then, the nearest thing to a Jimbo play centre was his clown vehicle. He would turn up at a job in his Party Mobile', a modified Peugeot Partner combi which talks, sings and flashes lights.

But with more than 20 people on the payroll, in addition to eight children's entertainers on his agency books, James says: "I realised it was about time we had a venue, somewhere a bit more permanent."

The site, at Burnt Mills, Basildon, has the usual playpits and scrambling areas, but it also has an attraction unique in the UK - the Volcano.

This is a huge, soft fabric cone which children can scramble up, then roll down. "It took a lot of effort to get hold of this, and nobody else wanted to take on the challenge, but it helps us stay ahead of the game," James says.

Never one to miss a trick, he also has nationwide concessions for some of the other attractions installed at Partyman World.

And so it goes on. The list of immediate plans is head-reeling.

The next stage is to open Partyman centres across the UK.

The second Partyman World is already in preparation, at Wembley, positioned to entice the children of the football crowds.

Plans are also afoot to open dedicated play areas for special needs children. Beyond that, James plans to use his showbiz contacts to run regular children's TV shows from the Partyman centre, and to start a magazine for parents of young kids.

"That about covers our immediate plans," he says, adding without a trace of deliberate humour: "You have to be careful not to do too much at once."

Jimbo believes in "having fun, passion, professionalism, hard work, reinvesting in your business, employing people with enthusiasm, and being the biggest and the best".

What he doesn't believe in is formal business education. As a child and teenager, he attended performing arts schools to learn his tradecraft.

"I always wanted to be a performer," he says. "I studied comedy, but basically I just couldn't wait to get out into the world and work."

He has never done any formal courses in business, either.

"I just learnt about things like accounts and marketing as I went along," he says. Two things he learnt about fast were delegation - he now employs an office manager, marketing manager and graphic designer, all full-time - and retaining "a good accountant who has got time to do things properly for you".

He dismisses business degrees out of hand. "They're aimed at high-end businesses," he says.

"Anyway, you can't teach someone to have drive, you can't teach them to have personality."

James doesn't seem to have suffered much from his lack of formal education or training. He can only think of one minor setback in his business career so far.

"When we first entered the VAT bracket, it came as a bit of a shock," he says. "And you have to pick up the idea that turnover is not the same thing as profit.

"But I haven't made any big time mistakes. Get the idea, enthuse your team, go for it, and you'll make it work."

Something else he doesn't believe in is holidays. He confesses: "I did take a holiday once, but I gave up after three days because I couldn't stop thinking about the business.

"Anyway, this is my holiday, because I'm doing what I love to do."

It is hard to associate Jimbo with anything as mundane as paperwork, but he does ensure his working schedule makes time for the Partyman office, attached to the play centre.

"I spend long enough there to make sure the office is up to speed," he says. But his position of choice is out on the floor of Partyman World.

"That's where you get the feedback and the ideas," he says.

"We aim to be the biggest and the best, but I can't ever see a time when I won't be spending time out here. This is what it's about."

Then he is off, chortling, manic, taking a dive down the Volcano to the delight of surrounding kids.

But there are no such tumbles taken in Jimbo's business life, and as for the volcano, it takes one to know one.

5:13pm Wednesday 4th June 2008

Print

Email this

Comment

Add your comment

Name:
Email: *
Location:
**
	e.g. 123-123
Comment: Please note: All HTML tags will be ignored. Format Text:
By posting a comment, I confirm that I have read and agree to the terms of use. Comments are not moderated but we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention and we may delete inappropriate postings. Please treat other people with respect. You must not post anything that is abusive, indecent, unlawful or defamatory. Remember, you are personally liable for what you post on this site. If you wish to complain about a comment, contact us here.
* Your email address will not be displayed ** To avoid register now or login