One of the worst mistakes a business leader can make is to assume they know it all. To be complacent. To stop learning.
Now the CEO of UNiDAYS, the company he set up just under a decade ago, Josh Rathour has been in business since he was 18.
In that time he’s worked with his partners to make the vision they set out a reality. Together, Josh has watched the business grow, from its humble beginnings, into an international brand with millions of loyal users and partners throughout the world.
He’s also learnt a phenomenal amount about business, about online retailing, about the global marketplace, about students around the world, and, perhaps most importantly, Josh says, about himself.
As head of UNiDAYS, the company he founded in 2011 to transform the way students access discounts and savings while shopping online, Josh Rathour oversees a major global operation with physical bases in the UK, the US and Australia, an online marketplace presence in over 114 countries, and a site that attracts at least 1 million visitors per day.
Josh Rathour remembers the early days – the crucial first two years, a real make-or-break time for any business – at the end of which, after a period of phenomenal growth, he successfully set up a base in the USA.
As things boomed at UNiDAYS Josh Rathour learnt just how vital it is to keep your eye on the long-term strategic goals you set out with. It’s also incredibly important, says Josh, to “own the vision” and protect the conceptual basis of what you’re doing, even in the face of rapid growth, change and outside influences.
It’s also incredibly important as the CEO leading the business, Josh says, to maintain a humility about what you’re doing. To always be open to new ideas, new approaches, and input and insights from those around you. Nobody knows it all, nor should they pretend they do.
But of the vital lessons he’s learned, UNiDAYS CEO Josh Rathour says one of the most important of all is this: that he will always be learning; always developing his ideas, refining what he knows, honing and improving his skills, however big the business becomes whatever the future holds.
