Today, I got to sit down for a chat with Nigel McBride. Nigel is from Australia and grew up along the shores of the Pacific Ocean between Sydney and Queensland. He was invited to join the elite surfers of the Snapper Rocks Surfriders Club at the ripe age of 12 growing up in a competitive surfing environment. But fate had an other path for him, leading him through the military and out the other end as a fierce entrepreneur in the automotive industry.
He’s founded and managed successful companies such as Drive My Car Rentals and www.Right2Drive.com.au but you could say that today, Nigel has returned to his passion for the ocean and created a hi-tech range of hybrid water craft between foils, SUPs and catamarans…
In our conversation, we go through Nigel’s childhood at the Snapper Rocks Surfriders Club, enrolling in the Australian Defence Force and climbing the military ladder. After serving 10 years, jumping out of aircraft, leading platoons and being nominated as an officer, he eventually moved into the civil world. His passion for cars lead him down the automotive path.
When asked what he took from the military to his civil jobs, his answer was
“Firstly, it’s routine. Getting up to do it. And motivating yourself just to do it. Getting yourself prepared and knowing within yourself that you’re pretty much capable of handling anything that rolls its way at you. You’re not fighting a seen enemy as such but if you know and understand what the external forces are that put pressure on your day to day. And you analyse these external forces. Whatever these external pressures are, categorize and put those things into perspective and prioritize your day. Then you generally get though it.” — Nigel McBride
This process enabled him to build and spark ideas in a number of companies, among others, you may recognize Nigel’s company Right2Drive.com.au, an accident replacement vehicle business that proposes car accident victims a replacement vehicle (when they are not at fault). Nigel managed to build this into an award winning accident replacement vehicle business.
Moving on to his latest business venture: Wave Chaser. Wave Chaser has been his brain child for many years now, but recently he finally surpassed the development stage. His high-end carbon fibre products are now on the market for everybody to try out and purchase. They’re like supercars for the sea!
“There’s absolutely nothing like the magic carpet ride that you get from a foil when you compare it to a traditional SUP or sailboard. The difference is « fast »” — Nigel McBride
In this conversation you will discover the benefits of having a military training when you want to start a business. In fact, what transpires from my encounter with Nigel is the importance of leadership. He is constantly focusing on his team’s talent and this is key when running a business.
I love the way Nigel has a technique to visualise the end-user experience and focus on that above everything else. I think it’s really good advice for any business owner. Sometimes, you can get caught up in your thoughts, your stress and whatnot and forget the end user.
“The more I go through it in my mind and visualize the benefit to users of the equipment, the more it materializes. And then the benefit flows onto me. And that’s a very spiritual thing that I learned before starting Right2Drive when I was on the bones of my ass. If I imagined what a person felt like when I delivered the car to them, the more I visualized that in a clear sense, the more it became true and the more benefit was derived for the business.
And the business essentially became that. THE provider of accident replacement vehicles.
If we can do that for Wave Chaser: focus our attention on the user experience try not to get too wrapped up in ourselves — and the benefit to ourselves — there are a lot of people who should benefit from Wave Chaser before I do. And those people are first and foremost those who use it and buy it, who trust it enough to buy it and do away with their hard earned, and then its those people who supply to it or manufacture for it, or who rely on it for their income, and then it’s to our staff, and then, I’m the last.” — Nigel McBride
To get more details on Wave Chaser, you can visit their website www.wavechaser.com.au or visit their Facebook page or Instagram profile.
Thank you for listening to this episode and thank you Nigel for being such a great guest!
Until next week, take care, have fun and enjoy the waves!
Ciao
Imi
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