Adèle McLay Successful Entrepreneurs Stories : Meet Dale Murray, CBE

Dale Murray, CBE
Co-Founder, Omega Logic; Angel Investor; Non-Executive Director; Government Business Adviser

Imagine starting up a business to launch technology based pre-pay mobile top- ups in the United Kingdom (previously a scratch card system was used), working incredibly hard with your fellow co-founders and staff to substantially grow the business in an exceptionally competitive industry, selling out and becoming CEO of the company that bought the business and driving mobile top-ups revenue to £450M, all in the space of approximately six years. Then being awarded British Angel Investor of the Year in 2011.

Well, in a nutshell, that is Dale Murray’s entrepreneurial story! But it doesn’t end there. Dale is now a coach to start-up and early stage businesses. She is also a Non Executive Director (NED) of the British Government’s Department for Business, Innovations and Skills, and UK Trade and Investment, along with being a NED of other businesses. Born in New Zealand and living in London, in 2013 Dale was awarded a CBE by HM the Queen for services to business.

There were many early challenges in establishing Omega Logic as a serious business in the mobile technology sector. Credibility was an initial hurdle as the company was very small and was competing with much larger and established technology software entities, all vying to win contracts with Vodafone, Orange and other multi-billion pound telecommunications network businesses. Professionalism, and a total customer service and delivery focus were key in being accepted and to winning major contracts.

The mobile top-up software developed by Omega Logic and other competitors was displacement technology. This required a change in consumer buying behaviour, which was not easy to achieve. Supported by the marketing efforts of the telecommunications networks and incentivising the re-sellers to sell top- ups rather than scratch cards, finally the new technology broke through consumer buying resistance, and Omega Logic grew. Dale and her co-founders had to ‘dig deep’ and totally believe that their technology would be accepted by consumers. “Resilience was often required”, commented Dale, “as it was very difficult to push through the resistance in consumer buying patterns”.

Another key element in Omega Logic’s success was the quality of its technology. The company had a vision of being the best software provider for top-ups on the high street, leveraging the till technology that retailers already had.

Strong financial management was also key to the success of Omega Logic. Dale has a chartered accounting background, and ensured robust financial control systems were in place to manage the volume of money that flowed between the retailers, networks and Omega Logic.

Dale’s advice to budding entrepreneurs is:

1) Clearly understand and articulate what it is you are doing – what is the business? What problem are you solving and how are you going to make money? If over time there is a lack of clarity around the business strategy, quickly sort it out to enable the business to move on.

2) Carefully manage team dynamics. When things go wrong with people (founders and staff), face them head on, and deal with them immediately.

3) Network widely from time to time, but get on with the work. Dale notes that too many budding entrepreneurs are focused on networking rather than building their business.

Over the next few years Dale wants to continue acting as an advocate for entrepreneurs in all the various capacities she currently enjoys. Dale has a particular interest in female entrepreneurs as she believes they see things differently. As well, Dale will continue investing in ventures that are of interest to her.

Adèle’s Note:
I had the pleasure of interviewing Dale Murray for my book: BIG Profits – 12 Strategies To Substantially Grow YOUR Business Profits, in which Dale features.

Dale has a wonderful entrepreneurial success story, founded on being in the right place at the right time; being in a sector she knew and liked; with her co-founders, working exceptionally hard to break into and succeed in an established market; being totally focused on customer service and software excellence; and having a total passion for and belief in what Omega Logic stood for, especially when times were tough. As well, the co-founders had an exit strategy that they executed at the right time. Since then, Dale has continued her entrepreneurial endeavours, while supporting others towards their success. Dale now has three young children, and while she gets huge pleasure out of business, she is very family focused, and able to balance the demands and joys of both. It was an absolute pleasure to interview Dale, and to hear her story which will be an inspiration to many entrepreneurs across the world.

You can listen to the original Interview with Dale Murray here:

To connect with Dale Murray:
W: www.dalemurray.net

Adèle hosts an interview series entitled:

• Successful Entrepreneurs’ Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews…..
• Business Success Tips : Adèle McLay Interviews …..

…where she interviews successful entrepreneurs from around the world, asking them to share their entrepreneurial stories, and other business ‘subject matter experts’ who share business success tips. If you would like to be part of Adèle’s success community and receive the interviews and much more directly to your inbox, please click here.

Listen to more Successful Entrepreneurs and be inspired in the Successful Entrepreneurs Stories : Adèle McLay Interviews….. YouTube and Podcast series:

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Entrepreneurial Success without Fulfilment: Who Wants That?
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