Unlocking Ambition: 60 Seconds with an Entrepreneur…Craig Letton.

Unlocking Ambition:

60 Seconds with an Entrepreneur… Craig Letton.

Craig Letton

Role: CEO
Company Name: MRM Global
Sector: Marketing Technology
Founded: 2001
Base: Edinburgh
Purpose: We help our customers increase their sales and reduce their waste through technology and on-demand production.

What’s your favourite thing about being an entrepreneur? The freedom and independence that comes with being your own boss.

What’s the best thing about being an entrepreneur in Scotland? The benefit of being a really small country is that the entrepreneurial scene is really tight knit and everyone is really supportive.

What’s the best piece of advice you ever received? The Chairman of Mackie’s ice cream told me “You can either rationalise a business or grow it. You cannot do both at once.” That advice came at the right time for me and was very instructive.

What has been your proudest achievement since starting your businesses? I’m very proud of the way the team responded to the challenges created by Covid. It was an existential crisis for us and our team stepped up and worked incredibly hard to ensure the business survived. Not only did we survive but we actually grew our revenue 40% during those 2 years and won a lot of new business.

Is there anything on your business bucket list? Cracking the American market is at the top of the list and is something we are very close to achieving.

Who’s been your biggest supporter? My wife has supported me through the many highs and lows of running MRM for the last 11 years. Without her support it would not have been possible.

How do you care for each other’s wellbeing at work? Teamwork is one of our core values and I regularly see our team members looking after each other. We also have amazing managers. 96% of our employees recently told us in our recent engagement survey that their managers care about them as a person.

How do you start your day? I’ve got 3 young children so my day starts very early with getting them ready for their day.

What do you do for fun after a busy week? With a fast-growing business and 3 kids I don’t have a huge amount of free time but when I do I’m usually doing Crossfit, mountain biking or skiing.

What’s the best business book you’ve read? I’ve read so many it’s hard to choose but my current favourite is “The hard thing about hard things” by Ben Horowitz.

Do you have a favourite TED Talk? Bob Keiller’s talk on values is excellent.

What’s your best tip for achieving a good life/work balance? I really enjoy what I do so don’t see it as work and instead a critical part of my life. Exercise, eating healthily and spending plenty of time with my family is what I need to stay balanced.

What would you say is the secret to success? Relentless determination.

What’s your big dream? Our vision is to become an industry leading global marketing tech company.

How would you like to be remembered? As someone that inspired and helped others.

Unlocking Ambition: 60 Seconds with an Entrepreneur…Craig Letton: https://unlockingambition.scot/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Entrepreneur-Interview-Craig-Letton_MRM-Global.pdf

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