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by Real Business - Monday, 3rd December 2007

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Dan McGuire and Oliver Bishop have shared the Young Entrepreneur of the Year category at the 2007 Growing Business Awards, held by Real Business and the CBI.

Dan McGuire was only 21 when he launched online ad distribution company Broadbean Technology. Dissatisfied with his cushy job in recruitment and spotting a niche for an intelligent online job posting service, he forwent a salary for over a year to get the company off the ground.

For the first two years, McGuire ran thecompany on his £35,000 overdraft. But by 2004, Broadbean was out of debt, pulling in revenues of £250,000. The company, now in it’s fifth year, is turning over £2m – up 110 per cent on last year.

McGuire reckons his winning formula is mostly down to his staff, or “Beaners” as they’re affectionately known. All 25 employees were personally interviewed by him.
Despite the fact that Broadbean is now the biggest player in the sector in Europe, McGuire hasn’t let success go to his head, passing on his experience by mentoring young people through the Young Enterprise charity.

McGuire’s going to be a very busy bean in the future. He’s planning to roll out the Broadbean business model to the US and Asia next year. But if his track record is anything to go by, we can expect great things.

Oliver Bishop is no stranger to cracking tough online markets. He helped found Espotting, the search marketing firm, which launched as the dotcom bubble burst in 2000.

Despite this, Espotting was hugely successful, with revenues of £29m in 2003.
Hungry for a new challenge, Bishop entered the fiercely competitive world of search marketing, launching Steak Media in 2005.

The company was profitable from day one. Bishop secured credit deals with leading search engines, undercut larger agencies and won substantial contracts without a proven track record. By 2007, British Gas, John Lewis and FCUK were added to Steak Media’s client portfolio and growth was at 392 per cent.

With sales of £14.5m in 2007, Steak Media has made a serious dent in the market. But Bishop isn’t resting on his laurels yet. The ambitious CEO has launched a dedicated mobile marketing division to make sure he’s ahead of the curve with SMS and banner advertising.

There are big plans afoot next year to get into web design, creative and affiliate marketing, a move that will see revenues almost double for 2008.

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