In 1995 Sahar Hashemi together with her brother Bobby founded Coffee Republic
and built it into one of the UK's most recognised high street brands with a
turnover of £30m.
Giving up highly professional jobs, she as a lawyer in London and he as an
investment banker in New York, they staked everything on a dream and made
Coffee Republic one of the main players in the "coffee revolution" that
transformed a nation of tea drinkers into one obsessed with "triple decaf
half-caf lattes".
"Anyone Can Do It", Sahar's book about entreprenuership and Coffee Republic,
has become the 2nd highest selling book ever published in the UK on
entrepreneurship after Richard Branson's book- according to Nielsen Bookscan
How they came to build a nationwide coffee chain is a fascinating and
inspirational tale of the ups and downs of following your dream. From the
first conversation when the seed of the idea was planted, to getting a DTI
Small Firms Loan Guarantee, finding a name and opening the first store, it is a
personal story about two people who stopped "thinking about it" and "did it".
Sahar left the day to day management of Coffee Republic in 2001 and has written
a book, published in January 2003, Anyone Can Do It, which has become an
instant bestseller (#1 on the Amazon business chart, The Guardian top 10
micro-chart etc.) and the 2nd highest selling book ever published in the UK on
entrepreneurship. The book is "suggested reading" for the London Business
School entrepreneurship course.
Sahar's message is Anyone Can Do It! With her passion and enthusiasm, she
motivates and inspires the audience: "You don't have to be Richard Branson to
start your own business!". At the same time she demystifies the
entrepreneurial process through a step-by-step "system" that anyone can follow
and without use of intimidating business jargon (eg "market research is just a
big fact-finding mission", "business plan is a structured brain dump!"). She
proves that passion is all you need - "it's your fuel!" - and is what turns you
into an entrepreneur.
She is a speaker ambassador for the Prince's Trust and she has been the keynote
speaker at various high profile events including the Institute of Directors
Women's 2002 Summit, Wall Street Journal Europe Summit and Enterprise 100.
Sahar lectures at the London Business School Entrepreneurship summer school.
Sahar has been named one of the "100 most influential women in Britain in 2003"
by the Daily Mail and one of the "20 most powerful women in Britain under 35"
by the Independent on Sunday.
As a keynote speaker, Sahar's energy is infectious, delegates leave the event
inspired and motivated to stop "thinking about it" and to "get on with it"!
