Optometry Today Magazine

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IMRAN HAKIM

4/04/08 PROFILE

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Life’s a picnic for teddy boy Hakim

Ryan Bradshaw met optometrist and iTeddy inventor Imran Hakim to discuss playing truant, his successful career and his ability to be in two places at the same time

I

t would be hard to blame Bolton optometrist and entrepreneur Imran Hakim for being slightly distracted from the world of optics over the last 18 months.

The 29-year-old successfully secured £140,000 investment on the BBC2 TV show Dragons’ Den, launched his iTeddy ‘edutainment’ toy in Argos’ 684 UK and Ireland stores, and was voted UK toy inventor of the year for 2007.

After what he calls a ‘rollercoaster ride’ of an experience, the UMIST Optometry and Vision Science graduate is looking forward to spending 2008 devoting his time to optics. And, he is also excited about introducing a couple of dragons to the industry.

He said: “The next nine months have been freed up for me to concentrate on optics as the distribution deal for the iTeddy means all sales to retailers have been done for 2008.

“My Dragons’ Den business partners, Theo Paphitis and Peter Jones are looking at opportunities in the optics industry and will hopefully get involved in something that’s existing but in an innovative way.

Taking on, for instance, a group like Boots Opticians.”

Mr Hakim has 15 joint-venture practices in the northwest area under his company H02 Management. He also owns the Mikah frame company, as well as a lens

laboratory and an optician shopfitting business.

“Maybe we can take on a 100 practice group, and streamline the operations to give it a lot more profitability.

“I think Theo and Peter can look at optics with a fresh set of eyes and with their business wisdom make an impact. We are looking at a group of practices that we can buy out, hopefully in 2008.”

The ambitious Mr Hakim began his entrepreneurial career very early. His money making schemes started when, at the age of 13, he would take a coach load of school friends to Alton Towers and make a small profit.

It was after he started in a part-time job at McDonalds at the age of 15 that he realised he might benefit from being his own boss.

“I started on the Tuesday and quit by the Friday. I just didn’t like being told what to do when I could see there was a better way of doing things.”

He then decided he could make more money from the IT boom of the mid-1990s.

“My father bought my first PC, but within a few months it had become dated, so I sold it on at a profit.

He was so impressed, he lent me £3,000 to buy some more computers, and within a week I was able to pay him back and make a profit from the sales.”

As a result he started his first business, selling

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using its business model.

In 2005 he set up H02 management to sound out possibilities for new shops.

“I thought, I’ll buy a practice, find an optometrist who wants to buy in but who doesn’t want the rigidity of a big corporation.

“They will have the independent’s name on the door and will still offer the personal quality service. We can give them back office support with the marketing and financial nous.”

Mr Hakim’s brothers, Sohail and Zubair, and sisters Hafiza and Saliha, are all optical professionals, and have taken on joint venture practices with his company.

With the practice portfolio constantly growing Mr Hakim decided he would also launch his own frame and lens businesses.

“I was inspired by Luxottica’s business model, and wanted to have the vertical integration of retail, distribution, licenses and manufacture.”

Later in 2005, he bought out Metzler frames and negotiated licenses for Reebok, Longines and Jill Stuart frames, launching them under his Mikah eyewear company.

In 2006 Mr Hakim launched his shopfitting company. Working with Rodenstock, he began touring the country offering £40,000 worth of ‘free’ shopfitting.

“I spent four months living and learning about shopfitting in China.

I introduced the free shopfit as an innovative way to attract partners.”

Which leads us back to the autumn of 2006, when a fun wager with his brother would change the course of Mr Hakim’s career.

“We were watching Dragons’ Den, and my brother challenged me to come up with an idea for the show.

I crudely rigged up an old teddy with an MP3 player and showed my business colleagues.”

In November 2006 Mr Hakim went along to a business-to-business networking event where his friend was pitching a business idea.

“He bottled out at the last minute and dared me to pitch my iTeddy idea to a BBC TV crew. All I had was a few notes, but eight minutes later they had to literally pull me off the stage.

Afterwards they invited me to go on Dragons’ Den.” Mr Hakim went on the show in January 2007, and secured investment for a 40% share of the toy. In the

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summer of 2007 he signed a deal with Argos, and last year the iTeddy was the store’s second best-selling toy.

Then, in November 2007, he agreed a worldwide distribution deal with the UK’s largest toy company, Vivid Imaginations.

“Let’s just say that I’ve had to give up sleep since I met the Dragons.

“We have already been on 16 flights this year. Only last month we were at the German international toy fair and out of a million toys the iteddy was voted toy innovation of the year.”

So now Mr Hakim has more time to devote to optics, what does he think of the industry?

“The main threats are from the supermarkets. They don’t have to make money from optics as people are having their eyes tested and then buying groceries.”

So what does he think independents can do to compete?

“Independents can only improve their future by looking into areas such as supplementary disciplines.

“However, I do think more business courses need to be taught alongside the clinical modules at university.”

After such successes in the business world, Mr Hakim still believes his best years lie ahead of him.

“By the time I’m 40 I hope to still be in optics, but there is a big wide world out there. The iteddy dwarves all of our optical industry achievements, and this year we should generate £40m worth of sales.

“Hopefully I will be able to branch out to the property market, the toy industry and expand the 14 businesses I have.

“And, even with all this travelling around the world I hope to still be based in Bolton; it’s my home and always will be.”

4/04/08 PROFILE

computers to college lecturers and local people.

Soon after, it was a chance visit to the local opticians that led him to a future career in optics.

“My mother had a constant problem with her eyes so I took her to the opticians. She was diagnosed with posterior uveitis, and the clinical side interested me.

“The optometrist told me about the business opportunities in owning a practice, so I decided to study optometry.”

While Mr Hakim was at UMIST he continued his IT company, travelling the country selling computers. As a result he didn’t attend many lectures, so he put a photocopier in his room and let classmates use it in return for their lecture notes.

After successfully completing his studies at university he began his prereg year at a group of practices in Greater Manchester.

“I worked at John Glover Opticians.

He owned three practices, and was a great clinician, as well as a commercial success. He was a great role model and his innovative methods inspired me.”

In 2001, while still a pre-reg, Mr Hakim opened his first practice in Bolton, just two doors down from his IT shop.

“I hired two of my UMIST friends who had already qualified to work as optometrists.

“It was a juggling act between the shops, but I could quickly run out the back door if I was needed during the day in the other shop.”

By 2002, he had bought his second practice, a more established business in Cheetham Hill, Manchester.

“I decided that the way forward was to buy into practices. Many owners were retiring, so we could secure some well established outlets.”

In 2004 he was head hunted by Vision Express to take on an ailing practice as a joint venture. The experience inspired Mr Hakim to start