Scott Watson

Scott is the joint CEO of Wickfreecandles.co.uk along with his wife, Alexandra. They are acclaimed global sales and business mentors, supporting over 3000 people in their organisation over 11 different countries.

Scott knew from an early age that he wanted to be his own boss. He started young by selling sweets to school friends! Scott continued to grow his business portfolio throughout his teens to include his own pirate video empire. He never needed to take on the traditional Saturday job like his friends – his entrepreneurial skills always made him a great income.

At 16 when his friends were leaving school (and looking at around 5 years of college or university) Scott turned his back on education, knowing he had learnt enough in the traditional school environment. He started a new journey selling curtain poles and household products – delivering them on his bike!

This was a short-term enterprise as 8ft curtain poles aren’t easy to carry! However, the buzz of being his own boss was so great that Scott continued to seek out opportunities to be entrepreneurial and run his own business.

To make money whist he found these opportunities he used his talent in rugby to play professionally for several great clubs in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand. Travelling in these countries helped broaden his business insights, as well as seal his determination to live his life on his terms. When he had the opportunity to travel when he liked, and set his own schedule, being in a 9-5 environment (and booking annual leave) just wasn’t something he was willing to consider.

Whilst Scott loved the team aspect of rugby (and got great pleasure in helping the youth team improve as players) he fell out of love with the game, and with the idea of going pro in 2009. He turned his back on a potentially lucrative career in the full-time game but has no regrets.

Scott didn’t know it at that time, but the skills he gained in rugby and coaching would serve him for many years to come in his entrepreneurial journey.

Scott then started his own successful events company, organising murder mysteries and trade shows. Great early success followed – until he was forced out of business by unregistered competition in the events industry. As these rogue companies weren’t paying tax, they could undercut him. And with a recession going on in the background the business became an uphill battle, and one he lost in the end leading to great financial strain being put on him and his family.

Scott went in search of another business idea to get started with but couldn’t find anything he was passionate about. So, his wife Alexandra asked him if he’d be interested in getting involved in her new partnership with Scentsy. She felt his leadership and team building skills would be invaluable to their new start up.

At first Scott thought this was a temporary stopgap, however nine years later he is happier and more driven than ever! He moved along with Alexandra and their young daughter out to southern Spain, where he’s a work from home dad to the very active six year old Theia!

The success of wickfreecandles.co.uk is leading him to begin other new business start-ups in property and affiliate marketing.

Where did the idea for wickfreecandles.co.uk come from?

Well I guess I have to thank my wife for this one! She’s normally happy to support my new business ideas but in this case she’d heard about a new opportunity to partner with a USA fragrance company and was determined to get on board.

I’ve always been an advocate of the direct sales business model and agreed with her that (after due diligence) this was a business we should invest time and money in. It’s very much a partnership business, both in the work split between Alexandra and I, and in the partnership, we have built with everyone in Scentsy.

The beauty of partnering with a company is you get to do the really enjoyable bits – the selling, the training etc without all the tedious backroom stuff like warehousing and product design. Alexandra was right asking me to become involved – it’s allowed me to use my sporting and coaching skills to the maximum to help others be a success. That’s what wickfreecandles.co.uk is really all about – helping others to live the best life.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

I love to get up early and WIN my day. Six days a week I rise at 5am and do 20 minutes of guided meditation, 40 minutes of self-development and then head to the gym for a good cardio/weight session. This sets me up for a positive, energetic and productive day.
My favourite part of the day is taking my daughter to school but I make sure I’m home for 10am to put in five hours of productive work, This can include:

• One to one mentoring calls
• Team calls and online trainings.
• Managing all our social media channels
• Making & producing YouTube trainings and product reviews

I make sure every day is productive by switching off distractions (like my personal social media!) to give me total focus for the income generating activities.

How do you bring ideas to life?

I often hear people talk about ideas (some insanely good ideas) but they’re not willing to put any action behind those ideas, so the ideas die. What I’ve learnt is, if you have an idea then there’s a good chance (at that moment) that you have no idea how you’re going to make it happen.

That shouldn’t stop you taking action though! Start by writing it down and building spider diagrams, research the niche if it’s a product. Do anything to get started but don’t just talk. As Walt Disney said, “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing”. Words to live by!

What’s one trend that excites you?

I’m a man so I can’t say trends really interest me as much as Alexandra! I love Doc Martins and LuLuLemon Clothes, and I like them for the same reasons we choose Scentsy to partner with – I like quality, things that last and things of substance. I feel the same way about business ideas, trends are fleeting but great ideas last well beyond a lifetime.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

This would have to be my daily self-development – it sets me up for the day, bolsters my positive mindset and fuels an abundance of ideas which I can then share with the people I’m mentoring. Without my daily self-development, and without looking after myself first, I wouldn’t be able to look after other people. You cant fill anyone else’s bucket if yours isn’t already full!

What advice would you give your younger self?

Do one thing and do it well, be committed, and be ALL IN. Even though when I was young, I never turned back to a 9-5 job (as I love being an entrepreneur!) I was always looking to be a jack of all trades, which led to becoming the jack with no trades! To grow a long term business which will bring success for a lifetime you have to be fully committed and patient, you might not see the results you want to see straight away but if you keep chipping away at it consistently the results will come.

Too many people come into a direct sales partnership thinking they will start a business and reap huge rewards in a month or two. It’s simply not like that. You can shorten a 40 year working life into five years if you’re committed but you can’t actually be a success overnight!

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

I can sit on a 1-1 mentoring zoom call and map out a path for someone’s success, I can see the vision of their business and I share it along with the steps they must undertake to achieve success.

Many people have come back to me and say ‘I listened to what you told me and I did it, and the success you talked about came true’. So I guess when it comes to the industry I’m in, I’m pretty much always right when it comes to forecasting other people’s development and results. However, when I share this information, nobody agrees with or believes me!

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

As I’ve said, I self-develop and mediate for an hour from 5am every morning. You can only help others, be creative and stay driven if you ‘fill your own bucket up first’.

I find that meditation helps clear my mind, keep me grateful even in hard times and focuses me on my mission in life. Self-developing is about getting amazing ideas that nourish you and your business, like food for the head, heart and soul.

I love to take that learning daily and put it into action, share it on a live feed or teach it to our sales team.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

I work in a people business, where I could mentor on Facebook and chat all day. That’s is only going to get me so far though, because it’s not face to face interactions.

The one strategy which has helped our business grow is having FaceTime (or similar) one-to-one coaching calls. Getting to see people, speaking to people face to face via the screen, and finding out what makes people hungry has definitely taken our business to the next level.

So I’d say if you’re in a people business, get off social media and get in front of your team member or client.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

In one of my previous business I was working all the hours to keep my business afloat, and I failed to look after myself. I put on 50lbs, I wasn’t eating right, I wasn’t sleeping, and I wasn’t looking after myself. In the end I dint have the mental or physical energy to push the failing business anymore. It had to go, before it consumed me and ruined my health.

I believe that if you look after yourself first, your journey as an entrepreneur will be a successful (and a long) one. What’s the point of building a life changing business if you don’t have the health or energy to live and enjoy it!

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

Start your own Direct sales business with a product you’re passionate about. I ran a retail business before Scentsy with my wife Alexandra and it was hard to do one thing well because we felt like we had to put on every ‘hat’ on – stock buyers, sales team, marketing managers, accountants…the list goes on!

So when we needed a new business we choose the direct sales model because its low risk and low cost to start up. All the products are sourced for you, marketing work, warehousing, deliveries and so on are done for you.

In other words its fun with all the hard work done for you. You just have to go out there and share what you love.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

The best $100 I’ve spent recently is flights to visit in person future leaders that I’m mentoring in Manchester and Amsterdam. As I say, in a people business you’ve got to meet people in the flesh where possible and build those relationships.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

Trello – we use it to plan in and produce work with our content team. They live in other countries and time zones so we need to stay co-ordinated, and this freemium app lets us.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

Beach Money by Jordan Adler totally changed my mindset and life. In it Jordan shares tips on how you can earn your own beach money and residual income. My whole business is designed around this book, it’s a MUST read.

What is your favorite quote?

“Don’t wish things were easier, wish you were better “ – Jim Rohn

Key Learnings:

• Be committed to your business – so you do one thing and do it well!
• Take daily action and make sure they are income generating things.
• Fill your bucket – look after yourself before you look after others.