Book Review – Yo! Man
By Glynn Davis |
You almost can’t walk down a high street in the UK today without spotting a sushi restaurant of some description but it wasn’t always like this. The newly-published book Yo! Man (from Whitefox Publishing) takes us back to a time when the Japanese food was a very rare sight.
The subject of the book, Simon Woodroffe, helped initiate the sushi revolution with his sushi conveyor belt restaurant Yo! Sushi that opened its doors in London’s Soho in 1997. This autobiography is a very honest account of his upbringing, through to a short prison sentence, and stumbling his way into entrepreneurship and through various flawed relationships.
In typical British style Woodroffe uses self-deprecation throughout to paint a portrait of an amateur perennially out of his depth. But the attributes he does have in abundance – highlighted throughout the book in easy-going and colourful prose – is enthusiasm, determination, and against-the-grain creative impulses. These ultimate lead to business success and ultimately some ‘personal’ success.
The book takes us through the journey from his early days in stage settings for rock musicians, onto Yo! Sushi and its growth – helped by others who Woodroffe acknowledges such as Robin Rowland – through to the creation of the Yotel business and other elements such as his time on the speaking circuit and his appearance as a dragon on the very first series of Dragon’s Den.
This is not a guide for those wanting to set out in business but it does offer some helpful tips for those with an entrepreneurial bent. What it is, is a very entertaining read with lots of honesty on display. This encompasses both personal/emotional and business.
On the business side I found the insights on the funding and sales of stakes in Yo! Sushi particularly interesting. The fact he included a royalty payment (equal to 10% of future annual sales) has proven to be a genius move and those payments have already outstripped the £12 million he got for selling his stake in the business.
Woodroffe does not seek to hide anything and as such he’s written an insightful book that sparks with his strengths and weaknesses.
Glynn Davis, editor, Retail Insider
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