Story of Yellow Octopus Limited, founded in 2006 by Jack Ostrowski, a Polish migrant, is one of the real success stories of recent years for a British Business Start Up.
From arriving in England and standing on the platform of Skipton railway station with a pregnant wife and a 5 year old daughter in 2005, with a very limited personal budget available, to winning a major British Business Award, and being invited by The Queen to Buckingham Palace in 2010 - a fantastic journey in a relatively short period of time.
Shortly after arrival in the UK, whilst in full time employment with a major multinational, Jack discovered entrepreneurial encouraging literature and he realised that this was getting to his heart more and more. It was one book in particular “Losing my Virginity” the autobiography of Richard Branson which had such an impact on Jack that he decided to chase his dream of running his own business.
As Jack recalls “I still very much remember this feeling after finishing the book. I had realised this is the kind of life I want to have for myself and for my family. It was not about the billions but more about adventure, creating things and being a screenplay writer of my own life, instead of being an actor in someone else screenplay written for me. Being in control of my own life was what I was after the most. However in my wildest dreams I would not anticipate that within next 5 years after making the decision of starting my own business as a direct consequences I will be invited to Buckingham Palace by the Queen, meet two Dragon’s Den judges, Peter Jones and Duncan Bannatyne or may be being named a leading Business Thinker in Britain by the world’s biggest bank - HSBC”
As decision to start his own company was following his heart, the decision into which business or industry to get involved was cold and calculated one. Based on the analysis of demand and supply as well as SWOT analysis export of clothing was the very first trading activity of Yellow Octopus Limited.
As with most start ups our company was founded in the spare bedroom. However incredible it might sound now, it stayed there for the full period of its first year of trading, when sales reached the level of £ 1 million. For obvious reasons, shortly after, Yellow Octopus moved to a modern and specious warehouse on Snaygill Industrial Estate where it experienced further expansion in a much more business friendly environment. We have already outgrown this location as well and in July 2011 moved to the largest unit in Airedale Business Centre.
Being a part of Yellow Octopus is synonymous with being a part of a great journey. There are so many memories already and even more challenges and achievements ahead of us. As every dynamically expanding business we are the “work in progress”…. Within the company we like to compare our growth to building a Skyscraper….We have just made a solid foundation and we are ready now to build many floors into the sky! So please watch the space as there is a lot to come in the future.