Denice Purdie
Owner
Purdie’s of Argyll
Originally from Dunoon, Denice currently lives in Kinross, Perth and hopes to relocate to Castle Toward. Denice owns Purdie’s of Argyll the Scottish soap company which was Scotland’s first organic body products producer. She started the company from her home in 2004, she is also a director in Kapital Residential Ltd. Denice said: ‘I am a very driven entrepreneur who has had businesses since I was 17 years old. I have a condition called Dyslexia and where most people find this a learning difficulty, I see that it’s a condition which hinders some things but over compensates in other areas. A huge level of entrepreneurs have Dyslexia. ‘ With everything you do in life there are great highs and lows; being self-employed however means you are often accountable in a number of ways for your staff. I run different businesses, manufacturing and wholesale, retail shops, ecommerce, planned developments for housing, rental properties of over 100 properties, a café information centre, yacht charter company, some of my new ventures include retirement apartments in St Andrews and Alloa as well as Castle Toward which we are in the process of completing. There is always a great buzz when something grows to what you have worked so very hard to achieve. I firmly believe having the right staff is the most important thing that enhances a business. A great team can be the make or break of any business. Having to lay off staff due to poor turnover either within a location or just the time of year will always be a low point. We tend to close our shops in January and allow all our staff to take their paid holidays at this point to secure long term employment. Most staff have been with us from the beginning. ‘As a mother before being a business woman I have always had my head office from my home. This means when any one of my family need me I’m right there. This gives me a certain peace of mind.’ Being very self-disciplined and well organised at all times has allowed Denice the advantage to be aware how her business interests change on a day to day basis. This allows her to focus on the things that are important and help with time management. She adds: ‘I feel anyone can run a business if they are enthusiastic and hardworking! Give me enthusiasm over qualifications any day. Self-belief is also important, the ability to put your whole self behind a project and have faith in the product will help you succeed. I never had the opportunity to have a full education but this has not stopped me doing lots of courses as I love learning new things.’