• Who are you?

My name is Sean Walls, founder of The Optical Factory

• What does your business do?

The Optical Factory is an industrial unit based designer spectacle outlet which provides customers with a professional eye care service and has an on-site lens manufacturing lab.

• Where are you based?

Currently we have two practices based in East Kilbride and Hamilton. We first launched in East Kilbride five years ago, with our second practice opening in Hamilton last January.

• How did you get started?

I started in optics straight from school at the age of fifteen. I worked in a few different places, then when I was 23 I decided to open my own manufacturing lab. I started out working from my brother’s garage, then moved the business into my bedroom in my parents’ house before moving to a unit in Cambuslang where I worked for eight years. After moving the business to East Kilbride in 2005, I decided to evolve from just manufacturing to retail and manufacturing in 2009. The Optical Factory then opened its doors in February 2011.

• What is your background?

I started working on ice cream vans when I was thirteen and have worked steadily since then. I left school at fifteen and started working in Vision Express in St Enoch’s Centre, which is where I learned how to manufacture spectacles.

• What is your top tip?

Have belief. I have had many periods in my business life when it seemed that the only option I had was to give up and close down, but I have always had a huge amount of self-belief and knew I could make the business a success.

• How long has your business been running?

I have been running my own companies since 1998, with each one evolving into the next, but The Optical Factory has been operating for over five years.

• Has anyone helped you get started and how?

In order to kick start my business I had to borrow £10,000 from Clydesdale Bank. This allowed me to purchase my first set of equipment and truly get the business moving.

• What was your first deal?

About six months after buying my equipment, I won a contract to supply a company called Vision Call with their spectacles. This was about £2,000 per month, but soon grew to around £250,000 per year.

• What was your biggest mistake/or what would you do differently?

Going into partnership is tricky. Sometimes the partnership seems like the best thing for the company, but working with people who don’t necessarily have your best interests at heart can be a huge mistake.

• Where do you plan your business to be in five years time?

We are planning to open two new practices in January next year, and within five years we will have ten operating.

• Useful contacts:

Entrepreneurial Spark - www.entrepreneurial-spark.com

Business Gateway - www.bgateway.com

Scottish Enterprise - www.scottish-enterprise.com

• Contact Details

Sean Walls, The Optical Factory, 27 Tennant Avenue, East Kilbride, G74 5NA. 01355 247581, theopticalfactory@outlook.com