Some people have flashes of inspiration while sitting in traffic. Others have their eureka moment while walking the dog. For some, great business ideas are born out of sheer boredom while sitting at a desk at work.
But have you ever considered prison (yes an actual jail cell, not your manager’s office) as the location for your perfect moment of entrepreneurial realisation?
Well for Tracey Mackness, doing time formed the basis for a successful business. Not renowned for its profiling of small business owners, The Sun carried 42-year-old Tracey’s story yesterday after she won the Barclays Trading Places award for setting up a successful company in the face of adversity.
Sent down for her part in a drug-smuggling ring, she was given the job of looking after pigs while serving at Her Majesty’s pleasure in Highpoint open prison in Suffolk. After developing a love for sausage-making, on her release, she purchased the pigs, borrowed some land from friends, and started selling sausages and bacon at the local butchers and markets.
The Giggly Pig Company was formed, and Tracey’s untapped entrepreneurial spirit was unleashed. Now with a shop, four fleet vans and 12 employees to keep her busy, Tracey is one ex-jailbird not looking to return to the slammer in a hurry.
Of course, we’re not suggesting for one second that you go on a shoplifting and car-jacking spree to fuel your start-up dreams. But there is one lesson to be learned from this jailhouse tale: there’s certainly no such thing as a typical entrepreneurial background. Inspiration can arrive in the most unlikely of forms.