Man sold car to fund business now it makes £10m and he drives a Lamborghini

Rob Dance now rakes in an impressive £10 million a year (Image: SWNS) Rob Dance, a 40-year-old entrepreneur built a thriving IT consultancy firm that now rakes in an impressive £10 million a year. But Rob’s path to success was unconventional, as he quit school after his GCSEs, armed with a burning desire to make his mark in the world of technology. Rob’s journey began with a business degree and a carefully crafted six-month business plan. In 2008, he launched his IT solutions business from his parents’ garage, funding it by parting ways with his first car, a 1990 Renault 5 GT Turbo, which he sold for £1,000. Little did he know that this humble beginning would lay the foundation for his future success. Fast forward 15 years, and Rob, a proud father of two from Cowbridge, South Wales, is now the CEO of a major IT consultancy firm with more than 100 employees. His company, ROCK, has garnered recognition from prestigious publications and organisations. Business Leader’s ‘Top 32 scale-ups to watch’ recently included ROCK, while  Consultancy.uk  ranked them among the top 40 technology consulting firms in the UK in 2023, out of a pool of over a thousand firms. Rob opening new office recently (Image: SWNS) Not only that, but Rob himself has been shortlisted for the esteemed Great British Entrepreneur Awards in the category of ‘Technology entrepreneur of the year’. To celebrate his business’ 15th anniversary, Rob treated himself to a top-of-the-range Lamborghini. Reflecting on his journey, he said: “At school, I didn’t really excel, but I was always quite innovative. “I loved taking apart radios and computers, then putting them back together again – I loved out how things worked.” This passion for problem-solving fuelled his entrepreneurial spirit and propelled him to establish his own business. In the early days, it was just Rob and one other person handling the administrative and accounting tasks. However, within six months, they secured their first client, and the business began to flourish. In just 18 months, they had expanded to a team of 30 employees. And then the COVID-19 pandemic presented unexpected opportunities for ROCK. Rob and Leo in the garden (Image: SWNS) Rob said: “Covid really helped us because when we worked from home, lots of clients didn’t have the tech in place so we had all these queries coming in about it.” Rob attributes his company’s success to the dedication and expertise of his team. He said: “We really relied on the team to pull it out the bag then – and we actually grew during the pandemic and have continued to grow since then. “Now we’re on the trajectory to turn over £10million in a year and have been shortlisted for multiple awards.” Rob has also been shortlisted for the Welsh Technology Entrepreneur of the Year for his work. He said ROCK is set to turnover £10m this year, its highest yet, and they have plans to launch globally in 2024. Rob said: “It was a gamble back then when we first started, especially during the credit crunch of 2008. “But we had this amazing idea and I thought ‘I’ve just got to go for it’ – and the rest was history.” This article was crafted with the help of AI tools, which speed up   Express.co.uk ‘s editorial research. A content editor reviewed this content before it was published. You can report any errors to  readercomplaints@reachplc.com .