The artist who sold the most albums in Poland, an idol of many generations, an icon of Polish music. The first Polish representative of show business in a true Western style, as well as an entrepreneur operating, among others in Great Britain – the guest at the headquarters of Admiral Tax is Michał Wiśniewski, leader of the Ich Troje team, as well as a client of Admiral Tax. We talked with Michał about his approach to business, how he finds himself in the maze of duties towards offices, and about Michał’s advice for people starting in business. Read on!
Michał – everyone knows you as the singer and leader of the Ich Troje band. However, not everyone knows that you are also a businessman. Michał Wiśniewski is more an artist or a business man?
Michał Wiśniewski: A bit of one and a bit of the other, because art and business often go hand in hand. Generally speaking, today it is not really possible to create anything without patrons of culture. Whether it will be a painter or a stage artist, I need money to fulfill myself as an artist, to have a certain comfort of work. I think I always managed to connect.
How does an artistic soul like you find itself in the maze of duties towards offices?
In general, as life has shown, I absolutely did not find myself. I used the principle of “do not open letters, because you will have to do something”. And as long as I had people for it, it seemed to me that they could take care of everything. Nothing could be more wrong – you have to take care of yourself. You have to have people around you who you do not trust a priori but control them. As the German proverb says, “Vertrauen ist gut, Kontrolle ist besser”, trust is good, but control is better. It seems to me that in my case for many years I have tried to focus only on creativity, and I forgot that everything and everyone has to be controlled. They can be left free to act, but I am the only one who knows best how to run my business.
You come from the punk scene. Is moving your business to Great Britain a sign of opposition to the way entrepreneurs are treated in Poland?
To a large extent, yes. First of all, the United Kingdom is synonymous with business freedom for me. Everywhere in every country there are certain rules, but as everyone knows in Poland, a businessman is first and foremost a huff. There is no presumption of innocence here, but you are to blame first, you have to pay first, and then you can claim your rights. It absolutely does not suit me. I try not to circumvent Polish law, but to act as a Polish citizen in accordance with it, but I am obliged to take care of my finances and count every penny and always be on the side of the light. So even if one of my activities is accounted for by Great Britain, it will be absolutely legal.
Does being a recognized person, a regular on the covers of color magazines help or rather hinder doing business? Is anyone more willing to cooperate with “such a Wiśniewski” or on the contrary.
I think that people very often appreciate the so-called open message, meaning I say what I think. I am basically a very specific person. Some of them cope with it better, others worse, but learning to be assertive both in business and in art is very important. Of course, you can choke on every success, hence the biggest failures. Choking on success in art causes what happened to me – I stopped controlling everything that was happening around me. When it comes to business, I was the first manufacturer of plastic cards in Poland, which we distributed and produced with great success. It seems to me that people appreciate very much about me being specific. Can it be reconciled? This is a completely different question. Everything can be reconciled, you only need to want, and the skills for that can be acquired.
What advice would Michał Wiśniewski give to people starting in business?
This is a very good question. Certainly confidence is good, but control is better. Take care of yours. Remember that you have to work 16-20 hours in the beginning. Nothing will do itself. You must take care of everything. Don’t think that it will happen somehow – it won’t. Sometimes I get the impression that people think that it’s one good deal and they are lined up – nothing could be more wrong. First of all, continuation at work. Everything needs a contract, or at least a written confirmation. Don’t do anything verbally, it costs really little time, even if you don’t like to write e-mails, it’s always better to have everything on paper. At the most unexpected moment this will prove to be salutary.
We know that the gambling industry is close to you. Gambling in the UK is responsible for over 100,000. jobs. Does running a business in the UK give you benefits when working with gambling companies?
As a Pole, I do not have the opportunity to run such a business in Poland at all, and my company in the UK absolutely. Thank goodness we have the freedom to provide services in the EU. We will see how it will change after Great Britain leaves the European Union. But in any case, the company will remain, so it will be able to operate within the law, like any other company in a normal country. Currently, British law allows such activity and is for me the only reasonable alternative.
Is business a gamble? Do you analyze hard before making a decision?
I think any sane person will say two things that are partly contradictory. You will never achieve anything without risk. In every business there is always an element of happiness, which is something you cannot put in numbers. Minimizing risk always pays off. Not only by diversifying its activities, but also primarily by securing it. Everyone knows I play poker, so let me give you an example: there is such a thing as bankroll management. A professional poker player adheres to certain rules of capital management, i.e. specific amounts and budgets that he allocates to the game. All the statistics show that a professional poker player cannot lose his money in the long term. He may have worse and better moments, but in the long run his decisions will always be correct. This is due to the calculus of probability, mathematics, psychology and the experience gathered not only at the table but by other players. Therefore, managing your capital is very similar to that of an enterprise. If we put everything on one card today, we most likely have a good chance of losing everything. We cannot invest everything at once or we will lose liquidity. It’s very much the same with poker players. Contrary to appearances, it has a lot in common.
In retrospect, how would you rate the decision to move your company to the UK?
There would be one answer – it was an absolutely right decision, because running this business in Great Britain is very simple. I don’t have to wonder if I can deduct coffee or lunch with a contractor. A lot of things are very simplified that allow me to sleep more peacefully. And I think what I really appreciate is the peace outside the window.
And on stage when will we be able to see you? Do you have concert plans in Poland and Great Britain? Or maybe in Ireland – there are also a lot of Poles and companies run by Poles …
I am very happy to inform you that I do not know what it will be like in England, but we will be in Northern Ireland and Ireland. On June 6 we invite everyone to Dublin, June 7 to Belfast. We will come there for sure. What will happen to London? We don’t have any offers at the moment, but after the great success of the two concerts that took place so far long ago in Great Britain, I think we have someone to play for. After all, these are the people who left when we were at the top.
Thank you for the interview!
Thank you very much!