Lincoln Hands
When Brendan Taylor first invited Lincoln Hands to join him for a Coffee With chat, he chuckled saying, “mine is not an interesting story to tell”. Brendan disagreed.
Lincoln was a sheep farmer, owned two pubs, did a large property development, built a vineyard, managed a station, married twice, has four children aged 12 to 34, had swine flu, a double lung transplant and now, at the age of 68, has embarked on a new business venture with his younger kids.
Not interesting? You be the judge….
Lincoln, can you give us a quick rundown of your journey to this point?
My dad’s dad was mayor of Bunbury and my Mum was a Forrest, descendant of Alexander Forrest, whose brother was the first premier of WA. Like many long term WA families, we lost three relatives in World Wars 1 and 2, which hit us hard.
I was born and brought up at Boyup Brook where my dad farmed sheep.
I went away to Guildford Grammar School at 12 which was daunting for a start but I fitted in well as I was reasonable at sport. I was Captain of the school in year 12.
There was a lot of pressure to come straight home to the farm after school but instead I went up to Kununurra to earn some money so I could travel. My job there was a powder monkey, using gelignite to blow up trees along the Ord River prior to building the wall to create the Ord River Dam.
After being sacked for blowing up too many trees in one go I travelled through Europe for two years working along the way. My jobs included working as a horse riding instructor at a girls’ finishing school in Switzerland, and at Newmarket Bloodlines in England as a horse breaker and training thoroughbred horses to fly on jets for race meets in the Middle East.
I came home hoping to study law but was pushed to return to the farm. Working with my parents we expanded our farm operation significantly. I stayed on the farm from age 22 to 38, where I married and had two children.
During those days farming was really a breakeven proposition. While still on the farm, I was looking for some extra cashflow so I bought the rundown Chequers Hotel in Bullsbrook with my mate, Kim Scott. We ran it week on, week off. It went very well and after three years we sold the lease and kept the property.
Around then my first marriage broke down and we sold a few of our assets.
I bounced back with a residential and rural property development at Bridgetown, where I did most of the work. Before those blocks were starting to sell I had the opportunity to buy the Lake Grace pub. Somehow I scraped together the funds to get that deal done.
This was one of the best times of my life. Lake Grace was a great community. I put a lot into developing the pub, and the community responded, and welcomed me warmly.
After nearly three years I went back to Boyup Brook and made my biggest mistake in business. I developed a vineyard at the worst possible time, when all the city money was also going into grapes. The industry over supplied and this destroyed any chance most small vineyards like mine had to make any return. Just when the vineyard was ready to reach full production I took out the chainsaw, cut out all the vines and eventually sold the land.
During that time I met and married my second wife.
My cousin, Andrew Forrest, bought back the family station at Onslow called Minderoo and was looking for a manager to get it back on its feet. We spent less than a year managing Mindaroo before moving back to Busselton, where our two children were born.
As it turned out, while at Lake Grace, I caught the very rare swine flu from a traveller. I was very sick at the time but recovered and didn’t think much about it.
However while in Busselton, with two very young kids and with my wife just starting her nursing studies, this swine flu developed into lung disease and I became very sick. I had 17% lung capacity. I was not considered a recipient for a transplant due to my poor condition so somehow I managed to get myself fit enough to qualify. I was extremely fortunate to have a successful double lung transplant three years ago.
After all of that what on earth has possessed you to go into a new business venture?
Well, I have a limited life expectancy and two young children aged 12 and 14. My second marriage finished a few years ago and my children spend most of their time with me. I have been very lucky in life and business and have a small window of opportunity to pass on some of my knowledge and experience to my younger kids. So I have gone into business with them, with the hope to give them something that they might carry on afterwards.
I didn’t make the most of my education opportunities so most of my learning came from life experiences. I would like to give an early business and life education experience to my younger kids, to complement their formal education.
I built from scratch a very modern food van and business called Charlie’s Churros. While not the healthiest cuisine, there is significant demand for churros, slushies and coffee at events and at beaches. Our first two trial runs were very successful and we are ironing out a few issues. The kids are naturals.
This weekend is our first major event. Wish us luck!
Can you give some insights about what it is like in business now compared to 30 and 40 years ago?
Obviously the internet. It’s the greatest thing that has happened in our lifetime. The ability to communicate and learn in an instant is invaluable. I can only dream about what I could have achieved in business with the availability of that instant knowledge back then.
What would you say to a younger person in business today?
There are three that immediately come to mind.
Listen - As youngsters we don’t listen enough. We have plenty of energy but we waste it by not listening to the wealth of knowledge and wisdom of the older generations.
Find the silver lining – Things happen in your life. There will be many ups and downs. I find the silver lining in every situation. I admit, sometimes its pretty hard to find, but it’s always there.
Make a decision – I stressed for ages about cutting out the vines. I was physically sick every morning, as I had put so much effort and money into that vineyard. The moment I made the decision, the stress disappeared.
Thanks for your time and your ‘more than interesting’ story. How would you summarise your life in one line?
The luckiest person that has ever lived.
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