Castore founder ‘didn’t sleep for three years’ until he’d paid parents back loan that helped build business
We've all been kept up at night due to something or other, but most people aren't members of the wide awake club because they have the fate of their parents financial security to worry about.
For the Beahon brothers though, this was exactly what interrupted their precious beauty sleep.
Castore co-founders Tom, 34, and Phil, 31, didn't get a lot of shut eye in the early days of their entrepreneurial pursuits, as they were working their backsides off to get their business off the ground.
A British sportswear brand rivalling industry titans doesn't just build itself, you know.
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The siblings' sleeping pattern hasn't exactly improved much since they catapulted Castore to success and started kitting out sport stars including Andy Murray, Owen Farrell, James Tavernier and Adam Azim.
Throw in a few partnerships with football, cricket, tennis, Formula One, rugby and cycling teams and you've got yourself a recipe for two very busy brothers - who seem to view snoozing as a luxury, rather than a necessity.
Countless long nights, early mornings, brainstorming sessions over breakfast, lunch and tea, as well as a good dose of grit, determination and knowledge of the sports world, is what has got Tom and Phil to the top of their game.
The two lads, from the great city of Liverpool, conceived the idea for a sportswear brand in 2015 after spotting a 'gap in the market'.
"I realised that everyone's gonna think we're crazy, but f**k it - let's not die wondering," Tom told LADbible.
"Back then, we were 25 and 22, and there was absolutely no logical reason why we would be successful. We didn’t have any experience, we didn’t have any money, didn’t have any connections - there wasn’t a network to help or introduce us to get us on the first rung of the ladder.
"There was a part of us like, there is definitely no guarantees that this is going to be successful, so whatever happens, lets just do something that we’re going to really enjoy.
"It was more of an emotional thing rather than a logical or intellectual one."
Funny what a pow wow with your brother at the kitchen table in your family home in Merseyside can lead you to, eh?
Castore now has a reported valuation of nearly £1billion, so think twice before you ditch a natter with your siblings.
The Beahons came into the sportswear industry with their eyes wide open, with the brothers coming from football and tennis backgrounds and wearing kit all their life, but were all to aware it would be a David and Goliath-type challenge.
Speaking to LADbible about their journey to success, Tom explained: "It takes so much out of you, it absorbs everything that you have. People love posting on social media saying how great it is to run your own business, but the reality is, it isn’t for everyone.
"Particularly in the early days - going to bed at night, not knowing if you’ve got enough money to pay the bills at the end of the month - it's not something that, rightly, a lot of people would necessarily enjoy.
"We don’t talk about it, but the vast majority of startups aren’t successful, so it is definitely not for the faint of heart."
Castore might be a big name now, but nine years ago, it didn't hold much weight.
And let's have it right, telling potential investors you intend to take on huge brands was always going to come as a shock - so Tom and Phil struggled to get someone to back them.
Only the bank of mum and dad would take a chance on the tenacious pair.
Their science teacher mother, Anna, and construction worker father, Steve, remortgaged the family home to help their sons make a break for it - which certainly kept the fire burning in the brothers' bellies.
Tom explained: "When everyone kept saying no - all these investors, all these banks, all these different people we were trying to get some seed funding from - they [parents] came to us and said, 'Look, we know that everyone keeps saying no, but we believe in you, so we're going to remortgage the house'.
"It was like 30 grand, which is obviously a lot of money. It was a massive amount of money back then and it puts a pit in your stomach of, obviously gratitude first and foremost, but also fear," he said.
This strange concoction of emotions managed to muck up his nightly kip for longer than you would expect.
Tom continued: "I don't think I slept well for like literally three years before we paid them back, because you're just like, whatever happens here - I don't care if Castore goes on to be worth a million pounds, a billion pounds, a zillion pounds - but I am going to make enough money to pay them back.
"It just instils that real fear, but drive in you. We do think of ourselves as a family business because of that."
The fact the former footballer is in cahoots with his little brother obviously helps a lot with this too, as he explained they share an 'innate trust' with one another and will be by each others sides whether it's 'good or bad'.
After three years of grafting and sleepless nights, as you have probably guessed, Anna and Steve got their money back, tenfold - and Tom says it is 'one of the most proud days' him and Phil have ever had since launching Castore.
Never mind Andy Murray getting into business with them - it's the look on their mum and dad's face that makes all the hard graft that they have put in worth it.
Tom explained: "We didn't just pay them back, we bought them a new house. That was a nice moment where you're like, 'Yeah, it's all been worth it'. I've got something physical that's manifested from all the stuff that we’ve been through.
"That was a nice moment to see them move into a new house, that our had work had made a reality. That was a pretty cool day."
Very cool indeed.
Olivia Burke