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In the mid-1970s, his father's stall blossomed into a cash and carry business called Hooty's. Lewis Collins (centre) from British crime-action television drama series The Professionals flew in on his helicopter for the opening. Steve was just a teenager here (far right). His father is Keith (in the white jacket).
He noticed that "we used to sometimes make more money by selling people leftover packaging or goods from the 10p to £1 box than the whole day's stall takings." Here is a picture of his original stall cash box with an old £1 note in it.
So he hatched a plan to build a bargain empire of his own. After Britain abolished pound notes in favour of coins in 1983 he decided to launch his own store through his savings.
Picture given to Business Insider by Steve Smith from the front cover of West Midland's Business Insider.
At the time, his family were going to sell Hooty's and move to Majorca in Spain to be with his sister.
With the help of a £50,000 loan from his father, Smith told us that he used a fax machine and a phone to secure a lease remotely so people wouldn't know how young he was. He was 17 at the time.
By the time he was 18 he had his own West Bromwich store, Steve's Discount Market, where he sold most goods for £1.
He also met his wife Tracey there while she was studying hairdressing. They celebrate 30 years of marriage this year after getting married in the Sedgley Church in the West Midlands. They now have three children Katie, 26, Ashley, 19, and Joe, 16.
However, his plans to build a bargain shop empire didn't stop in the West Midlands. "The dream was always to turn over the first £1 million, then £10 million, then £50 million and so on," said Smith to Business Insider. This was his first drawing of a potential logo.
He started drawing up plans for the first Poundland. Here is one of the renderings for the first shop.
In the first year, Poundland made £1 million in profit. But he said "all the money was put back in the business."
By 2000, he bought a 15,000 sq ft mansion on Hammer Hill, Alverley, near Bridgnorth in Shropshire for £2.2 million.