I am often surprised by how many people ask me, ‘So what is the secret to success, what is the answer, what are the sure fire things to do to make a business prosper?’ If it was easy, would everyone get into the business of running their own show? I read a lot, I go to lots of presentations, and I also meet with many other entrepreneurs. Two years ago I attended a two day workshop hosted by Entrepreneur’s Organisation…
Monthly Archives: January 2007
Get a Life
I have just finished readying Tom McKaskill’s recent book ‘Get a Life’. He presents an inside view of the lives of entrepreneurs ?warts and all. Tom has managed to get hundreds of insights from entrepreneurs from around the planet. Yet apparently only 2% of our working community could be classified as entrepreneurs. There is a whole chapter on what entrepreneurs believe are the secrets to success, and it is interesting how similar themes come out. Discipline, hard work, vision, persistence,…
Who?s in charge here anyway?
As any business grows, more people seem to get involved with decisions. The proportion of internal emails versus external emails changes. I wonder what the magic number is when a company actually becomes less productive because they have too many people? (We are a long way from that at RedBalloon, as we are only 40 people). It is not necessarily the more people you put on a problem, but how they work which will make the difference. I heard this…
The power of posititivity
I often think that I’m not good enough. There is always room for improvement. But does that stop me from taking action? I really liked this poem. “I am much more than I think I am. I can be much more even than that. I can influence my environment. The people. I can influence space itself. I can influence the future. I am responsible for all those things. I and the surround are not separate. They’re part of one. I’m…
Happy Feet – Happy Purpose – Happy People
I went to see the new animated movie ‘Happy Feet’ with the children. It had everything that you need in a movie; a great sense of adventure, fun and romance, mateship and even danger. The leopard seals had me jump into the seats in front – my daughter had to comfort me, “It’s only a movie Mum”. The casting was brilliant (I could not pick Hugh Jackman). This would have to be the stand out animated movie I have seen…
Imagine running a business based on fun - that's what I decided to try when I left a very serious corporate career in marketing to set up RedBalloon...
The original 99 Red Balloons …so very 80s