How it all began

Well, not “all” but at least the chapter in my life which closely relates to the nature of this blog…

Let’s apply some context first. I’m a young guy and in what you could say is potentially my “career” job. Left University in 2009 and have found myself working for a lovely organisation.

I’ve only worked for a few companies in my life so far, 7 in total. From temporary jobs to “strap yourself in boy, you’re in it for the long haul” type jobs. Of those 7 companies I only ever felt any sort of affinity with 3. In those 3 companies I really noticed when things just weren’t running right, when staff weren’t pulling their weight, when managers were making wrong decisions, where unnecessary procedures were slowing things down and costing money, where strategy was flawed.

In these companies I was never in a position to action any real change, only propose it. Leaving such proposals at the feet of already busy management usually always ended in not much change. Being the bottom of the bottom didn’t help either. These were all facts which I was aware of at the time but only now I see as clear signs of a budding business mind, but as is the nature of the machine sometimes, they remained un-nurtured.

Entrepreneurialism not being supported or even discussed in Schools I’d say had a pretty significant impact on my direction in life. To go from the school system, a place where your every move is coordinated and out of your control to “real-life” where you’re pretty much free to do anything is a big step. All I knew was there were 2 options: University or get a job. The decisions laid at my feet as a young man were which box to fit in. Typing this in our current climate where jobs are scarce I dread to think how hopeless the current school leavers feel, although with the publicity surrounding programmes such as The Apprentice and Dragons Den, a lot of the work schools should be doing to inspire young people to create their own businesses is already being done by the idiot box.

I didn’t set out to write a biography or talk about the education system and it's failings in relation to nurturing young business minds, so I’ll skip to the moment which changed my life. It was such a simple reply to a little moan.

“Why is there not a game where you can do … ?”

“If it bothers you so much why don’t you make one?”

Comments like that can easily be left in conversation. Reading it now, it seems so obvious that I should have just made it myself. But to me, someone who was so used to the idea of money coming from a defined employer, the idea of creating something which doesn’t exist yet to fill a gap in the market was mind blowing. Previously I’d assumed that there were all these clever people walking around having an idea every minute, that this sort of thing was best left to companies with their millions of pounds and army of staff, but suddenly at that moment I realised that I had been entirely wrong and that it was moments like this which have defined the course of people’s lives and history.

I look back 3 years ago, before the big idea, at that point in my younger life and wish I could initiate that spark which started me off on this journey into business. I wish I could say to myself only 3 years ago “What you have got is what it takes to start your own business, make your own money and be your own boss. Do not think you can’t do it, that it wont happen or that it’s not the best option.”

My hope is that 3 years from now, I wont look back at my 25 year old self and think “God, how much time did you waste!” This is what kicks me up the backside every time I slow down. It works so well for me because I hate having regrets. I still cringe at things I did 10 years ago, even though they’re hardly worth remembering.

I’d recommend everyone to search themselves for something which can act as a reminder why you’re doing this and why you must see it through.

Of all the things I've experienced so far, some of which I'll talk about in other posts, I've worked out a few things which may be valuable to some of you reading this. These are all things which are important to me and have led me to this point in my life.

1. Surround yourself with positive people. I don't mean yes men, I mean people who wont just shoot down your idea because they can't be bothered to understand how it will work.
2. Set yourself targets firmly attached to dates. This is something I wish I would have done a while ago. When you're enthused by an idea it's impossible to think that you could lose that flame, but eventually when you have to start working on it, the enthusiasm can wane. Having a set list of tasks to accomplish by certain dates helps to keep you in check. The problem with starting a business, especially when you have a day job, is that there's no real consequence for not achieving your goal. This is where self discipline is a must. Anyone can say they're going to finish something in a month, but you are the only person who's going to tell you off - and I think you might go a bit softer on yourself! Favouritism in the workplace, *tut*.
3. Talk to people about the idea. Don't be afraid to talk to people you trust about what you're doing; family and friends. Maybe not the guy on the train, but the more people you talk to about it the more ideas you'll get and the more clearly your idea will formulate in your mind. Everyone will have a different priority list of what's important so the questions you get from one person may be totally different to ones from another. I'd say, looking over the course of my journey, the idea I had started off more like a splat but by talking to friends and family it became very nearly a perfect circle.
4. Get someone else on board. No one can do everything and eventually you will probably need help. If you can do everything you need to do to succeed in your business then that's brilliant, but I can't. So team up with someone who has the skills which you don't have and who you feel will share your dream for your product.

Well that's my first blog post finished. Took a lot longer than I thought it would but enjoyed the reminiscing and at least this can act as the intro to my autobiography when I'm 65 and the richest man in the world, ever.

Thanks for reading,

Chris