Inspired... the artist within

With all the doom and gloom at the moment I just wanted to share with you a private email I sent to a few of my colleagues back in November...

* * * *

Hey,

As per my usual weekend ritual, which is to take some time out, step back, have some fun with my friends & family, review and reflect upon the week, treat myself, I went out this morning and purchased a book and I wanted to share with you a couple of paragraphs from the first few pages:

"Business is creative. It's like painting. You start with a blank canvas. You can paint anything - anything - and there, right there, is your first problem. For every good painting you might turn out, there are a zillion bad paintings just aching to drip off your brush.

Scared? You should be. You start. You pick a colour. The next colour you choose has to work with the first colour. The third colour has to work with the first and the second. The fourth colour... You get the idea.

You're committed now. You absolutely cannot stop. You've invested. There is no reverse gear on this thing. People who bad-mouth businessmen and women in general are missing the point.

People in business who succeed have swallowed their fear and have set out to create something special, something to make a difference to people's lives.

Are the colours just right? Are the planes polished? Do the crew look good? Are they comfortable? Are the seats OK? What's the food like? It costs how much....?

And whether you're a surrealist or a CEO, there are always bills to pay and money always arrives later than you ever dreamed possible.

In the teeth of a downturn, petty financial hassles can turn into major, life-changing crises, and tough decisions often have to be made. This is the side of business that journalists like to write about, - but it's the least exciting, least distinctive part of business. It's secondary. It's dull.

What really matters is what you create. Does it work or not? Does it make you proud?"

Isn't this what business is about? Isn't this why we got into business? To be creative, to destroy something we didn't like, to build something we saw, to say that's not right let's do it this way.

We are all artists, business artists, entrepreneurs. This is certainly why I got into business.

I have told many people when they ask Why do you go through the pain? I love doing it, I love creating things, growing, moving entities that reflect change in peoples' lives.

This is what I see in every entrepreneur I meet today, a spark in their eye, as they know they have leaped off a cliff, but they are making their dreams happen.

Now we all know that there is a shake up going on, it's been going on for a while, but people don't change fast, they cling to what they know.

The shake up is on, things are going to change NOW. Fast.

The challenge and responsibility that lyes upon us as entrepreneurs is to create, to innovate, to inspire others, to be the glowing light in the dark.

We need to group together, help each out, what are the challenges you are having? share them with your peers, maybe we can help you or find someone to help you.

The turn is coming, through pain and pressure comes creativity, we have to survive and thrive within the environment, we can and we will.

So take this on a whim, or think about what you can do.

If you have got this far, thanks so much for your time, I truly appreciate it.

I wish you all the best and keep in touch, let's make things happen.

(The quote is from Richard Branson's new book Business Stripped Bare.)

- Ben Young