Читать книгу The Game of Inches - Collin Nigel - Страница 6

Over the past couple of years I have interviewed many successful people, from high-profile entrepreneurs to unrecognised individuals throughout Australia who are doing amazing things that you and I may never have heard about.

My odyssey began in April 2013, when I set off one morning from my home in Sydney heading for remote Australia – just me, my motorcycle and a video camera. It was the start of the Ingenious Oz Project, an initiative that set me on a quest to uncover and tell the stories of ordinary Australians like you and me who have done extraordinary things.

I had launched my own first business at the age of 20 and had forged a career in the business events industry, over nine years building up Absurd Entertainment, one of Australia's largest creative entertainment design companies. So I knew firsthand that most people don't think they are very creative or that their ideas are of any value or that they have what it takes to succeed. I wanted to prove them wrong.

My mission was to demonstrate that Australians are far more creative, clever and capable than we often give ourselves credit for. I wanted to show that innovation isn't the sole domain of the leviathans of business or the elite few, but that it belongs to everyone, and that with determination and hard work anyone can build a successful business. There were, after all, clever and successful people and businesses to be found all over Australia. So I headed off on my quest to inspire the ideas of a nation – and ended up getting the biggest education of my business career.

In 2014 I was invited to become an ambassador for Start Up Australia, a not-for-profit organisation created by entrepreneurs to help young businesses and entrepreneurs get started by offering free practical advice and hard-earned lessons from people who had been there and done it. I was asked to interview 50 of Australia's top entrepreneurs. After the success of Ingenious Oz, and because I had already talked with so many businesspeople and leaders over the years at conferences and other events, I leapt at the chance. Why wouldn't I? The opportunity to spend an hour with each of these dynamic individuals and draw on their ideas and practical advice on how to grow a profitable business was one I simply couldn't turn down.

What hit me during my involvement with both projects was the sheer number of smart, successful businesspeople there are throughout Australia. Both these initiatives offered me a rare opportunity to tap into the collective wisdom of highly creative and resourceful people from a wide variety of industries and backgrounds. In both projects I found people who were open and willing to share real strategies and ideas for business success.

That's important, because now more than ever entrepreneurism is vital to that success. The world today is a very different place from the one we knew even a couple of decades ago. The economy behaves differently, the social landscape and the way we do things have changed radically, and the evolving world of new technology has opened many new doors of opportunity in the way we do business.

Like you, I've listened to, watched and read a myriad of gurus and experts talk about entrepreneurship and business growth. Yes, some of them have interesting insights to offer, but let's face it: there's no substitute for the real thing. If you want to learn how to improve your business, learn from those who've done it and done it well.