Why being a young entrepreneur is easier
As you ride the wave of being an entrepreneur, one thing sticks out. No matter how enthusiastic and positive you are, there is a wave of excitement that at times diminishes. That does not mean that you give up or even want to give up - but it does mean that life is not all a rosy 100% of the time.
I was in a fortunate position at 25 whereby I started a marketing company specialising in IT and biotechnology marketing. It just so happened that the tech boom was taking off and there was a lot of activity and excitement going on. Everyone wanted to be part of it and as a young, highly exciteable entrepreneur I was up for anything. Who wouldn't be.
My home life was incredibly stable and my partner at the time was always supportive and encouraging. So, I didn't have the worry of going out to meet guys or find new friends. My only real focus was business. I would religiously get up at 5am in the morning and start working on my old computer that would crash continually. I would write for hours and dream about what I could do for my business to make it more successful.
The other thing that struck me at the time on reflection is how helpful everyone was to me. I had these two amazing mentors in Rick Anstey and Bob Hayward, who would send me endless emails all day long on the latest in the tech boom or business to help steer me in the right direction. At the time, I couldn't have been more pleased. They were like angels who looked over my every move and guided me in the right direction. There were lots of opportunities that came my way and most of which I didn't take up because I was too busy working and dreaming to take action. Looking back, maturity and a great deal of hindsight may have seen another result occur. Nevertheless, Insomnia was hugely successful.
I had a mini mid-life crisis at 30 and with a bit more experience and hard knocks under my belt, I came up with the idea of Marketing Eye. It fast became my baby and what I believe is the one great business idea I have had. It has all the ingredients of being global and of revolutionarising an industry that for some unknown reasons has been left a little stale if you take away the developments in technology. Great innovators on marketing consulting have stayed quite and are certainly not 'changing the marketing world as we know it'.
Marketing Eye is a company that I believe will do this. We not only help small businesses grow, but we provide them with opportunities to expand their networks, embrace technology to promote their brands and have an all important Marketing Manager on their team, steering their marketing efforts. In the upcoming months, you will see a lot more on Marketing Eye and I am interested in your thoughts about our new direction.
After being in the marketing industry for 20 years, I have seen it change a lot. I started typing scripts on a typewriter and faxing manually when completed. Today, the world of marketing is very different.
As you get older and more mature in your business lifecyle, there is one thing that stands out and that is energy. While I may still have the energy to realise the dreams of the company, I use it more wisely. There is no longer a 'burn out' period or holidays that revolve around catching up on sleep. Instead, everything is managed and structured in a way that achieves results.
I still think being a young entrepreneur is easier. More doors open and we are not hindered by hindsight. We experience for the first time people not paying their bills, or employees leaving you in the lurch. We know that if everything turns to 'shit' that we can pick our bums up off the floor and start again - because we are young enough to.
Do you think being a young entrepreneur is easier?
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09 Mar 2013Hi there all, here every person is sharing such experience, thus it's pleasant to read this webpage, and I used to go to see this weblog everyday.
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David
18 May 2012Being a young entrepreneur would be easier than ever with the growing use of technology. However it seems that gen y's and the younger generations are getting lazier and lazier with the growing use of technology. Procrastination is becoming more apparent today in the younger generation who spend more time on social media and gaming rather than studying.
ReplyIn a way, it can be easier and harder depending on the individual.
Raihan
20 Apr 2012Great words Mellissah! As someone young and aspiring to become successful one day hopefully, I always dreamed of making it on my own, but knowing you had 2 mentors and strong family and friends support makes it more comforting to know!
ReplyMarco van Olst
20 Apr 2012Being a young entrepreneur is much easier. Because you are full of energie and you are very motivated. You know to deal with setbacks, and you are quickly able to make a new start. But I am convinced about the fact that if you are an older entrepreneur you have got more experience, and I think that is sometimes very usefull. But if you are younger than you have the advantage that you have more energie to make a new start, because of your age. Once a day I have a dream to start my own business, if I am still young and got some experience.
ReplyShoba Mano
19 Apr 2012I don't entirely agree that an aspiring entrepreneur has it easy in this tech-saturated age. By the way, it is Generation Touch now as the page has turned over Generation Z.
ReplyThis is what I mean. Things change so fast that if you decide to "switch off" for an entire day on an isolated beach, you are already palpitating as you cross over to the mainland, staring at your IPhone screen, knowing that any minute there is going to be a barrage of information overload too fast for your mind to process at one go.
As a result the Generation Touch entrepreneur, as opposed to his forerunners in marketing is continuously challenged to find the best way to get the attention of the consumer with so many competing "distractions" from Facebook to Twitter to blogs and print too.
In the past, there was the trusty old newspaper that everyone read and everyone WILL hear of anything advertised/promoted in it.
Today it is all about where are the masses congregating? Are you linked to the right group that would be interested in what you are branding?
Ask Today's Generation Touch what is the Yellow Pages? They will give you a quizzical look. Ask a youth for directions in Sydney and he whips out a smartphone and shows you a Google Map. For heavens sake, this is the day and age where your car directs you! AUDIBLY! On where to go. On a gadget called the GPS.
So yes, I disagree, it was easier to be an entrepreneur before technology revamped our lives because there were moments of silence to allow for thought and creativity to flow and straight-forward promotional avenues while some older marketers are still scratching their heads over what is social media marketing.
Sandra
19 Apr 2012I think being a young entrepreneur is easier today with the development of new technology and processes, things are done a lot quicker. After reading that you used a typewriter to type scripts, I found myself laughing as I could not imagine using a typewriter today. I can imagine how careful you had to be with grammar and wording each sentence. .
ReplyKirsty
19 Apr 2012The world of marketing is rapidly evolving introducing the whole idea of interactive marketing going digital making it easier to reach out to the customer 24/7. Being in the technology age business is moving towards online channels, where bricks and mortar physical stores could be the thing of the past. With generation Z basically born with an attached iPhone e-business would come as a second nature to them. With knowledge and technology in youth's hands this is a great advantage for any aspiring entrepreneur.
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