No one can dispute the shift that the world is in at the moment. Over a decade ago this ‘shift’ was the conversation of spiritualists and environmentalists, now it is on everyone’s tongue.
The world is in crisis on many levels; some feel it deeply, others remain in their own world and see things from a local/personal level not realising the evolution that is happening in front of them.
Everyday, in many ways I am in touch with start-ups and small businesses. Very nimble, highly sensitive parts of the business and human ecosystem. Through engaging online, reading blogs, receiving emails, speaking, mentoring, coaching, the common theme I notice is that people seeking are answers and help, something or someone that they can hold on to and believe in.
Some seek knowledge and read lot, some seek short-term financial gain and advertise a lot, some seek people and connect a lot, we know deep down which one we seek to give us our feeling of stability. I guess I seek a combination of all three, but mostly I seek people.
People to me provide knowledge, they provide friendship, they provide self-esteem, they provide a reason.
I think that most entrepreneurs start their business with people in mind, seeking to solve issues that may be holding people back, either in work, play, mind or well being, the more I connect with people the more I become intune with the world.
One of the words I have adopted and found myself using daily with people is “anchor”. Some time a go I was seeking an anchor to provide myself with stability in the rough waters that life can throw up in front of us. I found that my anchor points were my knowledge and my community of friends that I had built up through my social networking. When I sought to increase my knowledge it was people that provided it to me, some people who I had not had contact with for years came out of the storm and gave me something to hold onto, their contacts or their knowledge, they propelled me forwards.
Looking back at these people, the common thread was that they all had insights and awareness and were “change makers”. Each of them had a strong intention to create change. As entrepreneurs themelves they were not purely buying and selling, they were revolutionising business and society in their own way. What struck me was that they were adapting and surviving and where helping others to do the same.
So how would I define a change maker? Are you a change maker?
As I reflect on my own business journey, rocky, tough, exhausting, insesent and the deep emotion that I feel about building a community of business people that have shared community values – Ecademy.
I realised that one of the aspects that has made my life complex and challenging is that I am a change maker, driven to ensure the world is changed positively by the opportunity to connect online rather than it becoming a marketplace or just another cold, uncaring dimension in our lives.
It has been my passion that has driven me to achieve beyond anything else.
To question if you are a change maker I’d like to ask you some questions that come to my mind:
1. Can you see and feel what is needed to make society and life better for others?
2. Have you created a unique method, product or service that can achieve that?
3. Are you driven night and day, awake and asleep by that purpose?
4. Is it something beyond financial gain that drives you?
5. When you express it to others is it infectious because you are so passionate?
6. Do you have others that believe in what you believe in?
7. Have you created a community of followers that share in that conversation?
If the above resonates with you then perhaps you are a change maker, however, be warned! This is the sting – this does not make you a business person.
13 years of being in business has taught me more about what not to do than what to do. Driven by passion, I haven’t always focused on the business needs and my turning point came when I realised this.
I am grateful that I now have knowledge and skills that I can pass onto others based on the mistakes as well as the successes, I am not afraid of the fact I am not good at everything.
In 2012 there will be nearly 400,000 start-ups in the UK alone. 400,000 people who want to make a difference, earn a living and be heard by their audiance of potential consumers.
What will separate those determined and impassioned people that do succeed and those that fail will be their ability to run a business. Sadly not many will know how to. Running a business is a skill.
Being a change maker is something that comes from your heart and gives you tenacity and determination and helps you build a following, but it does not give you the skills to make your business successful.
My final words to you are, be very careful wiith your future, harness all the passion you to surround yourself with the skills of coaches and mentors that can take your passion and turn into a business that sustains you and others. Listen to people who care about you, don’t be sensitive to their criticism, realise that you can’t and font know everything, never be too proud to ask for help.
I want you to be successful, as I write this my energy that I pour into my words are deep, I cannot tell you how many times I have cried with people that are suffering and struggling with their new businesses, being a business owner consumes your every moment and thought. But you don’t have to be that person. Your future can be stronger.
Finally, be a change maker, don’t accept the norm, make this world better, keep on believing in yourself and your dream, hold onto that passion and listen to it all the time, it is your friend that will give you the tenacity and strength to go the whole 9 yards.
With love and friendship,
Penny Power - Building Social Capital
Penny is an EBA Millionaire Mentor
