When I started thinking about what I was going to say today, I thought how am I going to do this by looking forward and not mentioning the Entrepreneurial Exchange.
And I had to ask myself… how can I focus on the future if I don’t first look to the past?
From the outside, I looked at the Entrepreneurial Exchange as something aspirational. Something one day I would love to be part of.
Entrepreneurship today is front page news. It’s everywhere – its prime time TV with shows like the Dragons Den and The Apprentice, it’s in the cinema with films like The Social Network. There was even an ‘entrepreneur Barbie’ launched by Matel last year. We are obsessed with entrepreneurs.
But this network started before ‘entrepreneurship’ as it has become, even existed … you were innovating before it was a buzzword. You were driven to change the way things were done before it was seen as a sexy career path
It is you and the people who are in our network who are the cornerstone of entrepreneurship in this country.
I started my new role as the Director of this network a few weeks ago and I’ll be looking after everything from how we deliver value for you to how we can continue to grow the network.
And I think it’s important that we look at was great about the Entrepreneurial Exchange before we begin to build upon it. A few conversations have helped me over the last few weeks.
Greg Sim joined in 2014. He has a family business background in property management in Blairgowrie.
I asked him, why he joined and what he has gotten out of it. Greg said ‘you meet a lot of advisors and can spend thousands of pounds on consultants, but they can’t talk to you entrepreneur to entrepreneur. Family business to family business – the people here speak to you on an emotional level’. He spoke to me about the conversations he’d had with Ewan Campbel who had helped act as a sounding board on Greg’s strategy for as he builds out his business into weddings and events – Ewan shared his business plan, advice he could never have got from a consultant learning from how he has done it – and Greg is building this level insight into his strategy moving forward.
He also spoke to Gilad Tiffenburn who has been talking through succession planning which is directly helping Greg to position the company for the future. This is more than just ‘advice’, we are a network of people who open our doors, make time and speak honestly with each other… because we have been through it too. We have been through it too.
The message is clear. Join this and you will grow your business faster with less risk, you will feel more in control and less on your own.
Let’s take that. Let’s take all of the things that are great and talk about how we build upon them.
Looking ahead – what is success? Success for me simple. Success for me is helping you to get to where you want to be quicker. But, what does that look like? I’m comfortable with saying I don’t have all of the answers. Because we need to listen to you.
To give you an idea of what I’ve been hearing behind the scenes … we need to be better at communicating. I’ve heard from some people that they feel a bit lost in the change – it’s not that they don’t agree with the direction of travel and the ultimate vision of Entrepreneurial Scotland but we need to be better at communicating who we are and the role we play. There are more than 200 here today but there are many more who couldn’t be here today – communication is extremely important.
We keep our eye on the ball with what’s going to help you. This involves understanding where you want to be and how we might help you get there.
• Things like talent – we can use the Future Leaders Network to connect you to the people you need in your business
• I also know how lonely it can be. I’m not trying to create the largest lonely hearts club but this is one of the loneliest jobs on the planet – what can we do to help, whether it’s more events, different types of event, different formats
• Is it that you’re looking to leaving a legacy – speak to us about it, from speaking at events to mentoring a Future Leader, as part of this network the opportunities are endless.
Keeping our eye on the ball is all about helping us understand what it’s like in your shoes – how can we help you get to where you want it to be.
Growth. Because I, like you, am not one for standing still. When I talk about growth, I talk about an infusion of people like you – high calibre, growth focused entrepreneurs. Who isn’t in this room and should be. Who could benefit from being here? Who do you want to learn from? It’s not just the nugget you get from the speaker – but also, who else is around the table. They can go on http://www.entrepreneurialscotland.com and hit join to sign up.
I’m also delighted to announce we are forming a new group called The Leaders Forum to be chaired by Colette Grant.
We are coming together to make The Leaders of Entrepreneurial Scotland bigger, better and stronger. Because we like you want this network to grow and succeed. Rest assured, I have my work cut out.
Looking back, I was in awe of this network. What I’m inspired by are the people in this room and I’m more inspired now than ever. Now I need to know what inspires you. Let’s create a network that people on the outside want to be part of and one that we can all be proud of. So without further ado, welcome to The Leaders of Entrepreneurial Scotland Summit, welcome to Scotland’s Moonshot