Building a Business that Flourishes
One evening my friend Chris Sommer watched a young artist on TV who performed a song, in the presence of the well-known presenter Humberto Tan and a few other famous Dutch celebrities. The song was sung acapella, without accompaniment, but with fire, emotion and unmistakable talent. The young woman was admired by all – not only by those at the table, but also by Chris himself. What a voice, what an expression and what a bizarrely good presentation. The young woman was admired by all – not only by those at the table, but also by Chris himself. What a voice, what an expression and what a bizarrely good presentation.
When Christ went through Humberto’s preparations for an exhibition a few weeks later, he spoke to the man about the singer’s striking talent. Humberto nodded and said that she was indeed good, but then asked Chris “and do you know her name?”. No, Chris had to admit. Her name had escaped him. And Chris wasn’t the only one who could not remember the name of the artist. Everyone loved her; everyone had listened intensely during the performance, but no one remembered what the young singer was called. She is very good, but not known.
There are many such ‘unknown’ artists in life. These artists likely enjoy their own work; creating is rewarding, even if no one else can enjoy your art as well. And perhaps the anonymous singer was very happy with her unknown status, we cannot know. However, if she were to release a single, Chris likely would have unconsciously missed its release. The lesson being, if you do want to earn a living by practicing your profession, then you will have to make a name for yourself amongst your audience. However, becoming known is not easy. Looking at the history of a number of artists, we see that name recognition is not an indicator of success and that health and financial status is often unstable. While Rembrandt was extremely well-known during his life, he eventually died miserable and poor. Vincent van Gogh was not known, but met the same fate and died in poor circumstances. Marc Chagall was known and was allowed to live until 97 and all that with luck, health and success. Abraham Bloemaert was 87, known, influential, rich and had a good family. The painter’s academy he had set up would leave a mark on Dutch painting for at least 250 years after his death; a sufficient reason to be allowed to die as a rich and happy man. When we turn to the more recent example of Steve Jobs, we also see success, albeit with a somewhat bitter aftertaste. On his deathbed, Jobs said: “Money and success are not the most important thing. Relationships are.”
In the book “Design Your Business” we have developed the ‘starter process’, which is described in detail below. Taking a vantage point of yourself as a starting entrepreneur, freelancer, artist, service provider, or craftsman, you can use this process…
- … Before you actually start your business.
- … During the first years of business.
- … After you have spent time developing your business in the first three years and have to choose which course you want to take for the following years.
Tips to build a flourishing business:
- Book out 4 hours a month for 6 months to intentionally design your business for the next phase.
- Buy the “Design Your Business” book and take your business through the process.
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This blog post contains an excerpt from our new book, Design Your Business, by Paul Donders and Cias Ferreira
Get your copy of Design your Business today for R320
Send an email to info-sa@xpand.eu , contact the office at 079 434 9030
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