Fergus Dyer-Smith

Some of you may know that I work very closely with this guy, Permjot Valia on a number of projects, (he is also an investor in Wooshii)

He recently posted a really neat blog over at businessangelblog.com. The original is here but I wanted to comment on some of it here as it smack of some really great truths.

Some businesses have been having a particular hard time of it recently, (economic downturns and recessions have that effect). From downturns though comes massive opportunity and the big winners of the coming 20 years will undoubtedly be born in the coming two.

So how do you keep going as an entrepreneur when your current business has just failed or is failing? How do you find the power and inspiration to reinvent or push on through? Below are Permjots views. My view is that entrepreneurs will have some of this inherently but as I am big believer that entrepreneurship can be taught many of the suggestions below are great to reflect on. Mine are in brackets.

1. Never stop believing in yourself. Really tough at times. Over the last few years, I have had a real roller coaster of a journey with business. My self-belief took a knock – but never a dive.

2. Remember that the line between success and failure is very thin. Sometimes luck and timing does play a part in your success. My biggest success to date is Flight & Partners. Yet this business came about because of huge dollops of luck. To deny this is arrogance. But yes, lots of things happened to ensure that when the opportunity arose I was able to take advantage. But in that sense we make ourselves willing recipients of luck!

[See previous post and Steve Job's views on faith in dots that join]

3. Keep yourself fresh. I find going to the gym a real struggle and mostly I fail! But it is a proven way to keep your emotions in a good place. Other ways include reading new books, cooking something new, going out to watch a movie. Anything will do.

[For me surfing is my big equaliser. It is social and active. Exercise gives you energy and physical fitness relates directly to mental agility. Creative thought is an unconscious process and often the solution to a problem will only come when you focus your thoughts elsewhere. Surfing requires that you become completely focused on the moment and solutions to annoying problems will often present themselves mid session. ]

4. Work with great people. The best thing I learned from the F&P experience was that when you work with truly great people who are experts in their field – you get the leverage effect. Your time is the most precious resource – so spend it wisely

[Great people also inspire you to be better. I am lucky to have two great co-founders at Wooshii, (James and Sean) who both creatively and technically run circles round me. I feel a definite responsibility to ensure I am holding up my end of the deal through my work at Wooshii to ensure it is a success. Recently we added anew member to the team. He is proving to be a bit of a legend in his own particular field and this again spurs me to be better at what I do]

5. Make sure you meet your friends on a regular basis. I always feel recharged about life after a good chat with friends.

[Or if you work with them ensure you spend time out of the office. I do not believe in the "Lets not talk about businesses tonight" idea. For me most of the best ideas come out of the work place, around the kitchen table or in the pub but you need time to foster relationships and a good meal can do wonders for the next days work activities]

6. Most of all, be honest with yourself and make sure you remain enthused about your business. I do think that sometimes we feel compelled to carry on supporting something, long after we have lost its allure. If you are at this point, find someone else to run it.

[Be honest with yourself and every one round you. No one can help you if they don’t know the real situation]

7. But the best tip I would urge you to follow is to set yourself monthly resolutions. Hope springs eternal! Just like New Year resolutions lets you set aside the failures of last year – and start again, why not just do it on a monthly basis.

[A nice tip and particularly relevant for Wooshii. We try and break our targets into 3 months and then work backwards from there]