Meet Cris Beswick, the down-to-earth entrepreneur who's
rapidly becoming one of the UK's leading thinkers on business
innovation. Best known for his love of motorbikes and his bright
blue shoes, he shares his entrepreneurial journey - and reveals why
it's sometimes a good idea to stop doing what you're good at, and
start doing what you love.
By todays standards I was a fairly late bloomer as an
entrepreneur. I didn't start my first company until I was 25. The
latest generation of entrepreneurs are doing amazing things whilst
still in school!
I barely got through school with half decent grades let alone
launch my first venture into the world of business. If there's any
spelling mistakes in this article you know why!
I think I always knew that the traditional education and
employment route somehow weren't going to be for me. Despite ending
up with a degree in product & industrial design I never really
conformed whilst in education. I was somewhat of a rebel, a
maverick and in hindsight for the poor teachers and lecturers
probably a real pain in the a*se!
As a designer I definitely had natural ability and talent but
for me there always seemed to be a disconnect. It felt like just
because I was good, that should be what I did. That if I did
something else I'd somehow be wasting a talent that others would
give their right arm for. So it wasn't long into my career as a
designer that discontent raised its head.
I now look back with a wiser perspective at my decision to quit
my first job. It was a little cavalier. Was the grass really
greener on the other side? Fortunately for me it was and over the
years to follow I founded and built several successful businesses
in the strategy and design industry, which I sold in 2008.
So, what has being an entrepreneur taught me and why am I doing
what I'm doing now? Well, the first lesson comes from the
disconnect I had between my ability as a designer and my passion
for it. The link here cannot be underestimated and part of what I
do now is help leadership teams find and create these links. If
people don't absolutely love what their company does and how it
does it they'll never deliver excellence.
The second lesson came from my realisation that although I'd had
no formal training I was probably a better businessman than I was a
designer. The key to great management is to understand where your
abilities best benefit the business and then surround yourself with
amazingly talented people to do all the other stuff.
The true leadership role requires you to be both humble and
practical about how you best contribute to your business. Ego has
no place when you're trying to create something really different as
you need others to willingly join you on the journey!
One of the main reasons why my companies were successful was the
culture we created, how we worked together and how we did what we
did on a daily basis. We were agile, communicative, creative,
passionate, talent-rich and driven to achieve something way beyond
average.
The realisation that most organisations spend fortunes on trying
to be 'customer-centric' but don't really understand their people
(something I call being 'people-centric') well enough to deliver
what they want to achieve was a pretty profound moment for me and
was the catalyst for what I do now.
I'm fortunate enough to now spend my time as a speaker and
advisor to companies sharing my unique perspective on topics like
strategy, change, culture and how to create amazing organisations
built on talent, entrepreneurship, great leadership and doing
things a little differently in order to drive innovation.
One of the phrases I have is this:
"Innovation is a
by-product of being Exceptional!"
My career and success as an entrepreneur has been down to one
thing. I've never settled for average, I've always know I could
achieve more even when at the time I may not have know what 'more'
was. In some way that's what being an entrepreneur is all about,
self-confidence, gut feeling even in the face of compelling
evidence to the contrary and a desire to achieve something
amazing!
My 'journey' so far has been amazing and I wish you all the same
success. Love what you do and be exceptional!
Good luck!