In this, the fifth instalment of an interview with Owen Rees-Hayward of thingloop, I asked for Owen’s thoughts on ‘what makes an entrepreneur?’
thingloop makes it easy to lend and borrow physical objects (tools, books, DVDs and so on) with people in your social network. Save money. Save the planet. Borrow stuff.
What sort of characteristics do you need to get a new business off the ground?
“You definitely need a passion for your idea and a vision that you can communicate with enthusiasm. You have to invest a lot of time, energy and money into trying to making it happen. Plus, you have to make sacrifices along the way. So you really need to believe it’s worth it!
“I have faced up to a lot of challenges. You must persevere, and not give up at the first hurdle.”
If the business is your idea, then you get to make all the decisions, right?
“Not necessarily. Whatever the business you’re in, you need to be flexible. And if you’re part of a small team, people will generally operate in different roles, bringing their own expertise. A team is made up of the sum of its parts. So you need to be comfortable with the fact that others will be more expert than you at certain functions, and they will make better decisions than you.”
Any tips on managing your time?
“I have things on the go all the time so personal organisation skills are a must. Anyone starting a new business will be juggling a lot of balls at once – usually too many – so being able to prioritise is vital. It’s not easy. For instance, most days I’ve got ten ‘must-do’ things on the list… yet there is only time to complete three!”
In the next instalment of this interview, Owen talks about how to shrug off mistakes and deal with negative criticism.
Productivity Ninja Lee Cottier runs excellent workshops on time management and how to get stuff done.
