BEACH BUMS?
Yes, a high growth business is like a surfer. On the beach, surfers are divided into the beginners/novices, the competent, and the 'born' real surfers. (Small and Medium-sized businesses are often divided into the start-ups, the vulnerable, the plodders and the gazelles). Surfers of all skill levels spend hours discussing whether surfers are born or can be made. The merits of failure and the secrets of success are pursued - the latest magazine or book reveals some (but not all) of some guru's pearls of wisdom. Very reminiscent of the world of management.The Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100 uses five categories to classify the source of the 100's innovation. 43% of companies are actually described as 'wave-riders' who exploit opportunities. Types of surfer can be expanded as those that 'wave-ride' to exploit the opportunities, or finding better ways of reaching their waves, or newer ways of reaching their waves, or innovative ways of reaching their waves (markets) or innovative ways of starting their journeys.
Entrepreneurs, like surfers, are driven by specific psychological attributes; some might describe these as flaws. Many have an all-consuming need to prove something to themselves and to others. Many suffer deep-down from low self-esteem; some are profoundly insecure, always trying to prove that they can do better than the opinion that they hold of themselves.
Cary Cooper's description of entrepreneurs could be a description of a surfer - they are 'bounce-back' people with a powerful desire to achieve. They do not get distracted by either success or failure; they just plough on, never satisfied and constantly in fear of 'being found out'. Often after one success, they need to do it again to prove it was not a fluke.
Rupert Steiner's book, My First Break, goes on to explain that failure is seen as confirming inner fears, but they do not give up. Instead they pick themselves up and attempt to show that they can get it right a second time - many do not care about anything other than the business in hand - it can be like a drug.
Steiner says that 'real entrepreneurs can never stop... once the buzz from the original fix has faded, many are on the look out for their next fix'. Sounds like the classic surfer to me!
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Robert Craven is a consultant and keynote speaker with an international reputation, and the author of Customer Is King and Kick-Start Your Business. He is Associate Fellow at Warwick Business School and Visiting Professor at Toulouse Business School. For further information, visit his personal site at www.robert-craven.com or the Director's Centre at www.thedc.co.uk.