For those who have tried starting something from scratch, you will know how ear-splittingly difficult it is. The heartaches, the feelings of despair, inadequacy, fear and doubt — these are feelings that stay with you for a lifetime, each leaving a small scar on your soul. That is when you need a bit of support.
All I wanted as a kid was to have a business that ran nightclubs, hundreds of them — the biggest in the world, and all that. I saw it as this sexy, after-dark world that was all fast cars, fast girls and a fab soundtrack. ‘Who on earth would not want a bit of that?’ I would ask my school friends.
Isn’t that the same with every entrepreneur? This kind of person sees the result before kick-off, and it is this that gets them to the game in the first place. Entrepreneurs are a breed, a type. They love the glory, the thrill, the chase, the white knuckles and the downright excitement of the possible.
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It is these traits that drive this kind of person, which fuels their momentum. Everything else fades and is nothing more than a stone in a shoe. Rarely is anything seen as a problem, as an obstacle too great. Where there’s a will, there is always a way, etcetera.
But in truth, is this still the case? Can a hungry, willing and able person build brilliant things in this day and age, without some sort of support and assistance of a financial kind? Sadly, and on the whole, I fear not.
The world has moved on. In low cost ‘knowledge developments’, web-based phenomena like the next Facebook or YouTube, sure you can still cut a chance, but in businesses like F&B it is getting really, really tough. Rents are outrageous and the creep of revenue-linked rents are taking much of the fun out of a start-up, I imagine.
You may get away with one. A single restaurant with a fab, niche idea and persona. Sure, you can see that working, but how then to grow it into a meaningful business of scale? Tricky, unless you have the right ‘daddy’ looking after you. It’s as if you need a big brother in your corner, to help you fight, trade the right blows and know when to step up and claim victory.
Without this type of investor/big brother/guardian/helper, is that young, aspiring entrepreneur just too easy to manipulate and ignore? Who is going to take them seriously? The world has hardened and so have the hearts running it, I fear.
Everybody deserves a chance, and those willing to go the extra mile to realise a dream should be supported all the more. It would seem however, that this is not the case. With regret, I fear the classic two step start-up of the entrepreneur: one, find a dream, and two, chase it, now has a third step. Three, sell your dream to an investor.
Having now written that, my natural, entrepreneurial spirit has just tapped me on the shoulder and reminded me of my other mantra: fortune favours the brave! Investor or no investor, the entrepreneur will still do their thing, surely it was what they were born to do?
Aidan Keane is the larger-than-life founder and creative director of Keane Brands, one of the world’s specialist design houses based in London, Dubai and Kuala Lumpur. Visit www.keane-brands.com
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