Border Bizcamp
My late mother Irene never entered the world of business but, when my father Seamus died suddenly on the 18th January 1968 at the age of 44, she at the young age of 36 years was left to rear 7 children aged 3 to 16 years. Out of necessity for her grew an ability to invent something out of nothing for many years from thereon. I, and my siblings, got clothes for nothing as we, like many young kids in those days, got “hand-me-downs” from siblings, cousins and friends. What wasn`t handed down was newly knitted. My mother would learn to feed, clothe and educate us all from an extremely limited budget. If she was to do the best by us then our education was primary and remarkably she managed to send most of us, at some stage or another, to boarding school and University.
Circumstances created necessity. Necessity created invention. She may not have been recognized ever as a business entrepreneur but she ensured a successful start-up for each of her children in life. That was her vision. That was her Goal.
Border Bizcamp Monaghan
Yesterday Saturday 8th June Border Bizcamp Monaghan 2 was a huge success once again. On one of the hottest days this year, when many must have been tempted to go to the beach, we had in excess of 120 attendees from 16 counties gathered into MTEK Monaghan to hear 22 Speakers talk on various themes of technology, invention, enterprise and business recovery. It`s unfair to pick out only one Speaker but, as a Facilitator of PLATOEBR where I come across so many businesses wondering if there is any light at the end of the tunnel, I thought I should mention George Mordaunt.
The Mordaunt Group – from boom to bust to boom
The Mordaunt Group was an extremely successful Nissan Garage Agency up to and during the Celtic Tiger. George Mordaunt told the story of how, after the financial crash, faced with crisis for his business and family where he owed millions to the Banks he created a 2 minute video on Youtube where he subsequently started a new Online business “WesourceNEcar”. This business now sources cars to order for their clients. By creating this new business model George has managed to avoid a lot of the capital and premises expenses which other garages have. George stated that this invention came about as a result of extreme necessity where he felt that he had nowhere else to turn. I believe that he has also come to a resolution with the Banks.
His inspiration
From the audience I asked George to tell us his inspiration; what motivated him at the time. I expected him to name some of the well-known motivational writers. George replied that his motivation to get his life back was his 2 children : how could he let them suffer for the mistakes he had made? Memories of my mother and her inventiveness in necessity many years ago came back to me. Here was someone else who dug deep to save his family.
The Best of Times / The Worst of Times
Yesterday many Speakers acknowledged that we are going through the worst of times. I have also written on this in the past. We could however be in the best of times. Anyone who has read Napoleon Hill, who interviewed many of the greatest entrepreneurs and inventors of the 20th Century, will realize that many inventions, many new business models, came about as a result of necessities created out of the Great American Depression of the 1930`s.
A Recession within a Recession
George Mordaunt warned that, with the new Personal Insolvency legislation, thousands of families throughout Ireland are going to be forced into even tougher financial circumstances. Many political commentators will herald this new legislation as a means to financial stability. However, there is also a school of thought that this will create even more austerity – with less disposable income for many families and consequently less money to spend. Is this the death knell of many of the business models in which we are all operating?
In the coming months many of us will be faced with even more challenges to our businesses.
The World is changing rapidly but are we changing with it?
In this current business climate necessity is once again the mother of invention. This new world will call for new business models and only those who are alert and see the opportunities will survive. Hopefully, at Border Bizcamp yesterday we alerted people to what is ahead and gave them the tools to thrive.