Combining tips from successful business people and EH20 Business Centre’s facilities is a great way to develop your skills.
Sharing business success
Entrepreneurs and small business owners are some of the most hardworking and busiest people on the planet. Long gone are the days of working 9-5, Monday to Friday!
However one of the most consistent traits shared by these types of people is their support for other business owners, and their willingness to share their advice and success stories and – often most usefully – the inspiration that led them on their path.
One of Scotland’s least recognised but most impactful entrepreneurs at the moment is Josh Littlejohn MBE, co-founder of Social Bite, a social enterprise with small chain of cafés, whose aim is to end homelessness in Scotland. One of his top tips for starting your business is to go with your gut. He said; “If I believed all the people who said Social Bite wouldn’t work, we would have never have even got started. And the people who thought we’d never get stars as big as Bill Clinton, George Clooney and Leonardo Di Caprio to visit a wee project in Scotland – let’s just say we proved them wrong.”
Tech entrepreneur and founder of Pixey (previously Instie), Sarah Stenhouse, is one of Scotland’s up and coming business stars. He company contacts photographers posting on Instagram to request use of their images and arranges copyright and payment. They are then available to companies who are looking for authentic images. She offered up three top tips for entrepreneurs: “Don’t be afraid to think a little differently; trust that you have the confidence and strength to change something you are passionate about, and never stop learning”.
Advice from the past
Of course, Scotland is known for its history of entrepreneurs, and their advice holds up just as well today as it did then.
Andrew Carnegie is perhaps the country’s best known businessman, who amassed a wealth of over £480 million, only to then give it all away, becoming one of the worlds biggest philanthropists in the 1800s. He left a lot of advice behind, but a particular favourite – especially for entrepreneurs – is to motivate yourself. He said; “People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.”
To round things off, let’s finish with the man who became Scotland’s first billionaire car dealer, Sir Arnold Clark. Born in Glasgow, he set up his car rental business simply because nobody else would employ him, and through hard graft and business instinct, went on to become Scotland’s largest car dealer and expanded into England.
However it isn’t a quote from him that we finish on. Rather, part of the eulogy given by his son at Sir Arnold’s funeral. He said “He’d be at his desk till the small hours then up at the crack of dawn the next day. He was devoted to his staff. If you worked for Arnold Clark you were one of the family.” Which goes to show that although you need to work hard to make it, you don’t need to lose sight of what is important in life.
We welcome hard workers here at EH20 Business Centre, and with a manned reception desk, managed offices and catering facilities on site, we take care of the everyday matters so you can concentrate on the bigger deals. If you would like to find out more about how we can help your business grow, give us a call and we’ll happily show you round
