Many years ago, when I was one of the directors who listed the Connection Group, and I arrived to visit my uncle in my new Ferrari, one of his friends commented "That boy is an overnight success", to which my uncle responded, "10 years in the making!"
I am always reminded of this when I think about the impatience of so many that seem to believe that if you have a good idea, and put money into it, that you are automatically, and quickly, assured of success. So many great companies and ideas have come and gone whilst I have continued on, good times and bad, to build my businesses from strength to strength over the years, surviving adversity and enjoying the good times - but always moving forward.
I sometimes feel like the ants working throughout the summer whilst the other bugs party whenever they find food, only to wake up when winter is there, and realise that I have built a base on which to survive the hard times.
It never ceases to amaze me that people can suddenly turn around and tell you that you are so lucky that your business is doing well, when all around you, others are failing.
So I thought that here on my blog, I would share something that perhaps might be valuable to others out there.
Most of the great and successful people of our time (and I say most, because of course, there are exceptions to every rule) are people who worked and sweated and stuck it out when others would have given in, to come out on the other side against the odds. It is often when things look darkest that entrepreneurs and their ilk are at their absolute best, refusing to believe that the bump in the road means the end of the path!
If I have learned anything in my years as CEO, it is this: "Never give up. Never stop pushing for what you believe in. and never think that a setback, no matter how severe, is the end of the road. It is often darkest just before dawn - that is the natural law and business and life are no different!"
