We run these events at Online Store Guys called Online Offline where we draw a 75-100 strong crowd to hear us interview someone behind a really clever, emerging brand. First up we had the founder of Bellroy, and more recently frank Body and Adore Beauty.
I love the events, but I realised without my business partner Scott, they probably wouldn’t exist and certainly wouldn’t be what they are.
He’s the champion of that idea. It’s like it’s a point of pride for him. We all put in work to make it happen, but it’s his drive and energy that make them happen.
Likewise, there are other parts of the business that I drive and others that Jordy champions. The work is spread equally, but the energy to get certain things done always comes from a particular person.
Look at other things that are achieved in business and life.
You’re just about to land a big sale but the person you were dealing with leaves. Your sale falls over.
You decide to go to Japan with a group of friends. The one that instigated it gets busy. The trip doesn’t end up happening, yet you’re all dead keen to go and just as capable of organising it.
If you look at anything amazing that is achieved in this world, you can almost always attribute at least the heart of a project to a single individual.
When you sense someone has the passion for an idea or goal, foster that. If the idea sucks, get them to channel that energy to achieving the goal in a better way. If they’ve got the passion and your culture fosters that, they’ll find a way to get there. It’ll be worth it.