Why jump out of a perfectly good plane? Because you can when you Build Your Own Business...

blog 2016
Written By Andrew Ford

 

Last weekend I took my team skydiving. Yes jumping out of a perfectly good, working plane in the air at 35,000 feet with only a thin plastic sheet to stop you hitting the ground at 220 km per hour. Nice.

But why put my staff at risk for a little adrenaline? What is the attraction to forcing yourself to do something scary and potentially dangerous? I have a few reasons why which might just give you an insight into the way you approach life and also business. But first let me set the scene for those who haven't done it...

The Jump

You wake in the morning to a beautiful clear blue sky and as you rise you start to think about the day ahead. Not dropping the kids at school or what meetings you have with clients - today is the day you will launch yourself into space with your life hanging on a stranger you will meet in a few hours.

Your stomach is a little tense as you drive down the coast to the tiny airstrip. The pros make jokes about not coming back and risking the company on a bucket list experience. It's suppose to lighten the mood but doesn't quite get there.

On the way up in the tiny plane, crammed in with 20 others,  the coast line is stunningly beautiful and boats look like white dots. The calm before the storm. Your instructor yells the safety techniques in your ear and you try to absorb what you can.

All too soon, they open the door and out they fly. You see people trying to hang on to the door, faces grimaced, but their instructor just pushes them out into the cold air. Your turn now. At the door. Swing your legs into space. That's the hardest part - looking out to the air and making your legs leave the plane. 1, 2, 3 out you fly. Air suddenly rushes at you at 200+km per hour. It's cold. You try to remember the technique. Your brain can't quite make sense of what is happening. The free fall seems to last forever, but then the shoot is pulled and BOOM you're floating down to sea. You catch your breath and relax into the experience. You survived.

In a few minutes you are safely on the ground, high fiving your mates and feeling really proud of what you have achieved. Spectators watch from the sidelines thinking they could never do that. If only they had the courage.

Jumping into Business

It is over in an hour and during the day you keep remind yourself that today you did what most others are too afraid to do, jump into the unknown. The experience reminds me of starting my own business. The initial exciting rush at the thought of it, the preparation and fear, then the satisfaction at doing what most people think of but too few actually do. Chase your dreams.

After working in corporations for over 15 years I have seem many dreamers. People who had a great idea only to sit on it and not take the action to make it a reality. Sure there are many valid reasons why. Logic can always break a dream. But sometimes you have to swing your legs out into space even when your brain is telling you not too. It's sad that more people don't realise their visions due to self imposed limitations, because if you are not living fully, you are not really living at all.

The reason I know this, is I was there myself. It took an instructor to push me out the door to start my entrepreneurial journey, face grimaced and feeling the fear but doing it anyhow. Sure it was tough, but the satisfaction of knowing I did it anyway is worth the challenges every day of the week. I'm alive with the challenge everyday.

So what's stopping you jumping from a plane or starting your own dream business? I don't suggest you just launch into it unprepared, that would be dangerous and stupid. Get help from seasoned instructors with known processes and safety drills. With help and others doing it with you, it all seems a lot less scary.

My challenge (and hope) for you is that you will make the first step in 2016 to follow the passion that you have. Do something to make your dream a reality and do what others will not. Now is the time, seize the day. If you need a push - watch this video on how we can help, it's what we do.

Make it real,

Andrew

P.S. My next 'Launch in 12 Weeks Course' is starting in 3 weeks and we only have 10 spaces available. More than half have gone so message me this week if you have an idea you want to explore.  

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(the link is http://www.andrewford.com.au/book/)

Andrew Ford
Marketing expert Andrew Ford, the founder of Social Star, has discovered the secret of ‘Powerful Branding’. With a fire for unleashing people’s inner brand and developing business models to generate profit from an individual’s passions, Andrew leverages ground-breaking digital and social media marketing techniques to create digital strategies for clients to attract maximum opportunities. Having established a strong name for himself in the field, Andrew blends traditional business techniques with now-necessary tools for entrepreneurs to achieve scale, quality, and influence in their niche. Andrew’s comprehensive business background and qualifications consist of a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) (RMIT 2003), a Graduate Certificate in Management (MBA Executive Program, University of Sydney 2005), and a Masters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Swinburne University 2011). Continually on the cutting edge of his own education, Andrew has tested his marketing theories in forums such as the BCG Business Strategy Competition, which he won in 2005 against all Victorian MBA schools, and the Venture Cup Business Plan Competition (Swinburne University 2003), which he won in the Masters category. With experience working at Hewlett-Packard, Sensis (Telstra) and IBM, Andrew also has mentored dozens of junior staffs to help them achieve their professional goals. Meeting and influencing high-profile public figures helped Andrew to realise just how many professionals require more understanding and control of their public brands or appearance, and need help with the skills to use the many amazing free tools at their disposal to generate success. At Social Star, Andrew consults with clients to uncover their personal brand – both where it is today and where it can be tomorrow – and refine and define how that should be displayed in social media in order to attract their perfect target audience. Andrew mentors his clients to rapidly grow their business’ audiences, resulting in larger potential client bases and higher revenue. Applying formulas that integrate over twenty years of Andrew’s business experience and fifteen years of formal business education, Social Star specialises in building clarity and velocity for clients’ brands using the ‘Understand, Build and Leverage’ methodology. ‘Having a Personal Business enables people to have an authentic, congruent connection with their valued clients and partners, using their brand as the bridge,’ says Andrew. ‘I’m highly driven to work with the new breed of entrepreneurs and small business owners – people who have a passion for making the world a better place. Traditional business models are stepping aside as people follow their innermost dreams and my role is to see them operate within their values while creating wealth. Some people think you have to sacrifice what you love to be successful in your business, yet it is actually the opposite. Follow your passion and success will come.’ Lecturing at Swinburne University from 2009 to 2011 on brand dynamics and digital marketing, presenting at numerous conferences, and consulting to hundreds of clients, Andrew has seen his philosophy work that if you follow your unique path, based on your skills, experience, values and goals, you will automatically attract the opportunities you desire and achieve the success you deserve. Living his mantra, Andrew has created a successful business and attracts high-profile clients including musicians, athletes, authors, models, entrepreneurs, professionals and small business owners, helping them find their ‘why’ in their business and fulfilment in their lives. Business for Andrew is more than work, it’s personal. Running a personal business means that he is able to fulfil all of his values rather than separating his life from work. It supports his two boys while providing social opportunities, educational development, fitness opportunities, spiritual fulfilment and many valuable friendships. Social Star has now become the vehicle for Andrew to crystallise his mission in the world, to help people love what they do, supporting his ‘why’, that if more people loved what they did, the world would be a better place.
http://www.andrewford.com.au/
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