The Trick is to Keep Breathing

This month and year is special for me. It's August 2012. 

It's exactly 10 years since I had that eureka moment. 10 whole years since the onset of an entrepreneurial seizure. 10 years since I stormed into Business Gateway, promptly telling them that their best advice may be that it takes months of research before you can start a business, but that I had precisely two weeks so if they wouldn't mind pointing me to the shortcuts, I'd be most grateful. 

10 Years. 

It's quite something. 85% of small businesses fail in their first year. Less than 50% of the businesses that remain survive the next 10 years. 

So what's the secret to surviving in business? Is there even a secret?

I've spent a bit of time reflecting this month, as you can imagine and I've come to the conclusion that, when it comes to running a business, it's best summed up by the slightly tatty bit of paper I have blu-tacked to my desk. On it a Chinese proverb:

"To open a business is easy, to keep it open is an art."

It's true. 

Every day I get up and paint my world. Every day the landscape changes. 

Some days the paint is thicker than others. Sometimes it's more colourful. Other days, like any artist, I lack inspiration. And, on really great days, I create masterpieces. 

It's up. It's down. It's often round in circles, two steps back, one step forward. 

But the one thing I can honestly say about my job: It's never, ever dull.

I used to struggle with the pace of change. To waste energy panicking about future challenges (that I didn't yet have). Figuring I could avoid them or resolve them before they became a reality. 

Now I know that's there's very little point in wasting that energy. The challenges will come daily, whether I plan for them or not. 

For those just starting out on this journey, and for those just a little way down the road, I'd like to pass on this little piece of wisdom for success in business, borrowed partly from the iconic Scottish writer Janice Galloway, with practical assistance in the art by long time personal mentor  Rebecca Bonnington:

The trick is to keep breathing.

When every day brings its own (often unpredictable) challenges, sometimes you just need to stand back, take and deep breath. 

In and out. Running a business is an absorbing job, but if you're going to take on the world, battling with daily (sometimes apparently insurmountable) challenges, breathing slowly will help you focus. Will keep you calm, centred and effective. 

Rebecca once made me breathe in and out ten times, counting to 10 with each exhalation. On my first attempt I managed to get to 3 without getting distracted. 

Ten years later: It's a perfect 10.