An entrepreneurial lesson from a street artist

I was strolling down Burrard Street one day but to avoid the crowd, I veered off on Robson to get to Hornby to get to my destination. At the corner of Burrard and Robson was a guy casually going about his way drawing on the sidewalk, he was drawing a stunning portrait of a lady reminiscent of the Renaissance period and amazingly, it was all done in chalk. I didn’t even realize you can do that with chalk. It was mesmerizing, I was certain he was a master painter transported from the 14th century because it was just extraordinary.

First I was in awe of his work, then I thought when it rains his work will be washed away. Why did he do it in chalk? Oops forgot sidewalk is government property, you can’t put any permanent art work on it so oil or acrylic is out of the question. Why wouldn’t he do it on a canvas and maybe sell it afterwards? Then I started thinking of all possibilities for him to preserve his work and then it dawned on me – whether he realized it or not, he just taught me a valuable lesson – detachment.

Vancouver Street Artist

A lot of time, entrepreneurs have a hard time accepting criticisms about their ideas. I plead guilty to this; I remember during the first year of our business when we just started, people thought I was extremely stubborn. But for me it was my life, I live, eat and breathe the business. My partners and I took the time to groom it, to nurture it and to grow it. So we get a little defensive when someone criticizes our ideas. While it is important to verify the source of where the criticism is coming from before you take their advice or defend your ideas, it is more important to be quiet for a second and just listen. It is very important to be able to detach yourself for a second from the business to listen to criticisms that could potentially allow your business to go to the next level.

Take a step back and look at the bigger picture, listen to the person who disagrees with you and see if they have validity in their points. Be open to ideas from anywhere.

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The Britney Spears approach to small business

Well, we probably can’t give all the credit back to Miss Spears, but there are several lessons that small business owners can learn from Britney’s career. Entrepreneurs may more typically look up to people like Ted Turner, Donald Trump, and Steve Jobs, but there is still inspiration to be gained from looking at the success of pop stars too. Britney epitomizes this sentiment.

Never Down for the Count

Most of us probably remember Britney’s breakdown a few years back. She got into a bad relationship, shaved her head, and found more press in the tabloids than from the Billboard rankings.

However, with some good guidance and direction from her father, Britney has been able to get herself back on track and she has regained much of the success that she had lost. She’s rocketed back to the top of the charts, gone on tour to promote her new album, and she seems to be much more “together” than she has been.

In business, you’re going to get knocked down. Sometimes, it’ll be your fault and other times, it won’t. The key is having the ability to get back up time and time again.

Stick to What You Do Best

When coming up with a “comeback” for her career, Britney Spears (and her father) did not try to reinvent herself. She didn’t suddenly try to dabble too heavily in country, hip hop, or whatever was the current flavour of the day.

She’s a pop artist who sings “catchy” radio-friendly tunes. It was with this exact same genre that she managed to come back into the limelight. People didn’t want a “new” Britney; they wanted a more grown-up version of the “old” Britney (and it worked).

At the same time, she was able to capitalize on new technologies like Twitter to improve her chances at a successful comeback. Small businesses need to grow with the times, but the core product must remain true to the brand.

About the author: http://michaelkwan.com" target="_blank">Michael Kwan is a professional freelance writer based out of Vancouver, Canada. He can be found blogging at http://btr.michaelkwan.com" target="_blank">Beyond the Rhetoric.

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