New businesses are launched seemingly every minute, and every business leader believes they have stumbled on the next big thing. However, the Association of Business Executives has stated that approximately 660,000 new companies are registered in the UK every year, of these, 20% will not make it past their first year, rising to almost 60% within three years.
Walt Disney’s first animation company went bankrupt before he created his entertainment empire. August Horch was ousted from his company before going on to pioneer what would eventually become Audi. Bill Gates’ traffic data measuring company failed when many states began offering this service for free
“One of the huge mistakes people make is that they try to force an interest on themselves. You don’t choose your passions; your passions choose you.” These are stirring words from Jeff Bezos, one of the richest and most successful entrepreneurs in the world. And although I don’t doubt that passion was a big part of his decision to build the Amazon brand or become one of the few people to travel beyond Earth’s atmosphere – I don’t consider passion as the main driver in achieving success.
