when inspiration fails... stop innovating and start KBO'ing!

When I started this blog I set myself a target of writing an entry about 2 weeks or so – more than that and I risk getting sidetracked into mundane matters about toast and road works, less than that and people might lose interest (I know I would!).


And so far, I’ve stuck to this target pretty well... but today I find myself bereft of ideas and inspiration for subject matter. I’m sharing every writers nightmare (writers block) and every artists’ too, when they’re faced with a blank canvas and can’t image how to start to fill it.



So – what to do? In the words of Churchill, ‘K.B.O.’ – he recognised that to succeed you don’t always have to be constantly coming up with new innovative concepts and models; sometimes it’s enough that you’re able to persevere with what you’re doing and keep doing it despite the odds...

doing a Del Boy...

in the run up to christmas last year, I found myself running a market stall at a craft market, peddling felted soaps, lace, scarves and such like (long story for another time).

Needless to say, it was very different to how I usually work - not only because it was retail, rather than 'business to business', but also because it meant me standing outside all day in -3C.
BUT it was actually a really good experince: trading in an unfamiliar context with a different group of customers meant a lot of thinking and learning on my feet; it also forced me to quickly form loose alliances with other neighbouring traders. All of which not only meant I took sales that were very respectable, but also had the opportunity to reflect on how I do business from a completely diiferent perspective.

So - I'd encourage you all to try the same from time to time. Spend a day doing business in a way that's completely alien to your usual - get out your suitcase fully of (dodgy?) gear, pull on the fake fur trim coat and fire up the 3-wheeler...