It is absolutely essential that the first stage in achieving anything is to have the courage to dream.
Walking into this interview I knew it was going to be something special. I’d read Wilfred’s amazing book, Jeopardy, and had been captivated by his hypnotic voice when we chatted on the phone. But none of that prepared me for the magic that happened during this interview. Wisdom and insight pour out of Wilfred every time he opens his mouth.
He is the absolute epitome of entrepreneurial spirit and I urge you to listen to our chat and buy his book. Having been to the brink and back, he is one of those rare people who has wholeheartedly embraced his vulnerability and boy does it show.
“When you fall in love it defies all reason, all logic. You’re in a place of uncertainty but somehow you’re driven on like you’re being propelled… for those who want to know what entrepreneurialism is like, that is the feeling.”
Have the courage to dream
At the age of 11 I made myself a promise that I would have a farm one day. As a child it was my responsibility to look after the family allotment and it was my oasis away from the misery I was surrounded by. I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but having my own farm was a dream that I lodged in the back of my mind.
You need two things to achieve any success in life
Ruthless focus. Success is a painful process and you need to be disciplined. But the most important thing you need for success is passion. Passion defies reason and logic. It helps you get through all the hurdles that will come your way.
Decide if you want to be, or to belong
Belong-ers have to operate by the rules of the community. Be-ers are the sort of people who will take the risk that by ‘being’ it will piss off the people who want to ‘belong’. Everything that you see and every progress we have mode in the human race is because someone said ‘No, I think we should do it that way. No, the conventional opinion is wrong’.
Every entrepreneur has to find a way of living with uncertainty
In a time where certainty tends to rule the way we operate, it is causing great damage to people because they are so fixated on certainty and control that they are unprepared when uncertainty comes their way.
Find your guardian angels
They might not look like entrepreneurs, but there are silent entrepreneurs, people who will put their name on the line to give you a chance because they see something in you.
You have to have a motivator
My dream to own a farm was my constant motivation to push myself, no matter how secure an environment I was in.
Trust your gut
Chuck away the structure and the research. Trust your gut. Research will tell you what people are thinking today, but it will not tell you what people are thinking tomorrow. That is where you need to have vision.
Challenge the conventionally order
You’ve got to allow that rebel side of your nature to come out. And, um, in a sense, what I think is that we need to try and connect with the child that we were. Um, because that child would have had the audacity to believe, to think anything.
The double take moment
The key to great marketing is making people think and challenging people’s perceptions.
Life is not about reaching the summit
The trick in life is not to stand still because the moment you stand still it is very easy to get into survival mode and then you do not grow.
Related podcast
Following your dream against the odds, with Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, founder of The Black Farmer
Sign up to our emails for Holly's most creative new finds, latest small business advice, news and inspiration