I have a theory. That every budding entrepreneur has a SMOT:
A Startup Moment Of Truth.
The exact point in time where they finally pluck up the courage to start their startups.
Those fleeting (yet pivotal) moments that take them from wondering whether they’re cut out for the world of business to becoming an entrepreneur.
Whenever I read an interview with someone who’s taken the leap it’s the bit I immediately skip to. There’s so much in the simplest of decisions. Fear, bravery, excitement… a dawning realisation.
I’d love to either:
- Inspire you to keep holding the faith till your SMOT happens or;
- Remind yourself of your own SMOT (and how far you’ve come since).
To do that, here are some of our best SMOTs from the many interviews we’ve conducted here at Informi:
Sarah Empson of Geo Heaven…
“I came up with the idea for Geo Heaven on a long drive up the M1 early last year. I had wanted to set up a jewellery business for a long time but I just couldn’t think of an original idea. On this drive I was thinking about a large geometric sculpture I’d seen at the modern art gallery in Krakow and that’s when Geo Heaven popped into my head!”
David Middleton of BewilderBox…
“We had gone away for David’s stag do and the Best Man had organised for us to do a couple of [escape] rooms out there. We were so impressed with the concept that we spent a good portion of that evening – and indeed the rest of the trip – talking about how exciting it must be to dream up puzzles and scenarios like the ones we had just done. At the time of discussion, Brighton didn’t have any rooms, so we just made the decision to create one ourselves, and the rest is history!”
Katy Alston of Pinks Vintage Ice Creams…
“Well, to be honest, I was furious my husband had given me a clapped-out ice cream van for Christmas. We all thought he’d gone a bit mad. I was just thinking to myself ‘what am I going to do with it?’ It was a real heap… but then Kevin explained that he thought it’d be the perfect project and business for me and that it meant I didn’t have to go back to my nursing job. I started to warm up to the idea. And that was that!”
