The Essential Skill Every Entrepreneur Needs
When Dianna Somerville left her career in the navy and decided to move back to the bush, she set about reinventing herself. Noticing, that there was a lack of support for start-ups in regional areas, she launched Regional Pitchfest, an event designed to highlight regional start-ups and communities. Pitchfest has since gone national and Dianna has now worked with hundreds of start-ups. We asked her to share what she’s learnt along the way.
What do successful start-ups have in common?
The owners have a really clear “why”. That’s not always a business why, it could be a personal why. They also tend to be people who are comfortable with not doing the expected … they’re happy to push a boundary. They don’t feel that they need to fit inside a box.
What’s the essential skill you need as the owner of a start-up?
You need to know that, as a start-up, you’re going to get a thousand no’s before you get a yes. It doesn’t mean “I’m not good enough”. It means that what I’m doing isn’t suitable for that person, or perhaps that I need to adjust what I’m doing to what the market is needing. The most successful people turn rejection into a positive experience. I’ve learnt that lesson and it helps me drive and mould my business.
What’s one thing start-up operators get wrong?
When you’re starting out it can be a lonely endeavour, particularly if you’re doing it at the kitchen table as a side hustle. One consistent factor I’ve noticed in successful start-ups is the way [the people involved] push each other, encourage each other, motivate each other. If you’re doing it on your own, you need to go and find the people who will get what you’re doing and who will support you – and that’s probably going to be people in the same situation. You may find them at your local co-working space or at a networking event or at an incubator or accelerator program. Just get out there and find them.
What advice would you give to would-be entrepreneurs in their 40s or 50s?
Our visual of a start-up is young people wearing sneakers and playing ping pong in the workplace, but it’s so not true. For many entrepreneurs, it’s taken time to land on their life’s passion – and you can’t do a start-up without passion. There is a massive wealth of knowledge and experience and passion that sits with women in their 30s, 40s and 50s. My mentors often talk about the need for having grey hair around the table –having that life experience to draw on. I’m thinking about not dyeing my hair anymore and letting the grey through!
You talk about identifying transferable skills. Why is that so important?
It’s important to look broadly at the skills you’ve attained in your career. When I left the navy at 26, I’d been driving warships for a living and I couldn’t get a job. People just didn’t understand how that job translated into anything else. But I learnt so much through the navy. Discipline and time management were two core things that are important in any job, but especially in a start-up. As an officer, you also have to have an ability to communicate and to inspire, and to work through complex situations under stressful conditions. You need to work within regulations; look at that another way and what you’re doing is learning to overcome barriers. Those skills are all applicable to other situations.
You’ve launched a range of initiatives in the start-up sphere. Will you stay in this area, or does another career beckon?
Damn skippy I will – I’m not done yet! I’m only getting started. I don’t know what it will be, but I know my “why” is to accelerate opportunities for businesses in regional Australia, and anything I do will have that as its purpose. I think COVID 19 awakened a certain amount of people to the opportunities in the regions. There are currently 54,000 job vacancies in regional Australia! The transition to remote work, even among big metro-based organisations, will create opportunity. We’re still trying to dispel myths about things like access to services such as health and education. I live outside Wagga [in NSW] and I have access to a brand-new hospital, a leading university and a whole suite of private, public and independent schools.
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Interview_ Ute Junker
Photos_ Alysha Rosly/Unsplash + supplied