Creating more than 35 million designs, Melanie's company Canva has just raised another round of capital, making this under-30 year old, a very rich woman.
Her journey is classic of anyone who just goes out there and has a go and proves that age is no barrier and that sometimes you can just learn on the job from your mistakes.
I founded my first company at 25 years old, and back then, that was quite young to own a professional services firm. I made more mistakes than I care to talk about, but there were a few things that I learned on the job that are particularly important:
- Being a perfectionist is great, but don't expect everyone else to be the same. 80 per cent will still ensure that your business is successful.
- Networking is imperative to success. I met more people when I was young than I do now, and those people have stayed with me for my entire journey.
- The people you meet going up, are the same people you will meet going down. While I have never gone down, someone once said this to me earlier on in my career and it is an important reminder of how you should treat people no matter where you meet them in the lifecyle of your business. I have seen many people become full of themselves as they became more successful and burnt those around them, only to find out a few years later that they have gone backrupt. All of a sudden they need the people who they weren't so nice to.
- People are everything. If you can try and work this out early on, you will be successful much younger.
- Technology will help your business grow leaps and bounds and early adopters often benefit more than those who come on later. Don't be a person who puts technology investment to the wayside. It helps your business, saves money long term and improves customer engagement.
- Always ask the question of people that you are looking to employ: "Why do you want to work for me?" It is very important and the answer will be telling particularly as to whether they are a stayer.
- Business plans and marketing plans are mission critical. If you want to be successful, you have to have both and they need to be aligned.
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