50/20 VISION
I really can’t believe that I have gone past the 50 mark and my business has just turned 20 years old. I spoke to a school friend the other day and he told me he lost his father at the age of 41, which was when we were in Grade 8. I remember the day so clearly, and back then, I thought he was quite old. Well, here I am at 51, trying to simplify my life rather than complicate it. They say with age comes wisdom, but I believe that only applies to people who are prepared to learn and change.
THE SHIFT FROM CHASING TO REFLECTING
When you turn 30 or 40 years old, you are still chasing goals and pushing the limits in sport, business, and your social life. Suddenly, you turn fifty and, for the first time in your life, you look back. I don’t know about you, but when I looked back, there were some things that bothered me. Why did I not spend more time with my parents? Why didn’t I take that opportunity to go and play rugby in France? Why didn’t I sign a shareholders’ agreement? I could go on and on.
LEGACY BEYOND ACCOLADES
What I could also do was choose to be proud of the things I had done that made a difference in people’s lives, not the achievements or accolades. My mother was a schoolteacher, and she passed away with just a TV and the clothes in her cupboard. Many years after she had laid her head down to rest, I was at a function close to her old school in Zambia. There were more than a hundred people there, and so many of them came to me to tell me how my Mom had changed their lives.
It really shook me that a primary school teacher could have such a massive impact. I felt incredibly proud, yet sad that we lost her at such a young age.
PLAYING THE LONG GAME
The lesson I took from that experience was that in sport, you must focus for 80 minutes, but in life, you have to focus on the long term. Twenty years in business sounds like a long time, but everything happens so quickly and it is only the start. When you start a business, you must start with the endgame in mind. What are your core values, and what do you want to achieve?
To be honest, I started CK Outdoor simply to generate some sort of income after I retired from professional sport. Business has since taught me that you need to be in the long game, not just focused on short-term gains. Dedicated and hardworking staff members are crucial to long-term sustainability. Trust me, they are hard to find because nobody shares your passion for your business quite like you do—unless they are shareholders.
THE 20-YEAR TAKEAWAY
My 20-year takeaway is this: you must never start a business just to earn a salary. You should start a business that you can scale and eventually sell to a prospective buyer.
I take my hat off to every entrepreneur and small business owner who battles it out daily, monthly, and two decades in! Give that man a Bells, a Devil’s Peak beer, or Champagne… just not brandy! 😊
GET IN TOUCH
If you would like to get in touch with me about my key note presentation, Debunking Motivation, please send an email to corne@cornekrige.com. Visit my website to review my speaker sheet for more info. I also share my story on my social media pages on Facebook and LinkedIn.