Image-making vs. Rent-paying

Sir Paul Smith is unarguably the most successful post-war British men's fashion designer.  He started out as a one-man-operation in the 70's in the back streets of Nottingham before being discovered by the likes of Led Zeppelin.  Last year his global sales were around £350M and he seems to be surviving the financial downturn better than most.

Last Monday The Independent ran a profile piece that gave me much food for thought.  His thoughts on the right attitude for starting your own business struck a chord: -

"I meet a lot of young designers now and they're so talented but they lack the life skills you need to make money.  When I started my clothes were quite particular and I knew I wouldn't sell a lot, so I only opened on Fridays and Saturdays. For the rest of the week I rolled up my sleeves and did shitty jobs – styling, or just borrowing a mate's Transit van to go selling suits – so I could keep the shop pure. So many people today only want the purity and wonder why they go bankrupt. You've got to have a balance between image-making and rent-paying."

I love his dichotomy between image-making and rent-paying and his blueprint for surviving tough times is wonderfully simple: -

Graft, honesty, humility – and good manners.

This applies as much to management consultants, bankers and corporate lawyers as it does to fashion designers and stand-up comics.