Carpe diem and learn by doing

If opportunity knocks, grab it. You never know where it might lead, writes Manar Al Hinai.

Sir Richard Branson, the business magnate and founder of the Virgin Group, once said: “If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later”.

As a perfectionist, this was incomprehensible to me until I became an entrepreneur five years ago. How could I be involved in something I was not great at, I’d ask. Or even something I was not sure that I could do yet. There was a huge risk involved in such an idea and it’s not a route I would have taken.

But Mr Branson’s quote stirred up quite a debate between my friend and me. She is an opportunist and completely agrees with what he says.

“Say you live in a new area and that area lacked any restaurants or supermarkets, and you had hundreds of people travelling 10 kilometres or so to get to the nearest grocery store,” she said. “There is an opportunity there and you should think of opening a store. Even if you didn’t know the first thing about managing a grocery store or supermarket, but you are convinced there is a demand, you will learn along the way,” she added. “Do you think these business magnates out there are excellent at everything their group owns? No. They learnt as they followed their ideas.”

When I was at university, I was a media coordinator for an annual event. Part of my job was ensuring we had sponsors for our group’s stand. So I approached a leading airline and asked if they would sponsor us. They said they would and because their positive reply came as a surprise, we were unprepared. We had to quickly create banners, flyers and giveaways that had the brand’s logo on it.

We were tight on time, and I turned to one of my colleagues, a graphic designer, and asked if she could help with designing some marketing material. At first she hesitated and said no, but a couple of hours later she called to say she could do it.

My colleague was a second-year graphic design student and had never publicly displayed her work before. And despite having no previous experience at producing marketing material, she immediately designed flyers, banners and promotional items. She saved the day for us and worked hard on the design process, and her designs were a huge success.

Visitors to our stand inquired about her services, and even encouraged her to start her own business.

Since then, my colleague has developed her skills and started her own graphic design agency. Had she not said “yes” that day, she would never have considered starting her own agency, she told me later. She had always wanted to join an organisation’s marketing team and would have been satisfied with that, but that was until she grabbed an opportunity when it knocked at her door.

I have a similar tale to tell. A couple of years ago and before establishing my consultancy business, I was doing a lot of freelance work. Then Swarovski approached me and asked if I could help with the communications aspect of the launch party of one of their stores. I had never done any communications work for a fashion event before, but I knew it was a good opportunity, and I love the brand. I said yes straight away. I loved the idea, and I am passionate about communications, and so I was confident that I would do a great job.

For a few weeks I worked on the preparation for the event, how to make it work, who to invite and what activities to include to make it memorable for our guests. I put my heart into it and I enjoyed the work immensely.

The event was a huge success, and the brand’s management were thrilled and continue to work with me. They are now one of my company’s clients.

When I look around and read the many success stories out there, I am amazed to see how many businesses were started by individuals who were not sure they would be good enough. If a great opportunity knocks and you are passionate about what you do, take it. Having the will to learn and develop yourself are key to success, and there is no better learning than learning by doing.

Manar Al Hinai is an award-winning Emirati writer and communications consultant based in Abu Dhabi. Twitter: @manar_alhinai