A call to Action from an Entrepreneur - "Just do it"

by Startacus Admin

Breda Doherty, Director of Hubb.it tells us her tale and also argues it's better to "go for it", than look back in regret...

Nike created one of the most inspiring marketing slogans of all time in “Just do it”. I love that Startacus brings this just do it ethos to their self-start society.

I relate to what Startacus are supporting and the benefits it brings. Once I decide there’s something I want to do I become obsessive about making it a reality. Over the last few years this has included starting my own music blog to combine my love of music and writing and presenting my own radio show. I’ve worked hard to gain the skills for the latter, getting the relevant qualifications alongside working full-time and completing hundreds of hours of work experience.

Everything we need to make our ideas a reality is now at our fingertips. The internet has made it possible for me to make contacts and gain placements at radio stations in Melbourne and Scotland, and given me the publishing tools to start my blog and publish my own podcasts.

Over the last 18months or so I’ve been concentrating on bringing another idea to life- that of an online festival community.

I’ve been attending gigs since I was 14 years old and festivals from two years later. Since at that time very few of the skuzzy sounding indie bands I loved ever stopped off in my hometown of Derry, that usually meant my friends and I making frequent bus trips to Belfast and Dublin.

Today, I’ve attended festivals worldwide and been to hundreds if not thousands of gigs; if added up the amount of money I’ve spent on music events would probably surpass Carrie’s shoe collection in Sex & the City.

So when it comes to live music I think I have a pretty good idea of what makes a good event, what makes a life-changing event and what makes you go, “I am never attending this event again.”

The aim of the Hubb.it community is to bring together passionate festival fans to shine light on the best festivals and give feedback on those events that haven’t got it so right.

In the last couple of years we have seen countless festivals go out of business as they sacrificed the importance of the line-up and overall experience to make the event bigger but not necessarily better or even more profitable.

Music festivals are a time consuming and expensive investment; through the reviews shared by the Hubb.it community we want to help people invest in the right festival.

We also want to highlight the great content being created by festival-goers, whether it’s home-made timetables shared through Dropbox, playlists created on Spotify, blogs written on the best bands or MixCloud podcasts. With Hubb.it , we want to give them a place to share this content with other fans and find new content in return.

A lot of people shy away from starting their own business for fear that it will be too hard or that they might fail. But even if it doesn’t succeed you learn so much along the way and won’t always be wondering “What if?”

Through Hubb.it I’ve learnt everything from how to do a 30second elevator pitch and completing successful funding applications to designing a website from scratch and having to put yourself out there at huge events like SxSw in order to make the contacts that could help the company grow.

The skills you gain in starting your own business will also be of benefit in the long-term if the business world is the one for you, or the experience takes you into a whole new career direction.

The fact that you had a business idea and at least tried it means you are driven, passionate and are likely to have other great ideas. I’ve noticed that many job descriptions for digital/technology positions look for candidates with entrepreneurial skills.

You will also meet amazing people and have the buzz of seeing something you created brought to life. So just do it.

About Breda: Breda Doherty is the Director of Hubb.it, Community Consultant with FeverBee, Founder of Dead Sound music and presents the Dead Sound podcast on Radio Magnetic.

If you like "call to action" themed posts you might also want to take a gander at:

• Startacus' Call to Action - Join the Self Start Society!
• From unemployed to entrepreneur - Startacus chats to YES Network Founder - Carly Ward
• A Young Entrepreneurs Tale - From Graduate, to unemployed, to entrepreneur in 12 months

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Published on: 1st October 2013