The majority of successful entrepreneurs will assure you they have no superpowers. That the way to the top is simple, albeit not easy. They sometimes even sum it up in something of the sort: it takes risk, a useful idea, a lot of determination and leadership qualities in between.
Simple enough, right? The fact is that challenges and failure are always behind, trying to hunt you down and put your ideas to rest. So, the secret must lie in the extra efforts a leader or a team can exert for the benefit of the organisation and their resilience to pursue their dream, while also learning from mistakes.
One of these important factors to success is networking. Business is about meeting people. It’s about interaction, letting people know what you do, extend your service and seek new opportunities. Conferences offer such a platform for business leaders. A case in point is this year’s Business Leaders Malta, which gave a chance to people of different trades to learn from each other.
It also gave them a chance to listen to speeches from motivational leaders coming from wide-ranging industries.
It produced a knowledge-sharing platform for business people to gain in-depth insight into the best practised strategies aimed at maintaining resilience in their career. Steve Mercieca, co-founder and CEO of Quicklets and Zanzi Homes, was one of the speakers at the event. The property agencies have recently established their brand in Malta and Gozo with a fast-growing team of agents in letting and sales.
Mr Mercieca spoke about vision, grit and the importance of building an amicable team as opposed to a corporate company. He outlined the importance of knowledge: “Knowledge is one of the most important attributes needed to be a resilient leader.
“When things do not go as planned, the rest of your organisation will come to you for answers. Make sure you are confident enough with yourself to guide your team through the storm.”
QLZH grew from a one-man team to a 150-person organisation over three years. Mr Mercieca said: “To get over the database hurdle, we disrupted the market with our virtual agent concept which now has over 2,000 registered affiliates. We had to study the growth, keep franchises in line with brand personality and requirements. We needed to deliver coaching to new agents immediately and consistently. New procedures are put into place every month for us to be able to continue to grow dynamically, organically and sustainably. The faster you grow, the more things start to change, quickly. You have no idea what the next hurdles will include; these can be triggered by anything out of your control.”
Another example of a local start-up disrupting the market with the use of innovative technology is eCabs, with an app that integrates tightly with the company’s technological back-office infrastructure to offer a speedy service and an efficient connection with both customer and taxi drivers. Other examples include DiscountIf’s innovative marketing strategies, recently teaming up with Air Malta, or Thought3D, the 3D printer and printing start-up based at the University of Malta’s Takeoff Business Incubator.
Even colleges and universities host speakers to motivate and guide future generations. Mr Mercieca also spoke to Junior College students. More than just an opportunity for him to give back to the school who saw his dream come true, it was a chance to explain to students what to expect when they head out into the world, whatever path they choose.
Successful start-ups in Malta are finding the right tools to enter the market and make a difference. Conferences and networking offer openings to local talent, coupled with innovative expertise, to create space to grow. The question is, which is the next start-up that will unsettle its market?