Learning the language of entrepreneurship

EXECUTIVE dreams "I DON'T see a twilight period when I become inactive, though I'd love not to have to worry about money. My trouble is that I'm a dabbler. I wrote a play with Watt Nicol called It Wisnae Me, about three Scotsmen who can only get into heaven if they can prove they've achieved something in their lives.

"I'd hate to be seen as a non-achiever, so I would like to think that I have an entrepreneurial future of some kind. My job for some years now has been about telling people how to be entrepreneurial, in fact, I literally wrote the book on it.

"I am fed up getting asked about what I've got planned whenever I give presentations or give talks on entrepreneurship.

"I have a tangible dream, and it's not way into the future, of being an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship itself is changing; it's becoming more subtle than it was.

"The dreams I hear people in business talking about nowadays are a lot less about corporate achievement than perhaps they were in the past. Maybe these are driven by a sense that 'everyone's making it big but me'.

"The most exciting thing is e-commerce is changing everything quickly. I'm very bullish about the future of online business.

"The trend will definitely be upwards though there are bound to be hiccups on the way.

"The market is wide open and I think we are going to see the rise of the solo entrepreneur. All intending entrepreneurs go through their doubts and fears before taking the big step.

Sure, they worry a bit about the grind of making sure the VAT is reconciled or signing over the house as security to the bank, but they really worry about the biggest issue: 'How am I going to cope if there's no money coming in for a couple of months?'

"Nevertheless, I believe that the business birth rate strategy has been a success. There's been a real change in ttitudes here over time - there's a lot more people can do it than know it. We've been promoting entrepreneurship for seven years and as the e-commerce explosion and the number of potential entrepreneurs it's throwing up in Scotland shows, we're ahead of other parts of the UK by at least three years in promoting the birth of new businesses.

"My dream is to make a lot of money, then use some of it to sort out Clydebank FC, or at least help find it a permanent home.

"My other dream is to resolve what are otherwise two major regrets. The first, that I can't play a musical instrument; the second, that I can't speak a foreign language.

"If I could do both these things I'd consider it a big achievement.

Brian McVey was speaking to Drew Johnston

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