Finding Neverland

"I don't want a breeze of doubt. We must get that kite in the air."

Johnny Depp (Finding Neverland)

Ingenuity--the word that describes what J.M. Barrie possessed that paved the way for Peter Pan, and the same word that exemplifies the reason why successful entrepreneurs have gotten to where they are now.

J.M. Barrie, armed with the child that was always alive in him, revealed the transformative power of one's imagination, that as long as you believe, you can transform yourself into something greater. He had the extraordinary ability to take people to another world--an enchanting world past tears and fears that exists only in fantasy and beyond one's limits, and where imagination is the only key.

Entrepreneurs too have a knack for great things. They come up with great ideas which they execute better than anyone else. They have the flair to seek opportunities, take risks, and then afterwards, fulfill potentials that nobody else sees. The real entrepreneur has the drive to succeed and despite failures, doesn't stop. Heck, he never stops even if he already has succeeded. The real entrepreneur breaks new grounds, just as Barrie did.

Barrie's imagination took him to places which he otherwise would never have experienced. As participants of SOMBA who are in our first step in creating a new business, we have to utilize our imagination and be as creative as possible in order to come up with a good business idea. We have to think outside the boundaries and look beyond what's right in front of us. If we are to become entrepreneurs, thinking just like everybody else is not an option. Like J.M. Barrie, we always have to keep an open mind for brilliant ideas, may it be outside or inside the confines of our own bedrooms. Having an active imagination, after all, does not just stop. The ideas would keep on coming--whether feasible or farfetched.

More than this though, starting our own business requires not just the business idea itself but also the right attitude. Barrie knew his other plays weren't good enough but he didn't stop writing because he wanted to do better and believed that he could. His play, Peter Pan, was a result of not sheer talent, but also of dreaming