Join Alan Donegan on Tuesday 7th November 4-5pm GMT for his FREE ONLINE event. Here Alan will help you envisage and create your personally crafted extraordinary life, through accessible and inspiring means. Alan believes that being a successful entrepreneur means that you need to be a hit of a rebel and do something different.
So click here to register for Alan’s FREE ONLINE event to join us for the story his of a successful and unconventional entrepreneur.
Mollie Parker recently caught up with Alan to discuss his experience building Rebel Business School, how he is able to continue to set and meet achievable business goals and what you can expect from his event ‘REBEL: An Entrepreneur’s is Story’ at this year’s festival. So let’s hear what Alan had to say.
What inspired you to create Rebel Business School?
I went to the British Government, Business Link for support starting my business. They gave me a business planning workshop, a finance workshop and a marketing workshop. After those three workshops, I didn’t want to start a business and felt lost. I started to think there MUST be a better way than business plans and debt to start a business! That was the starting idea……
Is there anything that has surprised you along the way while you have been working with people who want to build their financial independence at Rebel Business School?
I think the thing that stopped me and surprised me to see in so many people is how fixed in their ideas they are. People come to us saying I want to build this exact type of business and I want to do it this way. They are so stuck on the one way of doing it they don’t stop to see all the opportunities in front of them. There are so many ways to build a business, a lot of them require no money whatsoever, and yet people are fixated on raising capital. It surprised me how deeply ingrained the belief that it takes money to make money is in British Society!
What is the key message you wish to convey to your audience members at the Yorkshire Festival of Story?
You can create anything you want to. Everything is made up. We can change the stories that define us, we can chart new courses and we can build an amazing future if we want to. The price is letting go of the past, the stories we tell ourselves and our beliefs. If we can let go of that, we are free to build anything.
Why did you choose to develop your Rebel Entrepreneur Podcast? And what influence has it had?
I wanted to get the message out there that you can build a business without money. You can create something from scratch, and it doesn’t take money. Yes, it will take time, energy and effort but it doesn’t take money. Since I launched the podcast, we have had over 1 million downloads.
My favourite moment was having dinner in Chiang Mai Thailand and someone from the next table spoke to me, saying “Do you have an entrepreneurship podcast? I recognize your voice!” I said yes and he replied, “I started my business because of you!”
One of your recent podcast episodes is titled ‘Workstyle: How to Fit Work Around Your Life’.
What do you do to ensure you have a strong work-life balance when you have many fascinating projects on the go?
I think work-life balance is a bit of a myth. If you are doing what you love to do, then it is your life. I don’t define my life in terms of work and life (weekends); I have fun and when I want to work, no matter the time, I do. If I am inspired to write, create, or record then I do; and if I am inspired to rest, go to the gym, or sleep in a little then I do.
When you find something you are passionate about and have fun doing it, then you won’t need balance. You will be inspired, engaged and will rest when you want to.
You often talk about the importance of setting achievable and reachable goals, that people often overestimate what they can do in 1 year and underestimate what they can do in 10 years.
How do you gauge a middle ground here? What do you consider when trying to understand if a goal you are setting is achievable in the timeframe you have given yourself?
I think you should set HUGE goals that inspire you and go for them. Just don’t expect them to happen overnight. It is going to take a while. You want to build the biggest show on earth? Go for it, build it and keep working over the years. Katie (my wife) and I had some big goals. We wanted to get to Financial Independence by the time I was 40, which means never having to work again if we don’t want to. It took us 10 years to go from almost zero to a million and the ability to retire.
Most people set an audacious goal and give up after a few months as nothing has changed. You have to set a huge goal, get inspired and work at it. You can build anything given time and energy.
How have virtual events, like your event at the Yorkshire Festival of Story, helped more people access the knowledge you share? What impact have they had?
The impact of our talks is huge. We inspire people to build the life they actually want to live. We get messages every day telling us what people have got out of our talks. We have helped people:
- Build businesses
- Get better jobs
- Go travelling around the world
- Reach financial independence
- Get inspired again after losing it all
- Avoid stress-related heart attacks and find purpose and joy
You can have any life you want to have. You might not believe that right now, but my hope is that we inspire you to create the life you actually want to live.
So click here to register for Alan’s FREE ONLINE event to join us for the story his of a successful and unconventional entrepreneur.
