MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 83
does not work unless you recognise the er-
ror and quickly move past it. It’s called the
'trial and error' because trials are meant to
be a short period of time. It’s not meant to
be over the length of your business. You
know like that would like 'business and er-
ror'. So, trial and error means the second
you recognise it’s not working. You figure
out how to tweak it or pivot so that it can
work. And I think the mistake is holding on
too long, and we reach this opportunity
cost where it’s like you are gambling at
some point, you may have put money in
but if you don't stop, you are going to con-
tinue to lose.
Neil: Do you think culture is important from
the beginning in a business?Dana Malstaff: Oh absolutely, I think cul-
ture is everything. I think that we... well I
will tell you this, in the solopreneur world
and in entrepreneur world culture is your
brand. I was just talking about this today
that one exercise that I really love when I
help people to create their brand, because I
work a lot with creative entrepreneurs and
they love Pinterest and their boards and
things. Is that we actually visualise a home
as your business, and if you were going to
invite people over, how would you want
them to feel? Would you want them to feel
cosy? Would you want them to feel at
home like they could just get in the fridge if
they wanted and pop up their feet on thecouch and feel like open and supported?
Would you want them to feel like it’s edgy
and new and they need to immediately
take action? You know, what is it that you
want them to feel? And that is the essence
of culture, is that you were creating an en-
vironment, an emotional environment, that
creates a certain type of reaction and inter-
action and so, even if you are owning a
business that is brick and mortar that has
people that come to work every day, or you
are in an online business where you are in
social media, and you are building a com-
munity there.Your culture is your brand, it’s the feel and
the look and the things that you do, do you
want to create a place where people feel
like that can get up from their desk and play
and have fun because you know, that they
are actually able to get their work done
better when that happens. Or are you in a
place where it says 'hey you have to be
here 9-5 and this is what you have to do.'
You know, are you in an online community
that says, 'hey I want you to be open and
supportive because we don't judge here',
or do you want a place that says 'we are all
about just action' if you are not going to
give tips and practical information, then
this is not the place for you. So, the culture
that you create, ultimately decides who will
gravitate towards you. And if you are not
really conscious about your culture, and the