MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 2 | 69
these groups started opening, when people
were coming to me, saying 'I want that, I
need that. Can you do that for me?' I real-
ised I was being pulled through the process.
And so whatever doubts I had, in terms of 'is
this really a business?' were completely
eliminated
when the de-
mand was so
high. So again,
I would like to
tell you I had a
vision of an in-
ternational organisation in the beginning,
but I will tell you what I did do right, was I
recognised it when it happened. It took a
few months, but I recognised it when it hap-
pened.
Neil: A few months to recognise that it could
go international?
Ivan Misner: Well I would say no, I would be
boasting to say that because that would not
be true. I thought, in that first year I thought
'wow, this could be national, this could be all
over the country.' And it took a little longer
to realise that it could be international.
Neil: It must be an amazing feeling when you
figure that out, and you were right.
Ivan Misner: It was even more amazing, to
have it come to fruition.
Neil: Yeh I could imagine.
Neil: So, what mistakes did you make that
slowed your journey?Ivan Misner: Oh, you know, I could write an
entire book on the number of mistakes. You
know if people look at someone who is suc-
cessful and who creates a multi-national
company, and they say, 'oh he was so lucky,
or you know he must not have made very
many mis-
takes.' Are you
kidding me?
You know, I
made so many
mistakes along
the way, it’s
not funny. I remember the early days, talking
to a friend of mine who is also a consultant
and I said to him, 'I am really worried be-
cause if I make a mistake now, it impacts
people's lives, I mean if I make a really bone-
head mistake, within the company, people
could lose their jobs. They could go out of
business, I am really concerned about this, I
am losing sleep over some of these things.'
And he said to me, 'Ivan look, if you are wor-
ried whether you are going to make a mis-
take or not, don't be, you will.' It’s going to
happen; you are going to make lots of mis-
takes.
The question is not whether you are going to
make a mistake or not, the question is how
do you respond when you realise it’s a mis-
take. Do you die on the hill fighting for that
mistake? You know, to keep trying to make it
work, or do you recognise it, adjust and
move on? And by recognising it and maybeThe question is not whether you
are going to make a mistake or
not, the question is how do you respondwhen you realise its a mistake.