Being in the business of nurturing innovative ventures at a very early stage of their development, it is hardly surprising that some of our more intriguing client opportunities arrive hoping for no more, perhaps, than to be pointed in the right direction.

And, being in the business of innovation, it is not surprising that we get an early glimpse of new gadgets, new techniques and new concepts – all of which their creators believe are going to resolve some wider market need.

We are constantly surprised by inventiveness; even if we see the value of some ideas in a rather different way to their originators.  But surprises rarely come better than the day a new candidate for our attention (hot-foot from Northern Ireland’s Arts & Business network) wanted nothing more than to re-invent himself.

Thus began a really interesting journey – helping Graham Catney on his journey from a Customs and Excise officer to a commercially successful avant-garde artist.

A life-time career as a Customs and Excise officer might have provided some useful clues for setting up in self-employment but Graham arrived wanting guidance across all aspects of business – and an injection of confidence to match his inner belief that he really could create artworks that people would wish to buy.

This inner belief, this gut feeling, this deep conviction, is basically what drives many innovators to pursue dreams that others might regard as reckless or hopelessly unrealisable.  So many great innovations have resulted from pursing ideas in spite of a lack of encouragement and often way beyond what most people, or their employing organisations, would regard as rational.

If that inner belief is not evident from the outset there is little likelihood of engendering a snowballing growth of support – which is why venture capitalists look beyond the business plans because they are essentially investing in people to make things happen. 

But in Graham’s case we would not be looking for investors.  What he needed was confidence, encouragement and the space and time to work on his art without being distracted by the worries of being in business.   The solution was simply to off-load or gain help with issues of marketing and pitching for commissions – he needed to maximise time for creativity and minimise time spent on being organised.

Two years on Graham is now recognised as an established artist and his works are selling well.  An international Hollywood star has a Catney hanging in her home.  He’s appeared in a BBC TV documentary and you can see the breadth of his artistic output at  www.grahamcatney.co.uk 

He was honoured to receive a Diageo award for best up and coming Northern Ireland artist. His work has been exhibited at the Ulster Museum, The Lyric Theatre and at the Belfast and Mater Hospitals.  From a promotional perspective his works are also his advertisements – commissions lead to commissions and with success has come the delightful challenge of being selective.

The experience of working with Graham has reinforced our belief that although inventors are keen to talk about their inventions, the key to successful innovation and new ventures is to provide support for the people as much as their products.

Graham’s innovation was to re-invent himself.  It is now really quite difficult to imagine how on earth he ever passed muster as a Customs and Excise officer; but that thought, of course, amply illustrates the mission of Arts & Business because, in their own words, ‘good business and great art together create a richer society’.

Mentoring the new Graham Catney was about much more than demystifying the world of self-employment.  The mentoring of an artist has taught us much about the artistry of mentoring.  It has introduced us to a vast network of creative talent, new business ideas and fresh perspectives.   And it is not really very surprising that in our business PowerPoint presentations the words and the numbers have largely been replaced by pictures.

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