Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business consulting and services but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Ursula Eysin, Founder of Red Swan, located in Vienna, Austria.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Red Swan is a Vienna-based consultancy helping businesses and other organizations to turn uncertainty into an advantage and to actively create their desired future.
As change is the only constant in life, we want to enable individuals and organizations to deal with uncertainty and change in a better way. How? Scenario processes help us gain new, often surprising insights into the topics, questions, and challenges we face. They enable us to see various perspectives and discover new possibilities. And with this awareness, we are able to make better decisions with clear intentions and actively create our future.
Our customers range from international organizations to federal ministries to big companies, startups, and also individuals who have to make the decision under uncertainty - which is everyone. The scenario technique is not restricted to specific industries or topics. In contrast, scenarios may provide valuable contributions to virtually every sector and a huge variety of questions that afford decision-making.
Tell us about yourself
I grew up in a narcissistic household where everything was unpredictable. So I learned to handle uncertainty from an early age. Later I discovered that in situations of high stress and uncertainty, I get very calm and hyper-focused while others lose their nerve. That didn't take me straight to helping people to turn uncertainty into an advantage. I am an opera and musical producer turned technology consultant, communication professional, and future scenario developer. When I had the great opportunity to learn the technique o future scenario thinking directly from Royal Dutch Shell's former chief strategist Karl Rose - Shell was the company who famously and successfully adapted this technique invented by the US Air Force for business usage - I was immediately drawn to it. For me, it is like a magical way to deal with uncertainty in a better way. And that's the reason why the development of future scenarios is the flagship product of my company Red Swan.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
I am on a mission to make uncertainty suck less for companies and people, and to help them understand that this very uncertainty is at the heart of our humanity because it is at the core of our freedom of choice. The choice to give our lives a unique meaning. I love seeing my client's big eyes when they suddenly realize that they have changed their perspective completely by doing the process. And that happens every single time. They gain clarity and feel comfortable to take decisions with confidence they felt very unsure or even desperate about before.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
It can be lonesome when your friends aren't entrepreneurs. Then it feels amazing to talk to like-minded business-owners who are facing the same challenges as you are and know what you are talking about.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
Prosperity follows needs. No matter what happens in the future, your skills and ability to identify needs you can meet can never be taken away from you and will always enable you to create an income for yourself.
Turn uncertainty into an advantage; it's the realm of opportunity and at the very essence of humanity. It means the future is not determined yet we can co-create it with our fellow human beings.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.redswan.at/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ursula.eysin/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UrsulaEysin
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ursula-eysin-6ba800109/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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