- The founder of a London ghost business, Tom Scourfield, traveled to the US for a workshop.
- He was shocked by the opposite approach to entry to the states against the home.
- Scourfield said he discovered that his American counterparts were less unfavorable and more confident.
I help the founders tell their stories on LinkedIn. Recently, I have spent $ 5,000 to fly 5,000 miles from London to Arizona for a masterful event that helps ghostwriters build and scale their businesses.
The main workshop lasted one day, but real magic happened during the network with other founders. I shared an Airbnb with the writers, had dinners in the group and stayed in business late. I spent $ 2,000 for the event and $ 3,000 more in flights, hotels and expenses. It was a big investment.
As a digital nomad, I would be surrounded by encouraging American friends and founders for years. But when I returned to London, I felt a change. If I were to talk about my business purposes, people would smile politely and change the topic.
I flew to Arizona, hoping to feel that American energy again.
These two weeks told me why British founders often feel stuck and changed the way I see British business culture forever.
The gap of enthusiasm
The British are more likely to have long poppy syndrome. People are less open to talking about purposes and encouraging ambition than in the SH.BA
One American founder said he wanted to build his net value in the next $ 10 million decades. No one withdrew. Instead, they asked questions about his plan and offered ideas. Back to London a week ago, I would have heard a friend call a salary of £ 100,000. This is the UK Mentality – we talk ourselves out of ambition before we start.
In Arizona, when someone shared a great goal, the Americans asked “how will you get there?” Instead of “are you sure it’s possible?”
Return home to London, I would be silent about my victories. When I share my goals, I find myself adding denials to extend my ambition.
In Arizona, I could speak openly about my successes without feeling like I was boasting. When I shared concerns, people helped me see them as challenges to solve, not roadblocks to stop me.
The energy was contagious. I felt at ease for the place where I was and I was excited where I could go. Instead of asking if things were going to work, I began to ask how much larger they could get.
Now in London, I notice how quickly our culture can attract you back into doubt. Likes like we are playing two different games: in the UK, we compete to notice problems. In SH.BA, they compete to notice opportunities.
Entrepreneurship as a career applicable
I think young people are more likely to start businesses in the US because it is considered a legitimate career path.
Whereas, I was pushed to get higher education and a sustainable job as a young man in the UK.
At 17, I knew I didn’t want to spend 50,000 – – the average price of the British University – on a scale, all to get a job I didn’t want to. In the UK, you are expected to go to university or commercial school. When I said no to both and talked about starting a business, my teachers were lost.
My family pushed me to take a “safe” job as accounting. Under -the text was venture was not a real career. It was a phase from which I would grow.
In Arizona, I met the successful founders from any imaginative background. Some had decorated degrees, others never finished high school. But everyone saw entrepreneurship as a natural way to success.
The difference is whether people in America or UK continue to start businesses are not about intelligence or education. The problem is how entrepreneurship is perceived.
This thought gap begins early. As American children grow up listening to stories about starting founders, as a British student, I grew up to target job security.
Taking risks is normal
It took four failed attempts to build a business until I finally started seeing results.
Growing up, I learned that getting wrong things would mean judgment and criticism. I built walls and was less open to my wars.
One of my first business ventures was becoming a personal trainer at 19. My peers found my website and sent anonymous emails mocking me. I left after a year but my family could never understand why.
It was not the fear of the failure that were holding me back, it was the fear and the embarrassment to be judged by others for the effort.
But the failure was the test I was building. Eachdo initial taught me about business, systems and myself.
The founder I met in Mastermind had at least one story of failure. They did not hide them because they saw failure as evidence that you are in the game and are resilient.
Infectious Energy in the SH.BA
The passing of time with American entrepreneurs felt like meeting a cousin who grew up with more confidence.
One of the boys in our group was training for an ultra marathon. He had some of the highest levels of confidence and conviction I have seen.
He convinced us all to direct a practical marathon with him. Without training and two hours of sleep, we left at 3am, I had to abandon the 18th kilometer, but this is even further than I ran before.
I would probably never have tried it alone, but being about this level of faith was infectious.
About 9,500 millionaires left the United Kingdom in 2024, while the US won 3,800. We talked to Mastermind why so many British founders are looking to leave the United Kingdom.
In my opinion, it is about the country’s energy as much as taxes change. In those two weeks in states, I felt a source of energy I would never experience.
Despite the aircraft neighborhood and the constant escort, I introduced the enthusiasm of my peers and this meant that I had unlimited energy to continue.
Back home, it is difficult not to allow the gray energy to crawl. I have to be rigorous for self-care and my personal routines to maintain a steady energy base.
While I was in the United States, the positivity and ambition of the people around me was like boarding a wave that continued to attract me.
The lost ingredient of the United Kingdom
London has access to European talent, free health care and reasonable taxes. We have to be an electric power plant, but something is missing.
I believe it is a cultural problem. We need to push ourselves to think bigger.
Growing up in a remote British village, I was taught to hold my head down and low expectations. “Be realistic,” they said. But ambition and optimism are good things and we should not keep those who aspire to more.