Overnight successes are few and far between

But 10 years is not an overnight success, although I am sure many people feel as though it may have been. In the first few years, we had the formula wrong. We also had the wrong people, for that point of time in the business. Today, those people would flourish in their roles, but many of them were not "startup" material. Working for a startup is very different to working for a well funded established business.

Now, we can afford to buy lunches for the team weekly, and spend money on things like drones to ensure that we provide an unsurpassed service to our clients. We also afford the time to constantly, and relentlessly improve what we do on an ongoing basis. This is of course, the game-changer. The minute we were able to do that, and as a team all actively pursue excellence with the same commitment, we became successful in everyone's definition.

People who are employed at Marketing Eye today are proud of the company and its accomplishments, and know that without them, we would not be a fine tuned machine, that is creative, innovative and ahead of the game.

I know that they each appreciate my mind and how it works. That innovative entrepreneur in me, that is freely shown to our team, is something that they know 'makes a company'. If we don't innovate, we compete with everyone else. But that is not an option for us. We believe wholeheartedly in being ahead of the game, and knowing our business better than anyone else.

Some of our proudest moments come from competitors trying to copy what we do. There is enough business for everyone as every company needs marketing, so this is not a problem, but in fact something we can be proud of. Our determination to ensure more quality marketers are in the industry is something that is an ongoing struggle. For every 'hack' there is a marketer that has to fight twice as hard to rectify the problems that they cause and reputational damage, and restore faith in the client that marketing done right actually works.

Why yesterday was so special is because:

• I woke up to a picture of two people that I know in Amsterdam that reminded me of how special the people on my journey as entrepreneur have been to me. They really made my day because not only were they thinking of me, but they are two people who I admire immensely for their personal achievements, business acumen, zest for life and commitment to making the world a better place.

• With Christina Kortesis who has worked with me at Marketing Eye since day one, we have built another technology company, and we are going for funding for the further development of that technology. We met with a person who works for the funding party, and they were impressive and had a wealth of experience in technology and taking startups to commercialisation stage. What is most interesting is that we had dialogue for over two hours, when there was only 30 minutes allocated, and we were able to establish a firm position moving forward. To say that both Christina and I were excited, was an understatement. We believe in this business and think we have something so disruptive that it will change an industry, not too dissimilar to how Uber changed the way we travel.

• Marketing Eye Magazine received notification that a distribution network was accepting our magazine. That was a huge coupe as we don't spend nearly enough time putting this together. It's an important voice for marketing and entrepreneurship, so we are privileged to be in this position.

• The North Queensland Entrepreneurs Conference started to build momentum. With only 2 months away from the final date, people have started talking and pushing this out in the market. I am thrilled to say that this is the most significant conference in Townsville and North Queensland for entrepreneurs this year. The speaker lineup is incredible. Jack Cowin is one of Australia's most successful entrepreneurs, and the fast food king of the country. He brought KFC to Australia, and is the owner of Hungry Jacks, majority shareholder of Dominos and has a significant share in Bridge Climb with Brett Blundy. The fact that he is flying all the way to Townsville to speak is enormous! Megan Burton, a serial tech entrepreneur from Atlanta is flying over to speak about her journey which includes two technology companies and an organic farm. Booodl Co-founder and serial entrepreneur George Freney, who boasts James Packer, Erika Baxter and Westfield holding company for Australia and NZ as investors. His story is great because when he started the company, he realised that he had to change what they were doing half way through to be successful. Now, their technology Booodl brings consumers to retailers in shopping malls and around the world, instead of them finding it easier to buy online. Jeremy Jauncey will do a live cross from London, as a Instagram and Snapchat guru. If you are in tourism or marketing, this is a must-see part of the conference. He has 12 million followers across his platforms and will talk about the science of social media engagement. Then of course, you have inspiring people like Jo Burston, from Inspiring Rare Birds, Helen Reizer from HRPR talking on how to build an event and make it successful and the startups in the incubator that have achieved so much. This is a not for profit event and tickets are $195 for a full day lineup of speakers. Book on www.nqecon.com.au. 

• I chatted to someone that we have earmarked to be part of one of our businesses to lead it to the next level. He is brilliant and of course, everyone loves to work with people smarter then them. That's just smart business. Knowing that we are still on the same page and are in this together is awesome.

• An early dinner with another entrepreneur and a glass of french bubbles always tops off a great day.

I am not naive. My journey is not all roses. I have 'tools' to keep me on track both personally and professionally. They are important to surviving running multiple businesses and I have to say the hardest part of my day is what I do for the not-for-profit organisation The World Incubator. Some elements are challenging, but every time I want to give up, those in the incubator push me through with their determination to be successful and the way they look at life.