Persist, Persist, Persist - Gerard Murtagh (Serial Entrepreneur)

Gerard Murtagh is a serial entrepreneur and self-proclaimed love of life. He started his first business at 19. Having made his exporting businesses GRM Exports, IBT International, and Sunshine Trading Company as success, Gerard has started a new venture in mould removal. He is the Managing Director of MouldMen, a mould removal company that works with real estate agents, businesses, and private clients to treat mould in their properties. In his Paper Napkin Wisdom, Gerard shares the mantra he lives by each day: “Persistence is the key to success.” This mantra is one that’s really important to Gerard on a very personal level. As child struggling with dyslexia, Gerard was inspired by Michael Jordan and the story of how, though Jordan was dropped from his college basketball team, hard work and persistence led him to the amazing career he enjoyed in the NBA. Gerard was struck by the persistence and hard work through which Michael Jordan achieved his goals. It was a lesson that stuck with him. Gerard equates persistence with hard work, but he’s careful to point out that persistence and hard work have to be guided by making good choices. “In business you can persist with a bad business or a bad idea, and you have to just let it go,” he says “but generally in life, if you work harder than the guy standing next to you, you have a better chance of being successful.” One of the ways Gerard strategically uses his hard work mentality to his advantage is in the evaluation of new opportunities. As soon as an opportunity presents itself, he works hard and extremely quickly to evaluate whether or not it’s something he really wants to and has the resources to take on. In doing this, he gives himself the advantage over others who may be looking at that same opportunity but without putting the same work behind deciding whether or not to be a part of it because he often realizes sooner whether or not the opportunity is a good one for his situation. Aside from the obvious benefits of hard work and persistence, Gerard says that working that way can cause other people to view you as an asset even if you may not necessarily be the absolute best at a particular skill. He gives the example of one of his best friends, a professional athlete, who may not be the fastest or best player but is the hardest working. Gerard says that when you see someone who works like that, you often want them on your team because you know that when the times are tough, they are the one who’s going to be right there with you, pushing through and raising team moral through their persistence and dedication. The danger in this mentality is one that we as entrepreneurs often struggle with: balance. Gerard is the first to admit that he has a balance issue. He wants to work hard, not only because of his mantra, but because he loves what he does and it doesn’t feel like work to him. At the same time, he wants to make sure he’s spending time with his wife and daughter because they are the most important thing to him. Past Paper Napkin Guests like Damon Gersh and Kevin Dee have spoken to the difficulty and importance of striking a life balance. It’s not an easy thing to achieve, but if we apply the same persistence and hard work in that area of our lives as we do our businesses, balance is something definitely within our reach. There are seasons to everything. Where we need to put our focus is going to change from time to time as our environment changes but, if we employ Gerard’s mantra of persistence, we have the capacity to do big things. Listen to the conversation with Gerard here: