Boy scout business

I often think of starting a Business like starting a fire. Not much need for two sharpened sticks but perhaps there is a lot to be learnt from our faithful outside-dwelling Ray Mears wannabees.

Any good woggle wearer will tell you that to start a fire is all about the preparation. Choose your campsite, gather your tinder and collect your starting twigs. Not much different from choosing a starting office (or bedroom) and gathering up some scraps of money and human resource at the start of a venture.

Next our boy scout will tell us to stack up the twigs into a little shelter and drop the tinder inside. Then time to spark up. Be it from old fashioned flint or from flashy gas powered lighter the spark of your idea needs to be carefully nestled into the shelter.

Regardless of fire lighting badges on your arm or businesses under your belt this is the point of baited breath which requires a good deal of blowing and even more hoping for the best. With any luck the spark takes light and the shelter will roar away nicely. (Alternatively it all goes wrong in which case it might be time to join the rest of society and get a patio heater)

Time for a bit more wood to keep the fire going. Tough choice here as any self-respecting woodsmans will tell you. Unless you have an army of scout subordinates scratching around for more firewood your capital for feeding the fire will be limited. Put on too much and you will be very hot, very fast, but are unlikely to be able to enjoy the marshmellow roasting potential for long. Too little and the fire will be over before it has begun with serial disappointment all round.

The hope is you get a cosy rising warmth from your little project which lasts you through the night. Just don't be too preoccupied staring into the flames otherwise chances are even the most stalwart guitar playing accomplice will make a break for a warmer or more interesting spot.

One thing even Mr Mear's himself will tell you is that eventually you will be left with a few glowing embers, at which point you will either be nursing a pleasant satiation with success, or something a little more chilly.