“Keep staying true to your mission” – Guiding your business through Brexit

"However tough Brexit looks... both economies will continue to perform."

It's nearly gotten to the stage where even mentioning the word "Brexit" makes people shudder. New developments without so much as a clear answer regarding the future of Britain's relationship with Ireland have left many of us scratching our heads. While this uncertainty is unpleasant for all of us, business owners could be forgiven for thinking they're looking straight down the barrel of a crisis. Speaking on The Architects Of Business, in partnership with EY Entrepreneur Of The Year, Neil Gibson and Eleanor Chambers were speaking about what lies in store. EY Ireland’s Chief Economist, Neil Gibson said that no matter how bleak things may seem, it's important to keep faith in both economies:

"One thing that’s important to say is, it will settle down. However tough Brexit looks, no matter what outcome we have, fundamentally economies perform based on the talent of their people, the innovation, the infrastructure, the education system, the governance, the rule of law. "Both economies will continue to perform. We could have a very volatile period. We may need to have some forbearance on the banks or a little bit of leeway or a little bit of government intervention. "But in the long run, the two economies will survive and continue to grow. Sometimes you have to think both the short term impacts – ‘Can I prepare for those, can I be ready for them?’ But also think long term – ‘What’s my product? What’s my service?’"

"I call entrepreneurship the last safe haven for the lunatics."

It takes a particular mindset to see the opportunities in the Gordian knot that is Brexit. No matter what corner of the business world you call your own, that attitude is something shared by entrepreneurs all over the world. As Founder of Budget Energy and Next-Gen Power, Eleanor spoke about how that mentality helps make entrepreneurs stand out from the crowd:

"The nature of entrepreneurs is, you see opportunity where everybody else sees problems. I suppose that's why we do what we do. "I call entrepreneurship the last safe haven for the lunatics. Because, you get away with doing exactly what you want and call it business. "Neil is quite right. Purely from a business perspective... change is what happens all the time. And if you expect change not to happen, just stay in bed and don't get up. And even then the roof could fall in, who knows?"

Now that change is just about the only thing that's certain, those with with an entrepreneurial mindset will likely look to find what opportunities lie ahead. Subscribe to The Architects of Business for free on iTunes, SoundCloud or watch every episode on JOE Player.