Which came first - is it the chicken or the egg? Are entrepreneurs born or made? While the world has not fully come to a conclusion yet to the chicken-or-egg dilemma, Australian serial entrepreneur slash philanthropist Creel Price had it all figured out in answering the second aforementioned age-old question. Price is totally convinced that entrepreneurship has nothing to do with genes at all and he has made it his mission to spur a socioeconomic revolution worldwide through a movement he refers to as entreprennaisance.

Quite an overly ambitious vision, you think? This may not be the case from a man who retired at 35 after selling a multi-million dollar business which he co-founded a decade earlier. Not to mention being referred to as a “living, breathing definition of an entrepreneur” by Richard Branson.

From Selling Strawberries at 11 to Retiring at 35

Growing up in a farm, Creel at age 11 wanted to own a computer but his parents wouldn’t pay for it. So he went on to sell strawberries. “As it turned out the fledgling business was so successful it bought us the computer, a video recorder, and a TV! And for a while it became a valuable source of revenue that supplemented the family farm – struggling at the time because of a drought. I had been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug,” Price fondly recalled in this ClubKidpreneur blog post.

The only antidote to the entrepreneurial bug bite was to start 8 more businesses before leaving school. After backpacking around the world at 25, Price decided to invest $5,000 with another entrepreneur, Trevor Folsom, to build what was known as the Blueprint Management Group. For a decade, the company hired roughly a thousand employees at its peak and launched ten businesses covering the insurance, call centre, financial services, marketing, recruitment, and e-commerce industries.

In 2006, Price retired from Blueprint Management at 35. The business was sold at $109 million 18 months later. It wasn’t an easy feat though. In this Smart Company interview, Price shares a funny story where he and Trevor had to create what he called as a Hollywood set when they were trying to seal a deal with folks from Westpac, Blueprint’s biggest contract.

“This was at 3 pm and Westpac wanted to come in the next day so we went back to the office and we had $3,000 in the bank and we decided to create really what became a Hollywood set. We hired plants and rugs to cover some of the shagginess, and paintings on the wall, and we didn't have many campaigns going at the time so someone hired some staff and put them onto a campaign. Someone hired some computer monitors and hid the cords because we couldn't afford the hard drives. To make us look a bit focused, we hired a new boardroom table, and the next morning when all the cool stuff was getting put in we broke into the next door office and put the new table and stuff in there to make the whole office look bigger. And we did the pitch of our lives and we managed to get the business,” Price shared.

Mentorship Programs and Philanthropic Work

After his early retirement, Price spends most of his time mentoring or in his words - helping other entrepreneurs achieve their business dreams. Currently, he is CEO of Accelerate Global, a social enterprise which reinvests 100 percent of its profits to promote Entreprenaissance. “In the 15th century, you had the leading scientists, artists and philosophers coming together to revive ideas from the past to improve their world. I think entrepreneurs are uniquely placed to do the same in the 21st century. I want to do something new. I want to help create an extraordinary era of individual expression and legacy, where the entrepreneurial journey becomes more accessible, less treacherous and aspires for more extraordinary and altruistic outcomes. We need an alternative to the short-term motivations of many large corporations which are destroying the environment and cultural fabric of our society,” says Price when asked about the entreprenaissance movement.

In 2014, Price became the Director of Investible, an organization helping Asia-Pacific entrepreneurs and thinkers in turning business ideas to start-ups worthy of investment.

If Price is not inspiring would-be-entrepreneurs or speaking at events, he is busy doing philanthropic work as a Global Accelerator for the United Nations Foundation and Virgin Unite.

On Spending More Time Outdoors and Advice to Budding Entrepreneurs

As team captain of the Australian team in the 2009 World Elephant Polo Championships, Price is a staunch advocate of spending more time outdoors. During his Blueprint days, he was known to take his staff to mountain climbing trips and long-distance cycling. “I always favour a walking meeting in preference to sitting in a coffee shop or meeting room,” shares Price in this interview.

Finally, when asked for a quick advice to would-be entrepreneurs, Price offers this gem: Don't plan to death – get out there and experiment by doing – this will help you discover your ideal business model.

What do you think about Price’s philosophy that entrepreneurial qualities can be developed when given the opportunity to flourish? And do you agree about his thoughts on entreprennaisance? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

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