As an entrepreneur, you have to be constantly open to learning. It doesn’t necessarily have to be through master classes and seminars. Who says you can’t learn while being entertained? The Coronavirus pandemic has made us stay home in order to curb its spread. This is the best time to reflect on your business and seek ways to improve so as to return strong after the crisis.
These films have been recommended to entertain, educate and inspire entrepreneurs in these times.
1. Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened
This Netflix-produced documentary is about the infamous failed attempt to hold a music festival in 2017 in the Bahamas. It focuses on the disastrous build-up to the event, which was supposed to be a glittering three-day luxury festival, but in reality was a hellish and ghastly experience for the people who paid thousands to attend. Slick videos featuring influencers were pivotal to helping Fyre Fest sell 5,000 tickets, but as the movie shows, there was absolutely no plan to follow through on the experiences the videos were promoting.
The film offers some important lessons for entrepreneurs in particular; if you are interested in using influencer marketing as a way to quickly grow your company. You can hire the most popular celebrities and influencers to promote your brand, but that’s not what will make your company a success. Make sure you set expectations you can actually attain and, most of all, provide customers with a satisfactory experience.
2. The Pursuit of Happyness
The Pursuit of Happyness is about winning the fight against all odds while staying true to your inner compass. The story details Gardner’s – played by Will Smith – nearly one-year struggle with homelessness while raising his young son and pursuing an unpaid internship as a stockbroker. At times, he had to resort to sleeping in a subway bathroom, while struggling to sell medical bone-density scanners for income. It has been decades since this film was released, and yet the subject is still relevant today.
After watching this film, you will understand that we all face moments of desperation but no matter how bad things get, you have to keep moving forward and believing in your dream.
3. Yes Man
The basic premise of Yes Man is simple: Say yes to everything in life. That’s because life, with all of its chaos, danger and fun, is meant to be fully embraced. In the film, Carl Allen is a man who basically lives to say no to everything. Completely stuck in a negative mindset, Carl attends a self-help conference based on the concept of saying yes to any question thrown his way.
What happens next is the result of Carl saying yes to every opportunity — which of course is insane and a lot of fun. In the end, Carl realizes he’s taken the “yes” exercise a little too far, but he’s changed for the better.
The moral of the story: Seize the day, enjoy life, have fun and say yes whenever possible. The film is a reminder to seek a balance between saying yes and saying no when opportunities come your way.
4. The Theory of Everything
The late Stephen Hawking was one of the most brilliant and influential scientists of our time. But as well as harboring an exemplary scientific mind, he was an extraordinary man. Hawking was a fighter who overcame what was supposed to be a fatal case of ALS (or Lou Gehrig’s disease) and went on to live a full and accomplished life. He was given no more than two or three years to live when he was diagnosed in 1964, but the disease progressed more slowly than expected.
However, Hawking was confined to a wheelchair for much of his life, and as his condition worsened, he had to resort to speaking through a voice synthesizer and communicating by moving his eyebrows.
This film teaches us never stop asking questions. Hawking let nothing hold him back or keep him from his goal of creating something great out of his life. He proved time and again that life can give us great things if we are brave enough to dream, believe and work hard.
