What Do You Stand For?

I have had the privilege throughout this year of working with many people starting up a new business. Even in the midst of a pandemic and all the fearful headlines, opportunities for business exist; especially new ones.

Anyone starting a company today fully understands that almost no scenario is now impossible to imagine. Very, very few would have ever predicted national lock downs happening so fast and being so extensive back in 2019. Now they have happened leaders are wiser to the risk, impact and how to cope.

One thing I stress to all new business owners is the importance of clarifying what your company stands for, and that clarity comes in the form of answering two questions:

1. What is the purpose of your business? Describe what you want it to achieve and why.

2. What are the principles of your business? List the key principles (or values / standards) your business will work to and why.

One owner shared that it was simple to answer these questions. Number 1’s answer was to make money, number 2’s answer was to make money effectively and efficiently. It was helpful that he was so clear, however if that is the core to your culture I explained they should not be surprised that if there are times when the money does not appear so easily, their people will quickly desert the business. Money is used a motivator for work but not to create the culture a staff team need to face challenges such as infusing loyalty, encouraging sharing, going the extra mile or enabling co-operation.

Another new owner recently offered the phrase ‘we want to make beautiful things’ as her answer and this quickly led, after a few coaching questions from me, to understanding what was behind this aspiration. They mapped the purpose and the values of the new business and now they use their answers as a guide for the big and the mundane decisions: to assess the quality of their products; to choose suppliers; to create the look and feel of their brand; to form a marketing plan; to style their website; and so on. A lot of thought lay behind the short statement and they now have a culture they are demonstrating that as others join will be followed. This person wants their business to make a profit too but their purpose and values will help hold a team together in good times and tough.

The start up business owner has energy and time to consider these questions. What they state at the conceptual stage becomes the reality as the busy demands of the new company appear and opportunities or challenges must be assessed.

If you are a leader of an existing business you will undoubtedly be, right now, very busy but you will still do well to pause and ponder these two key questions. If you have no space in your day you might have to think about the questions on a walk or when you exercise, maybe as you lay in bed or while you are eating your food; but you can ponder these questions*.

When you’ve started the answers you can then find out who in your business agrees with you, or maybe is even aware of the existence of such statements. It is then that we find the most value appears, as behaviours, attitudes and plans can be shaped by a group working towards a common goal and with agreed standards.

---

*We recommend a way to take notes for such times, perhaps keeping a small notebook to hand or app on your smart phone, ready to record the clear thoughts you have in these quieter moments.

"Circumstances don't make the man, they reveal him"

Said the Roman philospher, Epictetus. In the throes of this global pandemic, we are seeing this come to light. There are stories of heroic efforts and selflessness by some, and utter stupidity and greed by others. In the main, I'm witnessing a lot more of the former, even by people significantly impacted.

I would encourage you to take some time to think what these circumstances will reveal about you? All of us have very different opportunities and obligations during this time, but all of us have an individual role to play. It's a time to think more deeply about what matters to us and to recognise how our previous circumstances have shaped us in relation to the way we think, act and consume. I'm pretty sure so-called reality TV shows don't seem so real anymore. Endless consumption of the latest throw away item or fast fashion has lost its allure. This is a chance to reset your paradigm and think about what really matters to you.

There are things that we can all do. As an individual you can take heed of the core message to stay at home and do all you can to limit the spread of covid-19. If you are furloughed or unable to work, what could you do to improve yourself or contribute positively both now and post-crisis? It's gratifying to see the overwhelming response with over 500,000 answering the call for volunteers in the UK. We can all do a bit.

View fullsize

Have a think what skills you could offer or develop? Then make a plan to make this happen. It could be as simple as helping someone you know use technology to stay connected, or sharing how to bake a cake, or offering your skills for free to someone in need.

On my daily run, I struggled with the fact that whilst I've been able to get out (observing appropriate advice protocols) certain sections of society are currently overwhelmed with demand such as the NHS, the care sector, cleaning and PPE suppliers, food supply chains, internet providers, and many others. I'm grateful to these individuals and organisations and applaud their efforts but I feel like I wanted to help. What I realised is that this doesn't require a grand gesture but just doing something small and focussed.

As a business owner, I'm currently impacted as many are with a significant and dramatic drop in my usual work. Having taken stock and realised that my previous way of working isn't going to work at the moment I've set about to focus on what I can control and develop a new purpose and way of working so that whatever happens I emerge stronger in the long run. This enables me to help the economy post-recovery.

I've also looked at ways I can help beyond following the Government advice. I've offered free coaching support to the NHS, I've been working with clients to reshape their businesses, I'm sharing information (like this article) that just might help a few people and I'm running some free focused mastermind groups each connecting 6 business owners over the next 6 weeks.

I'm also learning new skills, reading new business books, listening to podcasts and updating clients as I learn. I’m making sure I look after myself so that I can add value and lessen my impact at this time on already stretched services. It didn’t seem like much at first but I know that if we all did a little something then collectively it will make a big difference now and post-crisis.

I'm making sure that I don't add to the confusion and uncertainty in what I post and consume on social media and checking in with many of my contacts and ensuring that they know they can reach out if needed. Sometimes just knowing that someone can reach you can be very powerful.

I hope that when you and I look back, we'll be proud of what the next few weeks or months revealed about us. Remember that circumstances will be changing rapidly. Keep updating a simple plan about what these changes might mean to you and respond accordingly. If there is one thing history has shown us is that humans are very resilient. However, those that thrived where the ones who had a why and a purpose. Set a new purpose for yourself and build a new routine to help shape it.

Stay connected to those that matter and reach out to your support networks or build new ones if needed. We’ll all need a pick me up at some point over the next few weeks. I hope this helps you; if it does feel free to share.  

Notes:

• Image by Gino Crescoli from Pixabay

• For reference, this article first appeared on Andrew Ramwell’s linked in page.

Emotionally Balanced Founders

View fullsize

On a very icy, cold and early Janaury morning I joined a networking group called @startups_mcr to share some of the things I have learnt and observed about balancing the emotional pressure of starting a business. This is a huge subject, so I shared a little that I had noted in my nine years of business ownership but also through supporting countless clients through the problems they’ve encountered in running and growing their own enterprises.

Why is the issue of our emotions so important in starting a business?

• Founders throw their heart and soul into a business. They often refer to it as their ‘baby’ and are keenly attached to it. So, when the business goes through ups and downs (and this can be multiple ups and downs in just one day!) so does the owner. Unchecked this can damage our emotional state and knock us off balance.

• For me business is essentially a competitive environment (even when done ethically and with values). Customers choose a supplier and why they do that can have nothing to do with a business being ‘good’, it can be for many other factors such as price, personality, colours, feelings, timings, and so on. Indeed, external forces can destroy sound businesses or disrupt their model (think of what happened to all the suppliers to the large contractor Carillon last year) through no fault of the owner. That means good businesses, and good business owners, will experience unfairness during their entrepreneurial adventures.

• And the statistics tells us that only 4 in every 10 start-ups make it to their 5th birthday [for the record Know+Do is about to turn 9]. Most also stay very small, e.g. 65k of the 100k businesses in Greater Manchester employ less than 5 people; meaning the owners / founders are mostly intimately involved in the everyday delivery of their businesses and the strategy, they are working hard and jugging many duties.

So, I summarised how to consider all this through the 6 S’s of balance:

1. Self. Do not measure yourself against others or take their yardstick for success. Know your own measure, understand yourself and recognise your abilities and weaknesses. If you don’t do this others will create the terms by which they define your success and this will change with the trends, fashions and the fancies of others.

2. Share. I started a business with a colleague (@rammers02) and valued greatly how we complement each other in skill sets, personality and expectations. When one of us is facing a challenge the other is most likely to be found seeking how to turn it into an opportunity. So, I recommend finding those with whom you can share your business journey. And not just at a cursory level but sharing deeply and with knowledge. A mentor can offer this, as could others starting out on a similar path. Sharing with those who can empathise and not just sympathise helps greatly.

3. Smile. In amongst all the problems of your business venture should be fun. You need to want to give everything to it and if it does not make you smile to think of the business then something is out of balance. Setting core values can help with this, they allow you to apply clear thinking and set standards that satisfy you from the outset. Looking for the joy in your work gives you a reward.

4. Sleep. Get enough sleep! Busy as you will be, sleep gives you clear thinking and gives your mind time to process the day. Skip on sleep for too long and you will make bad deals. Even the then Director of the FBI, James Comey, promoted sleep to all his employees (see his story in the book, ‘A Higher Loyalty’). Sufficient rest reduces your chances of making mistakes.

5. Self-Worth. If the business is everything in your life you will be tied far too closely to the company for your own good, and that of your colleagues. If your identity does not extend beyond the company you will one day find yourself lacking in self-worth and unable to find the objective view when you need; as what happens to the business will literally be happening to you at the same time. I’d recommend seeking out and investing in things that make you interesting and give you validation, such as skills, knowledge, experience, love, satisfaction, belief, hobbies or friendships.

6. Skin. A founder has ‘skin in the game’, you are taking a risk with your reputation, your time and probably your money. That little bit of fear or worry can be healthy, it stops you settling for less and getting too comfortable. It forces you to think about improvement and change, to always be striving for the next deal even when you’ve just secured one today. It can mark you as different to an employee and is, when kept in check, a motivating force.

These are just my starting points for the discussion; each founder’s experience is intensely personal. You will have your own views dependent upon your experience and situation. I’d be interested to know how other kept their balance in the early start-up phase. What worked for you and why? Let me know in the comments section below or contact me on bernard@knowanddo.com / @berneeclarke