Launch of the 5th Inspiring Business Leaders course

On the 8th February Know+Do started its fifth Inspiring Business Leaders programme in collaboration with Tech Manchester at UKFast’s Manchester campus. Aimed at providing local SME’s with an opportunity to review and reflect on key areas of their business. Previous participants have told us that its useful to be reminded of the things you know you should review but you can easily ignore because you’re too busy.

The programme is being run over 4 half-day sessions and spaces are available for the remaining seminars:

Session 1 covered the Mission, vision and values of the business.

Session 2 Is a review of Leadership and Management in the business. (22nd February)

Session 3 Is concerned with growing the business and understanding the numbers. (8th March)

Session 4 Will focus on successful Marketing and Sales. (22nd March)

The sessions are all delivered in a PowerPoint free environment and encourage an opportunity for business owners and leaders to explore, reflect, and share ideas and experiences whilst also thinking through new opportunities for their businesses.

We had a great selection of businesses from new start-ups to established businesses employing up to 50+ people. Whatever the stage a business is at there are problems and opportunities. Many times when we’re caught in the day to day running of the business it’s easy not to build enough proper reflective time into exploring these problems and opportunities normally until the problem demands our attention or we’ve missed the opportunity.

Know+Do offer the programme free of charge to qualifying local businesses as a way of giving back to support SMEs to grow. This also expresses one of our core business values of Sharing Knowledge. It can be difficult for many businesses just starting out and we believe that a little bit of planned time out to reflect and review can help to make better decisions and more profitable businesses and that’s good for all of us.

If you think your business has got some problems it would like us to look at feel free to contact us on 0161 2804567 to see how we can help.

Emotionally Balanced Founders

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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

Mentoring Podcast

We were delighted to be asked to join the UK Fast team on a podcast to promote mentoring yesterday.

Andrew Ramwell trains the business mentors on the Tech Manchester scale up programme, which support news businesses in Greater Manchester by matching them to experienced pro-bono mentors. He is also contracted by the NHS to train senior clinicians in how to mentor staff returning to work after long periods of absence.

Joining a panel of Arlene Bulfin (UK Fast), Patricia Keating (Tech Manchester), Claire-Marie Boggiano (Lurig) and Lisa Murgatroyd (One Million Mentors) Andrew discussed how to inspire more mentors, train great mentors and maximise the help for the mentees.

“I am passionate about raising awareness of mentoring,” shared Andrew. “Early on in my career I benefited from a great mentor and now I pay that gift forward in mentoring with others.” He went on to highlight how the workplace environment is changing rapidly and the value in having someone you trust to explore your challenges and hold you to account can help people succeed.

Over the hour the panel shared in-depth their experience of being mentors and making mentors. Afterwards Andrew joined a new round of mentors to lead the afternoon training session.

For more information on the value of mentoring contact Andrew on andrew@knowanddo.com or call him on 0161 2804567.