Business Planter

I worked hard today. When you work for yourself though there seems to be bottomless well of energy to tap into, AND everything you do for your business is fun! Hmmm maybe that's a minor stretch of the imagination. Let's just say you can see the benefits of your labours in full technicolor, and leave it at that for now.

In amongst my blogs of recent days i forgot to mention a few things about me. I know that I should have done this earlier, but here goes. Firstly, I am human and fallible. Not fallible and therefore a risk taking professional! Good God no. I mean fallible in the way that I may spend a little bit too much time researching or that i have a tough time remembering names. Secondly, even though I like to think that I can conjure up an answer to most questions... in reality; outside of engineering and raw problem solving ability... I tend to need more help than I can give. For now. Thirdly, you have my complete attention. Yes you. You there reading my blog. [no I'm not going to ask you to christen a child-like princess - like in 'The Never Ending Story'] the reason why I write is to show you that I am here doing this so that you can exercise your option to glean a thing or two from my mistakes, and victories. Please don't forget to tell me ALL about your gleaning.

During my stroll through Veralum Park in St Albans on Thursday evening, on my way to a evening chat with members of our local Chamber of Commerce, I was very lucky to brew a brief brain storm. I concentrated on management of my business expansion into the future. The way I saw it was as follows, either I could;
1. Continue to grow a client base. Squirrel away funds and use this to establish an office and begin employing other Engineers. Traditional, tried and tested. Pluses? Lots of advice out there, and as straight forward as you can get. Potentially a comfortable life style. Minuses? Recruitment, and management of staff is not everyone's cup of tea. I can't see myself doing that until I retire. And this is exactly what I will have to do to afford retirement... as selling businesses of this nature is notoriously personal, and good will, will only get you so much in financial return. Bit of a cul-de-sac that one.
or
2. Partner-up with other Engineers. Find one or two like minded business owners of a similar size, merge and share work and responsibilities. You get stability, when your neck of the woods are quiet... and conversely you will be expected to prop up you partners when the situation has been reversed. I am not overly enamoured by this model. There is still too much competition internally for business, and ultimately this may lead to one partner growing weary and separating. Growth is made easier by virtue of a less risky field of play, higher number of opportunities AND by organic growth. Big advantage, you will already have 1 or 2 ready made buyers for when you feel the need to sell up your part of the business.
Or
3. Collaborate with complimentary business streams to offer a broader service. For example, find a builder or Architect or both and launch a separate company, sharing profits. This could be an unfair model and would tend to focus growth down a particular route. Collaboration should be aimed at leveraging resources so that larger contracts can be attained. Problem, no natural buyer for business unless the collaborators have gained some long term framework agreement with a major service provider and therefore have built in long term value...
Or
4. Collaborate with a completely non-complimentary business. Strange one this. You are seeking different revenue streams by thinking laterally and using the experience to learn more about a different business altogether. Those of you who know me will definitely think that this is the route most attractive to me. If only to take on the challenge. Pluses? Lots to learn and more chance of falling upon an idea which is entirely original for both your business. Downs. Sounds hard work, expensive to integrate and stupid. I can discount hardwork as this is something which you HAVE to partake in anyway. Expensive? Could cause a problem. Stupid? I like the sound of that... original ideas always seem stupid at first - there is no precedence to compare it to and you are embarking upon the unknown. Stupid is as stupid does.








Of course there are lots more to think about but this is a good start. What do you think?

NOTE. most options involve some kind of collaboration. Interesting?


Engine[er]

Location:St Albans,United Kingdom

Timing in Business is not just about owning a watch...

This a subject matter that is very close to my heart. It has been due to the phenomena of 'correct timing' that I find myself with my gorgeous fiancé, and on my way to creative freedom. I say on my way... because even though I am supporting myself financially in my business, the ever present lure of contractual work still remains as one of my 'get out' strategies. I try not to think about that too much though.

OK. You want to know about timing, that's why you are here right? Well we all know what it physically stands for, and I'm sure that you have heard sportsmen and sportswoman constantly reiterate the importance of 'timing' to enhance the levels of their success. Whether it's a golfer who states that its ALLL about the timing of you swing, or a pro footballer who insists that timing forms the basis of good form. The amount of circumstantial evidence out there is enough to get you thinking. Admit it, proper timing seems to permeate through to everything!

My opinion is that proper timing can be measured in scales. If we were to look upon good timing is as simple as arriving for an interview or meeting on time - then the actual 'time' part of the equation is not as important as say the planning. For example; you need to be at an interview at 10:30am, therefore you have to be up and out of bed at a certain time, catch the right bus etc.. Planning is key. When there is a particularly busy traffic morning and you wake up a shade late - it all boils down to whether you can make it through that door on time. So all that well considered planning gets condensed down into a solitary moment in time. Did you make it on time?

A scaled up example of 'timing' could be the same type used by 'say' golfers. When a ball is driven from the tee - the body is acting in a very instinctive way. Muscle memory and relaxation guides the club face to the right spot on the ball at the right speed for that particular shot. Timing. Many different factors stack up behind the action of taking that shot and all of it depends upon you getting the process correct. Again though, the timing of the shot pales into insignificance when compared to the preparation of your body and mind many years before hand. You would have under gone years of training in golf OR experienced similar sports so that your body and mind work towards one solitary goal - condensed into that one single instant of time...

Other examples of timing in action include singing and public speaking. The skill and knowledge which goes into producing the right sound at the right time is incredibly important. Being able to perform well and influence the emotions of the audience is all about understanding who it is you are speaking to, and even more importantly, an understanding as to why they are there listening to you in the first place. To be entertained? To have fun? To criticise? To learn? Timing the right performance is crucial to success and it involves interrupting the crowds mood and/or enticing the crowd  to feel how you feel. An absolute art form which many good practitioners seem to have an innate instinct for.

It can be seen from above that effective timing is crucially linked to and programmed into your mind and body by practice. Repetitive practice.

So how can you secure your victory in the business world straight out of the traps? This is virtually impossible - but not completely improbable. I have been reading Richard Bransons' book 'Screw it let's do it' in which he discusses at length the mental fortitude required to succeed. His continuous stabs into the business world began from a very early age. By the time he was 11, he was already learning that giving up was the surest way to failure. He appeared to have a desire which superseded virtually every other emotional and physical need... the desire to 'give it a go'.

Good timing is born from a large amounts of experience and application of that knowledge through practice and stubbornness for not giving in. Mr Branson describes himself as a stubborn and tenacious man, seemingly backed up by a belief that he will never fail at anything... to me timing appears to be the result of effective planning and practice. Timing represents the culmination of all your hard efforts distilled into a single moment of time - that 'perfect' process which has been practised and imagined some many times before that failure; is a less likely outcome compared to success.

In conclusion - if you find yourself standing on the precipice of starting your own business and eventual creative freedom... you are either about to take some hard knocks, learning from each and everyone one of them until you give up and fail... OR  you are about to take some hard knocks, learning from each and everyone one of them until you succeed and grow, and you earn your right to 'good timing' through learning from your experiences.

Engine[er]


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Home, e-learning & blogging

140 ideas in one afternoon

How absolutely fabulous was the weather today? Even though I got to spend most of it bouncing along on a train and the tube, the latter half was fertile with creativity and interesting conversation.

8 individual business owners, including a posse of Serco employees were joined together to discuss ways in which the government funded Businesslink website might be improved for UK business owners and new start-ups seeking help. Cool.

This was the second meet up (first meeting blogged here), and the pressure was on for us to brain storm a plethora of ideas, that our hosts could then gather-up. Once distilled, the results were going to be considered for entry into the already 'bursting at the seams' website, or may even kick-start the process of a structural change.

To begin with, it is an excellent website from a fledgling business point of view. Let's make no bones about it, this website is a treasure trove of business how to's, but also it is an exceedingly tough read. For those who have enough time and energy to plough through the information - awaits a large amount of knowledge through professionally written articles. It was mentioned during the workshop that a line must be drawn under how much information is required to be pushed upon us from the government, and how much is simply made available for us to explore at our leisure. My opinion is that you do not know what to look for unless you know what it is that you are supposed to be looking for - and shock horror,  not all of us can find the time to learn for learnings sake.

Part of the problem is that there are way too many info-avenues out there and it is hard to know where to start. If Businesslink is aiming to be the first and only stop for UK business owners who need to know more about regulations, then surely the following question has to be answered first. How do we skill ourselves up in a world jammed pack full of information cul-de-sacs and  data fatigue? The way I see it is that, firstly we have to admit that we need to continue the learning. Next step is to focus on a healthy rate of exposure and focus on what we need first. Somewhere in between we have to learn to enjoy the experience too. Very important. Can Businesslink solve this for us?

I believe that it can.

So watch out for the website - as hopefully, an essential tool for business owners... may well be changing, for the better.


Engine[er]

N.B. Today's weather was abysmal (Sunday 4th), so sorry for mentioning the great weather in London on Friday

Location:New Bridge St,City of London,United Kingdom

Teach Yourself How To Run: Part Three

Hi, and welcome back to my free lessons on how to put one foot in front of the other fast enough to be called running. Or jogging.

I have been getting quite a lot of running in recently and it has given me plenty of time to think of what I might talk to you about next. Todays lesson follows on nicely from the last session, and how to beat those mind controlling gremlins. YOU CAN DO THIS! It is easy.

Start with dampening down your lazy urges. Running along my normal route just last week, I reached a short sharp hilly lane ( I call it the 'gut freeze'), this horrendously steep lane is neatly halved by a kissing gate. On an average day I would run up to the gate and launch myself to the side and onto the adjacent fence, effectively jumping over the gate. It keeps me moving and makes me feel good. But last week as I began the climb up the lane.. I had this gut wrenching, nagging thought that I was too tired to jump over the fence, and that I would play it safe and walk through the gate. Just as I approached the gate I forced myself to change my mind. I upturned my belief that I was tired and made the jump.

Sailing through the air and landing on the other side I really felt empowered by doing this and realised that I had taken on a mini mind challenge... and beat it. When I run I continuously attempt to do the same thing but in slightly different ways... you try this. It may be that simply not stopping is your goal for your runs, but make sure that it is a challenge. Another challenge is when you take a turning on your run and you are faced with a tiny short cut across the grass instead of following the path... FORCE YOURSELF to follow the path around. You will know that you have done something special - because it will just happen to you, your gut will shrink and then BAM! You take on the challenge.  For me, I knew that I my change of mind made a big difference to me because the pit of my stomach cringed and heavily resisted the gate jump... I had changed my mind against all the odds.

This is what running does for you. You can see challenges, and obstacles - but they only represent another way to test your resolve, fitness and need to win. This is an exciting skill and mindset to experience - and trust me, you will need this in your life if you decide to run or start up your own business.

Tell me all about your experiences please...

Engine[er]

Business Innovation Workshop

No funky blog titles here. It does what it says on the tin. After quite an easy trip into central London, I just rocked up to a coffee house to wait for my 'informative' brekkie.






Not a bad view at all.....

I'll obviously tell you all about the workshop later :)

Engine[er]

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Southwark Bridge Rd,Camberwell,United Kingdom

When did you decide to go it alone?

Hi I would like to speak to about my thoughts and experiences in the hope that you might find some of them useful. If you do - then please drop me a message and let me know.

Last October, I decided to leave my promising job in Oxfordshire (just as it was getting interesting) to persue a personal goal of helping to run a small engineering business alongside the owners. The deal sold to me was that I would spend 3-5 years learning how to run thier consultancy, manage staff, training staff, build a network... all the good stuff. Eventually they would retire and leave me to it. As it turns out, the details were not fully worked through and an agreed plan was absent.

I didn't know about the challenges which I was about to face during the next 4 months. All I was focussed on was gaining business knowlede and doing it fast! To learn what it is to be both a manager and a prospective business owner takes you on a journey, one which some say never ends. You never fully 'make it', you just learn new ways of doing the same thing. You can set goals and fulfil them, but there are always more goals and plans to be carried out - a person with drive will have a never ending list if things to do.

If you have chosen to gently ease your way into business ownership via the route which I prospected last October then please take notes, the following list of points may interest you.

1. Firstly, I would like to pass on to you the gist of a conversation which I had with one of my friends a few months ago. I was confused and a little bit angry - I just wanted a sounding-board, someone to help me put my thoughts into perspective. So I called him to get his point of view. He helped me realise that no business owner will happily hand over to you their business. That's NO BUSINESS OWNER who has loved and built up their business will simply let you take their baby and do with it what you will... for me this was an important realisation. This means that all the clients, all the employees, all the past promises made, are to be upheld by you - even if you own more than 50% of the total investment. To me this is not business ownership - this is business caretakership.
2. Create a contractual agreement from the start - listing responsibilities and hirearchy. It will be evident that from the point of view of the business owners - that their time is very important. They do not want to waste time on training,  integrating and grooming an employee to eventually run their business, to find out years down the line that they have picked the wrong person. On the flip side, your time is very important too! You do not want to spend 3-5 years burning yourself out to find that you were never going to get the opportunity due to something out of your control and even worse, was known at the outset. You have a responsibility to everyone (employees, owners and yourself) to have all discussions minuted and signed off. You have to do your homework and train yourself too; keywords here are - management buy-out, business exit strategy, semi-retirement, business planning, profit shares, profitability (of all areas of the business) and responsibilities.
3. Don't ignore the warning signs. Should a particular aspect of your job/responsibility continually gnaw at you, then tackle it head on with your potential business partners. Speak up! These warning signs are your experience and consciousness telling you that something is not quite right - you either don't understand the concept and need help, or it flys in the face of how you wish to do business. Both of which deserves major air-time with those who are looking after your future within the business you have chosen. Trust me - this attitude will help speed up your growth and hasten the end of any business relationship which may just have turned out to be a complete waste of time for every party involved.

I eventually decided that a future partnering in that particular business was not right for me - or indeed for them. I got on my 'bike' and changed my direction. I suggest that if you are newly considering your future plans due to a boost in confidence, or earning a of a qualification or perhaps because of redundancy, then think fast and make decisions count.

Engine[er]

The Encumbered

Before I launch head long into updating you upon my recent business exploits - I think that I should firstly draw your attention to my observations upon human nature. Now, these observations are not all incompassing and like most humans I get confused and make mistakes from time to time - so take them with a pinch of salt. I would like to add, please do not throw out my opinions because you don't understand them either. Try them out, research them and perhaps chat them over with your friends, family or mentors.

When I first told my friends last October that I was to part company with my employer as a team leader, with great prospects and an effective team working under me - most of my friends couldn't hide the surprise (horror) in their faces... that was until I filled them in with my new found career plan. As it turns out, a general rule is - if you turn to family and friends for advice on serious issues like career and business, they may colour their advice to you with their knowledge of your ability, AND their own fears of failure. As I said this is not the same for everycase, just most cases.

The main reason for this as I see it is that your close friends/family only want the best for you, and not to expose yourself to unecessary risk or harm. It is normal to assume that they will get flashbacks to their own failures or fears of tackling such importants issues - in essence they will relive it for you and give to you their residual 'feelings'. Perhaps they have already tried and failed to break their life mould, who knows - all you need to know is that you get their life baggage added to the deal.

My advice to you, is to seek impartial advice. Try online - there are plenty of business new-starter forums for you to pose questions to, I would also suggest speaking with a business mentor too. A quick sweep of your local area may unearth a buiness-link startup bootcamp or a networking organisation who are willing for you to meet with their members.

A stranger will not unecessarily draw attention to the pit-falls of business ownership, or put you off begining or your own journey to becoming your own boss. They are business owners themselves and will feel urged on to regale you with tales of success and professional freedom! You aspire to become one of them, and they will be more than happy to offer advice.

So, what am I trying to tell you? Do your research. Find out what it is that you have to offer that no-one else does and use this to calm your thoughts if you suffer a bout of self doubt... because when things are going bad, and when your life seems so much more complicated than working the 9-5, then you will need every ounce of will power, to trust in your own decision making.


Engine[er]

This is my journey - I give it to you

If you have been scouring the internet looking for a reason, "pleeease, just a solitary reason"  to start up a business to call your own, then I hope that you may find this an interesting blog page to read.

If you have aspirations to become your own boss; and are sick of listening to your friends, family and colleagues tell you that now is not the right time to risk everything... then I'm here to tell you that there has never been a better time.

Finally, should you have happened across this blog page by accident - perhaps you were carving up the web, looking for inspiration or a reason to change your life... then welcome to a new way of thinking.

This is my journey from inception to late nights and my eventual creative and professional freedom.

The Engine[er]