After completing my first official year end for Crowd, I’ve been reflecting on what a diverse year it has been – my first year as an entrepreneur, and what this has meant to me.
Prior to Crowd I’d worked both client and agency side, and up until about 3 years ago, was relatively happy in my roles. What I did know though, was that I always had an underlying feeling that I hadn’t quite found my niche; that there was something, well….more. Yes, I was good at my job, I could deliver, and I was always a strong relationship builder. But I always felt an unease, an itchy restlessness because I knew there were other ways of doing things that I could not explore whilst working for someone else.
This restlessness came in the form of my instinct, or my gut – whatever you call it, it was always there whispering at me, and around 4 years ago, it wouldn’t shut up. I started to listen instead of swallowing my ideas and thoughts, and let them form the basis for how I thought business should be done in my industry. So I spent almost a year closely watching and listening to my industry before I even really did anything. I marinated myself in this new culture of conversation, not PUSH.
The longer I did this, the more it made sense. It was clear then that technology was giving us tools to become collaborators, creators and innovators. Overnight we had entered the Experience Economy which has caused some problems for corporations who can’t really “do” Intuition. Cue Individuals moving faster than Institutions, and all the disruption this brings.
It was easy for many who watched me start out to say I was band-wagoning, but I honestly felt I never was. I was just one of millions who knew instinctively that this was the way forward. I’d watched and learnt from many. To say that things were resonating with me, was an understatement. Suddenly, the way I had thought business should always be done, WAS being done. So my instinct to always follow my instinct was working. So much so that I went from a freelance consultant to having three staff within a year.
Successful brands and business ideas are born as much from the gut as they are from the numbers. The greatest entrepreneurs throughout history have been those that have understood (instinctively) what people would value and why, and then delivered it as simply and as easily as possible. Did Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Richard Branson wait for focus groups and statistical data before launching ideas that have revolutionised the way we work, play and live? They simply had the talent to observe the world as it was, felt it could be different and then did something about it.
Human experience is the only common denominator between a brand and it’s targets. In our home lives, we place great value on our relationships with our family, friends and loved ones. This balance is now being addressed in the business arena, and it still amazes me that something so blindingly obvious has been overlooked for so long. The gap between the production of a product and the end consumer was previously an echoing chasm. Without customers, you don’t have a market, and without a market, you don’t have a product! The customer has become and should remain, central to everything we do in business. Without them, you quite literally, have nothing.
I still have a huge amount to learn about this running a business thing though. I have learnt more than I thought possible over the last 18 months and am still learn something new everyday. Thank God. My personal idea of hell is to stand still and do the same thing over and over for the next 20 years. Staying nimble and flexible are key traits I truly believe businesses need to acquire in order to succeed ahead of the competition.
I’d like to share some of my insights and hope they can help to support those doing what I’m doing. All of these are based on what I FEEL to be true, and have worked for me.
Stick To The Business You Know
Think this is an obvious point to reiterate? Not really, especially in the marketing industry. I hate the phrase “full service agency”. It’s a generic label that agencies have adopted when they went from traditional, to tacking on digital (which is usually outsourced), to now social integration.
Stick to what you know, and make sure your service offering matches this and does not deviate! Telling prospects you know it all, when you clearly don’t is a huge no-no. If you do outsource or collaborate, then be transparent about it! It’s far better to say you work with tried and trusted partners. It’s the old Over Promise & Under Deliver ethos. You may have got away with this in 1998, but those days are now gone. Don’t presume you are impressing a client with this rhetoric. It stinks and it’s time to tell the truth.
Stay Close To The Customer
Doh! Surely we all know this one too, right? Again, no! Understanding your customer and having a healthy obsession with service and quality is how it should be. So many agencies concentrate on the pitch, the win – the kill. They then plaster their prized client logos all over their website like badges of honour. But post pitch celebration, when the real work has begun, and the project is delivered, what happens? More often than not business development moves onto the next glittering target.
I believe the most valuable business model to build is one based on retention. If you really value your clients, prove it. Over and over. Exceed expectation. Over deliver. Keep talking and keep listening. Make sure your clients are talking about you to their contacts too. The strongest recommendation is word of mouth. By investing this extra time into your clients, not only do you build great relationships, you create brand advocates.
Productivity Through People
One thing I learnt very quickly this past year was the importance of the right people to support me in my mission. In other words, my staff. I can’t do this alone. Create an internal culture of trust and respect, but with a toughness for results. Recognise talent, and nurture it. Being a leader is not about dictating and controlling. Many confuse the transition from employee to employer with EGO. Get over yourself.
It’s about fostering innovation and internal champions and also allowing failure. Influence doesn’t come without trust and without trust you are not a good leader. Empathy is a much overlooked skill in the workplace. To build connections with your team you need this, in bucket loads.
Get Some Grit
It’s all very well instinctively knowing you have a bright idea, and recognising a gap in the market, but without grit, you can’t bring it to fruition. This is where really trusting your gut comes into play. To see your vision through, you need to apply endless effort, have boundless enthusiasm, understand planning and good strategy. Intuitive decision making is the start, not the end of the process. Your light bulb moment will quickly fade if you don’t support it with these other skills.
Taking Risks
Starting a business is a risk in itself, particularly in today’s climate, but I firmly believe now is the time to take those risks. Just like grit, courage is another important attribute for an intuitive leader. We already know that FEAR is the one thing that is the barrier to entry for most of us never seeing ideas through. Or even making change, when change is long overdue.
I’ve had many fears to face since starting a business, and I can honestly say, that has been the biggest learning curve of all. To succeed you have to act and think as if you have ALREADY succeeded. In other words, make that leap, BE the product you want to sell. Live it, breathe it, own it. Passion alone is not enough to make an idea fly, because if you can’t convince others you love what you sell, you are in for a pretty tough time.
Thinking Differently
In summary, I can honestly say I have had the worst and best times since following my gut. The worst, because I have had to face a lot of fears and push myself hard. I’ve had to be brutally honest with myself at every turn and keep making sure what I truly believe is reflected in how I am building my business. This takes constant effort and assessment and is not for the faint hearted.
But the best thing? Seeing that thinking differently, doing differently, really can and does deliver differently. Knowing that my work is aligned with my personal belief system makes me a lot happier, even if I am working double the hours I used to when I was employed. The joy is most definitely in the journey – the highs and lows, not just the winning.
The key is to keep listening to the most complex and remarkable internal wisdom we all own, our instinct.