I should start this week with a note of apology. The traditional family half-term skiing trip dictates that this post was written ten days early. So if it turns out that Joe Biden really has been shooting down UFOs – and I should have been writing, ‘How aliens from the Planet Zog will impact your business plans’ – I can only apologise.
This time, three years ago, we were starting to realise that ‘this flu they’ve got in China’ could be serious. Since then, we’ve been beset by inflation, recession, and supply-chain problems. And AI – as I wrote at the start of the year – has moved from a theory to very much a reality.
But you don’t need me to weary you. It’s half-term. March is less than a week away. Spring is around the corner…
So I’m feeling optimistic this week. Well, I’m always feeling positive. And I’m all-in – in the very best sense of the phrase.
When I first joined TAB UK, I attended many networking meetings. We all know the format: 60 seconds to tell everyone what you do. One of them burned into my memory: I realised afterwards it was some of the best business advice I’d ever heard.
A good-looking guy of about 30 stood up (‘surely that was you, Ed?’ I hear you cry. Or do I…). He introduced himself and then said very simply. “I’m a fitness coach for pregnant women in Knightsbridge.”
Goodness only knows what he was doing visiting York, but I’m glad he did. Nine simple words.
The next guy stood up. “Well,” he said. “I do some web design. And there’s this house I’m renovating. And a couple of nights a week I teach guitar. And…”
Twelve or thirteen years later, I know which one was successful.
I was reminded of the fitness coach this week when I read an article in Inc. Entrepreneur Paul Lewis quoted three rules for success: "when in doubt, aim high’ and ‘don’t start a business, solve a problem." No one reading this blog disagrees with the first two principles, but the third one really struck me – and reminded me of the networking meeting.
"Always go all-in on your business," Lewis said. "If you’re not all-in, you’re not really in at all."
As I wrote last time, being all-in means difficult decisions. Sometimes it means sitting in the office long after everyone has gone home. But it is the only way to really build your business.
You don’t build a successful business by doing a bit of web design, breaking off to do some work on the house, and having to finish early to teach guitar.
You build a business by defining what you do and – just as importantly – by defining what you don’t do. “I’m a fitness coach for pregnant women in Knightsbridge.” “You’re not pregnant, or planning to be? I’m sorry.” “You’re in Islington? Sorry again…”
I was inspired by reading the article in Inc. Should I have been? It didn’t say anything new. But sometimes, we all need a simple re-statement of basic truths – confirmation that our decision to go all-in really was the right one.
So in that spirit, let me offer three other pieces of fundamental wisdom that a) we all know but b) are so basic that they bear repeating – frequently.
You Don’t Need to be Perfect
Let me give you one simple example: the blog you’re reading. “What are you doing, Ed?” my wife frequently asks. All too often, the answer is "proofreading the blog." “Why?” she says. “It’s the message, not the semi-colons” (or words to that effect). And she’s right: the blog demands around 800 words every other Friday. It doesn’t demand a PhD in English Grammar. That’s not to say I’m suddenly going to abandon everything my English teachers drummed into me – any more than you’re going to abandon the basics of your business. But success is about momentum, about delivering a product. Sometimes, ‘perfect’ takes too long.
Think Long Term
I’ve already mentioned Covid, the recession and inflation. And over the past three years, they’ve forced us to think short-term. At the height of lockdown, sometimes day to day. But running a business means thinking long-term: staying focused on your long-term vision and communicating that vision to the people on the journey with you. It’s time to lift our eyes to the horizon again.
Carry on investing in yourself
Finally, it’s tempting to think we’ve done it. We’ve reached the stage where we know it all. Where we don’t need to invest in ourselves any more. We definitely do not know it all, as AI is rapidly showing us. The need to continue learning and keep investing in yourself and your team never disappears.
You don’t even know as much as you thought you knew – as half a dozen battle-hardened sceptics round the TAB table will endlessly remind you…
