I had the
pleasure recently of chatting with Adam Gordon - who is a highly experienced
business advisor that runs a business called the Profits Leak Detective, based
in northern NSW.
He has been
helping small business owners for more than 25 years. His clients are typically people who
started their business based upon possessing good technical skills, quite often having
worked for someone else while they built on their technical training. Their experience however, rarely extended
into learning about marketing, financial management or business management.
Very often, these entrepreneurial spirits would find that running their own business
had turned into “hard grinding work”, seven days a week – with far smaller
returns than what they had envisaged. Adam
explains that he “…. helps them find and plug the leakage from their profits” so
they need only work four and a half days a week, instead of seven.
I asked Adam to share some of his own story in starting a new business - and also for some words of advice for new business owners. His experience of surviving the trials and challenges of the start-up stage may perhaps offer some hope and inspiration to those of you who may be currently struggling with establishing your own business.
1. Adam, why did you initially decide to
start your own business?
I’d long
wanted to run my own business, to have the so-called independence of owning
one’s own business and being my own boss.
The problem was being trapped in the security of a comfortable income
and, while the hours at times could be a bit daunting, they weren’t always like
that. It was quite ccomfortable work - but not
ultimately fulfilling. For me, the change was an unsettling experience because of the risk in removing the security blanket. However, the desire to work for myself became an increasingly dominant desire. The moment of discomfort did come – somewhat unexpectedly. The security blanket was removed from me through an organisational restructure and my job was made redundant. I took a deep breath, ignored the siren calls and lure of another security blanket that was offered, and instead followed my heart and started-up my business.
2. What
were the biggest “start-up” challenges and difficulties you had to overcome in
your first 1 - 2 years?
The first was
that terrible “Catch 22” – being able to demonstrate to potential clients that I could
do their job and meet their requirements - before I had clients or any “track
record” that would reassure them and give me credibility.
Luckily I
had a redundancy payout from the bureaucracy for whom I had worked, which helped fund me while I gradually built up a client base and eventually some steady cash
flow.
The second challenge
was “selling myself” as a business advisor.
This was ironic, because I had never experienced any difficulty
in marketing the products and services of my previous employers ...... But when it came
to marketing “me”, well that was something different! ... It was necessary to overcome some early conditioning, having been raised in an era where we were taught to avoid being "boastful" and to downplay one's achievements.
3. What do you find most satisfying now in running
your own small business?
Making a
difference - seeing small business owners grow in their business so that they
become managers and entrepreneurs, and not just technicians. I don’t mean that necessarily in the E Myth
sense. I want to see them take control
of their business, so that they control their business rather than it
controlling them. I want to see them succeed, to be highly profitable, to not
have to continually worry about money, to have the lifestyle they desire, to
not feel they have to spend every waking hour in their business. I can’t really
describe the feeling of satisfaction that I get when that happens.
4. Adam, you’ve worked with hundreds of business
owners over the years - what do you think are the key personal qualities that a
person must possess if they are to succeed in their own business?
Three necessary
qualities that come immediately to mind would be :i) determination and persistence, to get through the times of disappointment and frustration
ii) a diligent attention to detail, with a consistent focus upon a quality service or product
iii) equally, the ability to step back and periodically take a strategic look at the bigger picture – including the market place and where they want to position themselves within it
However above
all, I think the most critical quality is the ability to recognise that they
are not “operating” a small business i.e. doing whatever their particular skill
is - but instead, they are “running” a small business. There is a big difference. They need to make the transition from
thinking “I’m a stainless steel fabricator” or “I’m a plumber” .... to “I run a
stainless steel fabrication business” or “I run a plumbing business”
Without
making that fundamental change to their thinking, they will never grow nor become more profitable - they
will remain forever a technician doing a technicians job. And the business will
always remain dependent upon them and their skills and their availability.
5. What have been some of the marketing
strategies that you’ve found most effective in growing and developing your own business?
There have
been two strands to my marketing.
Firstly it has been all about building relationships with both
organisations and people. Both require
networking, being involved with both community and business organisations. And ‘involved’ requires contributing, not
just turning up to functions.
Secondly I
have endeavoured to become known as a “go to” person in my field. And that has meant developing skills in terms
of techniques and the ability to deliver to clients. In turn that leads to ‘word of mouth’
promotion and referrals, always the most effective promotional tool. I’ve also used articles in local newspapers
and Chamber of Commerce publications as a tool to demonstrate expertise.
In more
recent times I’ve used my newsletter, blog and LinkedIn to do the same thing.
6. Any final words of
advice you would offer to small business owners?
Don’t be the
same as the others; dare to be different. So
many small businesses don’t want to be seen as different from other players in
their industry. But how do you stand out from the crowd
unless you are different in some way? Your product may essentially be the same - so how you package it or promote it or price it will need to be different.Also, keep trying new things, whether it be products or services, or ways of delivering your products or services. Times change, the market changes – and you must change with it! But to do this effectively – you must keep on learning; constantly updating your knowledge and acquiring new skills.
Thanks to Adam, for sharing with us some of his 25 years experience in small business consulting. Let me add that when you're running and trying to grow a business, you'll make some mistakes - but don't beat yourself up. After all, if you're not making a few mistakes along the way, then you're probably not trying anything new!
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