Seen.
Lovesick.
An 8 year old business had tripled in size this year. Lockdown had massively increased demand for their product.
But the founders had fallen out of love with the business.
As your business grows, what you have to do can change. We've seen founders ending up with a great business, but a job they hate. This in itself can mean the beginning of the end.
Finding people along the way who love to do what you don't is essential.
Because we think it's important to stay in love with your business. If you don't love it, why should anyone else?
Read.
Lovestruck.
A consultant offered his services to a steel company. He told the owner he wanted to try something new, so suggested the owner pay what he thought it was worth, if it worked.
He asked for 15 minutes with each executive. He got each of them to make a list of the six most important things they had to do the following day, in priority order. Never more than six. They were not allowed to move on to the second item until the first was complete, and so on. Any remaining tasks went to the top of the following day's list.
The impact was such that a couple months later the owner wrote the consultant a cheque equivalent to $400,000 in today's money.
It was 1918 and the consultant's name was Ivy Lee.
Founders are often looking for an edge. There are lots of new ideas out there.
But this reminded us that the basics don't change much. Maybe it's worth giving these a try first?
Learned.
Lovefool.
Some people can be taught some things.
But some people can't be taught certain things. They need to learn for themselves through their own experience.
So if someone is resisting being taught, sometimes they're not ready. You have to wait and let their own experience do the teaching.
However, humility can help you be someone who can be taught. Humility lets you learn from other people's mistakes and experiences, not just your own.
Humility is a secret weapon. It can make you go faster. Nurture your humility.
And finally.
In possibly the maddest time in history to do so, we've just reopened a restaurant. We're delighted to have helped bring Redemption back to life, a long standing plant based restaurant in London's Covent Garden. Come visit us sometime?
Don’t forget to check out the accompanying podcast version of #founderhacks for a tantalising live experience of team atomex!
