We. Don’t. Do. Accounts.
I just thought I’d mention it because after a whirlwind week of personal development and really thinking about clarity of what we do, I realised that a lot of people still think I’m an accountant. Which technically I still am, BUT I don’t do accounts work anymore. We’re all about the training these days – putting the key finance skills into businesses rather than doing it all for them.
Thinking about clarity, clearly I haven’t been clear enough about that!
I’m not going to get technical this week if that’s ok but instead I thought I’d share with you some of the things I learned last week. You never know, you might find some of it useful!
Do we need to be braver?
A theme running through last week was about being brave enough to stick to what you believe in and what you believed you could do when you first set up your business. This doesn’t necessarily mean always living outside your comfort zone where quite frankly it’s pretty exhausting, but being sure in what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. So that you don’t need to worry about what everyone else is doing on Linkedin and Twitter and who’s going to what networking event! And if your dream is to run a lifestyle business and not work 20 hours a day, then that’s totally ok.
It’s really easy to get diluted by all the advice out there and one day you realise you’re not running the business you wanted to run. Remember, the business that was going to give you freedom and dare I even say happiness?
So in the spirit of being brave and just to kick things off, I’m going to just tell you what my vision is for my business. The real one, not the watered down version.
I want to help business owners with a passion for what they do keep on doing what they love, by helping their business survive and be successful in the long term, by giving them the fundamental finance skills they need to keep a business going. The chances of even surviving 5 years is only 40% and that’s just not good enough. I want to see that figure significantly increased over the next 10 years. I want to be the reason that happens.
I want to create amazing online programs that can change thousands of businesses and help them make their businesses stronger and more successful. Ooh and I want to love what I do, and only do what gives me energy and inspiration. Sound reasonable doesn’t it?
And it‘s ok to polarise people!
We really can’t please everyone and would we really want to be so vanilla as to even try to?
20% of people will get you, 20% just won’t and the rest don’t know or don’t care. I realised that I was watering down my vision because I thought I might polarise people who didn’t get it. But I think that’s ok now, I’m ready to be braver about it.
Next step – video?
So Tuesday it was off to London to see Andy Harrington. Andy is a top speaker trainer who also specialises in turning knowledge into programs – damn useful for creating our online programs. Another thing he focussed on was video content and creating video for your own You Tube channel. Like many people I’ve always run screaming from the idea of video but I realised that it would be a massively powerful way to connect with our audiences and I actually feel quite confident now to have a go. Rather ambitiously we’re converting our spare bedroom / junk room into a “video studio” so we can record anytime and Sean’s going to learn all the editing malarkey.
Of course there’s the matter of actually getting in front of a camera and performing, but I’ve roped in Adrian Peck who runs the speaker training company Ahead in Speaking to give me some lessons. What could possibly go wrong? Well in a few weeks you’ll get to see!
Designing a business we love
The undisputed highlight of the week was a 2 day mastermind retreat at Champneys, organised by the amazing Kate Gerry where I spent 2 days with 12 business owners. Total space and time to really work on what’s important, what’s working and not. And how do I design my business model so that I get to do what I love and what gives me energy, rather than what everyone else thinks and says I should be doing? I don’t know if you can relate to that?
A huge frustration I had was never finding the time to work on the important things that will take our business forward. I’m always just so busy with just everything that happens. Turns out that most people feel that way and a key learning from the retreat is that I have to actually plan that space into my diary if I want things to change. I actually need thinking time if I want to create amazing courses and programs that change lives.
So I made a big decision, one that will force me to free up the time and space I need to even come close to delivering on my vision. I’ve signed up to a year- long coaching program with Kate, who I know will hold me accountable and give me a structure to free up that time. (The fact that we get to go to Champneys every quarter was just a bonus!)
It’s not about the Nail
Ok this has nothing at all to do with finance, but it’s brilliant. We watched this at the retreat and it’s a wonderful example of how differently men and women think (you know, we just want you to listen!)
Please have a watch, it’s so funny! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4EDhdAHrOg