Museletter  - December 2004

Welcome to my December 2004 Museletter, a collection of thoughts to enhance, educate and entertain.

My News

I was featured in an article in Monday’s Financial Times:

Such fame! The phone didn’t stop ringing all week with people who had seen the article and who wanted to congratulate me on the publicity. Well, actually, that’s a slight exaggeration. The calls all came in on Monday. Well, if I’m being honest, I had one phone call! Still nice picture isn’t it? There’s more on the article below.

Thank you to everyone who responded to my question on what are the elements that you require in your sex life. I now have a huge list, which I will be using in my talk in February. And if you meant to respond but didn’t get round to it you still have time, but if you could do it soon because I’ve start writing the talk.

On Thursday, I spoke to Hertfordshire and Middlesex Region of ARLA (the Association of Residential Letting Agents) on “The Easiest Way To Double Your Profits” and it contains my simple 3 step formula to create more success.

If you would like me to speak to your company or an association of which you are a member, please contact me.

I have a new goal, to write a book, and I’m looking for true stories to put in it. Please see “Opportunity to Contribute” for more details.

My Muse

The article in the FT is headlined: Entrepreneurs urged to raise aspirations for growth. With that huge picture of me next to it you may have thought I was the one doing the urging, but in fact it’s not me but the Government and Academics. The article uses me as a case study and I come across as resistant to growth and the extra responsibility that taking on employees brings. Unfortunately there was a misunderstanding, so when I was giving examples of problems faced by my clients, I was directly attributed. Hey ho! It then highlights a difference of attitudes between UK and US start-up businesses where the majority of US companies want to grow into organisations, but the majority of UK start-ups are happy to remain self-employed.

Which makes me wonder: What’s the point of businesses? Well I guess the answer would depend on your situation but it seems to me that there is a difference between those who have run businesses and those who haven’t. Those who haven’t can see how good new businesses are for the economy and are keen for others to be the engine for the economy’s growth. But I’ve never met anyone who set up in business whose motivation was to ‘contribute to the growth of the UK economy!’ Sure, I accept I know a lot of entrepreneurs who take a lot of pride in their contribution, but it is rarely what moves us to take the plunge into business.

And another thing, why are they measuring success by how many people a business employs? This seems to be quite an old-fashioned way of looking at things. The growth of freelancing means that many businesses can take on staff on a project basis; which allows the company to focus on the right kind of business rather than on finding enough work to keep its staff busy. This creates a flexibility and lightness of foot that is essential in today’s business climate.

If you are running a business, I wonder how you feel being told by others that you should raise your aspirations for growth? Is this something you want to do? Would it benefit you? Michael Gerber in his excellent book The E Myth argues that you must create a business model that is not reliant on you, otherwise you do not own a business, you own a job! I would urge you to question the reasons for your business’s existence. I remember that when I set up my previous business I knew that most business’s fail in the first year. So my goal was to survive the first year. And guess what after 12 months we had survived! Fantastic. I didn’t set a goal for year 2 and guess what happened? We survived! No more no less! I had set the standard at survival and that’s what we achieved. One of the key elements in running a business is leadership, and part of that includes setting challenging targets. So this is a great time of year to be looking at this issue.

Start by asking yourself some challenging questions: What do I want to achieve next year? What might stop me achieving all I want? Who do I need to enrol in my vision? What makes my company unique? How can I use that uniqueness? And keep asking because I believe: The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your questions.

And if you find asking quality questions difficult, here’s one for you: Why don’t you enlist the support of a coach who will ask you the questions that will create motivation and momentum towards your success?

Book Recommendation

Fish! by Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul & John Christensen

You may not know this but my favourite number is 107. This month’s book recommendation has 107 pages! And that’s not the only reason to read it. It’s a great true story of what can happen when a business decides it needs to make improvements and puts energy, creativity and fun into the process. An inspiring story.

To buy this book click here

 

 

Opportunity to Contribute

After I delivered my talk "The Easiest Way to Double Your Profits" I realised that I have a lot more material than I can put into a talk, and I’ve decided that I would like to write a book on the subject. And I need (your?) support to help make this a reality. Firstly, if you know a book editor that you can put me in touch with, that would be great. Secondly, I want to include in the book real stories that illuminate various points that I make.

The three main areas I am looking for stories on are: Motivation, clarity, and staying on course. Can you tell me about a situation where you had to be very motivated in order to reach a goal? Or where gaining clarity had a beneficial result in your business or your life? Or have you found a structure that you are willing to share that keeps you on course to succeed?

First person stories are the best, but sometimes third party ones can be very effective.

We can discuss whether we use your name or change it to protect the innocent!