These are strange times, unsettling times, and if I am honest this is not a normal question that I overhear much in more normal times, but recently THE question that I keep hearing is ‘do I have to work remotely and what does that mean for my customers?’ or, put another way, ‘does remote working have to mean working remotely?’
Any business at any stage of its life must be able to adapt and change to changing circumstances. One of the very real benefits that early stage businesses have is that they are small and fast on their feet and are therefore perfectly structured to be able to react swiftly to changing circumstances.
Some people are afraid of networking and others love it! It is true. We have all come across people that love nothing more than going to networking events and chatting to as many people as possible – some of these really get the benefits that good networking can bring to them and their business, and others simply love networking because it fits their outgoing personality.
Whatever any of us care to call it – funding, finance, getting investors, or any other variation on the theme – obtaining finance remains one of the biggest areas of both concern, and lack of detailed knowledge, for many startups.
Some questions in life are more fundamental than others and some are more specific or technical, and so it is in the world of early stage businesses. But for the person asking the question, each carries the same weight, and each is of the same importance because at the time of asking it is that point that is not understood.
For anyone starting a business there is that delicious and intoxicating mixture of excitement tinged with fear. That is partly the fear of the unknown but it is also very much the fear of failure.
When anyone is considering doing anything important and potentially life changing in their lives it always pays to think hard, do as much research and gather as much information as you can, and also to speak to as many people as possible.
Of all the questions that I overhear or am asked, the one with the most variants is without doubt ‘how long will it take? The simple reason that it has the most variants is because ‘it’ can apply to almost anything and everything in a startup or a business at any other stage.
As a Mentor, one of the things that I am often asked about is how to find reliable partners, and indeed who those partners should be. I recently overheard that very point when a lady was asking “who should I ask to help me and what exactly are the best roles for them to play?”
One of the very common themes that I come across with entrepreneurs and founders is that they are generally over confident. About everything! That goes from the valuation of their business to how quick and easy it will be to raise funding.
There are many reasons why living in the UK makes life so much easier than living in most other countries. This is in our personal lives and wellbeing but also in our working lives, especially as an entrepreneur.
Over the years that I have been working with startups and early-stage businesses I have overheard many different things. The majority of these follow the normal concerns of any entrepreneur that is entering into uncharted waters for themselves but there have also been some comments that I have overheard that have been unique to the individual’s concerns or the setting in which it was said.
Last week was of course the last real working week of the year, but whilst many will have found opportunities to celebrate in one way or another it does not mean that most will not still have been working hard.
The middle of December is a strange time of year for all. Some are already starting to slow down and getting into the full swing of the season’s festivities, whilst others are rushing around even more manically than normal in an attempt to finalise matters before things shut down properly.
Different things drive different people in different ways. That is because each of us wants something different from our lives and we are prepared to make different levels of commitment to achieve what we want to achieve and strike that critical personal balance.
I am sure that each and every one of us would accept that we cannot be good at everything that we do, or that we do not have time to do everything ourselves. And actually, I would suggest that it is in fact both.
In each of our lives, some weeks are more predictable than others. Some people are a little afraid of change and facing new, unexpected challenges, whilst others face the world with a ‘can do’ approach and even relish unpredictability and the need for flexible thinking and action to jump over the hurdles put in our way. And just like the best race horses, this keeps us fit and agile.
Over the last two weeks I have written special articles on ‘Business Plans and Pitch Decks’ and on ‘The Art of Fundraising’ but this week I return to writing ‘The Mentor’s Journal’.
As a mentor I get involved in a huge cross section of businesses in different sectors and at different stages of their development. As a result I have been involved in many hundreds of meetings about almost every aspect of setting up and running a business, but it would be true to say that raising money is the most common conversation of all.
As readers of either my Mentor’s Perspective or Mentor’s Journal series will know, one of the most common themes that I come across is that of fundraising in all its guises.
