Radical Discovery. We may only have to be average after all!

Oh what fun I had test driving cars last weekend! Nothing whatsoever to do with the cars, it was the on-tap entertainment in the car showroom that provided the hilarity.

We had an appointment, for which the salesman kept us waiting while he chatted with his colleagues. No matter, we occupied ourselves pressing buttons and sniffing leather.

Finally we were shown to his desk. His mini-empire within an empire.

“Be with you in a minute. Couple of urgent calls. Hello Mrs Garrity, it’s Simon from the car dealership. Did I do something wrong yesterday?”

Judging by the long silence that followed, I’m guessing the answer to that was yes.

“Well I’m sorry you feel that way, I didn’t mean to offend you. If you still want to bring your son’s double bass down to see if it fits, knock yourself out.”

Big sigh and raise of eyebrows in our direction.

“Well if that’s the way you feel I can’t help you.”

Next call.

“Hello, Mr Baintree. You called about arranging a test drive. Well the thing is, we work every other weekend, so don’t come next weekend, come the weekend after.”

Whaaaaaaat? We are by now scanning for cameras and the sniggering members of our family hiding in the wings. Where are Ant & Dec? Noel Edmunds, is that you in a really bad wig & outrageous beard? (no disguise there really). But no, this was REAL.

We were also treated to a run down of all the salesmans’ nicknames in the showroom from Noddy to Gromit, complete with impressions for each.

Is customer service really that bad out there? Are businesses managing to survive with this level of numpty-ness at the sharp end? If so, what are we bothered about? We only have to do the basics and we’re super heroes.

Can’t wait for this weekend. I am going to be prepared this time. Keep an eye out on Youtube and watch out car-sales people. If you have 2 laughing hyenas in your midst you may just appear on “You’ve been blogged” next week!

‘Creative Business’. An oxymoron?

In my opinion, to be a Creative Business there are only two things you need to get right:

1 Creative

2 Business

Obvious? Ridiculous?

Pretty much all creative businesses are born from an incredible creative talent, passion and an earth shaking moment of inspiration. And pretty much all of the people at the heart of these amazing startups don’t have a business degree or even any experience of running a business. But this doesn’t matter. At least initially it doesn’t. It’s their passion, excitement and determination that gets things moving. No business theory or text book gives you this.

But then what? 6 months in, the work is drying up or never really happened in the first place. Or two years in and the staff, the studio, the endless regulations or the general lack of organisation and control has impacted on your motivation and the creativity.

I have worked with many creative business owners who’s initial objection to anything resembling ‘structure’ or ‘processes’ is that this will kill their creativity and culture, that they don’t want to become number crunchers, form fillers, or data-enterers. A system would be claustrophobic and stifling. We want to keep fresh and keep our identity.

My point is this. You might have the best offering in the creative world, you might have the best people working for you. But if no-one knows who you are, or you mess up your staff’s pay, get hit with an unexpected tax bill, realise too late you are trading insolvently or fall in to any number of potential business pot holes, the creative element immediately goes with it. You have to aggressively protect your ‘offering’ and culture but importantly make the business element work for you. If your top creative needs to go on a 2 day drinking bender or spend a day at The Tate or wandering round the Natural History Museum for creative inspiration, build your systems around this. Cost it. Plan it. Give them that freedom with the knowledge that you have accounted for it and that they won’t be constantly plagued with calls of ‘where are you up to with this job’ or ‘who’s meeting the client today because you’re not in’. I don’t know any Creatives who are able to be creative when surrounded by chaos (the stressful kind, not the fun kind!).

How many of our most admired artists died without a penny? Imagine going back in time and developing Van Gogh’s marketing campaign, negotiating with art dealers, establishing distribution channels etc. Allowing the great painter to focus on doing what he did best (well, he did many things well, but not all were legal or lucid). Who knows, with a decent business plan, would he have felt the need to pick up the gun…

Click here to find out how we can help you with your business plan!

Blog written by Nancy Dykins of The Launchpad


Detail from Vincent Van Gogh, 'Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear', 1889
London, Courtauld Institute Gallery
© Photo: Bridgeman Art Library, London 

Through the eye of a lens

Through the eye of a lens what do you see

Is it clear, strange or a complete mystery

How do you know if it’s right or wrong

Is it too short or painfully long

Would people watch, or will they  read

Do they understand the planted seed

Who cares anyway, what does it matter

All the white noise, content and chatter

Which is the way through the twisted maze

Can you lead them through the heavy haze

It might be easier if you learn the right way

To communicate your message to the world today


http://launchvid.eventbrite.com/

Blog created by Michele Bentham from The Launchpad

Kids & Dogs

Before...

Please, please, please the kids repeatedly say

We’ll do our homework and tidy up every day

He will be ever so good, no trouble at all

Most of the day he’ll play with his ball.

During ...

That one’s cute, the one running around

Wagging his tail, making a happy sound

Look at his face how lovely is that

Pick him up mum, give him a pat.

After ...

So now he’s here, as cute as a picture

Floppy ears a brown and white mixture

Kids at school, I’m working from home

He’s sat on my knee whilst I’m on the phone

Ummmm?

Running around, making a mess

Biting my feet whilst I work at my desk

I’m writing a report, the pup scratches the door

Outside we go whilst he wees some more!

Arrrrrrrrrrr?

Im trying to finish work before the kids finish school

And the little mite is certainly playing the fool

Please stop it now, I’ve had enough

Your driving me mad with your playful woof!

Deep breath

Kids come home, ready to play

But pup is tired after his eventful day

He settles down on my sons knee

And yes you guessed it I make the tea!

Blog created by Michele Bentham from The Launchpad

Mad World

Headlining news everyday

Conflict in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan,
US relations strained with Pakistan

Famine in Africa once again,
children starving, suffering in pain

The nation’s leaders ...ready to blame,
look around ... hold your heads in shame

Economies on the brink of collapse

Greece, UK, US, Ireland a disease spreading far and wide, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide

Job losses, cost of living rises, homes lost,
company collapse surprises

The nation’s leaders ...ready to blame,
look around ... hold your heads in shame

Yet we still stoop further

Newspaper hacking, privacy invaded,
all for a scoop, easily persuaded

Brown in tears, Cameron in denial,
victims devastated by ultimate betrayal

The nation’s leaders ...ready to blame,
look around ... hold your heads in shame

Blog created by Michele Bentham from The Launchpad

The word on the street!

The word on the street.

With the massive boom of social media and more ways than ever before to connect to people... how are we as business owners supposed to choose the right route?  Who should we talk to and how much time should we spend doing it?  I suppose that is the million dollar question ... I mean we are bombarded with tweets and updates (including this one) and actually how many people really do read them?  As a small business who can’t afford to employ armies of people to sift through the tons of social media updates how can we keep on top of the tidal wave of information?

Well, I think part of the answer is to be selective and only follow people whom are really going to provide you with useful and helpful information.  I have lost count of how many people tell me that they are going for a walk or just nipping for a coffee and as a result I now have a 3 strikes and you’re out policy!  I really don’t have time to read silly tweets and updates!  And in return as someone listing tweets and updates then think about what your followers will read (providing they don’t miss it in the tidal wave!)  Maybe split your time spent on social media to 3 slots in the day (morning, lunch, and late afternoon) that way you will still miss a lot but might pick up on relevant tweets which are often posted more than once.

With this boom of social media there has also been a boom with networking events. I could spend my time constantly going to events, presenting at events, holding events and so on ... but is networking useful?  Well, from my personal experience I would definitely say so ... but again a word of warning ... I only attend the networking events which benefit me and my business, the ones where I can learn something or meet potential clients.  Probably the worst kind of networking events in my opinion are the seated around tables kind ... I mean unless the organiser has really thought about the benefits of specific people sitting together then you could end up spending money to sit with people who are of no use to you ... and although there is some benefit in terms of profile raising ... the possibility of business  generation is very slim.  The other thing about networking is that the cost of the event and your time out of the office needs to be offset against business coming in ...which means it can be a costly business!

And remember the main reason you attend events and engage with social media is to win business and sell your unique products and services.  Many business owners are not natural sales people and have concerns about their own abilities in this area. However, this isn’t a good reason to ignore it!

"A customer is the most important visitor on our premises; he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so."

Mahatma Gandhi

And on a final note you might be interested in this event The Launchpad are holding which will help you to understand your market and how to market yourself effectively.

http://sellsellsell.eventbrite.com/

Visualisation & gratitude - the true secrets to success?

Positive thoughts = positive outcomes!! It's not rocket science, yet astronauts use it.

If you have read ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne, then you will know what I am talking about and hopefully you will enjoy the moment of re-treading familiar footsteps and visiting an old friend!

We, as humans are hugely complex, living, working organisms of electrical and biochemical activity, busy whirring away 24/7. Is it any wonder therefore that we can get de-railed along the way sometimes? Something upsets this finely tuned balance of hormones, thoughts and emotions and we can find ourselves ‘out-of-sorts’ and having lost our path? Look at poor (and brave) Catherine Zeta Jones for example who has revealed her personal torment of late today. She has had an incredibly tough year and it has understandably knocked her sideways.

‘The Secret’ would seem to be to stay focused on the things that make you happy and be grateful for these things. It is a piece of DIY electrical hardwiring you can do for yourself and this piece of information was a revelation for me… gratitude = happiness, NOT the other way round as you might imagine. One of my husband’s favourite expressions is that comparison is a direct route to misery… and I do get this. Comparing your life / car / children / marriage / business to someone else’s will usually only end in misery, whereas being grateful for what you are good at or what elements make you happy, help to keep your thought processes on track.

So, in your business life, apply this principal. Try loving everything! Appreciate and be grateful for all the little things. And see if this changes your attitude or removes the focus from the ‘other stuff’. Take this a step further and visualise where you want to be as if it has already happened. Feel the feelings of satisfaction and joy and then, according to the book, you just watch it actually happen before your very eyes! Athletes do it, astronauts do it, captains of industry do it.

As Albert Einstein once said:

“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”

If you don’t already own a copy of this book, you really must give it a try. I read mine regularly and each time, pick up something new! I’m going on holiday next week, guess what book I will be packing? It’s time for me to check in to my happiness again!

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, published by Simon & Schuster UK

www.thesecret.tv