Strive Believe Achieve

A couple of weekends ago saw thousands of fund raisers, celebrities, bosses, employees, students, teachers and politicians run, jog, limp and trot their way through the streets of London.  

The London Marathon is a remarkable event, not only because of the sheer numbers involved but also because it brings people of all ages, abilities and beliefs together. Britain has been bitten by the athletics bug, and the Marathon heralded the beginning of a sporting season that will put the UK firmly in the international spotlight. With Wimbledon and, of course, the Olympics on the horizon, sportsmen and women are setting their sights on being the best of the best: shaving off another second, eking out that extra inch, honing their accuracy and building their strength.

With the cameras trained on the Olympic squad (one of the youngest and most promising yet), it is easy to take for granted the levels of organisation that are required to make it all happen. One of the most heartening things about the Marathon was the throng of people that lined the course from start to finish. From the teams that set up the cordons in the small hours, to the stewards manning the water stations, to the everyday Londoners who just turned out to cheer, the support for the athletes was overwhelming.

There have been worries this month that Heathrow isn’t ready for the sudden influx of thousands people coming to watch the games. The fear is that for many visitors from foreign shores, their first experience of the UK is going to be characterised by disorganisation and queuing. Some would argue that that’s the British way – but isn’t it time that we stopped being quite so down on Blighty? Self-deprecating humour might be a particularly British form of wit, but why do we have such a problem being proud of our country?

Unfortunately the term ‘national pride’ has somehow become synonymous with right-wing fanaticism, isolationism and cultural ignorance. In truth, we should be proud of our country, our home-grown athletes, our can-do attitude and our willingness to turn out and show support even in the driving rain. Lowering the expectations of those coming to watch the games by spouting about ‘inevitable travel chaos’ and organisational ineptitude not only takes away from the efforts of those who are working tirelessly to make it all happen, it also teaches aspiring young people that aiming for the top is a waste of time. If we don’t embrace the idea that there’s no shame in striving to be the best, in reaching for the heights of success, how will we ever move forward? The head coach of UK Athletics, Charles van Commenee, has a saying: 

You don’t get people to jump higher by lowering the bar.

In a week in which we’ve been told that we’re back in recession, we’re all in need of a bit of inspiration. It may seem counterintuitive, but raising the bar, expecting more of yourself and your business and having faith in your ability to achieve what you set out to is the best way of beating the slump. 

If you aim for the stars, then you might just land on the moon – or, you could find yourself taking the chances that no one else had the guts to and happening upon opportunities you had never thought would come your way. 

Ignore the naysayers, aim as high as you dare, believe in yourself, and you will achieve it.

If you want to know more about what Tim does with small business owners, click Nigel Botterill's Entrepreneur's Circle for a link to the Entrepreneur's Circle.  Tim teaches, supports, coaches and mentors small business owners to help them achieve super success in North Hampshire and South Berkshire.

Instagram: snap, crackle, and pop-shots

Only a few weeks ago I was waxing lyrical about Pinterest, the new kid on the social media block. And it was – for five minutes. Its popularity hasn't waned, far from it, but there is a new kid in town, and he’s already playing with the big boys…

The company is 551 days old, comprises 13 employees, doesn’t make a profit, and has just been snapped up by Facebook for the sum of $1billion and it's called Instagram.  Even if you don’t have a head for figures, you can appreciate quite how impressive that is… The app is pretty simple as well – you take a photo with your camera phone, add a filter to it, and then post it online. It’s a sort of image based twitter which, I suppose, works on the basis that a picture is worth about a $1bn more than 140 characters.

Not surprisingly, the business and technology airwaves and blogospheres have been crackling with comment and opinion pertaining to the deal and posting their conclusions all over the web – but not everyone is being complimentary about the deal.

The simplicity of the app seems to be riling those in the app development field – the reaction is redolent of that which many people have towards modern art, “Yeah, but I could have done that”. Others have been claiming that the Instagram proprietors, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, have ‘sold-out’ too early on and that in the long run they’ll be left with nothing (a difficult argument to swallow when they’re divvying up a huge pile of Mark Zuckerberg’s cash).  So why is the web community being quite so scathing about the phenomenal achievement of this young, entrepreneurial company?

The obvious answer (and one which is at least partially correct) is simple: jealousy. Times (as we are constantly reminded) are tough and, much as we would like to see the success of others as inspirational and worthy of praise, sometimes it’s a bitter pill to swallow. The Instagram gang had the bravery to sell when the price was right and be openly proud of their achievement. Two years of hard graft, developing and adjusting the app have paid off, and they are reaping the rewards. It should be inspiring to see evidence that hard work, an entrepreneurial spirit, and some good old-fashion gumption can get you somewhere these days.

If these catty bloggers aren’t jealous of the success, then perhaps they simply resent that the new kid is getting all the attention. We live in an age of start-ups and small acorns – the opportunities which modern technology, innovation and development present a young business with are numerous and varied and the path to success isn’t as long as it was previously.  That said, it’s no less difficult to traverse. The public nature of the success or failure of start-ups means that certain ‘old hands’ think that they’re fair game and have a tendency to take pop-shots at them.

Whether it’s for the purposes of self-aggrandizement, or playground-bully satisfaction, the level of back-biting and sniping at which some business analysts operate is sickening. There is enough negativity eddying around at the moment, and frankly there should be far less.

Instead of listening to the nay-sayers, the declarations of “it’ll never work” and the constant hum of “oooh, you don’t want to do that…”, how about supporting each other?   Business is a highly competitive world, particularly the realm of small business, but there’s no need for it to be juvenile or mean. You never know, the one you decide to ‘poo-poo’ might be of great use to you in the future – the people you trample on what you believe is your way to the top may well ignore you at a later date should you cross their path.

Aim for the sky – absolutely - but remember that a can-do, supportive attitude will get you a long way as well.   It might gall you, but take the time to acknowledge your competitors’ success and, instead of being bitter, use that success to inspire and light a fire under your own projects.

Soon enough, you could be the ones worthy of applause…

Big Fish, Little Fish, Cardboard Boss?

The recent focus in the news on ‘tax avoidance’ and ‘excessive bonuses’ for company directors, in addition to the sense that what profit is being made is being wasted by a select few, are contributing to a palpable nervousness and unease. 

Words like ‘business’, ‘profit’, ‘growth’ and ‘expansion’ have recently been wantonly thrown around by the media like a dog with a toy rabbit - like said rabbit, these terms are looking a little grubby and have lost their true form...

There has been a great deal of focus on big businesses recently, in particular on their figureheads, the big bosses who are being demonised (some of them rightly so) and consequently drawing a lot of negative attention to the company as a whole. But, that’s a good thing, right? Calling out the baddies and making them account for their actions? 

Of course, highlighting misconduct and drawing attention to the difference between good and bad management of funds, personnel and business-to-business relationships is vital to setting a standard for good practice. The downside of these exposés, many of them sensationalised and exaggerated in the name of selling newspapers, is that they have the result of confusing ambition and entrepreneurship with dirty dealing and greed.

It’s a potentially difficult situation for smaller businesses and start ups. Faith in the very word ‘business’ is waning. It might sound simplistic, but investors need to have faith, be brave and feed the smaller fish. The bigger, more brutish looking fish might be at the top of the food chain, but without all those smaller, finned friends the whole system would fall apart. 

And how can smaller businesses help themselves? Ditch the cardboard boss also known as magnolia man or woman!  Personality, points of difference and stand-out characteristics of company directors, business plans and proposals are vital to inspiring investors, workers and industry competitors alike.

Dare to be different – you can be creative and ambitious while still maintaining an excellent public image. Be proud of being a small fish – you can get into tighter niches than the big ‘uns. And to all those would be investors, size isn’t everything – with the right attitude (just keep swimming...) those smaller fish can really fly.