10 lessons for 10 years ago: Notes for a jumped-up start-up
Our company blueprint.tv turns 10 years old this June. So much has happened in the last decade. Thinking back to when we started, there are a few things we could have done better. Here are 10 lessons we wish we had learnt right from the beginning.
1. Nothing for free
The amount of times people say “We don’t have any budget but we will for the next one…” or “Do this for us now and when we are bigger…”. Be reasonable but remember that doing freebies often cheapens your brand and diminishes your perceived value.
2. Murphy’s law
This usually translates into “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong”. Trust your instincts, don’t do anything you don’t like the look of and don’t do business with untrustworthy people.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
3. Know the numbers, manage the money
It is impossible to run a company without having a firm grip of the numbers. If you aren’t good at them, make sure you can afford someone who is. Even your best times can have the tightest cash flow issues.
Budget your time and services effectively. Avoid projects where it is simply “money changing hands” without profit, unless they are agreed beforehand as a “marketing loss leader” which should then be contributed to by marketing spend.
4. Live to work / work to live
It is important to strike a balance and establish your priorities. These will be different from person to person. When we started, we often took little or no holiday. This is unhealthy and unsustainable.
Managing a company is stressful. You can adapt to stress but taking a break is better than constantly battling through.
5. Keep changing
Things move very quickly. We have tweaked our business model every 18 months or so. This usually results in changing services, mission statements or aspects of the brand.
Invest time and money into change.
6. Say no
We keep on seeing Richard Branson quotes like the above on LinkedIn. This one is rubbish. Don’t say yes to everything, particularly if you have a lot of work on. Manage expectations and make sure your clients will be happy with the end result. Even if it is an amazing opportunity, be clear on your capabilities and make sure customers are aware of the risks — some clients will be open to them.
If your business is an agency, investing in client management with the right people pays itself back very quickly. We wish we’d known this earlier.
7. Choose top or bottom
In the down markets, we felt that only the premium-quality companies or the lowest-cost companies would survive, squeezing out the middle.
We chose premium by focusing on the strategy either side of content creation (thought and deployment). Choose either way.
8. Trust & empower colleagues
Make sure people have autonomy and feel in control. Compliment and reward good performance. Motivate and incentivise.
Invest in personal development.
9. Keep your head up
When times get difficult, it is important to be open, honest and confident about where the company is going and what is happening. Lead with transparency and encouragement, not secrecy and fear.
Never let your head drop.
10. Stop calling, start marketing
The greatest decision we ever made was to focus on how we market ourselves and become a HubSpot partner. Use content to drive awareness and revenue, shape your brand and engage relevant, qualified prospects. Use technology to maximise the results.
Calls will always need to be made now and again. A shift towards a marketing-led approach takes time but pays dividends.
It would be great to hear your thoughts. If you have any business advice, anecdotes or lessons you can share, we’d love to hear them. We will post the best ones in an update to this article.
Thanks for staying until the end….. If you enjoyed, please “❤”.
About The Author
Mungo Park is Managing Director of blueprint.tv. You can connect with him on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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