Early Entrepreneur stages – Wobbling On
CMC’s Thames Valley based partner, Martin Rowe shares his observations and valuable knowledge of the early stages in being an entrepreneur. Martin is an entrepreneur in his own right as a CMC partner and a board member to several small businesses. He uses his 20 years corporate business experience to offer strategic, operational and management advice. Martin thrives on helping entrepreneurs to develop their ideas and skills into profitable reality, with a proven record.
Watching my grandson take his first wobbly steps got me thinking about all those wobbles early stage business owners know they must handle if they are to stand up tall, walk and make it.
Like many of the CMC partners I too have also wobbled along those same paths So, just as history is a good predictor of our future what can I say that will help new business owners walk?
Here are a few key things upon which to reflect.
PLAN If you don’t know what you want you will never know if you get it, or not. I recently sat down with two start-up owners and we talked about what they wanted. They didn’t really know and used woolly phrases but were able to start to plan by using one really simple technique.
Try it and by finishing the following sentence. By next year we will……..
It’s a start and gives us an agenda every time we talk.
CASH If you run out the business fails; so get a grip before you start. I helped a start-up in late 2010 when we used the standard CMC template to see how much we needed and how the money would look coming in and going out over 12 months. 9 months later the business has sold over £200,000 of its products and made a £15,000 net profit. It still doesn’t have vast cash reserves but we are all now looking forward to paying the Corporation Tax bill sometime in 2012 (honestly). For you why not ask for our template? It’s free.
LONELINESS Being the boss can be really lonely at times, particularly when times are hard and people are being a pain. I have never thought of myself as a coach and despair at those I see trying to coach business owners when they have never really run a good one themselves. If you want a coach, hire a 52-seater and take your friends on a trip to the seaside. That said lots of my clients value the one to one time when we can talk about the fears they face. What happens next is theirs to decide as they are still the boss. If you are feeling a bit like that then make contact and buy one of us a coffee. We only have one reputation and we aren’t likely to sully it by blabbing to someone are we? That’s why there are no examples cited. My time for that kind of meeting will always be free.
So if you want to move from wobble to walk all you need a piece of paper to write down where you aim be next year, a free cashflow template and about £2.50 to buy a coffee. Oh, and my email address. It’s: martin.rowe@cmc-partners.co.uk.