Mind your own business.

Last year I was one of the keynote speakers at the 2014 Small Business Growth conference held in Cape Town.

Preparing for the talk, titled “Mind your own Business”, I took inspiration from the title of a book about Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric: Control your destiny or someone else will.

As an entrepreneur you may passionately believe that your product or service will be rewarded with the success you think it deserves, but unless you actively take control of the basics in your business during the start-up phase, chances are someone or something may change that destiny. Frankly, business plans are a waste of time if you do not first master the basics of gut instinct, think-on-your feet decision-making.

Starting a business, BrandsRock, in the heart of a recession and growing it over 5 years into a successful marketing agency, I now know what Jack meant. I learnt the hard (and expensive) way that blind faith, common sense and ruthless focus are crucial ingredients required to master the daunting challenges of a start-up venture. What I also know is that people were, are and will always be the key driver of the ultimate success.

All the mistakes (and there were many) made along the way were a valuable part of the learning curve that helped to shape the success of our business. It also serves as a personal reminder of how important the balance between eating the humble pie of failure and can-do courage needs to be.

Reward came in the form of the Publicis Groupe who acquired The BrandsRock Group in October last year and today we proudly operate as Saatchi & Saatchi BrandsRock.

Upon reflection I believe the main reasons for surviving the start-up gauntlet and ultimately achieving personal and business success comes down to 5 key lessons:

1. Be Inspired.

Inspiration sits at the heart of any start-up. Inspiration fuels the belief that it can be done and that nothing is impossible, no matter what the odds. It is also the most compelling motivation that provides a paradoxical protection against the logic and reality of risk aversion and the high odds of failure.

I find constant inspiration from a powerful blend of amazing people. Firstly, close family and loyal friends who believe in you no matter what. Madiba, whose enduring legacy should still inspire anyone to start a business in our free market democracy. Anton Rupert, a personal mentor and pioneer of entrepreneurship in South Africa, who as a young entrepreneur failed a few times before hitting his stride. Nigel Bogle & John Hegarty, the founders of BBH, one of the greatest global agencies and the original blueprint for BrandsRock. Finally, I seek inspiration from a team of amazing individuals with whom I get to work with every single day.

2. Think people, not ideas.

Peter Drucker said: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”.

I agree.

We’ve often been asked, “What gave BrandsRock its unique identity?”

Simple answer - The people!

We were defined and inspired by purpose, values and culture— not just the creative ideas, campaign outputs or services we offered. Staff were by far our most important asset and they remained the key driver of all our business successes. Simply put, the BrandsRock team was a cohesive mix of youthful enthusiasm, blended with the seasoned wisdom of experience.

Staff that are inspired and motivated to pitch up to work are just that more productive and committed. Create the space for them to make mistakes and to learn from them. Celebrate small successes, not just big ones. Reward initiative. Acknowledge hard work and personal progress and create the balance of working hard and playing hard. The ideas will follow, thrive and drive growth.

3. Think speed, not perfection.

“Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.” - Yoda

Too often logic drives us to want to create value in the processes and programs, which we can most precisely measure. Consequently we often invest huge amounts of energy and time in being precisely wrong rather than driving to be approximately right.

Entrepreneurial leadership is for the most part rooted in the ability to make quick decisions, sometimes on the spot and often without the luxury of time to ‘think things over’.

"Just do it."

4. Consistency.

I believe consistency to be the most under-valued driver of business success today and it is often the fundamental difference between failure and success.

Why?

Because consistency builds trust whilst inconsistency feeds complexity and creates distrust. Consistency allows for measurement. Consistency creates accountability. Consistency maintains your message and amplifies its impact.

In our industry, growth requires a track record of success. You cannot establish a track record if you are constantly shifting goal posts or trying new tactics. Staff and clients need a predictable flow of information, consistent leadership behavior and consistent performance. Too often I see brands and businesses adopt a campaign or initiative only to end it before it gains traction. Time and money wasted.

I often look at the success of Burberry to see the power of consistency in action.

Consistency = One vision. One culture. One company. One brand.

5. Strategy is doing, not thinking.

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it." - Yogi Berra

I find that the problem with really smart business people is that they are used to seeking and finding the right answer, at any cost - unfortunately with strategy there is never just a single right answer.

Strategy is simply about making decisions, not over thinking about how to make the right one. It requires making choices about an uncertain future and that is difficult, especially when as an entrepreneur you do not have the luxury of big corporate research, strategy tools and processes.

Common sense, gut instinct and a deep understanding of context are in my opinion the necessary drivers of strategic decision-making, especially if you are an entrepreneur and arguably being your own boss does allow you the ‘freedom’ to do just that. I often remind myself of the fact that great entrepreneurs like Anton Rupert, Richard Branson and Steve Jobs did just that and created successful legacies where the current business and brand strategies are still defined by their courageous decisions.

Finally, Zig Ziglar was right when he said: "You don’t build a business. You build people and then people build the business."

I deeply believe that to be true. It is the main reason why I still enjoy what I do.