Why did you get into business?
Me, I got into business to
"help people like you get rid of all the boring stuff
we have to do in business
And focus on the things humans do best"
And today I would add "make a fair living while doing that."
For me as a kid (less than 26)
it was:
Travel the world while being able to work from anywhere,
in the world.
I'm Sure
Your mission
Your values
Your Vision
Are different and thankfully so.
So may I ask, .....
What's your Simple reason that makes
Your business special
What rocks your boat
And keeps you going?
And as important
Where do you see you all in five, ten or fifteen years?
Parked out on a beach in Hawaii?
Scaling to have an impact on the world?
Both?
No judgment ... All sound admirable to me.
So, Whatever your answer was
May I ask a simple question in response?
Is Your message getting in front of Your
Most valued future customers
Who You Can, Want
and wish to serve
When they are looking for your services
on fair terms ?
Why would I ask that?
Great Question, before I answer that,
may I ask an uncomfortable question?
Would you not want to have a partner at your side
on that journey?
That's committed, clear headed and
who acts fast and slow as needed?
or a bunch of 20 somethings with
the collective experience of a newt?
Or a partner, who does not need their hand being held all the time?
Who's solved your type of problems in the past.
nah of course you don't
I've the feeling you'd prefer the bunch of 20 somethings
they're cheaper,
they're faster,
and you can tell them exactly what we want and they do it.
But, If that's the case
(and you're not going to like this)
Why hire an expert like yourself or a team of experts then ?
And that is what I mean, when I say
I am committed to help those I serve.
And believe I can add value to your business.
After You and I have a conversation and be warned
I will ask a lot of challenging, uncomfortable,
And sometimes difficult questions of you
perhaps a better way to demonstrate ....
Have you ever gotten given an impossible choice in business?
No, of course you
haven't so I'll speak hypothetically
You know one of those situations where the outcomes are uncertain.
The consequences are dire
And its keeping you up at night?
You know when, if you do sleep, it's not
"sweet dreams" rather it's nightmares
from which you wake up in a cold sweat?
Back in 2013,
I got mine, I was to hired to help an SMB
dig itself out of a hole so deep... lets say it did not look rosy.
They had 5 enterprise-level customers who would
not even talk to account managers and one of them
Contracts had been signed
Move a Data Centre, agreed
All paid for upfront
The figure that kept ringing in my ears was 172.
172 full-time employees.
I knew their wives, their kids, their friends, as I saw it, they were family.
We got to work on the agreed Bank Holiday weekend
All was going swimminly,
we'd planned and practised
the living daylights out of all of it in advance.
But at 1 am Saturday all work ground to a halt.
I got called in to a corridor with some very worried looking people
After speaking to the best tech staff we had
And I asked a fair number of "dumb questions."
I did the back of a napkin math
how long the company's insurance gonna last
what will falure look like - how bad can it be
It did't look good ..... what do you think?
The Client vs Us the SMB
what would happen if we didn't deliver the
whole set of stated works
Insurance - Minutes vs hours
Lawyers with signed contracts vs us in short
trousers, we did have cover in SoWs legally
the reputaional damage on the other hand .....
Bottomless pockets vs small IT SME
Not a great trifecta (a fancy word for 3)
Since no one else wanted to be the one that shouldered
that responsibility,
I ended up having to unravel a ball of fibre optic cables
lookin like a messy ball of string at 1:30 a.m. listening to a
good friend
light up each end of each cable so we could get at the
piece of equipment that was one half of a redundant
system
that pretty much ran their business out of where it
sat in its snug nest of cables
and moved to its new home a quarter of a mile away.
It took about 3 hours to fix,
which disappeared like smoke on the water
The great team I was working with made up the lost time
and the move was a success after that little hiccup.
Because as with any plan, we didn't see it coming.
Quick Question
Are you always looking to stack the cards in your favvour
when it comes down to it?
And......
Just like Your products or services you offer to your
customers are integrated into their organisation as part of
their teams;
You deliver value by following your values with exceptional
service and product, bound together with your people at
the heart
Nothing more and nothing less.
If that's you, then welcome
If it's not then then I wish you all the best
I do and I live by it
Our Values
We are all a team, that extends to all those we work with
We treat others like family, we love and respect and have
hard conversations with as needed
I hold myself accountable Without negative judgment
Shit happens how we deal with it, is our choice
Failure is not optional, learning is not either
The best people fail and learn, a lot, by doing it fast!
Seek outside feedback to validate your results
If it's something that can have a big impact.
Ask, it's encouraged by everyone!
One day, we all walk
It's those small steps that get you to your Moonshot.
The U.S. got Neil Armstrong to the moon Despite his best
efforts he failed, sometimes
spectacularly and sometimes tragically
Pick a hero
one just ahead of you
one far ahead of you
and one at the cosmic level
(And remember they are human too,
we all have faults) focus on your first hero,
keep the others in mind.
We treat those we deal with like family we love, and respect
(Everyone in the family sometimes has a bad day,
listen first don't seek to judge or answer fast)
OODA and ARR, we uuuuhhhh and Arr all the time
I am from Yorkshire in the UK and proud of it
A data-driven non judgmental approach
And focus Not forgetting business can be very
personal, be considerate
OODA Observe, Orient, Decide, Act, &
ARR PB After-action Review
And Pass Back learnings
We communicate, especially when it gets tough
After labelling and asking permission to proceed
FBIS A Specific
Feeling, Specific
Behaviour, Specific
Impact on you (don't use us!)
Future project the possible outcome (then shut the front
door)
We do not proceed to work
Without a signed & processed agreement
And Funds are with us
We get paid upfront
We get paid for the value we deliver not a price point
We do not fill out proposals handing out the IP of our
best people for free
P.S. The company above got to 12.5 million in managed service
recurring revenue p.a. within 5 years.
My part, I was responsible for for 2.5 of that.
Having a planned social media presence aligned to your
stories, and sales function
Used as a system!
Can transform your business.
Can and do attract your "most valued customers" into your
world and keeps the "bad ones" out, when done right
As Tony Stark said in Averngers: End Game "Its a suit of
armour around the warld", I would say ""Its a suit of
armour around Your world"
But of course I'm just some random guy
who you've never heard of
or his company. The Scaling Game
And You are just on your couch surfing on the Internet
And what I offer is just a shiny new expensive
thing to buy and to top it off
it's a startup!
on the other hand ......
maybe I am who I say I am
maybe it brings in revenue in the form of qualified
prospects without you having to spend days or weeks
chasing them down
or wasting your precious and expensive time
It's really up to you to decide
I am happy either way.
If you want to finally experience the satisfaction
when your social is aligned to your messages and values
to allow you scale, your way, on your schedule
If you want to live the pride of
scaling not just your life and business
AND you want to help others scale theirs too through your
services and products
then.....
Think About Having a natter (Eng. Conversation )
or leave it
OR change nowt (Eng. nothing) And guarented nowt
will change as my grandad used to say
UK Small Businesses 5M +
2000 UK Businesses are Started Every Week within 3 years 60% are Gone
UK
SMEs
36k
UK
SMEs 36 k +
SMEs Are not Safe based on gov. Stats Less Than 72% Make It to their 10th Year and in this economic climate even less so, do you need to be firing on all cylinders
UK Corprate
<260
The Failure Rate of Large Businsses Is Increasing The Avergage Corporrate Only Remains at the Top for about 15 Years
How It works?
Build Your Social Platforms Using Systems into Your Business to Add Value to You ANd Your Most Valued Clients.
Who Do Then Show the Love!
Still not sure?
My grandfather was a Business Owner himself, My Father and I would disagree.
Some Business Principles are Timeless.
This one is simple:
Technology changes,
Human beings have Not (depending on the study about the same for the last 300k years)
We have been exchanging goods for something for a very long time, And We are Still Making Buying Decisions the Same Way.
Looking To Get Your Business
Back Under
Your Control
Prepared To Use A.I. As Fishing net & System
rather Than a Fishing Rod of Hope
Is that Worth a Conversation?
We Can Help
Legal Ltd Company and owner of The Scaling Game
+44 (0) 7537 141 986
