A year ago today, I did my first live radio show! Not sure if it seems longer than that, or shorter?
On yesterday’s almost-birthday edition of the programme, my guest was Paul Zipzer, a local business adviser with Business Link – who was a complete natural! If there were any nerves, they didn’t show. I always know when an interview has gone really well, because I lose all track of time – then suddenly realise I’m about to run over. That’s exactly what happened yesterday.
We started by looking at the government’s current policy, to encourage people into self-employment. The main focus is on those who have or are likely to lose their jobs thanks to the public sector spending cuts, as well as the long-term unemployed. Self-employment is often promoted as the perfect solution for anyone who finds themselves out of work – but Paul made what I consider to be the vital point, that running a business isn’t for everyone. ‘You may be absolutely brilliant at what you do,’ he said, ‘but that doesn’t mean you’re going to be good at running a business’. As someone who could never describe herself as a born businesswoman – I’ve had to learn everything from the ground up – I’d have to second that.
That’s why some people who try to turn their hobby into a business struggle – sometimes losing the hobby (or at least the enjoyment of it) and not gaining a viable commercial enterprise.
Paul highlighted the need for independent research (beyond the biased safety of friends and family), and for properly structured business planning.
We also spoke about the particular kind of discipline you need if you’re going to work from home – something which has come up on the programme more than once over the last year! We agreed on the best solution to the problem of going stir-crazy – getting out to network! As I’ve said before, too many people see that purely as a sales and marketing exercise – but done properly, it’s so much more than that. It’s a chance to brainstorm, bounce ideas around, share experience, get informal support – and to learn, and learn, and learn!
I said at one point that one of the biggest challenges I’ve come across in my years in business has been having to do two jobs. ‘Well, actually,’ he said, ‘I’d say there were three: you start off as the entrepreneur, with the big idea – and all the planning to do before you can get started; then you become the technician, spending all your time actually doing the job; but then you have to become the manager – managing the business, customer expectations and perhaps staff. The trouble is, a lot of people get stuck somewhere between technician and manager – and the poor old entrepreneur gets completely forgotten!’ Paul’s answer to this problem is to spend at least half a day every few months, stepping back, reviewing the business plan, looking at what’s been achieved, what hasn’t, why – and where next.
Good advice – I wonder how many of us follow it…?
‘Working for yourself can mean working longer hours for less money to start with,’ he explained, ‘but if you’re happy to do that, you can reap the rewards later.’
We finished by briefly outlining the upcoming changes to Business Link – from a regionally-based organization to a national one. Te changes com into effect on 25th November – so I’ll come back to them in more detail later.
We closed the show with Dire Straits ‘Money for Nothing’ – because too many people still think being your own boss is an easy option – but as anyone who’s done it knows, it’s anything but.
Feedback: A painful noise? Or music to your ears?
A couple of years ago, I did a presentation under this title. It was all about the similarities I’d spoted between two apparently completely different kinds of feedback – the horrible, high-pitched whistling noise you get in a studio, or with a PA system, when the mic is too close to a speaker or a pair of headphones and the sound circles around between the two, and negative comments from customers.
I hadn’t thought of it in ages – until yesterday.
I’m currently adapting a series of training courses I normally deliver personally, into downloadable packages. If you’ve never done that, it isn’t as easy as it looks. When I’m face to face with a client or group of clients, although I follow the same basic process each time, their questions and feedback play a significant role in deciding what we focus on and how I deliver the information.. The online version has to include everything and be user-friendly for everyone who wants to use it.
As I’m too close to the subject and the material to judge whether I’m hitting either of those objectives, I’ve asked a small group of people to road-test the course as I develop it. Yesterday saw the first major milestone, when I sent them the first draft of the first module.
To be honest, I was quite surprised how nervous I was – it was almost as bad as when I hit the ‘Send’ button and emailed out the very first draft of the book!
A few hours later, I was sitting in the radio studio, interviewing Caroline Thomas of Sales Scene and Louise Innes of Dotty Hippo Design, about the Thurrock Network Group and their ‘Thurrock’s Den’ project at this weekend’s T-Fest. If you’re in the area, go and check out their stand – there’s a great prize on offer for the best videoed business pitch, courtesy of the Park Inn Thurrock, Sales Scene and Dotty Hippo Design.
The interview went really well – both girls know their stuff inside out and are passionate about their subject – but through the whole thing, I could hear the familiar high howl of feedback in my headphones – OUCH! There was nothing obviously wrong and as we were live on air, there wasn’t much I could do by way of investigation – so I just had to grin and bear it – and solve it at the earliest opportunity (before the poor listener ran as far from the radio as possible, holding their ears!)
So what’s the connection between those two events? Well, as I said at the beginning, audio feedback happens when a mic gets too close to an output source. It’s a nasty noise – it can actually hurt if it’s loud enough – but it does alert you pretty quickly to the fact that there’s a problem which will, if it’s left unchecked, drive listeners away. It’s usually quite easily fixed, by putting distance between the two bits of kit which are annoying each other.
In business, we often fight shy of getting too close to our customers, in case we hear something that hurts, don’t we? I’m twitching at the moment, waiting for my test-drivers to come back to me. I’d love them to tell me my first efforts are wonderful and I should just keep doing what I’m doing – but realistically, I know they’re far more likely to offer constructive criticism. Some of it might even sting a bit – but at least it’ll tell me where the issues are at this early stage and I’ll be able to fix them before the product hits the market – and prospective paying customers vote with their hard-earned!
We tend to see complaints etc as problems – but shouldn’t we actually see them as opportunities to improve? Rather than being painful noises (avoided by putting a distance between us and the critic), shouldn’t they be music to our ears? I’m certainly trying to see them that way at the moment!