We have just celebrated our 8th year in business at Flourish. It feels like only yesterday that I started the business from the corner of my tiny bedroom with a laptop, a mobile phone and a $48 desk from IKEA. I didn’t have a lot of tools or resources back then, but I certainly had a lot of ambition, passion and drive!
I think it’s important to stop and celebrate these milestones. I’m super proud of what Flourish has achieved over the years. We have represented some of the biggest names and brands in the world – it’s a true privilege to do what we do and it has been an incredible ride. We are so passionate about exchanging stories, expressing ideas and sharing conversations.
I’ve learnt a lot over the years and have made some mistakes, but they have taught me some valuable lessons. I value this learning process as we up-scale over the next few years. Where to next? Watch this space. We have only just begun!
Here are the top eight things I’ve learnt over the past eight years of running my own business…
1. Choose your tribe carefully – both personally and professionally
The people you surround yourself with will either make or break you. It’s really all about people. As a Creative Communications Agency, our people are our best assets, as are the people we represent and the clients we work with. At Flourish, we don’t believe in ‘cookie cutter’ campaigns so everything we do is hand crafted and very targeted. Once you learn how to attract the right people (side note; I think you need to do a lot of work on yourself first before you can attract the right people), it’s important to nurture and encourage their personal and professional growth to ensure they are always inspired and feel fulfilled within their roles.
2. Adopt a ‘givers gain’ mentality
Going into a networking session or meetings with a selfish mindset won’t get you anywhere long term. Make an effort to truly understand who is in front of you and dig deeper to REALLY understand what is important to them. I’ve learnt that when you really understand what is important to someone, you can make a massive difference to their world. Keeping people top of mind and making thoughtful connections is incredibly valuable and the little things will soon become the big things. Go the extra mile and focus on the detail – people value the little things, especially the thoughtful things you do. Aim to delight people, it’s rewarding to see the joy it brings to both parties.
3. Choose your battles
I’ve learnt this one the hard way. I can be quite passionate and fiery sometimes, but I’ve learnt that fighting fire with fire won’t get you anywhere. It’s also not worth the drama that it creates and the strain it puts on your relationships. Know when to fight for what you believe in and know when to let things go. Learning to have tough conversations in a really graceful way has been crucial. Taking emotion out of conversations and really seeing the other person’s point of view is so important. You don’t have to agree with what someone is saying, but listening and showing empathy is when true connection can occur. In most cases, people just want and need to be heard and understood.
4. Invest in a mentor
Co-mentoring has saved my soul (and more so, my business). Find someone who you trust deeply and respect, and agree to check in with each other once a week. It’s important to push, inspire and challenge each other. As a business owner, it can be a pretty lonely place, but I have a very special mentor/friend who helps keep me on track. We are not afraid to ask each other the hard questions and we keep each other accountable. We play devil’s advocate on many things and it really helps to pull you out of your own head and hear a different perspective. We also back each other 100%. It’s one of the most precious relationships I’ve had in the last eight years of running my business.
5. Get a hobby!
It will benefit your mind, soul and personal relationships. I always thought hobbies were for people that weren’t as committed as I was. I used to prance around town saying, ‘there’s no such thing as the work/life balance…it’s JUST LIFE’. HA! I was so wrong – you do need balance and time to switch off. The moment I found a hobby was the moment the business really started to win. Suddenly, I became more creative and my problem-solving skills improved dramatically. My hobby (horse riding) has also made me a much calmer person as it has allowed me to be more mindful, think more clearly and in general, be more in touch with the world around me – inside and outside of work life. A burnt-out, cranky leader doesn’t benefit anyone.
6. Execution is more important than ideas.
We get so frazzled that people may ‘steal’ our ideas. And they will. Many times. See it as a compliment. I’ve learnt that execution is actually so much more valuable than presenting a concept. Share your ideas freely, because the gold is in the execution.
7. Don’t be afraid to talk dollars
I’ve learnt to understand and enjoy the numbers. Finding the right accountant who understands my goals has been so important. I’ve found that people don’t like to talk about money in meetings which fascinates me. A lot of people want to talk about money over email and not face-to-face. I used to hate talking about money too, especially in the early days, but I’ve learnt to be at ease when talking about our fees. I think you get comfortable with this when you truly understand the value that you and your business brings to a client.
8. Be open to change, delegation and collaboration if you want to up-scale.
As a self-confessed control freak I must admit, I struggled with this for the first five years. I wanted to be across everything, wanted to do everything and wanted to be everywhere! You just can’t. It doesn’t serve anyone well. I’ve learnt to hire smarter, and assign key roles and responsibilities to people that are better at certain tasks than I am. I understand now that the only constant is change. I’ve changed my mindset on how I view change and I completely embrace it now. I’ve also realised, as a business, your true power is in the clever collaborations and partnerships that you form. I originally wanted to ‘own’ everything (again…the control thing) but you really must learn to trust and learn how to let go of the reins if you want to grow and expand your business.