2024 was a turbulent year for many businesses in the UK.
Navigating an election year with the next budget announcement, Black Friday and a later-than-usual Christmas, a recession, a critical cost of living situation, and a host of internal issues need to be considered for the business owner. Navigating brings failure, but it also brings learning.
So, what did I learn from this year of wandering? My first top tip: Keep it fun! In the first three months of this year I was miserable. By the end of Q3 I was ready to give up, due to ongoing labor issues, large cost increases with no room for inflation and economic turmoil and always trying to stay ahead of it. But then I realized that life is too short. We need to relax and try to bring back the fun factor. These trends will happen around you anyway. You can choose to face them with a negative attitude or grin and bear it.
Second, learn the difference between being kind and being nice. I have been guilty many times in the past of feeling sorry for the individual and putting their needs before those of their colleagues and the company. It doesn’t pay at all. If people are not drawn into their bad behavior, you give them implicit permission to continue that behavior, and the problem always gets worse.
My third learning is to make sure everything is measurable. You have a photographer, for example. What is their withdrawal requirement? For every project, every month, for everyone in the company, you need some measurable goals.
Four – go after the low-hanging fruit. When times are good, it’s easy to dismiss the group as ‘nice to have’. As we enter a year of rising wage costs and massive increases in employer NI, do we really need these roles? Does the salary at least add that amount to the bottom line, directly or indirectly? If not, do we need that role or can it be put into another role? We know that people can fill their day or get used to a certain job, so it doesn’t mean that people don’t work hard, but the question has to be asked. Are these functions a ‘nice to have’ or are they necessary for business operations?
My fifth learning is what Tony Robbins always says – you should spend time working on the business and not on the business. You can be weeded out day by day until it’s hard to stop, take a step back and look at the high level work you want to focus on. I use the quiet period between Christmas and the new year to strategize how we can reach new markets.
Sixth: the hardest (for me, at least.) Procedures, procedures, procedures. Many entrepreneurs (myself included) hate processes, but without them, you leave the company vulnerable to risk after risk. If any member of staff is removed from the business, are there adequate procedures for someone to seamlessly step into the role? Does their role have clear, step-by-step instructions and set expectations? This is something that needs to be established in every job role. This will also support the fourth tip. If you know what goes into a role, you can gauge how demanding each job is.
And finally, my seventh top tip. Trust your employees or let them go! There is no need to hire workers to do the work and then manage it lightly. If you surround yourself with the right people, they should know more than you in their chosen field. Let them get on with the job.
It was a really tough year, but the reason for the slow growth this year is because of me as a leader. Yes, the market is tough, I mean really tough, but it’s up to me as a leader to navigate that. Part of a leader’s job is to be able to hold a mirror up and see your own mistakes, and instead of beating yourself up over them, look to the team around you to compensate for some of those mistakes.
