Back in January this year (it seems another world away!), Mark discovered and shared some CEO secrets from a new BBC online resource. Since lockdown, a lot of new content has been added, so he thought it was time to have another dig round to see what new insights he could find.
The focus for much of the recent content in the BBC ‘CEO secrets’ online series is around people who have seized the opportunities presented to them (either voluntarily or as a result of redundancy) to start their own businesses during lockdown. There’s an interesting fact here that almost 50% more businesses were created in June 2020 than in June 2019, according to the Centre for Entrepreneurs. That means that an awful lot of people are trying something new and are perhaps at the very early stages of development. This also means they have some great lessons to share, which I think are highly relevant to existing businesses who might need to adapt to a different way of doing business.
Here are a few nuggets of good advice I found:
“It pays to remember that you’re starting from scratch and it doesn’t really matter what you did before.” Sara McCorquodale, CEO of CORQ.
“Now is the time – why not take the risk? You have nothing to lose.” Sophie Southwood, CEO of Scentsations Floristry.
“I have times when I’m scared but I’ve decided to let fate take its journey.” Jasvinder Kalsi, CEO of MĀRĪCĪ.
“Think about the bigger picture. If you’ve got a goal, and it’s the best thing for your family in the future, you have to push through. Your kids will thank you for it in the future as they’ll see you living your dream.” Suzanne Pattinson, CEO of Soul Purpose.
“I have mornings doing business things, and in the afternoon I’m a mother. In the evenings I might catch up with a few emails, that’s how I’ve made it work.” Anna Wilson, CEO of Pairs Scotland.
“If you feel it, just do it.” Feyi Raimi-Abraham, CEO of The Black Dementia Company.
“Just do one small thing every day that makes your business idea more real.” Sonny Drinkwater, CEO of Snackcess.
“Don’t be intimidated by the typical image of an entrepreneur as a bold 20-something with nothing to lose.” Kavin Wadhar, CEO of KidCoachApp.
I really love the great energy and enthusiasm these new entrepreneurs show as they’ve taken the plunge to start something new. Of course, it takes huge amounts of time, focus, passion and sometimes money to make a success of a new business and it really is hard work. But who knows which will be the FTSE company of the future?
Finally, I’ll leave you with some great advice from Waterstones’ CEO James Daunt, who says simply that to thrive and/or survive, businesses need to “respond to what your customers want of you.” Plain, simple and clear!
There are loads more top tips from CEOs and entrepreneurs over at BBC CEO secrets.
