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BUSINESS LEARNINGS
Improving Your Business and Yourself
by Mark Blumsky (published in InBusiness Wellington)
As someone who has run businesses and spends a lot of time talking to business people, I am acutely aware how frustrating it is to have to fill in an ever increasing number of forms or to completely change the way you work just to comply with some senseless new regulation.
Surveys from Business New Zealand confirm that our businesses spend millions of dollars a year on compliance. There is clearly room for improving the business environment. As National's Associate Spokesperson for Economic Development I saw the work being done on a package of reforms to reduce tax and compliance costs, improve regulations, address critical skills shortages and slow the flood of talented Kiwis off-shore.
There is no doubt we need to address the macro-economic and technical business issues if we are to lift the standards of living in this country. However, it can be tempting for a business person to blame the Government or the bureaucrats for any and all problems in their company.
We must not lose sight of the fact that there are steps business people can take themselves to improve their business almost immediately.
One of my key "business learnings" is to find a mentor. This is someone who is wise enough to provide you with answers and tough enough to ask you the hard questions. A mentor can be in the same industry but does not have to be. You want to find someone who is successful, inspirational and who gets what you are trying to do. Establishing that personal link and investing the time to nurture it are the keys to a good mentorship.
I'm proud that my mentor is still Peter Allport - businessman, company director, public servant and above all friend. He is passing on his sound advice to another generation of entrepreneurs through the incubator system.
If asking for help from a mentor seems difficult - good. People need to periodically challenge themselves to step out of their comfort zones and do something new. Staying within the familiar is comfortable but static. "If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got." Try making a small change every day. That way, the big changes seem less daunting.
I stepped out of my comfort zone when I went from running a chain of shoe shops to being Mayor of Wellington. I hadn't planned to be Mayor. I'd never even stood for council and the last meeting I chaired had been in a tree house. However, I was able to make the jump because I knew what I wanted to achieve and had a positive attitude. The result was two terms as Wellington Mayor.
Fundamentally, it is important to be honest - even brutally honest - about yourself. The temptation is always to say that things are going well or that you are very happy. That is what others want to hear and perhaps even what we want to believe.
It is much harder to say "there are problems here" or "I need to change this". The good news is this skill can be learned. The tricky part is that you have to constantly apply it even when it makes you uncomfortable. Without personal honesty you will not appreciate your true situation and make the necessary changes.
The key is that the information and insights gained from being honest have to be used positively. There is no use in getting down on yourself or others. Take them as challenges to be beaten. Use them to your advantage. The results can be spectacular.
No one said running a business was always going to be easy.
by Mark Blumsky (published in InBusiness Wellington)
As someone who has run businesses and spends a lot of time talking to business people, I am acutely aware how frustrating it is to have to fill in an ever increasing number of forms or to completely change the way you work just to comply with some senseless new regulation.
Surveys from Business New Zealand confirm that our businesses spend millions of dollars a year on compliance. There is clearly room for improving the business environment. As National's Associate Spokesperson for Economic Development I saw the work being done on a package of reforms to reduce tax and compliance costs, improve regulations, address critical skills shortages and slow the flood of talented Kiwis off-shore.
There is no doubt we need to address the macro-economic and technical business issues if we are to lift the standards of living in this country. However, it can be tempting for a business person to blame the Government or the bureaucrats for any and all problems in their company.
We must not lose sight of the fact that there are steps business people can take themselves to improve their business almost immediately.
One of my key "business learnings" is to find a mentor. This is someone who is wise enough to provide you with answers and tough enough to ask you the hard questions. A mentor can be in the same industry but does not have to be. You want to find someone who is successful, inspirational and who gets what you are trying to do. Establishing that personal link and investing the time to nurture it are the keys to a good mentorship.
I'm proud that my mentor is still Peter Allport - businessman, company director, public servant and above all friend. He is passing on his sound advice to another generation of entrepreneurs through the incubator system.
If asking for help from a mentor seems difficult - good. People need to periodically challenge themselves to step out of their comfort zones and do something new. Staying within the familiar is comfortable but static. "If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got." Try making a small change every day. That way, the big changes seem less daunting.
I stepped out of my comfort zone when I went from running a chain of shoe shops to being Mayor of Wellington. I hadn't planned to be Mayor. I'd never even stood for council and the last meeting I chaired had been in a tree house. However, I was able to make the jump because I knew what I wanted to achieve and had a positive attitude. The result was two terms as Wellington Mayor.
Fundamentally, it is important to be honest - even brutally honest - about yourself. The temptation is always to say that things are going well or that you are very happy. That is what others want to hear and perhaps even what we want to believe.
It is much harder to say "there are problems here" or "I need to change this". The good news is this skill can be learned. The tricky part is that you have to constantly apply it even when it makes you uncomfortable. Without personal honesty you will not appreciate your true situation and make the necessary changes.
The key is that the information and insights gained from being honest have to be used positively. There is no use in getting down on yourself or others. Take them as challenges to be beaten. Use them to your advantage. The results can be spectacular.
No one said running a business was always going to be easy.
"Fundamentally it is important to be honest - even brutally honest - about yourself."
