Our latest leadership roundup contains key advice from three business leaders for budding entrepreneurs who may be looking to launch their own venture. Meanwhile, two company chiefs address the skills required for effective crisis management, and how exposure to leadership in different cultures can aid one’s self-development.
Claire Freeth - Little Burrows Montessori Nursery
Claire Freeth is the owner of Little Burrows Montessori Nursery, a nursery adhering to the Montessori style of education situated across two sites in Surrey. Speaking on a recent episode of The Leaders Council Podcast, Freeth shared some words of advice for aspiring businesspeople of the future. For her, the key element to starting any new business or organisation is for the aspiring leader to pursue a venture that they are passionate about and truly believe in.
Freeth said: “Find something that you are passionate about…that interests you. I never wake up in the morning and think, ‘I don't want to go into work today’. When I started out myself, it took several years before I was able to take a salary, so if you are going to start your own business, find something that really excites you, and makes you want to turn up every morning and do the extra hours to eventually reap the rewards.”
Shohaib Shafiq - Integrity Accountancy Services
Shohaib Shafiq, who heads up chartered management accountancy firm Integrity Accountancy Services in Birmingham, opted to talk up the value of planning thoroughly when it comes to building up any new business.
Shafiq explained: “I think the more effort you put into planning a business and starting that business lifecycle, the greater likelihood that the business venture will be successful. Although planning only goes so far, the more planning you can do, the better. This is because it forces you to look at other potential hiccups in the road, or the potential hurdles along the path and how you're going to mitigate those and get around those.”
Nick Beresford - RS Scan Lab [Enertor]
Nick Beresford is the CEO and founder of RS Scan Lab, the business behind the Enertor brand of premium insole technology utilised by various top-level athletes to enhance performance and prevent injury. Sharing his key pieces of advice for building a successful business, Beresford stressed that it was key not to become distracted by hopes of overnight success and be willing to work hard to yield returns in the long-term.
Furthermore, part of working hard to build toward that success should also contain a robust business plan.
Beresford elaborated: “The one thing to probably expect [when starting out] is that we all have these big dreams, but it is probably going to take a lot longer than anybody thinks to reap the rewards. You've got to be prepared for that. You should also ensure that your financial situation, whether that's raising money through investors, or through a bank, is robust and backed up by a solid business plan to generate revenue and profit.
“You should also be ready for some potentially tough times and be prepared for it all not to work straight away. Even at the darkest hour there are potential chinks of light and you’ve got to be agile to try to find them.”
Gregory Bell - Skipton Business Finance
Gregory Bell, CEO of Skipton Business Finance within the Skipton Building Society, also opted to stress the importance of maintaining a cool head as a leader during times of crisis. In his view, being able to effectively lead and manage through crises are one of the hallmarks of a great leader.
Sharing his own experiences of managing through the Covid-19 pandemic as a practical example, Bell explained: “Our initial crisis management [during Covid] was geared toward a making sure that we had a business that was sustainable. That was through doing the right things by existing clients and making sure that they continued to trade.
“We probably had around 20 per cent of our clients during the height of the pandemic who had zero sales going through, so they effectively mothballed themselves. We as a lender, as a mutual building society, were able to take a different approach to a lot of businesses: we offered not only the government support mechanisms, which were important, but we also offered clients relaxed fees to get access to additional funds beyond the sales ledger, which we’d traditionally fund just to really keep them going. I think that this loyalty paid off, for out of those clients 75 per cent have returned to us and they’re all doing relatively okay and recovering.
“Another important element is maintaining morale. I think from that standpoint our institution is outstanding. The level of wellbeing and support mechanisms that were offered to staff, the regular communication that was sent out, all of this made everyone feel part of the team. Communication was maintained to a good degree, and the feedback we had from regular staff wellbeing surveys was better than in prior years.”
Dr Jayne Brassington - A1 Chiro Ltd
After qualifying as a chiropractor in Australia, Dr Jayne Brassington worked in family practices in Australia, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK and the Philippines. She now resides in Scotland where she provides services to the greater Fife, Angus and Edinburgh areas at three separate sites, all of which are operated by her company A1 Chiro Ltd.
For Brassington, her exposure to leadership within different nations and different cultures and her experiences navigating multiple financial crises have helped mould her into a better leader, and she called upon hopeful entrepreneurs to be willing to embrace and learn from the difficult times and continue to power through to become successful.
Brassington recalled: “I first came over [to the UK] during the financial crisis which, from an entrepreneurial point of view, was a very chaotic time. But then within that, you'll see a lot of when people come in as immigrants, there's a lot of opportunity that we see which presents itself.
“So, when I first got here 2009, the financial crisis had really buckled the UK, both emotionally and financially. Interestingly, Australia had entered a period of recession some time before that…so coming to Scotland, during a very, very stressful time for people, that experience I had of working in different countries, and going through perhaps different financial stresses previously, was actually quite helpful.
“It was also a very interesting time to set up a business and I was trying to do this with a huge number of naysayers around me. I only had a small support group which mainly stemmed out of Australia, and it was because there was probably more of an entrepreneurial spirit there at that time with it being a younger, colonial country. So, I did see opportunity in all the disarray. I’d call upon hopeful entrepreneurs to be opportunistic in one way but compassionate in another, for with that I’ve seen the UK go from strength to strength during my time here.”
Photo by Jehyun Sung on Unsplash
