Sometimes You Just Need To Bother Yourself

Wow – what an incredible day.  No-one can say that working for yourself is a dull life.  I'm exhausted but at the same time motivated by the people I’ve met today.

Life as a start-up can be quite a lonely existence so following an inspired blog post by @TaylorMadeInKew  I decided that perhaps it was time for me to leave the keyboard, stop being virtual and go find some “business” friends.

After a little searching I discovered Business Builders on LinkedIn – a networking event for people who own businesses in my local area.

I have previously attended just one networking event in my career (many years ago) and I’ll be honest, it was enough to put me off attending a second.  The uncomfortable small talk and the predictable exchange of business cards.  Not my thing.

So, when the alarm went off at 6am this morning, I hit the snooze button…twice.

Then a little piece of advice that I was given 12 years ago jumped to the front of my mind.

About 5 years into my career I thought about changing from client side marketing to agency side. A friend put me in touch with a lady who suggested I shadow her for an afternoon.  She ran her own marketing agency.

On the way to a client meeting she told me “Sometimes Sarah, you just need to bother yourself to get on with it”.

So I did.  I got out of bed.  Got dressed in the dark (literally) and crept out the house without waking anyone…not even the cat!

As I parked the car I thought “who in their right mind goes to a networking breakfast at 7am in the morning?” but to my surprise about 40 other business owners had the same crazy idea.

Everyone delivered their “60 second pitch” – a slightly daunting but incredibly useful way to focus and present your value proposition to a room full of strangers.

This was followed by informally meeting people you thought might be a useful connection and then finally, a 30 minute talk about a topic that would stretch across everyone’s business – this week it was about leadership.

Here are some nuggets/quotes I took from the session:

• Leaders are people who inspire others to follow. People in a position of leadership are often there through promotion or job application.  The two terms are slightly different but an individual can be both
• Finding your passion and purpose in life is essential if you want to attract the right people to your business
• Employees are ambassadors for your brand – how you treat them will reflect on how they treat your customers
• People don’t care what you know, until they know that you care. Listen first.

Networking doesn't feel like the right word to be honest.  It felt more like a community of like-minded folks who were ready to exchange, refer, support and advise.

Needless to say, I’ll be going back.

I hot footed it out of there at 10.30am (by which time my body clock thought it was lunch time) and then over to Innovation Space in Portsmouth to check out options for renting office space.

Innovation Space is a great scheme that brings start-up businesses together with university students and graduates.   Businesses today need to manage a multi-generational workforce and the leaders of the future will be the most tech savvy.

What better way to keep a company ‘young at heart’ than aligning to schemes where internships and placements can bring value to both parties.

The most ironic and quite amazing part of this story occurred when I walked around the building.

As I stepped onto floor 3, I came face-to-face with the same woman who imparted the “bother yourself” advice all those years ago.  I hadn't seen her since that day but remembered her advice which actually got me there in the first place.

Ironic?  Weird?  Karma?  Who knows.

So, on reflection, I’ve learned a few lessons today.

1. Keep an open mind – opportunities are everywhere. You just need to recognise them.
2. Never pre-judge (events, people …anything!)
3. Don’t get dressed in the dark. Label sticking out of jacket.  #awkward
4. Listen first.
5. Take lots of business cards…everywhere…even to the toilets.
6. Value the people in your network. You never know when you might bump into them.
7. Keep bothering yourself.  Even on the tough days.