Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Business

What I’ve learnt this year – My 7 Top Tips – Sharing my mistakes so you don’t have to make them

by December 26, 2024
December 26, 2024
What I’ve learnt this year – My 7 Top Tips – Sharing my mistakes so you don’t have to make them

2024 has been a year of navigating for a lot of businesses in the UK.

Navigating an election year with the subsequent budget announcement, a later Black Friday and Christmas than usual, a recession, a cost-of-living crisis, and a multitude of internal issues that require consideration from a business owner. Navigation brings failure, but it also brings learning.

So, what have I learned in this year of navigation? My first top tip: Keep the fun! For the first three quarters of this year I was absolutely miserable. By the end of Q3 I was ready to quit, because of continual staffing issues, huge rising costs without room for price increases and the general turbulence of the economy and having to constantly try to stay ahead of it. But then I realised that life is too short. We need to lighten up and try to bring the fun element back in. These thigs are going to be happening around you either way. You can choose to face them with a terrible attitude or grin and bear it.

Second, learn the difference between being kind and being nice. I’ve been guilty so many times in the past of feeling sorry for an individual and putting their individual needs before those of their colleagues and the company. It never pays. If people aren’t pulled up on their bad behaviour, you are giving them implicit consent to continue that behaviour, and the problem always gets worse.

My third learning is making sure that everything is measurable. You have a photographer, for example. What is their output requirement? For every project, for every month, for every person in the company, you need specific targets that are quantitative.

Four – go after low hanging fruit. When times are good, it’s easy to pad the team out with ‘nice to haves’. When we’re headed into a year of increased wage costs and a huge increase in employer’s NI, do we really need these roles? Is the salary at least adding that money back to the bottom line, either directly or indirectly? If not, do we need that role or could it be incorporated into another role? We know individuals can fill their day or become acquainted with a certain workload, so it doesn’t mean people aren’t working hard, but the question must be asked. Are these jobs a ‘nice to have’ or necessary for the functioning of the business?

My fifth learning is what Tony Robbins always says – you must take time out to work on the business and not in the business. You can become so entangled in the day to day weeds that it becomes difficult to stop, pull back and look at the higher level work that demands its own focus. I’m spending the quiet time between christmas and new year to really strategise on how we can reach new markets.

Sixth: the most difficult (for me, at least.) Procedures, procedures, procedures. Most entrepreneurs (including myself) hate procedures, but without them, you leave the company vulnerable to risk after risk. If any member of staff is taken out of the business, are there enough procedures for someone to step seamlessly into the role? Does their role have clear, step by step guides and expectations set? This is something that needs to be set up for every job role. This will also support tip four. When you know what goes into a role, you can measure how necessary each task is.

And finally, my seventh top tip. Either trust your staff or let them go! There is no point in hiring staff to do a job and then micro managing them. If you surround yourself with good people, they should know more than you in their chosen field. Let them get on with the job.

It’s been a really tough year, but the reason for stagnation in growth this year is due to me, as the leader. Yes, the market is tough, I mean really tough, but it’s down to me as the leader to navigate that. Half of the work of a leader is being able to hold the mirror up and recognise your failings, and then rather than beat yourself up over them, look to the team around you to compensate for some of those shortcomings.

Read more:
What I’ve learnt this year – My 7 Top Tips – Sharing my mistakes so you don’t have to make them

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
Vance is the likely 2028 frontrunner, but these Republicans may also run for president
next post
Boxing Day splurge forecast at £4.6bn despite cost-of-living concerns

You may also like

Aston Martin boss Vows to Continue Petrol Car...

April 11, 2024

How Does London University Benefits from Ai Transcription?

August 23, 2022

Government urges public sector buyers to award more...

February 14, 2025

Deepak Sharma of Aircraft Finance Lease Ltd (AFL)...

March 3, 2025

Ten million calls to HMRC go unanswered as...

September 3, 2023

SSE and TotalEnergies accelerate electric vehicle charging network...

July 16, 2024

Amazon to require self-publishers to declare if content...

September 12, 2023

Payment fears deter UK businesses from pursuing overseas...

July 15, 2024

Why businesses should go for controlled growth

April 16, 2024

HMRC’s tax gap for financial year 2021 to...

June 22, 2023

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • Trump warns Rand Paul he’s playing into ‘hands of the Democrats’ with ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ opposition

      June 1, 2025
    • White House urges Iran to accept nuclear deal as IAEA reports uranium enrichment spike

      June 1, 2025
    • Israel hostage deal in doubt as Hamas adds demands, US envoy calls terms ‘unacceptable’

      May 31, 2025
    • Iran condemns Austria over report on advanced nuclear weapons program

      May 31, 2025
    • Michelle Obama facing backlash over claim about women’s reproductive health

      May 31, 2025
    • Hamas agrees to release 10 more hostages

      May 31, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,105)
    • Investing (2,000)
    • Politics (15,453)
    • Stocks (3,119)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved