Hi again – two things I’ve learned so far this year

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Well it’s been a rollercoaster 2011 so far, and updating this blog has been one of those tasks that has slipped down the order of necessity. So whilst I have a few minutes spare, I thought I’d write two things I’ve learned over the past three months.

1. Business is easier when it’s not just you!

Zest has been running for almost a year now and has grown healthily over that period. When I first took the plunge of going self-employed, I only knew the theory about what to expect. I never once believed it would be easy, but I was certain it would be exciting. Learning from other business people has been one of the most rewarding (and time consuming) parts of doing it. I would never have thought the support for start-ups in Oxfordshire would be this great.

This month we’ve grown the team, hiring a good friend of mine, Alex Quail, as a lead consultant. The feeling of having the extra man/brain/ideas/body has made me realise how important the first employee really is. And more crucially, how pressed I was without him. Managing clients and a business, and delivering on both, is almost an impossible task in my view. You can have one but not the other, and ultimately it’s a choice you have to make between being a freelancer or a business.

2. Having a geek gene helps

I’ve always been into technology, and it’s shaped my life pretty significantly. When starting Zest, I was completely focused on making it an efficient business from the start. Whilst I can only learn some things through experience, there were elements I have full control of.

One of these is remote collaboration. Our systems allow anybody to fit in to our model seamlessly, from anywhere in the world. Nothing of any importance is stored on a local machine, and talking over Skype/gTalk is second nature now. It’s still (and always will be) evolving all the time, and anyone who joins us will have their input. Collaborating on a spreadsheet, whilst discussing strategy over Skype is alien to most small businesses. And to be honest, I’m glad I’m in the minority. Things are so much easier this way!

I often think back to why I was so heart-set on this set up. The answer goes way back to university where I attended a D&AD talk by Matt Pyke of Universal Everything. Although just a minute part of the talk, his collaborative setup inspired me to follow in his footsteps. This has been a major factor in the growth of the company and will continue to aid it in future I’m sure.

The above has been a major factor in why I’ve been so negligent towards this blog. My third point, if there was one, would be understanding how quickly time flies. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve just been crazy busy, or because I’m having so much fun. Either way it’s flown by. Weekends are obliterated before they even arrive, and finding time to fit everything in is a real challenge!

My next move is definitely to invest in a book on time/lifestyle management, so any suggestions would be welcomed! You can message me on twitter @AlexMinchin if you have any

(Tips on how to create more time in order to actually read it would be helpful too!)