When Time is Up »

As an entrepreneur you will encounter all different stages with your company, but more important also your own. As your company grows you will find yourself with more work and less time at the same moment. That’s not a bad thing, just something you have to cope with and reorganize within your own work process.

The next step you take is usually getting the tools to work faster, know more and be efficient. Your employees register their own hours and are highly self-employed with work as they become more experienced within their jobs as well. Being an engineer scholar I entrusted my people with all operational tasks and project work, restricting myself to being an entrepreneur, project manager and salesperson.

When all operational work is off your desk you will have time to think again. That’s when you notice you’re doing a lot of stuff you’re not supposed to: administration, telephone calls, putting stamps on the invoices and ordering stuff. Next to this - but you don’t miss it when you don’t have it - is accounting, legal and debtors management. Slowly you’re spending more and more time learning about this and - as this is not what you’ve been trained for - getting mediocre stuff off the shelve. This is the time to get yourself a good accountant and legal advisor (doesn’t have to be a lawyer at first).

Fast forward to my situation today, still left with the office work, project management and sales. Now this has become a too big of a job for one person alone. You still try to be smart, manage things differently, try to automate, but all what’s left is human work. Well, better get the ‘dirty work’ off my shoulders now and get an office manager / secretary. This should offload the unstructured phonecalls, arrangement of meetings and putting the stamps on the invoices.

Every step along the way there’s should be a cost/benefit analysis of your situation. There are no predefined steps as each improvement should fit the company, entrepreneur and situation at the same time - you might need a secretary from the start - but there are always ways to increase your playtime and offload you with less important stuff.

There’s always one major factor that can accellerate or limit your company’s growth more than anything else; and that factor is YOU. So when time is up take a break to think straight again… and reorganize.

Related subjects: entrepreneur work management management self-improvement

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Golf is good for business! »

Last week I had an amazing golf experience. With two tournaments lining up on Thursday and Friday, this would be the end of the summer events and one last shot to see how much has been improved in my game this year. Then it happened… due to bad weather both tournaments were cancelled.

This left me back at the office with time to spend, two days in a row. You have to know that is a scary thought, as my schedule usually doesn’t allow me to do much of my own stuff. Well, let’s clean some stuff up I though.

Spending the first day literally throwing everything away made me realize how much junk was in my office. Even stuff from 2002 was in my archive cabinet as printing out was still pretty popular at that time. Seeing all this paper go down the drain made me realize I needed a digital office; no more printing out.

The next it was my laptop and business software’s turn. Clean all up, archive, discard things that aren’t relevant anymore. Spending your day like this will make you realize junk is not restricted to ‘the real world’ alone.

One of the most important changes the cleanup made for me was the realization I do not want to print out documents anymore. I will keep them digital and will make my notes digital. Next to that, I don’t want anymore stuff to move into my office as - at one point - it has to be carried out as well. How much stuff do you really need? When you think of this, a lot of things in your house and office don’t make sense or serve a need at that moment. When you’re done with it, sell it or throw it away, don’t keep large basements.

Wow, I’m really satisfied with my office now. Let’s play a game of golf to celebrate it…

Related subjects: entrepreneur golf

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Second half 2010 a (Google) Wave for IT companies? »

2010 has been an interesting year so far. Recession can still be felt, although some companies - like my own - seem to thrive during this period. Traditional sectors seem to be caught by the distress much worse, which will cause them to cut back personnel and expenses. Next to that, they seem to increase spending on IT for more flexibility and efficiency.

The IT companies are on a wave right now, but is this good or not? Having to increase the amount of resources will cause investments to be made, while clients knocking at the door will take larger terms to pay the goods. This will bring a lot of IT companies to the ever growing risk of cashflow shortage. Unless you’ve seen the bad times before, chances are young entrepreneurs may not have the reserves and will be caught in a bad spot.

It will be interesting to see how smaller IT companies will cope with this. You can have a healthy company with loads of clients, but when you don’t have cashflow you’re at the mercy of the banks or the tax office. Cashflow shortage is one of the biggest threats of every enterprise. But what will happen to the companies expecting their software? They will suffer yet another loss when the IT company goes broke and will set back their efficiency some months or years. Still, most companies will opt for a slower payment.

Fact is, most clients see their IT companies as a supplies, which in most cases they are. But when their core business processes are automated by that company they will need those experience and skills to survive, whether they will like it or not. When your company is in the last category, better treat your IT company as a partner instead of a supplier. A body can’t move (easily) without its legs and cannot make new things without its arms. IT has become just in the last 10 years.

So what will it be for the second half of 2010? Will it be like riding on a wave, or will it be like Google Wave? I actually think IT companies can choose themselves. There is no shortage of work for the small to midsized ISV’s and when you’re not on the cowmarket (putting peope at the client’s office and expecting money for that, regardless of result) you should be good. It now comes down to the managerial skills of the often young(er) entrepreneurs.

It will be interesting to see who’s going to ride the wave… and who will be under it.

Related subjects: entrepreneur software it management

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Break your own rules »

Getting comfortable with the uncomfortable can be quite a challenge. Ever since you start being an entrepreneur there is a lot of things that will have to be done outside your own comfort zone. Will this ever stop?

Some people thrive outside their comfort zone. Apart from the adrenaline junkies that build a lifestyle out of this there are a lot of people out there who are at their best when a big challenge is ahead. I am personally at my best when under pressure to perform, although I do like being within my comfort zone.

When you have a job that is diverse and gives you new challenges and people to meet everyday you will become more and more accustomed to dealing and wheeling when things come. As time goes on and your company grows the challenges - and woes - also get bigger. It will be hard to stay focussed and positive, because any negative influence will be likely to be bigger as well. Key to this is that you have to accept this as a fact of life and deal with it. If you can’t get comfortable with this, better stay small and enjoy your success.

Any progress you will make with your company will also mean change for yourself. These two things might not always be in sync, but it is important to be aware of this. Having personal issues can reflect heavily on your company and may set this in a tailspin as well, as can be the other way around. Be sure to target yourself as a piece of your business as well and try to find a good balance so negative issues won’t set you off for too long. Deal with them and move on. Break your own rules to get comfortable with these situations.

Related subjects: entrepreneur

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What I learned from my toilet »

Last week was the first time in many years that I was really sick. Being an entrepreneur you can’t afford to have a cold and you just work by it, but with sick I mean flat down fever in bed and having conversations with your toilet. That kind of sick.

I haven’t experienced it in a long time and I wouldn’t recommend such a day to anybody, but the days after were like a revelation. When your tank is depleted and you are ready to fill it up again you can experience every piece of food and the reaction it has an your body. Fruit went in as if it was ice cream and every cup of tea went down the inner river and you can follow it through down to your belly.

If you haven’t stopped reading by now, hooray for you as here comes the actual case I am making. Because the illness forced me to ‘reset’ myself I really became aware what all this food was doing with me. I’ve cut down on the ‘bad’ food immediately. There’s still the occasional snack, but it is a choice I am aware of.

Every business will have its good and its bad times as well. My company has had its ‘reset’ some years ago and has been growing ever since. Many good things can happen when you’re on a low point and are forced to survive. It’s not something you can control, but it is something you can take advantage of.

Being an entrepreneur means seeing opportunities where others won’t see them. It means never giving up and being at your best when you have to. It means being aware that all your actions as a leader will reflect on your company. That’s what I gained from talking to my toilet.

Related subjects: entrepreneur

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