“You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over” – Richard Branson (Founder, Virgin Group)
Over the last three weeks I have provided you with a little insight to how our company was conceived (part 1 / part 2 ). We have taken a different route than we first expected and we serve our market in a very different way than we first planned. Even so, our manifesto has not changed and is still the core message for what we here at Do What You Love believe.
It has been seven months since I joined the company and it has gone in the blink of an eye. After working for over 12 years in the construction industry as a Civil Engineer it has taken a little time to adapt to my new role, but my life is very different (and infinitely better) as a result.
I thought it would be interesting to compare the differences I have noticed between working for a very large company and now working for our own small, younger company. The main areas of diffference are lifestyle, perceived security, self-actualisation, reward, diversity, politics, ethics and productivity.
The greatest difference I have noticed is how my lifestyle has changed. My previous career demanded long hours and required me to be at a certain location for a specific number of hours a day. I now have a much greater flexibility to enable me to be fully in control. And the result? I work harder – a lot harder – than before.
As we work from home there is no mindless commute (I will never miss sitting in traffic), I can decide when I want to do my exercise, how many breaks I take and even where I choose to work (office, lounge, roof terrace, cafe, beachfront etc). The flipside to this is you can find yourself working earlier in the morning and longer into the night.
If you have ever taken an Effective Time Management workshop you might have done one of those exercises which helps you understand how you work. I discovered that I work much better in the morning. I have adapted and modified my whole working environment and structured my day to allow me to do work when I am most productive. Working in an office does not always provide this opportunity.
The most exciting part of the lifestyle change is that I will be at home for the entire time my baby will be growing up. That is something I cannot put a price on. I don’t want to miss one second. (I have a feeling I may spend large portions of my day staring at her instead of working…)
I know one thing for certain. I have never had so much satisfaction from my work. Every piece of work that we put out in the world is a reflection of what we believe, and is created from a place of wanting to support others pursue their dreams. It is mindblowing to think that our community really is in all corners of the world. It is definitely worth all the effort.
“Work like there is someone working twenty-four hours a day to take it all away from you” – Mark Cuban (Owner, Dallas Mavericks)
The downside if there is one to my current lifestyle is switching off. I cannot leave the office on a Friday and not give it a second thought until Monday. This just doesn’t happen. In the beginning we were constantly chatting about what is working well, what isn’t and what we can do better. Of course we are very passionate and love what we are doing but it still isn’t healthy to do it 24/7.
We have recently got more strict about not talking about work in the evenings, or purposely going out to a cafe to talk about a specific project (rather than just brainstorming as soon as we think of it). I have removed an email account (work) from my phone and try not to check any social media site after 19:00 at night unless there is a specific launch or other one-off event on. Small things like this make a big difference.
Anyone who has moved from a large company to a small company (or vice versa) will be aware that the smaller the company the more diverse your role becomes. Basically there just aren’t the numbers of people available and it is not financially viable to have individual people for every individual job role.
Within a large company you can be ‘pigeon holed’ into doing one activity. This has its obvious advantages as you attain a confidence in your micro world and become very knowledgeable about a small yet integral part of the business. If you need something else doing you would normally just pick up the phone or email that department and they would ensure it is done. However, this can be detrimental to a company’s flexibility, and can restrict an individual’s development opportunities. You can become overly dependent upon others. You can lack the variety of work to allow for greater growth and satisfaction. You begin to question your intrinsic worth to the company. Can they simply replace you as you are defined by a role? Do you lose the ability to think on your feet and find solutions yourself instead of asking someone else?
Here at Do What You Love our roles are many and varied. They incorporate upholding the company’s manifesto in all decision making, branding, pricing strategies, marketing, partnership development, course content, course delivery, web-site development, financial and risk management and data entry – all things that you would find in any company. But the difference is that we all do a bit of many of the things required. We also do a fair bit of laughing, tea drinking, finding inspiration online and offline, creative thinking, going for long walks to dream and plan, and other ways of doing what we love.
Staying true to ‘doing what we love’ has allowed us a certain clarity as the business has grown and become busier. There comes a point when you realise there are just some tasks that are better off done by others with the correct expertise – accounting, website design and bookkeeping to name but a few.
Our bookkeeper and accountant have been on our journey with us since day one. I cannot stress enough the importance of this. Having clear, readily understandable and available accounts has allowed us to make all decisions with confidence based on what we need and what we can afford.
The coding and design of our numerous websites are now in very safe professional hands and hosted accordingly. I can promise you that if something goes wrong when your site is live and there is heavy traffic you would pay anything at that point to fix the problem. So why would we not pay the same to ensure our sites are maintained and serviced by professionals? If you have an online business then investing in decent tech support is one of the most important things you can do.
This brings me to a point that I have been asked about the most since giving up my previous career. Security. Is there more security working for a huge company? The simple answer is “I don’t know”. What is security? A company can make you redundant, or fire you, or take away benefits, pretty much whenever they like. Although with our own business we have to be responsible for bringing in enough money to support us and our team, the truth is I have never felt more secure than I do now, master of my own time and in charge of my own destiny.
We are young, dynamic and flexible. We are constantly reassessing where we are, what opportunities are on the horizon, and how we can spread our risk. This is all part of having a viable, sustainable business. Huge companies generate mammoth turnovers but if the numbers do not stack up there will not be any hesitation to cut thousands of jobs. As the old adage goes, “Turnover vanity, profit sanity”. The previous 5 or 6 years are a reminder of this.
Another major difference is the level of personal contact within a large company. If you work for a business with 500+ employees, how likely is it that you will get the chance to have a chat with your CEO or Managing Director? Would he or she stop to say hello or ask you how you are? The likely answer is no. Not because they are not great or polite people but because it is not a practical or efficient use of their time. They also have to make decisions most of us would never want and would have nightmares about if we did.
So do any of us have secure jobs? I would like to ask you this question in a slightly different way. Do you feel in control of your job?
There are a few aspects of my previous job that I do miss, mainly the people. I had the great pleasure of meeting so many diverse people on a daily basis. I have and always will be a people person and I miss the daily ‘site craic (crack)’ immensely. That said I am beginning to ‘meet’ some very inspirational people from very different circles in my role. The problem is I have hardly met any of them in person as most of what we do is online. We may need a brainstorm to do something about that…
Nearly all of my communication is now over email, which would not be my chosen medium, but reaching out globally does not allow eye-to-eye contact with every single customer – not until another meteoric advancement in technology anyway. We do strive keep a feeling of personal touch by responding to every email individually, even if it takes a little while.
I also find myself sat behind a computer for longer periods of the day. This is personally not ideal but is just a short-term situation based on the development of our company and what is required at this moment. We have plans in the pipeline that will hopefully rectify this for me. I will keep you posted!
The reward I now receive from this job wins hands down. In fact I struggle to think what my reward was at all during the final few years in my last previous job. At a very basic level, the monetary rewards are greater here at Do What You Love – and there is a pride in that pay packet that I have not felt in a long while.
For me though the wider rewards now are plenty, and perhaps more important. Writing this part has made me think about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs for the first time since college. The self-actualisation aspect is now being met. The work we do is really helping others and the thankyous we receive will always be our greatest reward, knowing that we have helped others improve their own lives. I couldn’t write better testimonials for our courses if I tried!
The direction and ethical stance we take as a company is ours to define and control. Noone else will ever dictate this. There are no politics to adhere to. Of course there are always customers to consider, and the way we want to serve them defines much of how we do what we do. But the main difference is that we have CHOSEN our customers. How is that possible? By getting clear on why we do what we do, who we want to serve and what we can deliver that will enable to do that. Then communicating in a way which attracts exactly the kind of people we want to serve – it works, I promise. We strive everyday to look for improvements and efficiencies but never shortcuts! The quality of what we deliver has to be our signature.
So there we have it – a few of my thoughts on big versus small and working for yourself. Doing What You Love will always mean something different of each and everyone of us. In terms of business we are very passionate about helping others find what this may mean. We love our customers and hope to serve them the best we can for many more years. The main thing we are giving it a go!
If you started your own company what would it be and how would you succeed? Or if you are already a business owner, how do you make sure that what you provide your customers is truly special?
Until next time…
Mr K
