Author: Martin Port

In 2023, the survival of most businesses depends on technology.

If you aren’t making the most of the platforms, software, and tools out there, your rivals certainly will – and they’ll have the edge. 

The right tech can drive efficiency, boost productivity, increase sales, supercharge your customer service, all while cutting costs.

It’s never been easier for early-stage businesses to leverage cutting edge technologies, from AI tools to insightful analytics – once these were only available to big corporations with enterprise budgets but now, it’s truly a level playing field.

I’ll give you an example.

I recently helped to reinvent a social enterprise here in Leeds. While it is a small, local outfit, I have been determined to give it all the right tech tools to succeed.

Despite having few team members – and just one delivery driver – Street Lane Bakery is on BigChange. This has been massive for everyone involved, as we now have a process for everything, be that health and safety checks, cleaning, fulfilling orders and more. We are slicker, more efficient, and more able to grow safely – and we offer the same level of service as a much bigger bakery.

Every business owner who wants growth needs to think this way – what processes could eradicate paperwork and give the team back their precious time. Also, what business intelligence am I generating within my business that could help me make better decisions in day and tomorrow?

It goes without saying that every business needs a website and/or social media. Modern companies also need some kind of communication tool, be that a newsletter engine to reach out to customers, or an internal messaging app like Teams.

Accounting software is another tech “must-have”. Today, founders need to spend their time doing high value activities – finding customers, strategising, collaborating… They don’t need to be up all night, hunting through old receipts, while they file their tax return. Especially not now, with Making Tax Digital and quarterly reporting. Providers like Sage, which offer cloud-based tools that you can access from anywhere, are particularly effective.

Crucially, you want all your applications and tools to work seamlessly together. You want to have as many as possible bundled together for easy access and a more intuitive user experience.

Technology will never replace the human touch. I’m a firm believer that all this amazing technology, be it AI, chatbots, or cloud software, they all have their place. However, people want to do business with people. Call me old-fashioned but I believe if a customer has an issue, they want to speak to a person, not a bot. Luckily, the best tech exists to make these interactions easier and more meaningful.

Failing to use the tech tools at our disposal is a mistake – a study by the IZA Institute of Labour Economics in Germany in 2021 showed that a failure to adopt technological innovations was stifling entrepreneurship and the nation’s economic growth. Don’t let slow tech adoption lead to the failure of your venture.

In my twenties and thirties, I survived on 4 hours sleep a night. In my forties I would get five hours. During the pandemic, when I was working from home and ditched my commute, I reached the dizzy heights of six hours shuteye each night. My passion for building businesses has often meant that rest has taken a back seat throughout my life.

However, whereas once my lack of sleep was by choice, in recent years, deep, restful sleep has eluded me.

In 2018, I was diagnosed with mild sleep apnoea. This is a sleep disorder whereby your breathing stops and starts overnight. It can be very serious as your brain may be starved of oxygen.

I didn’t take this diagnosis seriously.

I didn’t want to wear a mask overnight. I wasn’t interested in being plugged into a machine. I felt that I could manage very well on my own.

How wrong I was.

I recently went back to the doctor to review my sleep apnoea and it is now much worse. I wake up around 60 times an hour. I only get one hour and 15 minutes of deep sleep a night – the rest of the time, I hover between sleep and wakefulness. 

I knew that I felt tired. I knew that I was struggling to keep my eyes open at times, and that I was more irritable and had a shorter fuse. But I was so used to feeling that way that I had forgotten what a good night’s sleep felt like.

I’m hugely ambitious. I know that BigChange is well on its way to becoming a unicorn. As chairman and founder, I need to be on top of my game, constantly problem-solving and strategising. But you can’t see the big picture when you’re peering out at the world through tired eyes. 

I posted about the importance of sleep a couple of years ago. It’s a topic that fascinates me – probably because I have had so little of this precious commodity in my own life.

To summarise, studies have shown that lack of sleep leads to poorer decisions, more stress, and deteriorating health. Someone told me an anecdote recently about the CEO of Philips banning all employees from doing deals after a long flight. Apparently – and I do not know if this is apocryphal – executives would have to sign a contract saying they would wait a whole 24 hours from landing, to ensure they had a full night’s sleep first.

I believe in the power of sleep because I have recently experienced the effects of a full night of rest for the first time. I finally bit the bullet and began using my sleep apnoea machine. Yes, it’s noisy and cumbersome – but who cares. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I wake in the morning feeling on top of the world. After a few days of good sleep, my waking hours are a revelation. I feel truly reinvigorated. Is this how everyone feels after a decent kip? How have I lived without it for so long?

I still wake before 6am every morning but I have clocked in five hours of deep sleep. That’s four times what I was surviving on previously.

Sleep apnoea is one of the most common sleep disorders on the planet. In the UK alone, it is estimated that 1.5m people are living with it – and 85% of those are undiagnosed.

If you are running a business, you need to sleep. The better the sleep quality, the higher your productivity. So, if you think you may have sleep apnoea, let this be your wake-up call – go and get the test. And if you know that you’re running on empty, cancel your 7am meeting and have a lie in. You won’t regret it.

I’ve been in business for a long time. Long enough to remember the bad old days. Entrepreneurs were seen as ruthless, money-crazed workaholics, who used the language of warfare to describe growing a business.

“We’re going to kill the competition”

“Take no prisoners”

“Here’s the battle plan”

These stereotypes were perpetuated by the likes of Lord Sugar on The Apprentice and the investors on Dragons’ Den. However, I’m glad to say that, in 2023, the language of leadership and entrepreneurship is very different.

These days, one of the greatest attributes of any entrepreneur is kindness, and the ability to listen and empathise. Great leaders don’t make unreasonable demands, they understand their people, engaging and motivating them to bring their best selves to work.

I was reminded of this recently, by my son Josh, when I was being… less than kind. I’m not perfect, and when life is stressful, I can have a short temper and make too many demands of people – most notably my wife Mandy. I must also remain mindful that my hearing issues also mean I need to try harder than most to be a good listener and understand the nuance in what I’m being told. Josh asked me to be kinder, and he was right. 

A century ago, fear could generate respect. Today I don’t believe that is the case. People respect those who respect them back, showing kindness and consideration.

Even a hard-nosed businessman can’t ignore the studies supporting the kind approach. This Harvard Study shows that acts of kindness make people happier and a happier workplace means greater staff retention, less friction, and ultimately happier customers. A recent survey by Gallup found that being recognised at work reduced burnout and absenteeism, and improved well-being.

But being a kind leader is about more than trying to improve productivity. We should be kind because it is right, because it sets a positive example to others, and because, as the Greek storyteller Aesop once wrote: “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”

When BigChange’s CEO, Richard Warley, joined the business, I saw in him a great entrepreneur who understood the value of listening. He has always treated people with respect and leads with kindness. We speak regularly and may not always agree on everything, but he always takes the time to hear and consider my point of view.

What does kindness look like in leadership? Here’s an example:

If someone is leaving the business, take the time to ask them why, and say how sorry you are that they have found a new position. Tell them the door is always open for them to come back and wish them well.

Entrepreneurs are busy people with a lot on their plate but that should never be an excuse for being unkind. As the Dalai Lama XIV once said: “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. And be kinder than is necessary.”

Your company is a Premier League side, and your salespeople are your strikers
 
I like to think of BigChange as a football team. We are top of the league, bringing new talent to the pitch, delighting the fans, and scoring more goals than any other side.
 
We are Manchester City.
 
Bear with me. This analogy is going somewhere…
 
Over the next few months, I want to shine a light on all the departments within BigChange that work so tirelessly to make our business and platform a success. Today, I want to start with sales.
 
To build a successful team, you need a balance of attacking and defensive players. This is the same in business: you need your goal scorers and your sweepers. The strikers are your salespeople. They are focused on hitting targets, driving growth, and maintaining momentum. Your defensive players are your customer service people.
 
Sales sometimes gets a bad rap. I posted about this a few years ago. We are always selling, whether we are leading a meeting, wowing a client, explaining an idea, or even trying to get a better deal on a purchase. I love this quote from Estee Lauder, the founder of the eponymous beauty empire: “I have never worked a day in my life without selling. If I believe in something, I sell it, and I sell it hard.”
 
Great salespeople are extraordinary individuals. They are driven, tenacious and self-motivated. They refuse to lose. The traits are so valuable in business – and in life. I have always invested in a topflight sales team across every business I have founded. My advice to other entrepreneurs: make great salespeople your first priority, not your last.
 
You can have the best product in the world, but without salespeople, who is going to hear about it? Sales drive a business forward. Sales generate cash. Without sales, you don’t have a company at all.
 
I’m immensely proud of our sales aces here at BigChange. They are committed, smart, and proactive individuals. Led by our very own Pep Guardiola, Charlie Bartfield, this team is truly in the Premier League. They relentlessly practice their craft by reviewing performance – just like players who watch reruns of matches. They graduate the BigChange University as gurus, so they understand the platform and features inside out – just like top footballers know the game plan and tactics for a match.
 
We are very lucky to have extremely high retention in sales at BigChange. In 10 years, we have probably lost about three people. I like to think that says a lot about our culture, our remuneration strategy, our incentives, and the way we promote from within.
 
An example of how we do things differently is our generous holiday package, our commitment to the local community and supporting charities, and the fact that we don’t cap what salespeople can earn.
 
Thank you to my Manchester City strikers – you are Erling Haaland, Riyad Mahrez, Julián Álvarez, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gündogan.
 
#people #culture #growth #success

Be passionate. Be honest. But don’t be a bully

Bullying. It’s a word that’s rarely out of the headlines these days. From Whitehall to the racetrack to our emergency services, it seems that many leaders have a problem with abusive behaviour within their organisations.

I count myself lucky that in all the years I have been in business, I’ve never had to deal with this cultural phenomenon within my team. My businesses have all won awards for being great places to work.

It’s not all luck, however. I pride myself in being very clear about the kind of behaviour I find unacceptable in the workplace. I am a spiritual man, who lives by a set of unshakable principles. I try and avoid extremes of emotion, for example – I am very rarely angry or frustrated. If I do lose my temper, I know to take a beat and remove myself from the situation rather than say something I might regret later. I try to lead with empathy, putting myself into other people’s shoes whenever I can.

I also try and emphasise the positive contributions that people make, taking them on the journey with me. If you make your colleagues feel valued and supported, they bring their best selves to work and there are fewer disagreements.

Of course, you can’t control every variable. There will always be people within your organisation that don’t get on, or rub each other up the wrong way. But the key is to create a workplace culture that makes it clear bullying will not be tolerated and sets out a process for diffusing troubling situations between members of the team.

The world has changed a lot in the time that I’ve been an entrepreneur. It used to be totally acceptable for company bosses to rant and rave at their people (not that I ever did). Leaders didn’t think of team members as equals, but as workers – only one step up from servants really. Bosses were never called by their first names. Humiliation and fury were used to discipline people, creating a toxic environment for many.

These days, it’s all about leading with empathy. You have to adjust your tone and style of leadership for each individual, understanding what might motivate one person will leave another colleague in tears. It’s a lot more complex to be a leader today but the workplace is much better off because of this evolution.

If you want to make sure you eradicate bullying from your organisation, or ensure it never rears its ugly head in the first place, follow these five rules:

Click on the image to read my blog #entrepreneur#leaders#work#empathy#culture#teamBigChange

Sometimes, I speak to founders and leaders about their businesses, and I’m left wondering: do you really want to succeed?

“I don’t like getting up early.”

“We lost the contract and there’s nothing I can do.”

“We only have two people in customer service, so they are overwhelmed.”

Honestly, what are you thinking?

To be successful in business – and in life – you need to push yourself way beyond your perceived limits. I’m talking about effort, endurance and determination, here.

If you’re the kind of person that isn’t willing to get up at 5am or work late into the night to meet a vital deadline, you might as well shut up shop right now and get a 9-5 job.

If you are someone who takes “no” for an answer and slinks off with your tail between your legs every time a door is slammed in your face, then entrepreneurship is not for you.

And if you aren’t willing to invest in customer service, if you’re anything less than obsessed with making sure that everyone who buys from you feels special, then your company’s days are numbered.

Times are tough right now for many business owners. Costs are high, and we are all battling challenging economic headwinds here in the UK. But so what? During the lifetime of any company, there will be ups and downs. I’ve survived three recessions during my time as an entrepreneur. I’ve seen stagflation, credit crunches, you name it. You can’t control the economy; you can only control your reaction.

Here’s what I’ve learned from running businesses through tough times:

–      You have to work twice as hard

To get through the bad times, you need to put in twice the hours. You have to throw yourself into selling, constantly looking for ways to delight and serve your customers. Even in the deepest recessions, organisations still need to spend money – how can you secure some of that spend?

–      Refuse to lose

If you lose a contract or a deal, don’t think that’s the end of the story. It’s just the beginning. There’s always a way to come back from failure – tweak the package, find new and clever ways to get in front of decision-makers. The important thing is that you don’t quit, and that you truly believe that your product or service is the best solution on the market.

–      Set an example to your people

If you want your team to give their all, you need to be visible, present and engaging. Get down into the trenches, explain what needs to be done, make sure everyone knows what role they have to play, and then make sure you are there to support them.

–      Let technology bear some of the weight

Technology is amazing! There are some incredible platforms out there that can help drive efficiency and help your company survive tough times. I built one of them! BigChange not only helps thousands of businesses across the globe to be more successful, it’s also the platform we use ourselves. We have 400 licences, and use every single feature, from invoicing to job planning.

–      Double your customer service department

In good times and bad, customer service can be the difference between success and failure. In every business I’ve started, I’ve created customer service teams that are double the average size. Put your arms around the customer, make them feel valued and supported, and you’ll never lose a contract.

–      Don’t cut corners

When times are tough, it can be tempting to forget about compliance. That is a big mistake. Don’t avoid compliance, embrace it. Even when your to-do list feels impossible, prioritise health and safety and regulatory compliance. You won’t regret it.

–      Don’t watch the competition

Too many business owners waste time watching rivals. It’s a waste of time! Focus on your product and your customers. Anything else is just a distraction, and you may end up copying a bad strategy, following the competition down a blind alley. You are your own competition. Try and beat your own personal best, every day.