Launching a new business after 60 isn’t neat or easy. A real week of website struggles, client wins and powerful business lessons.

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Well, what a week this is turning out to be, my first foray into creating my own blog/website, finally launching last Thursday and as I’ve said, it’s not perfect and I have certainly had a few glitches on the technical side. 

But on the plus side it will evolve and improve as I learn and improve my skills. 

Writing is one thing creating the website from scratch, including all the seo, templates, themes etc is another thing altogether and has been quite the challenge. 

Yesterday I was on firmer ground visiting two of my existing clients. 

Raining again, I had decided to catch the train as parking at my second client is a challenge, although it does add to my daily step count as I always end up parking over a mile away (the railway station is actually closer to the business.) 

I arrived at my first client absolutely soaked to the skin; the purpose of this visit was to provide basic sales training for their new enthusiastic young B2B salesman. First section laughingly was on presentation, looking and sounding professional, ironic considering my bedraggled look, next time I’ll be back in my car. 

My client is a family run Manufacturing company and is now a very different proposition to when we first met, just over three years ago.  

The company had poor cash flow, poor production procedures, they were selling mainly to the general public, with old fashion brochures and weak management structure, they were struggling to stay afloat, covid lockdown had also hit them hard. 

However they had a number of terrific qualities, the owner in his sixties had enthusiasm and energy to burn, his sons are also very enthusiastic but wanted to take the company in a different direction embracing technology, but father was resistant to change. 

Fast forward to today they now have a sustainable, profitable business with solid foundations and enjoying a managed steady growth, with two distinct pathways to market. One still direct to local customers, the other business to business B2B selling into the construction industry, builders and developers in the high-end luxury market. 

I have just talked the founder of this business into co-writing a case study of how we turned this company into what it is now. 

 A warts and all recollection of changes made, some of which were very painful, some changes didn’t work, some worked slowly and evolved, hopefully this study/article will show that there is no magic dust, but with hard work and commitment and flexibility you can achieve success. 

 (Timeline to collate info and write study 2-3 months, due to owner now able to take a very long holiday.) I will literally keep you posted. 

Yesterday’s visit brought me back to the very start, I walked into an almighty row with one of the sons, the quality manager and the owner of one of their installation teams. 

A job has obviously gone very wrong, after consulting with son it was obvious that their hiring procedure, I had originally put in place, had not been followed to the letter of the law, and subsequently this installation team hadn’t been vetted correctly. 

Please check business section on why bad hires can cost you dearly. 

Especially when starting or restructuring a business we hire a lot of third-party providers so consideration must be taken carefully into their suitability for your company now and in the future, including suppliers such as acountants, website developers, solicitors etc. 

Printable checklist (PDF) available for subscribers. 

Installation team sacked a revaluation of hire procedure, checklist on wall, sales training completed, not such a bad visit after all. 

Whilst travelling  to my afternoon appointment and taking a quick lunch break, topping up on my coffee intake, my thoughts turned to my next Ropho posts some on lifestyle some on business, my next business post was going to be about goal setting and action plans (very exciting), however the idea behind Ropho is to make things as real as I can, and as we all know life never acts out in our pre-determined plan. 

At the beginning of the week, I only had one appointment booked for Wednesday morning but a telephone call from my next client changed that as he wanted to talk about his new product launch in April and as the two business are on the same train route I said “no problem I can do it tomorrow rather than wait until next week.)” 

My second client is a perfect lead to the post you will now see this week The Most Valuable Investment You Can Make in Business (And It Isn’t What You Think) 

This client is a pleasure to work with; the owner is unusual for me as all my clients come from referrals. 

He didn’t we met while walking our dogs, our conversations turned to work (what do you do etc.). 

So, it turns out he runs a small food manufacturing company, his business was growing rapidly, and he was concerned that he was out growing his current accountant, although a very nice guy he tended to work mainly with very small businesses and sole traders. 

He also wanted to purchase some new machinery; my advice this time was quite simple write a compelling up to date business plan. 

Once he had done that, I introduced him to an accountant used to dealing with quickly expanding businesses and financial experts who could help him with financing his project. 

Apart from this advice which he didn’t really need, as he would have found the right people anyway, he actually is an inspiration and follows the advice I was given years ago without realising it. Believe in yourself (he has unbelievable self-confidence) learn, he is not afraid to take calculated risks and backs himself, if things go wrong he reacts quickly to rectify any mistakes, doesn’t dwell on failures, he has developed the skills to follow his dream and surrounded himself with staff that have the skills he needs to succeed. 

This meeting was a pleasure, a review of his evolving yearly business plan, including review of year so far, what he expects in final quarter of year, and plans for next year including the launch of an exciting new product, the need for a new packaging machine to cope with expected increase in volume, sales and marketing strategy for the new product. 

In the end a very good day despite the English weather.