The Successful Founder Magazine Summer 2020

CREATING AND LIVING THE LIFE YOU DESIRE

25Success Advice

Covid-19 Special Edition

Secrets Articles

MARKETING & PR SKILLS KNOW HOW

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RCROWDFUNDING Expert Advice SUCCESS SECRETS Articles Inside

Enhancing Staff Wellbeing

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Cars, Travel, Dine & Moreto Thrive The New Normal - Embracing Change

EDITOR’S LETTER DEAR READER, Welcome to this first special edition of The Successful Founder Magazine.

This special issue focuses on recovering from Covid 19, and thriving - possibly with an alternative way of working. You’ll find features on how to engage remote working staff, essential safety operations, pitching in uncertain times and much, much more.

In addition to reading our digital and print magazine, do also visit us online at www.thesuccessfulfounder.com for daily new articles, and join us on our socials – details below.

Finally if you’ve any suggestions or great stories to tell, we’d love to hear from you. Drop us a note on team@thesuccessfulfounder.com.

My very best wishes, LISA EDITOR IN CHIEF Visit our website - www.thesuccesfulfounder.com Find us on Issuu - issuu.com/thesuccesfulfounder Follow us on our socials - @thesuccessfulfounder

EDITOR IN CHIEF Lisa Curtiss

team@ thesuccessfulfounder.com

EDITORIAL & DESIGN TEAM Brooke Sealey Gayle Penny Gemma Smith Karen Coombs Luke Penny ADVERTISING, SPONSORSHIP, SUBSCRIPTIONS & DISTRIBUTION team@ thesuccessfulfounder.com

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Top tips for handling the challenges of remote working Remote working is a joy to a few and a significant challenge to many. How can you, as a startup founder, help your team members and yourself to handle the challenges and make the most of an experience that will be new to many of you?

Let’s look at three key challenges 1. Lack of boundaries between work-life and home-life For people new to working from home one of the challenges can be the sudden dissolutions of role boundaries. One minute the division between work and home is clear, the next it’s all happening in the same place.

Usually the expectation when we are at work in the office is that we act ‘as if’ we have no other roles in life. In return, when we’re at home, we can forget about work. This boundary has been steadily eroded since the advent of the mobile phone. But the idea of two different domains held and most people had a transition zone from one the other; the commute. In the main it was clear that different rules applied in the two different domains.

Now, for the first time for you and those working in your startup, the two domains of at-work and not-at-work are happening in the same physical space with not even a transition zone between them. While trying to be ‘at work’, people are surrounded by cues that nudge towards not being at work: doorbells, hungry cats, laundry waiting to be hung, tables that need clearing, grass that needs cutting or a thirsty looking garden. It’s easy to end up feeling that you are neither working as conscientiously as you would like, nor are you keeping your home as you like it. How can we manage work-

life balance in this new situation?

How to deal with this There are different ways of dealing with this.

You can pretend there is still a boundary: put on the suit, enter the office with your packed lunch, and not emerge until you’ve ‘finished work’. For most people this is impossible, for a minority the structure and routine will be essential.

A better strategy for most of us is to go for balance rather than boundaries. Encourage everyone in your team to take a break from the computer every 40 minutes or so and also do so yourself. This is both on mental effectiveness grounds, it’s hard to concentrate fully for much longer, and on physical health grounds, it’s not good to stay sitting still for long stretches.

So taking a break and doing something active for 10 minutes, such as watering the plants, hanging up the laundry, or playing with the dog is important.

Whatever strategy you choose, it’s a good idea to have a clear marker between predominantly work time, and predominantly home time. So take a run, have a shower, or mix a cocktail to mark the transition for yourself and those around you.

2. The challenge of staying motivated For some people the challenge becomes one of motivation. Without the regular blips of pleasure they experience joshing with colleagues or chatting inconsequentially about nothing much, the day begins to seem all work and no pleasure. In this situation mood can quickly drop and then it can be hard to motivate ourselves to get on with things,

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especially things we aren’t looking forward to, don’t enjoy, or find hard to do.

How to motivate yourself There are a number of ways entrepreneurs can manage this. Some are general techniques from regular work management advice. Break big projects down into small tasks. Set clear targets for the next hour, day, week. Make a list, prioritise it, and tick things off as you achieve them. Take breaks. Decide at the end of the previous day what the first task is for tomorrow.

Then there are more psychological tips. For example, use a task that you are looking forward to as a reward to yourself for doing the less pleasant one first. Do hard tasks in small bursts, followed by a reward of some kind, or taking five minutes exercise going to post that letter.

In addition, you can focus on how you can use your strengths to help you achieve your goals. Strengths are the things we can do naturally, easily. Using our strengths tends to be motivating and confidence building and enjoyable. Think about how you can recraft your job so that you spend more time using your strengths while you are working. If you want to know more about strengths you can take a free strengths test here, or you can purchase a pack of strengths cards to use at home, for a good selection look here.

Proactively manage your mood. Notice when you are starting to flag, becoming lethargic, or cutting corners you wouldn’t normally. Many people are astonished at how much more productive they are away from the distractions of an office, the interruptions, the meetings and all the social chat. This means you are likely to be working harder or concentrating for longer periods, both of which are tiring. Think not about the hours you are putting in, but about the mental energy you are expending. Pay attention to the signs that you are becoming fatigued and take a break.

You can boost your mood by doing something physical, by ringing someone for a chat, or by watching something funny, for example. Think

about what gives you a little blip of pleasure and be sure to include many of them in your day.

3. The effect on relationships Finally, I want to think about the effect of working from home on relationships. For many entrepreneurs and their staff their main relationship network is their work colleagues.

Quite often the people they work with are also the people they socialise with. Working from home, especially under C-19 conditions, can cause a real change in the pattern of the relationships. Sustained for years by daily incidental contact, fuelled by interest in the ongoing mini-sagas, or latest leisure passions, they tootle along without anyone needing to give them much thought. When those opportunities for lots of micro-moments of connection are suddenly lost, the friendship, which seemed so solid, can whither on the vine.

What to do The most important thing is to notice what is happening. Entrepreneurs, and team members of an extrovert nature are most likely to quickly miss the camaraderie of work and to start picking up the phone to call colleagues or to set up a zoom meeting the moment they are bored or need a distraction. The less naturally social need to make a much more conscious effort to stay in touch and may prefer to do it through texts and emails, sending things they think will interest their colleagues. Even so, it’s a good idea to make sure you speak to someone in a social downtime way, rather than a purposeful work-oriented way at least once a day. Easy if you are living with others, much harder if you live on your own, but very important to your health and wellbeing.

A sudden move to remote working is a challenge for startups and for more established businesses. Entrepreneurs need to use their drive and adaptability to help themselves and their teams to make the necessary adjustments.

I hope these tips will help for today and so for the long-term.

By Sarah Lewis, C.Psychol., Appreciating Change.

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Comprehensive guide on how to get back to business speedily & safely As fellow entrepreneur and startup founders you will probably be delighted to be able to get your team members or at least some of them back to work in your office or other premise.

However, we all need to approach these next few months with due caution. We aren’t out of the woods yet. You still need to keep a close eye on your bottom line, while also investing in all the necessary health and safety measures to keep you, your staff and your clients safe.

It can be somewhat nerve-racking, but with good preparation, and a solid understanding of ever-changing government regulations, there’s no reason your business can’t bounce back to pre-corona levels.

In this 10-point guide, we’ll break down the most important steps that entrepreneurs should be taking today. If you want to reopen quickly and safely, this is the stuff you need to know.

A quick note on the legal requirements of reopening during a pandemic What follows is simply our advice on getting back to business the best you can. And while we will be referencing government guidelines throughout, it is important to read these guidelines in full yourself, before reopening your site — particularly with regards to the status of lockdown, which could quickly change.

Here’s how you prepare for business as (un) usual, in the rest of 2020 and beyond...

1. Reviewing all government guidelines, and take the necessary actions When it comes to getting your office up and running post lockdown, the priority for entrepreneurs is to review and follow all government guidelines. This is vital to both comply with the law, and protect the safety of yourself, your staff and your clients.

The government has released official guidelines that cover eight key sections, ranging from social distancing rules to potential PPE requirements.

2. Conducting a COVID-19 risk assessment As an employer, it is your legal responsibility to protect the wellbeing of staff, suppliers and clients. Of course, this has always been the case but a pandemic like Covid -19 requires totally new health and safety precautions and a laser-focus on assessing risk.

That’s why the HSE (the government agency responsible for Health & Safety regulation in the UK) have issued new guidelines that require businesses to carry out new risk assessments in regards to COVID-19.

You can read through their official guide for more information on what this needs to cover specifically, and you can frame your assessment with this recommended template.

But, generally speaking, your coronavirus risk assessment should highlight all the things you’re going to do to limit the risks of COVID-19 within your space.

This should include enforcing social distancing

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rules, setting up precise cleaning procedures, providing the necessary PPE, and keeping your staff up to date with how you’re going to protect them.

your toilet cleaning schedule. And ask your staff to wipe down their desks as much as possible — especially if they’re working a shift, picking up from someone else, or preparing to hand over to a colleague.

Once you’ve ticked those boxes, it’s worth displaying the government’s risk assessment certificate somewhere visible — to help put everyone’s minds at ease.

Government guidelines advise that your ‘usual cleaning products’ will be sufficient for this. So long as you stick to bleach or alcohol-based solutions, your efforts will be effective.

3. Offering hand sanitising Government guidelines advise that frequent handwashing is the most effective way of preventing the spread of coronavirus. But frequent bathroom trips aren’t always practical particularly for startups in a small and very busy office. This is where hand sanitisers come in.

“Hot desking” or sharing of workstations should be avoided for the foreseeable future if at all possible. If you have a cafeteria, be extra vigilant that it follows all government guidelines for food hygiene before resuming service.

When picking a hand sanitiser, it’s important to be sure that it contains a WHO approved formula and is at least 60% alcohol-based.

You’ll also need to think about how the hand sanitiser is presented within your office.

Dispensing stations, for example, are a great idea, as they make it clear that hand sanitiser is available. Placing sanitiser dispensers near your front door, in kitchens, and around desk spaces, shows staff and clients how seriously you are taking the fight against coronavirus — you can even get dispenser units customised with your own corporate branding!

4. Disinfecting and cleaning generally Keeping your surfaces COVID-secure is going to be a team effort. So, create a clear and focused rota, outlining everything that needs doing.

First, focus on the key surfaces that pose the most risk, computer desks, keyboards, kitchen worktops and any communal office equipment (like pens and notebooks). Ideally, these should be cleaned after every use. That’s why a rota is so important — it’ll help to organise whose responsibility that is throughout the day.

Next, create procedures that encourage cleanliness more generally. Really ramp up

5. Providing PPE Government guidelines stipulate that PPE is only essential in medical environments (other than the new rules for face masks in shops coming in from 24th July 2020). But your staff (and clients) might feel more comfortable if they are wearing a face covering while at work in offices etc. Talk to your staff about how they’re feeling and make face masks available should they need them.

Depending on the size of your commercial space, you could also consider installing plexiglass screens around reception desks where social distancing might be difficult to maintain.

6. Offering flexible work arrangements Government rules state that all businesses must provide flexible work arrangements whenever possible. This, most importantly, means allowing your staff to continue working from home if they can.

It’s also important to retain a degree of flexibility in general, too — especially for those at higher risk. Try to be understanding of people’s homelives and responsibilities; if they need to care for a friend, or home-school their child, you should support them in this.

And, of course, grant immediate time off if anyone reports coronavirus symptoms.

Remember, it’s still mandatory for those with a fever or new, persistent cough to self-isolate under government guidelines.

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7. Enforcing social distancing rules Official government guidelines state that all staff and visitors must keep a 1m (in England) or 2m (elsewhere) distance at all times. This is the best and most effective way of preventing the spread of coronavirus, as it decreases person-to-person transmission.

To enforce social distancing measures in your space, you should: a). Provide 1m / 2m markers that remind staff, clients and visitors what proper social distancing looks like b) Be mindful of the amount of staff working each day/shift c) Space out desks as much as possible d) Consider alternate ‘work from home’ days if office space is tight Break areas should be reassessed, too. If it’s difficult for staff to maintain social distancing while on break, you should consider closing small communal areas, and staggering break times as much as you can.

8. Providing clear guidelines and signage throughout your premises While we’re surrounded by coronavirus news most of the time, it’s still wise to leave a few health and hygiene reminders around your office.

We’ve already mentioned 1m / 2m markings, but there are a number of other visual cues you can lean on during this time. Posters are a great way of reminding people to wash or sanitise their hands, always cover their mouth when they cough, and sneeze either into a tissue or their arm if necessary.

Additionally, if you choose to implement any new procedures — like staggered breaks, or closure of communal kitchen areas — do all you can to make this as clear as possible, to avoid any confusion or frustration.

9. Managing the risk of transmission When, or if, 1m / 2m distancing isn’t possible, you should do all you can to manage the risk of transmission. This means providing alternative and new ways of working that put the safety of your staff and any visitors first.

If, for example, your office space gets easily crowded, you should definitely encourage your staff to work from home as much as they can and/or take client meetings off-site, in an outdoor area of a local cafe, if they can.

And again, plexiglass screens are a great way of avoiding staff-to-client contact at reception desks when welcoming any new or returning clients into your premises.

10. Consistently monitoring employee health (and general circumstances) Monitoring the health of your employees is an extremely important part of protecting them, you and your startup or growth business.

Each day, you should check in with your staff and ask about their health and general circumstances. If a member of your team is unwell, or if someone in their household has symptoms, you should take immediate action and grant them sick leave — as advised by the government.

You should also encourage your staff to be open and honest with you about their situations. This means showing understanding, and making it easy for your team to request time off if they need it.

We all need to play our part in containing the virus. As entrepreneurs we need do everything necessary in our startups and growth businesses and contribute to wider community efforts.

By Hugo Tilmouth, founder of CleanedUp.

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If your team is working apart what can you do to build and maintain camaraderie?

Many entrepreneurs had to move rapidly to get their team and themselves working from home when lockdown started. And, as quickly as we settle into this new way of running our businesses, things are changing again. Some homeworking team members will now be returning to the workplace, at least for some of the week.

While those working from home may now be finding the novelty of working in their PJs and being able to put a load of washing on between calls and emails is rubbing off, those at the start of the trickle of the returning workforce will be faced with fresh anxieties; such as whether their journey is safe and how it will feel being in the office without many of their colleagues.

What can entrepreneurs do to support their team in this next phase? Now is not the time to get complacent about your team’s mental wellbeing. Indeed, you should be revisiting the concerns you had initially about keeping your team in touch and connected and, most importantly, retaining the sense of camaraderie that can be lost when people are working apart.

Increasing and maintaining camaraderie will be vital for startups and growth businesses in the current circumstances. Here are some ideas for taking action:

THE WORK ANGLE Regular video meetings Zoom, Skype, Facetime. All have been wellutilised over recent weeks. It’s not only important to speak regularly, it’s important to see your team members, read their facial expressions and body language and smile at one another! Ideally, these communications should be regular and scheduled. These give everyone points in the week to look forward to and to keep them motivated.

Really make sure that everyone is given a voice during these meetings. If there are too many faces on the screen, some might melt into the background. Make time for everyone to speak and be listened to. This is crucial for mental wellbeing and to enhance feelings of togetherness and team building.

Set working hours

While this may not be possible for all business models, if you can, give everyone a set working day. Give them a start time and set times for tea and lunch breaks and a finishing time.

You can then encourage them to ‘have lunch’ with a colleague and get to know them better.

Also ensure that they are able to separate work and home life. If they are staying at their workstation to finish a project and not leaving

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until 7pm, they are not likely to be motivated to start at 9am the next day and a lack of routine can be very demotivating.

Motivate your team to achieve together

There are few feelings as good as when you achieve something as part of a team! In the office, you can high-five when you hit a target or finish that project. That’s not so easy when you are all in different places. However, there are ways to help your team feel together when they are apart.

Remind your team of the core values of your startup/growth business. Discuss these in a group, focusing on how they can be applied and tweaked to fit with the current situation.

Ensuring everyone engages with these values is critical for a successful business and even more so when working remotely.

You could encourage your team to have – and share - morning motivations, where they each write down “What I accomplished yesterday…

What I am planning today… What the challenges are for today”. This is a moveable feast and one that colleagues can talk to each other about; “I had a similar challenge last week, this is how I approached it, and this is what worked”. “I have the same plan today, shall we speak later to see how we’re both getting on”.

Having regular brainstorming sessions is a good idea and entrepreneurs should encourage team members to call with new ideas. Again, voice or video calls are preferable to email, keeping communication verbal and more fluid and interactive.

THE PLAY ANGLE Socialise “at work”

The culture of business has changed so much over recent years; it is far more sociable in its nature. So, keep this going. You will have to trust your team to spend an appropriate amount of time socialising within the framework of the working day but it is likely to be highly motivating and encourage that camaraderie if they can still have a virtual chat by the water cooler, using an app such as Tandem.chat or set up a group chat on WhatsApp. Alternatively, why not suggest they play an online game in their tea break? For example, they could play scrabble on Facebook or a site such as Lexulous or fans of Uno can play online either one-onone or in groups.

Drinks after work

Perhaps your team like nothing better than a ‘quick one’ after work together or a curry night the Friday after payday. While that may not be immediately possible, there are other ways they can socialise after work.

It’s probably best to let them choose an activity they all enjoy but, for example, a cook and wine evening might be fun. Each team member can take a turn in demonstrating their favourite recipe and suggesting a chosen glass of wine to go with it. Perhaps one of your team is a fish expert and can tell you how to cook sea bass and recommend their favourite Sancerre to compliment it. Keep the pressure off. If they want to demonstrate how to make a pot noodle while drinking tea, that is also good!

Or go all out on a wine tasting evening with nibbles or a cheese board, taking it in turns for the choice of three or four wines, playing some favourite music in the background or sharing your chosen playlist.

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Fitness fun

Perhaps your team is more likely to hook up at the gym or gather for a casual five-a-side game. A team fitness challenge could be a great way for your team to socialise, while boosting their physical and mental wellbeing through exercise. Of course, they can’t go to the park and have a run together, but they could all go to their own local park and have a run at the same time. Then they could share photos on the chat group of your choice. Or make it a walk that they all do in different locations and chat throughout about what they are seeing.

Perhaps one is in the countryside, one at the beach and another simply walking round their garden.

sounds, you may be able to replicate it and give your team some fun to take their minds off everything. It will take some creative thinking but perhaps they could all go fishing at their own local catch-and-return lake and have a competition to see who can catch the biggest.

Or, instead of go-karting, they could play online karting games together. What about a day at the races? Your team could dress up, get the prosecco on ice, and bet on races being run abroad. You know your team. If you can, give them a fun treat!

BRINGING THE TWO TOGETHER

If you’re a startup and haven’t yet you’ve paid enough attention to this – don’t worry. Now is a good time to get the wellbeing ball rolling with some fun, virtual activities. Support the development of camaraderie and you’ll support your team’s mental wellbeing and strengthen their ability to work together seamlessly.

Team training

By Craig Bulow, the founder of Corporate Away Days,

Some startups may still be working at full steam, but others will have slowed down. Perhaps now is the time to get some training booked in. Again, to boost camaraderie, try to include team training that will benefit everyone, even if it’s not specific to everyone’s role. Training can be done via video calling. If you like to use outside trainers get in touch and see what they are offering.

If your team roles are diverse, you could make the training about something non-work related or have a slot each week where each team member spends some time giving more detail about his/her role. This will let your team better appreciate different aspects of your business and the pressures on their colleagues.

Organise a (non) away day

Of course, a great thing to build team spirit is an away day together. As impossible as this

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Identifying and Reducing Stress as an Entrepreneur It was made official earlier this year, in the HSE’s health and safety at work report 2018/19, that we’re more stressed, anxious and depressed than ever.

Furthermore, since the report was released in January 2020, the world has suffered through the defining global health crisis of our time.

It’s true, the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic is the greatest economic challenge we’ve faced since World War Two. Taking this into account, it seems natural that entrepreneurs - known for their risk-taking and business initiative - might be feeling the pressure of industrial slowdown particularly sharply right now.

It’s important that those focused on building their empire don’t ignore the signs of stress, but instead equip themselves with the tools to recognize and manage it effectively.

What does stress feel like?

Stress can be defined as the degree to which you feel overwhelmed or unable to cope as a result of pressures that are unmanageable.

As entrepreneurs with a high workload and high work intensity (not to mention financial pressures and the burden of taking sole responsibility for hard decisions), it seems obvious that, to a certain extent, stress simply comes as part of the job.

However, it’s important not to forget the key motivations for entrepreneurialism; these often include things like freedom,

flexibility, autonomy, and a sense of personal achievement. All these traits are proven to lead to happier, healthier individuals.

This means we shouldn’t just accept stress as an inevitability of business ownership, especially if it regularly outweighs feelings of accomplishment, success, and happiness.

Signs that stress may be getting out of control include: Physical problems: If you’re getting minor illnesses such as colds more often, that can be a sign of stress wearing you down. Headaches and muscle pains may also suggest you’re under stress, especially if they’re happening more often than usual.

Difficulty concentrating or making decisions: When we’re overwhelmed, it can feel impossible to function at our normal levels.

If you’re anxious, struggling with motivation and finding it hard to continue your day-to-day tasks, your stress levels could be getting out of hand.

Coping mechanisms: Most people use coping mechanisms of one kind or another to get through the harder parts of life. These can be healthy, such as exercise or a creative hobby.

They can also be destructive, like drinking to excess regularly. With many of the usual routes to de-stress taken away because of the coronavirus, it’s true that many are finding it harder to handle stress constructively.

Managing stress There are things entrepreneurs can do to help manage stress for themselves (and their staff

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members if they have them). Staying aware and not ignoring the warning signs of stress can help keep burnout at bay, as well as contributing to increased productivity, reduced sick days, and lower staff turnover rates for your business.

It’s not something we often hear in the business world, but prioritizing mental health is just as important as any other function your business needs to be successful and continue to grow.

As the leader of your company, it’s down to you to set the right tone from the top. Whether you have a team working with you already, or whether you one day hope to, members of staff will look to you to see that you take your own wellbeing seriously.

Setting the right tone here might be as simple as taking a flexible approach to work, so as to make time for personal/family commitments, or it could be hiring people managers who understand the importance of good listeningskills and empathy. Whatever form this sort of positive behavioral modelling takes for you, nurturing a strong, consistent tone from the top will go a long way towards setting standards of personal care and keeping a lid on stress in the future.

For business leaders feeling the pressure, connecting with like-minded entrepreneurs and business leaders is also a good way to manage stress. After all, who doesn’t need to vent out a problem or issue every once in a while?

It can be helpful to meet other people who have been through the same thing and gather feedback (maybe even a little empathy) on the subject. Doing so will help entrepreneurs recognize that others have been through, and successfully overcome, similar stressful problems, and this can help put things into perspective.

Extending this idea slightly, finding an experienced mentor might be better yet. A good mentor with an informed vision of the bigger picture can be invaluable. If you admire

a businessperson in your community, it’s always worth reaching out to see if they’re free for a coffee.

As a final note, it’s so important that, as entrepreneurs, we keep conversation going around stress – no matter what industry we work within.

Cultures of silence surrounding mental health issues like stress have built up over decades, and it’s up to the next generation of business leaders to continually reinforce the positive behavioral change that’s needed to tackle it.

By Darren Hockley, International.

MD

at

DeltaNet

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The challenges and opportunities of launching a business during a global pandemic “Your business is going to be booming at the end of all this” – a sentence I hear pretty much every time I speak to anyone about The Soke, a mental health concept scheduled for launch in October 2020. Of course, this was never the plan. When I set out to create a modern solution for private outpatient behavioural healthcare, I didn’t envision that the lead up to our opening would coincide with a global pandemic that would cause an unprecedented rise in demand for such services.

Whilst it may seem to the casual observer that this is good news for a start-up like ours, the reality is that it plays very little into our model beyond the considerations that are currently relevant to any business: what steps can we take to minimise any risks to our staff and clients; what measures can we put in place to mitigate disruption in a future lockdown?

Of course, the increase in conversations about depression, anxiety and other common obstacles to psychological wellbeing is helpful to any organisation whose focal point is a message of normalisation, but this in itself is not enough. As well as seeming relevant today, organisations must have a strategy for viability tomorrow or they will suffer the same fate as the millions of well-intentioned start-ups who fail to sustainably realise the visions of their founders.

So what of the challenges and opportunities of launching a business during a global pandemic?

Periods of adversity are always going to present an opportunity for those inclined to think quickly and creatively in responding to needs that have

been created by the circumstances. The risk, however, is that at some point the outlook will improve and, unless those individuals have adopted a long-term view and created a model that is resilient beyond the crisis, then socioeconomic recovery will not be good news for their business. Sustainability demands forward thinking, so the vigilant approach would be to build a durable identity around a reliable business and entrust colleagues to look after its operations today, whilst founders use their natural and acquired skillsets to prepare for what’s on the horizon tomorrow.

Another opening that often presents in a decline is the availability of good people.

Some may have lost their positions through redundancies and lay-offs, others may find themselves with a window of clarity through which to reassess their careers and ambitions. With the latter group in particular, if an individual is even entertaining the idea of turning their back on a secure position to join a start-up in a downturn, then she or he should be deemed as showing a propensity towards “vision” – a good quality for any founder looking to build their dream team. Top tip: you can’t do it alone. Many people with good ideas think that by working hard they can succeed single-handedly (albeit with the occasional help of ‘dispensable’ staff). Unfortunately, working hard is not a differentiator: anyone can do it – including your competition. The smart alternative, therefore, is to find those who believe in your idea and to be prepared to empower and subsequently share the venture’s success with them – however that

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success manifests.

Following on from the topic of “good people”: the recent pandemic, for all the tragedy it has created, has also been instrumental in forcing many of us to stop and consider what matters to us personally, professionally and collectively.

At The Soke, this has made the process of identifying our organisational values and creating the outline for our corporate culture all the more meaningful. We have been able to evaluate a set of principles and authentically relate to what each means in the context of what matters to us not just as individuals but as literal contributors to the health of the society in which we live.

Having set up The Soke Foundation (our nonprofit arm focused on community mental health initiatives) in conjunction with The Soke itself, the new and recent rise in the level of interest it is generating in prospective stakeholders (whatever their capacity) is something that we attribute largely to the pandemic: an unexpected but welcome by-product.

A less welcome by-product of Covid-19, in so far as the business world is concerned is, of course, the uncertainty it has created. Bringing a truly new product to market always presents challenges as generally investors expect you to point to existing players so that they can understand what you’re doing, and to identify the competition in order to distinguish your USPs. What happens when there are no existing terrains and no footsteps to follow? Moreover, how do you produce a clear, reliable forecast when the short-term economic landscape looks so opaque?

In The Soke’s case a major step we took to overcome these obstacles was to limit our investor search to individuals, rather than corporations. It seemed obvious from the outset that we would be more likely to find backers among high net worth women and men who may have once walked in our shoes

themselves and were willing to bypass the rigid criteria of institutional investors. Significantly, such backers would not be looking for a quick buck at any cost and were prepared to wait longer for their return on a genuine impact investment.

Taking this approach gave us access to a committed network who continue to have an interest in our success but who, beyond the financial gain, have recognised our vision and genuinely want to see it come to fruition. They have given us their time, their guidance and occasionally their contacts and are happy to be our companions on this journey.

Ultimately I hope that we will one day be the sort of company that attributes its success first and foremost to its people and secondly to its commitment to quality and innovation.

Beyond that, we will not deny the role played by the 2020 lockdown which forced so many to acknowledge the importance of mental health in our overall wellbeing.

By Maryam Meddin , CEO of The Soke.

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How to create a positive company culture in a virtual world of work On my podcast ‘Searching for Mana’ I’ve asked a number of thought-leaders about their view on the secret to creating a positive company culture. This conversation feels particularly relevant now that businesses face having to refine and nurture their culture and community in an online capacity.

My guest responses to this question include the importance of a common passion and “engaging smart, friendly people” according to Julian Sawyer co-founder of Starling Bank whilst Joe Parkin, head of Digital Channels at BlackRock says the key is a sense of purpose.

Anna Brailsford CEO of Code First: Girls highlights the importance of gender equality when it comes to building strong company culture sharing the impact of “carving out spaces for women to feel that they can be empowered”.

I believe that all of the above applies, and that smart hiring choices is the starting point in allowing a common passion and a sense of purpose to filter through businesses.

The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted entrepreneurs to look at their team’s resilience and creativity and whilst navigating such an unpredictable transition period in the postcrisis reality, this feels more important for entrepreneurs than ever before.

As a society driven by growth metrics such

as KPIs or OKRs, leaders are now challenged to rethink how they measure a team’s performance and refocus to a more humancentric approach. Consider the following question: Am I hiring the right people in my business?

Hiring employees that aren’t culturally aligned to the organisation will risk the employee’s early exit and a high employee turnover. One industry-based study in 2014 from Oxford Economics reveals that just one bad hire can cost a company £30,000. In addition to replacement fees, there are also hidden costs such as productivity loss (O’Connell & Kung, 2007), where the damage to productivity caused by the inexperience of new employees is the greatest contributor to the overall costs of turnover (Hinkin & Tracey, 2000).

Hiring smart will inevitably impact employee relationships within a team with latest research showing that employees who have friendly relationships at work are happier, more engaged and less likely to look for new jobs (Schinoff, Ashforth & Corley, 2019).

Higher job satisfaction also leads to increased productivity and performance.

With this in mind, these are 5 tips on hiring smart:

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1. A strong job description

4. Use referral schemes

You’ll ultimately end up saving time going through unqualified candidates if you pull together thorough and considered job requirements that are really informative for candidates.

Incentivised recommendations from current employees act as a layer of cultural-fit assessment.

2. Engage the team manager from the very beginning of the process By ensuring that the manager reviews applicants from the start, you’re trusting that they will know who will be the best match for the team.

3. Introduce behavioural assessments (PPA) To understand how candidates work and identify areas for development.

5. Support your search with dedicated headhunters Who can unearth passive candidates who are not visible on job boards.

By Lloyd Wahed.

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How entrepreneurs can reconnect with their passion As a founder of a startup you will have been propelled by a passion for your business.

However, the last few months have been challenging and when you’re faced with constant stress and uncertainty it can be easy to your passion. However, you can reconnect with that entrepreneurial passion, while also using the opportunity to achieve a new balance in your life.

Let me start with a story of reconnection and then share suggestions that entrepreneurs can use themselves and for with their teams:

A powerful encounter Last year, I worked with the CEO of a successful business. The context was ‘communication’, a very challenging problem in most organisations and in life generally. I particularly wanted this client to ‘feel’ leadership rather than ‘think’ strategically.

The meeting took place at my farm where we are lucky enough to have space to play with ideas outside in nature. I wanted to engage him with ‘out of the box’ thinking, thus I obtained his permission to work without the sense of sight or language. In other words, to blindfold my client and work without speech; purely by touch. I proceeded to lead him outside using different techniques. Firstly, I was collaborative and supportive, giving him my arm and guiding him with care. Secondly, I gave him the end of a rope to hold and quickened my pace and distance, taking him out of his comfort zone.

Thirdly, I went behind him and pushed him gently into the unknown. This carried on until

I had exhausted all the different leadership styles that I knew. What he didn’t know was that he was moving towards a horse. Finally, I took him into the outdoor arena and placed his hands on the withers of one of my horses.

What happen next will stay with me, and him, forever.

The expression on his face was unbelievable as he felt the strong warm coat of a living thing. He spontaneously buried his head in the horse’s side, and he wept. His sense of relief was palpable. The strength and sheer presence of the horse standing strong and patient by his side was immensely poignant.

Another living creature had his back and somehow the horse understood that the man simply needed to be in contact with him and needed support. My thoroughbred horse did not move a muscle. The client was able to let go of his own power for a minute and simply be. To take a breath, feel the moment and gain the insight that it gave him without words, without sight, simply feeling the animal connection and shared understanding.

This entrepreneur’s learning During our debrief without any embarrassment or hesitation he confirmed he was happy to share his experience.

“I was born in the high mountains of Pakistan” he said, “where nature in all its glory is on your doorstep. Connection with all living things had been part of the culture. How far away all that seems now. I had forgotten that deep

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connection and how much I long for that in my life again”.

He had voiced the central issue that brought him to work with me in the first place. Loss of connection with nature.

“I knew something was unfulfilled in my life I now know that the way I am living has to change dramatically. I had all the trappings of success, but no idea why I felt this emptiness inside.”

Later he told me the most liberating aspect of this experience.

“I re-evaluated the way I conducted my business and brought in a senior manager who now runs the day-to-day operation. This has freed me up to connect with nature and I have found this to be a wonderful bedrock of ideas. I am now positioned to utilise my natural creativity and have someone else handle the daily process for me. Our company has gone from strength to strength.”

Why is this story important for entrepreneurs?

Unconventional ideas are worth considering…

Here are suggestions for allowing nature to ground us, help us in our startups and growth businesses and in our life overall:

Connect digitally – Change your ‘Zoom’ background to something aesthetically natural.

Add a beautifully scenic screensaver to your computer. Sometimes these small changes to our daily working lives can reignite our enjoyment of the outside world.

Connect with adventure – Swim in your local ‘open water lake’. Embrace the brisk water, and the rewarding feeling of being physically connected to nature. The cold water soon feels warmer, enjoyable, invigorating.

Connect in your garden – There’s a lot of joy to be taken from simply noticing birds.

Their unique calls, their vibrant colours, the innocence of their existence. We all hear birds, all the time, but we very rarely take a moment

to fully appreciate the beauty of their song.

Take a moment to stop, close your eyes, and listen.

Connect in your local area – Walk in the park and count the different types of animals you see, trot up the highest hill in your neighbourhood and take in the vastness of the sky, stroll through the woods and smell the under-forest. There’s an incredibly emotive experience to the feeling that you’re a small part of something bigger.

Connect with your reading – Find an engaging book that describes and visualises nature.

“Rewilding Yourself” by Simon Barnes is particularly good.

Connect with fun – Support your sanctuary or wildlife reserve. When COVID restrictions are lifted, go spend the day with your family, surrounded by the world’s most beloved creatures. And, for an extra sense of connectivity, ‘Adopt an Animal’ to harness support of the natural world.

Connect with a documentary – Who doesn’t enjoy a David Attenborough documentary? In the ‘doom and gloom’ of many social media campaigns these days, and in the face of lockdown restrictions, these documentaries are a fantastic way to remind ourselves that there is a world of beauty out there.

Connect with natural phenomena – Watch a sunrise or sunset, either on your own, or with the other members of your household. The ‘dawn of the day’ and the ‘end of the day’ are perfect times to reflect on the beauty of nature.

Connect with philanthropy – Subscribe to an intuitive, reputable and beautiful wildlife magazine. I find the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation to be exceptionally good.

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What does this all mean for entrepreneurs?

Why is it essential to remain connected to nature?

Nature has an incredible ability to restore the human spirit. If we ignore it and continue to believe that manmade solutions will supplement our connection to the wildlife, we are deluded.

“We are not in nature, we are nature,” is something I frequently tell my clients. Nature connects us to the present moment so we can savour the here and now, instead of always striving for the goals of tomorrow.

It is important for driven entrepreneurs to remember by connecting to nature we are

connecting (and feeling that connection) to something bigger than ourselves, something timeless, endless, out of our control. This can help us both reconnect with our passion and create balance in our lives.

As the naturalist Edward Osborne Wilson once said, “humans depend on nature for more than food. We have an evolutionary need to connect with the natural world for cognitive, mental, emotional, spiritual development, growth, meaning and fulfilment. Without contact with the natural world we become impoverished.”

By Rosie Tomkins, N-stinctive.

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Here’s What Start-Ups Can Do to Attract Angel Investors Amid Covid-19 Despite the crushing economic impact of the coronavirus, start-ups still have an opportunity for investment. Angel investors in the UK are continuing to back fledgeling businesses, but their capital will soon dry up. As such, start-ups need to be quick to the mark in attracting fresh interest.

A UK survey, recently undertaken by Activate our Angels (AoA), reveals that well over half (67%) of UK angels continue to invest despite a stringent lockdown and ensuing economic catastrophe. Of these angels, several are chasing more investments, with dealings increasing by 122%, from 0.27 deals per month in 2019 to 0.60 deals per month in the last three months. Consequently, angels are starting to see a positive ROI of as much as 18%. Angel Academe, an angel network which prioritises ambitious female-led tech startups, has closed several deals during lockdown.

However, it’s not all good news. Over half (61%) of angels are operating on reduced capital.

And a further 60% believe that the ongoing coronavirus will hinder their ability to invest for the rest of the year.

With this firmly in mind, start-ups need to capitalize on this transient opportunity before it passes.

Adapting to a Post-Covid-19 World First and foremost, start-ups should focus on what’s changed. Some angels have been forced to adapt their strategies out of necessity. For example, per the AoA survey, many are looking for Revenue Generative start-ups (34%)

focusing on firms with longer runways (30%), and sometimes, those plucked for investment are in later stages of operations (8%).

Start-ups must also reevaluate their businesses in light of the pandemic and keep figures realistic while not selling themselves short. This is especially important given that most angels cite less capital for the remainder of 2020—as a result of bunkering down and riding out the storm of Covid-19. As such, startups ready to raise should start their first-round as soon as possible. It’s important to note that early-stage financing from angel investors is critical to the success of high-growth start-ups.

Further, as a consequence of innovative and often tech-based solutions arising from the pandemic, angels are leaning toward Fintech (32.8%) and remote education start-ups (19.7%). Angel Academe is a prime example of an inclination toward tech and health-focused firms, recently closing a six-figure deal with med-tech start-up Forte Medical. Emerging firms fitting these criteria should capitalize on this advantage.

Other practical steps may include conserving cash. Right now, as the economic fallout of the coronavirus takes hold, cash is becoming a highly sought after commodity. Additionally, how start-ups are using said cash is equally as integral. Adopting a risk-averse mindset to your capital will help maintain cash flow to a minimum during turbulent times. This involves cutting marketing spending, as well as pushing the brakes on any plans to expand.

Cash preservation is particularly important for

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B2B start-ups as the firms they cater to have likely been struck as well. B2B start-ups can expect revenues to drop and take longer to recover—even after the worst of Covid-19 has passed.

The Future Fund: A failsafe or a fail?

If all else fails, though deemed rather paltry an offering, some start-ups may be able to employ the UK government “Future Fund.”

Born out of the relentless work of the Save Our Start-ups (SOS) campaign, the UK government set aside $250 million in taxpayer cash to invest along with private investors. Understandably, however, not everyone is comfortable taking taxpayer money.

Nevertheless, the £125,000 to £5 million convertible loans must be matched by private investors—somewhat easing the concerns about mooching from the taxpayer. This seems to line up fortuitously with the AoA survey finding that, in the aftermath of Covid-19, many start-up seed rounds were much smaller and exhibited reduced valuations. This means that some fledgeling businesses may already have the required inventorship and thus use the future fund as a top-up.

This said given that the Future Fund is only applicable to start-ups that have raised $250,000 investment over the past five years, it’s been criticized for favouring venture capitalbacked companies and excluding the bulk of actual start-ups. To make matters worse, the fund appears to completely rule out the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) as well as the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS).

These two government-mandated schemes provide tax relief to start-up investors, making it even harder to source private investors as they’d have to be willing to forgo the schemes.

Fortunately, angel investors are taking matters into their own hands.

The UK scale-up angel network, DSW Angels, has pledged £10m new investment over the next 12 months to help strengthen start-ups during

the post-COVID recovery. Since announcing the fund, British Business Investments— a backer of DSW Angels—increased the network’s funding.

For all start-ups, big and small, opportunities like this are crucial to surviving post-COVID-19.

It’s a good idea to keep a firm ear to the ground in order to be first in line for similar breaks.

By understanding the needs of angel investors, making sensible cutbacks, and sourcing any aid available, start-ups can weather the storm of Covid-19. Still, they need to strike while the iron is hot—angels won’t wait around forever.

By Emma Maslen is an executive coach and adviser to start-ups.

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How entrepreneurs can make the most of their live online presentations Maintaining your business and building it in the current situation is challenge even for the most steadfast entrepreneur. Business growth may have halted and the founders of startups will may have had to radically alter their plans.

As entrepreneurs one of the key tools at your disposal is communicating with what I describe as ‘Confidence, Connection and a message that drives Change’. In today’s environment this means taking on the challenge of speaking powerfully online.

Standout speaking online brings challenges that even seasoned speakers are grappling with. So, let’s look at ways you can express your entrepreneurial drive and enthusiasm for your business when connecting with investors, customers and suppliers online.

Displaying Confidence

I’ve been doing pitches and giving talks and presentations in workshops, debrief meetings and conferences since the 1980s and I was the terrified person clinging to the lectern so you couldn’t see my hands shaking. I was petrified and the nerves would not go away. I felt so alone. I didn’t realise at the time that nerves are normal:

“There are two types of speakers. Those who get nervous and those who are liars” (Mark Twain)

Feeling nervous is part of being human. It’s our brain’s way of keeping us safe, but it makes our audience feel uncomfortable and concerned for our wellbeing. Online, they may choose to abandon us and stop listening.

This is the last thing we need. As entrepreneurs want our key audience members to be focused on what we’re saying and engaging with our message. To achieve this, we need to bring confident energy to the screen. Here’s how.

Get ready for your close up

Right now many entrepreneurs will be going online from home, it’s easy to overlook your familiar surroundings – what can your audience see and hear and is it what you want them to see and hear? What’s on the walls and behind you that the camera will pick up? Are there people or sounds that may interrupt your talk or meeting? Is the space you’ve chosen sending out the message you intend? Unless you have a food related startup the kitchen is probably not the ideal room to set up your camera.

Think about being online as having a close up.

You’re on the small screen and the camera will pick up every detail, expression and gesture. Is your lighting setting you off to best advantage?

Is the light behind the camera so that you’re not plunged into shadow? Is dazzling sunshine making you squint or bouncing flare onto your

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face, especially if you wear glasses? Capture a photo/screenshot before you go live to make sure you’re representing your brand appropriately.

Handling the technology smoothly

Having to work with technology while presenting can be stressful, particularly if you are a starup founder talking to investors! Online, we need to convey a feeling of calm and control when we host a meeting or event, handle technology and ensure everything runs smoothly.

In spite of doing all the appropriate tech checks, things can still go wrong. And people accept that this can happen. What’s important is that you handle it calmly and efficiently, explaining what’s happening. And even better if you find someone (at a safe distance) to take care of the tech for you.

Body language and confident energy

Think of all the non-verbal ways you can convey confident energy online: It is hard to smile in a genuine way when you’re nervous, so smiling conveys confidence.

A posture that is relaxed and assured. If you’re seated, push your bottom to the back of the chair and sit upright, both feet firmly planted on the floor. This will help to keep your posture stable and prevent any distracting swaying backwards and forwards.

On the small screen reduce your gestures. Big gestures work in a large venue but online they can be distracting or disappear off the edge of the screen.

Steady eye contact and the correct positioning of your camera lens at just above eye level helps you to come across as open and sincere.

So close to the mic, people may hear your

nerves in your voice. By breathing into your abdomen and relaxing your upper body you will create a rich vocal tone. Shallow breathing high in the chest is hard work and can make you sound as if you’re about to burst into tears.

Audience Connection

When I think back to my first conference presentations, I like to believe I gave a polished presentation, complete with comprehensive facts and figures, clear slides and an informative commentary. My audiences would applaud politely, thank me and head for the coffee! At the time, I always wondered why other speakers had people queueing up to talk to them. I felt as if I’d been talking to myself.

And, online, you may be doing just that if your listeners don’t connect with you and what you’re saying – even if your startup’s product or service is exactly what they need.

Those with people queueing up to talk to them had connected, both in terms of the value the speaker gave to the audience – their relevant message – and the way the speaker made them feel:

What’s In It For Me?

As an entrepreneur hosting a webinar, or giving a presentation at an online event, it’s your responsibility to know what your listeners are expecting from you, i.e. answering their all-important ‘What’s In It For Me’ question – as quickly as possible – so that they have a reason to carry on listening. To achieve this, you need to know your participants and I don’t just mean their name and job titles. Find out as much as you can about them i.e. what makes them tick, as well as their individual roles and responsibilities.

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‘You’ is the magic word

‘You’ is the magic word when it comes to being relevant and engaging online. In the English language, ‘you’ power comes from being both singular – a one-to-one conversation – and plural, including everyone. You-focused language creates a strong feeling of inclusivity and, at the same time, offers up a personal connection with each and every listener.

Barack Obama understood the power of ‘you’.

In his 2012 presidential election victory speech, he used the personal pronoun ‘I’ 36 times. In stark contrast, he used ‘you/you’re/your’ 55 times and ‘we/us/our’ 97 times.

If you can take things a step further and create a sense of ‘we’re in this together’ in terms of encouraging interaction between presenter and the other meeting participants, then you hit a ‘sweet spot’. However, to ensure things run smoothly, it’s important online to manage proceeding so that people listen to each other and not all talk at the same time!

Dial down the PowerPoints and share a story

Storytelling comes into its own online. Human beings are hard wired to respond to stories and they can be relevant in a startup founder’s pitch to investors as well as other business presentations.

When we tell a relevant personal story, openly and honestly, our listeners can relate to us as people. Stories not only create connections, but they are both engaging and memorable.

In her book ‘Now You’re Talking!’ Lyn Roseaman observes: “Engaging

speakers

share

their

message

through stories. They can move an audience, even in business settings, to feel, laugh or cry, and are memorable for all the right reasons.”

In stark contrast, sharing your screen and wading through bullet points is neither engaging nor memorable and fast-track to losing your listeners. I recommend that all entrepreneurs prioritise relevant storytelling at every opportunity.

Creating Change

In the words of John F Kennedy (US President, 1961-63), “The only reason to give a speech is to change the world.”

With our world currently turned on its head, online meetings, events and conversations are our opportunity to keep ourselves and our startups or growth businesses visible.

Your new and relevant message

In a few keystrokes, search engines can tell us what’s new and different online. If we want to stand out and keep our listeners interested we need to ensure what we have to say is relevant and on-point.

For any important meeting of course all entrepreneurs will prepare! When you do make sure you consider how you want your audience to feel, how you want them to think and what you want them to do after the event. Doing this will help you to Identify your message and make it targeted and relevant to now. Once you have your message you can make sure you only cover content that directly supports it.

Make it easy for your audience

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Our attention spans are short at the best of times. Online, there is even less appetite for asides and digressions than when you’re in the same room as your listeners, so it’s crucial to get to the point and stay relevant. Less is most definitely more online.

Structure and signpost your talk so that it is easy to understand and follow. Consider a clear structure, such as a timeline, pros & cons, hero’s journey, etc. Break up your presentation into small ‘chunks’ of around five minutes each and top and tail each chunk with what you plan to cover and a keyword to sum it up as you move on to the next chunk. Signpost what you have to say to let your audience know the ‘road map’ or agenda for your talk to make it clear and easy to follow.

Conducting key business meetings online is something that all entrepreneurs can expect more of from now on. To represent your brand and yourself, to shine online, the skills outlined here need to be constantly honed so your presentation of your message stays fresh and on point.

By Lyn Roseaman, a Distinguished Toastmaster at Toastmasters International.

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8 ways entrepreneurs can maintain and leverage their businesses in a pandemic The lockdown is being slowly lifted but we know there are still many businesses that will remain closed or at best will operate at a reduced capacity. Some entrepreneurs will have been able to do well during the pandemic with their core products or pivoted their business successfully. However, if you haven’t been able to achieve this, and knowing that ‘business as usual’ is a long way off, you may be wondering if your startup will survive.

https://www.thetaxguys.co.uk/client-area/ This contains a Financial Survival Checklist and the Government Stimulus Planner. Work through the 16 areas with your accountant.

There are actions that entrepreneurs can take to maintain and leverage their businesses. Let me share some ideas with resources to help you.

If your startup is a limited company (including one-man band companies) there is help available. And these keep changing, so please watch out for the dates and deadlines. Go through your finances and the government support available to make sure that you get the necessary paperwork right when making a claim (this could include furlough paperwork and board minutes). Again, speaking to your accountant can make this easier and ensure you include everything necessary for your business in your plan.

Review using a Financial Survival Action Planner Entrepreneurs will need some form of action planner that covers areas in your business to review, as well as a checklist on all the support from the government and how it applies to you.

I suggest creating a spreadsheet and listing all the grants, loans and deferred payment options available to you. Then review where you can save money (tax, rent, staff, agreeing longer payments terms with suppliers etc.) and where you can make more money (new business ideas, speeding up customer payments etc.).

Review your tangible assets – is there any way to leverage those?

To save time, you can download the ‘Peace of mind financial action planner’ here:

Applying for government help It’s a good idea for entrepreneurs to review the help available with their accountant.

If you’re a sole trader there is a grant available.

If you are eligible, you’ll have received a letter from the government. This scheme opened on the 13 May 2020 and you need to register for an online account and prepare to file the claim.

You will find both action planners and furlough paperwork templates here: https://www. thetaxguys.co.uk/client-area/

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Cutting cost without crippling your startup In times of crisis, resist the knee jerk reaction to cut all costs immediately because this can actually cripple your startup. Approach this with some consideration and financial analysis.

Even when no revenue comes in for, say three months, unless you plan to close your startup, there are some expenses you may want to leave alone or even increase when your competitors are cutting back (for example, smart marketing).

We have one client who ramped up their marketing at the start of lockdown (despite clients cancelling and the signs indicating that there were tough times ahead) and found that they almost doubled their business as a result plus they have a large number of warms leads for later in the year too. So, think carefully – is it time to ramp things up rather than cut back?

If you need to cut costs, create a spreadsheet with all your expenses. Then look at each in turn and see where you can cut back. A few small cuts can make a big difference and will often be less damaging to your startup than one or two exceptionally large cuts. Ensure you understand your cashflow and the ‘target’ you need to reach for survival. This way you will cut enough, but not too much. You can read more about cost cutting here; https://www. thetaxguys.co.uk/2020/04/24/how-to-cutcosts-without-crippling-your-business/

There is also a cost reduction exercise and savings tool (excel template) that you can use to save time and money here: https://www. thetaxguys.co.uk/client-area/

Cashflow Forecast Once you’ve reduced your costs and you know where your income will come from in the next 6-12 weeks (including income from the government), you now have a 12week cashflow forecast in place. This will give you some peace of mind, at least for the time being. This

document is the basis of your business going forward. Stick to it. If you’ve decided to cut some costs, make sure you cut them. If you’re going to ramp up the marketing or add a new service – do so as soon as you can. You need to follow the decisions you made when creating the forecast – or it very soon becomes a work of fiction!

To save you time creating your own, especially if you’re not using an online accounting platform, you can download an integrated cash flow forecast tool here: https://www.thetaxguys. co.uk/client-area/ It’s called Time Saving Tool to project income-expense and cashflow.

Saving tax in a crisis Did you know there are many areas to save tax during a pandemic? Ask your accountant about these examples and others to see what is relevant to your business: Normal Loss Relief (Generate a tax refund from last year) Negligible Value Claim (Get a tax refund if an asset you purchased has gone down in value) Company closure and paying 10% tax (Don’t overpay your tax bill in this difficult time) Research and Development Tax Credit (Are you missing out on generous tax cuts? Would your new business re-invention lend itself to tax a refund?)

Early tax filing (File your returns early to secure eligible tax refunds) VAT bad debt relief (Reclaim any VAT you’ve paid on bad debt) Realising capital losses (If an asset you hold has gone down in value, consider selling it) Transferring assets at low values (If an asset you hold has gone down in value, consider transferring it to, say, your company)

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Adapting your Business Model Successful businesses are always adapting, leveraging and taking advantage of new commercial opportunities. This has never been truer than in the current situation. You may have heard of businesses taking their goods and services to their customers at homes or adapting and taking their products and services online. Restaurants that didn’t offer take-away service or delivery, now do. Spas are selling their exclusive creams and serums direct to their customers. How can you adapt your business to “make lemonade out of lemons”?

Creating customers by looking at current demand There are certain products and services that are being consumed at high levels right now.

Cycling is a good example of this, with sales of bicycles and accessories seeing a massive increase. Others that will come into their own as lockdown eases. How can your business solve some of the current pressing problems posed by the pandemic? If you’re a services startup or growth business, can you productise parts of what you do and sell these at a reduced price for now? For example, a psychologist can create a five-step programme to help improve the mental wellbeing of business owners, or help your staff build resilience? Or maybe you can run workshops online via a platform like Zoom?

Generating revenue streams by anticipating future problems and trends Even after lockdown is fully lifted, it’s unlikely business will ever be quite the same again. The way we do business has changed and some of those changes are here to stay – at least for the short to medium term. For example, social distancing and increased hygiene awareness.

If your startup is in, say construction or space consulting, how are you preparing now to help businesses solve these challenges in the

workplace? If you’re an accountant, how would you support businesses in the coming months when they have to pay back all their deferred taxes? And if you’re a marketer, how are you preparing your clients with the right messaging to market their business successfully?

A great way to be inspired with new ideas about how to adapt your startup or growth business and spot the upcoming trends is to look at what other successful entrepreneurs have done.

How did they approach it? What did they do?

Read business books and good news business stories to be inspired or you can download a white paper here: https://www.thetaxguys. co.uk/client-area/ which covers 16 ways to leverage your business and stories from UK entrepreneurs.

Remember to take care of yourself Whether you the founder of your first startup or a serial entrepreneur there is a good chance that you are a high energy, driven person.

While you are working hard and constantly pushing yourself remember that the current crisis has made a profound impact and will continue to affect our physical, emotional and mental wellbeing. Some of the help from the Government (furlough and grants) is coming through now. Hopefully these will go a long away to helping avoid total collapse and will ensure the economy gets back up and running. But if our mental health suffers in the meantime, the government schemes are a bit irrelevant. After all, if the startup closes and you’re healthy, you can begin again. The reverse is sadly not true.

There are plenty of resources and articles online from medical experts on this subject.

Make looking after yourself a priority

By Jonathan Amponsah, the CEO of The Tax Guys.

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The importance of company branding and how to market it It’s no secret that branding is important. With so much competition in today’s economy, consumers are spoilt for choice when it comes to deciding where to spend their money. Many factors play a part in their decision making, but one of the most salient factors is how distinguishable a company’s name, logo and identity is from its competitors.

Companies who are able to utilise their brand to create a lasting impression on their target audience can seize this opportunity to drive new business and cement their place in the market. However, knowing where to start can often be the most difficult step. Below are the strategies that businesses of all shapes and sizes can implement to create and market a unique, uniform and unbeatable brand.

Building a brand strategy

We have summarised three key areas that you should focus in to create an effective brand strategy.

1. The first step to using branding to secure new business is to understand what your brand is in the first place. You may already have a good idea of your business’ brand identity and how best to communicate with your audience.

However, brands should seek to grow over time and if your approach hasn’t been revisited recently it is likely that the values that guided your marketing activities are no longer optimal.

2. Secondly, you will need to spend time cementing your brand’s purpose, mission and values by speaking with various stakeholders across the organisation. Gathering internal feedback is crucial to create a strong brand.

A brand exercise can be a great opportunity to receive feedback from your employees on the kind of company they want to work for, and their direct experience of dealing with customers and clients can be invaluable in understanding the impression you are currently making on your audience.

3. Finally, you need to decide on your voice and personality as clear messaging is important to build a successful brand. Do you want your business to be seen as helpful and kind, or perhaps as innovative and optimistic?

How do you want your customers to feel after interacting with you? Should they feel excited?

Comforted? While it’s likely you’ll want your customers to feel many things after engaging with you, the key here is to understand the main takeaway a customer will have after seeing your brand.

How to communicate your brand Once you have your brand identity nailed down, the next step is to communicate it in such a way that it leaves a lasting impression on your target customer. There are dozens, if not hundreds of ways to do this; crafting a unique logo, selling promotional merchandise, sponsoring industry events, providing fantastic customer service - just to name a few. However, there are several that

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have become more essential than ever due to COVID-19.

2. Proximity Targeting

1. Digital Marketing

While ecommerce is growing in popularity, research has also shown that some consumers are eager to return to brick-and-mortar stores.

With markets starting to reopen across the UK, now is a crucial time to cement your brand’s messaging and shape that perception in the minds of customers.

Touting the benefits of digital marketing as a tool to promote your brand is nothing new.

However consumer behaviour is changing; consumers who may have been hesitant to shop online before lockdown are now using the internet to purchase everything from food to futons. The rise of ecommerce has accelerated and businesses who previously relied on retail stores are now seizing the opportunity of a direct-to-consumer (D2C) model.

Likewise, B2B companies who previously relied on industry events and careers fairs to win new business and drive recruitment are now seeing more enquiries come in from their website.

Your social media profiles are a great opportunity to display your logo and branded imagery for the world to see. Your posts, tweets and comments should reflect your brand voice.

By testing your brand on social media, you can see what resonates with your customer base and incorporate that into your activity.

Likewise, investing in increasing your website’s visibility through search marketing can go a long way to increasing your site’s visibility in search engines. Carry out some keyword research to see what search terms your audience is using and allocate advertising spend and time for content creation to place your brand in front of people searching for that term.

A worthwhile tool to use is Google Trends, which reveals topics that are increasingly popular across the world. Certain topics like home gym equipment have exploded in popularity in recent months, and it’s likely that some topics in your industry have also become more important to your customers . Identify these topics and produce content around them.

Brand affinity in retail will likely be at an alltime low given that consumers have not been visiting shops over the last quarter. It is therefore essential to defend and grow your customer base during this time. But how?

Proximity targeting is one of the most sophisticated ways to do this. Businesses that operate out of brick-and-mortar stores can use the smartphone location data of people who have visited them in the past and retarget them with online advertising. By monitoring the activity of your customers in this way, you can identify those who may have forgotten about your store and gently remind them that you are open for business.

3. Seize the opportunity of outdoor events

While it is unlikely that many events will be permitted to take place over the next three months, it stands to reason that venues with outdoor facilities will be some of the first to host events in the near future.

On May 13, the UK government relaxed its restrictions on outdoor gatherings, permitting two people from separate households to meet for the first time. On June 1 the government also allowed outdoor markets to reopen, signaling that outdoor spaces will be crucial for reopening the economy.

A truly holistic branding plan must incorporate

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both digital and traditional strategies.Providing fantastic customer service in brick-andmortar stores will clearly be central to this, yet businesses must go further to put their brand in front of potential clients. Outdoor events will be a key battleground for brands as we come out of lockdown, and marketing managers should start signing up for outdoor conferences and trade fairs.

If you are speaking at an event or attending a trade fair, make sure to showcase your branding as much as possible. Personalise your stall with your logo and colour scheme, or pepper your social media profiles across your presentation slides to help your company stick in the audience’s minds.

Conclusion Branding has never been more important. The

relationships that businesses have built with their customer base have been hampered in an unprecedented way, and it is those who can reconnect with their audience most quickly who will come out on top.

Providing excellent customer service and crafting a memorable visual identity will certainly be crucial to this, but we must do more. We must leverage both digital and traditional strategies to showcase ourselves to our target audience, using tools like digital marketing, proximity targeting and outdoor events. Leveraging these opportunities will place forward-thinking businesses in good stead in an increasingly volatile market.

By Luigi Pannozzo, MD of event specialists Gazeboshop

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What Bounce Back Loans Mean for Small Businesses Christina Nawrocki, Managing Partner at Wellers, explains the latest announcements from the Government aimed at helping small businesses.

At the beginning of lockdown, the Government unveiled a £330bn war chest to help British businesses weather the storm of coronavirus.

The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) was welcomed by many in the private sector, however it is mainly aimed at larger businesses.

Since then, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has unveiled an initiative to support small enterprise – the Bounce Back Loan (BBL) scheme.

Aptly named, the scheme has been designed to help businesses ‘bounce back’ following the pandemic and help the economy to recover faster by preventing businesses from collapse.

Qualifying companies could receive a loan of up to £50,000 which is guaranteed by the Government and interest-free for 12 months.

What is it?

During this time, many businesses have experienced a downturn in sales. In fact, the FT reported that over half of small businesses in the UK could run out of money within three months.

The scheme has been devised to help businesses survive until the economy begins to recover, when it is hoped that British enterprise

will eventually get back to normal operating levels. Businesses can apply via a short and simple online application through accredited lenders, such as high street banks including Lloyds Bank, HSBC and Barclays. Like with any loan application, they do need to be approved so are not an automatic guarantee, but unlike a normal loan, once approved, the funds will be available within 24 hours.

Who can benefit?

Businesses are able to claim up to 25 percent of their turnover, up to £50,000. So, if a business has an annual turnover of £200,000, it can claim the full £50,000. However, if it has a turnover of £100,000, it could only claim up to £25,000.

Additionally, there will be no interest applied for the first year (2.5% thereafter) and the Government is covering any fees raised.

Businesses don’t even need to prove their turnover in order to benefit and there are no laborious forms to fill out and accounts and cashflows to prepare,, unlike when claiming through the CBILS, which can involve incurring costs.

What’s more, when the scheme was originally announced, businesses couldn’t benefit from both a BBL as well as the CBILS. However, the Government has updated this, and those that need urgent access to funds can access them through the BBL which can later be transferred to a CBILS loan, which allows for a higher loan amount.

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Through a BBL, a business has up to six years to repay the loan amount – although no payments are required for the first year. To qualify, there are a number of fundamental requirements which are listed on the Britsh Business Bank website but fundamentally : The business must be UK based Business must have been negatively impacted by coronavirus/and or the lockdown The question of debt During a time when many businesses are experiencing difficulty, it wouldn’t be wrong to question whether taking out a loan is only going to prove more problematic down the line.

Of course, both the CBILS and BBL schemes have been hailed as significant measures by the Government to save British business, but it must also be recognised that it will take time for the economy to recover from the effects of COVID-19.

In conclusion For those operating on a sole trader, micro or small business basis, the announcement of the Bounce Back Loan scheme will be a welcome one. Since the Government’s initial announcement, the CBILS has been met with some criticism – mainly because only a mere 2.6 percent of the loans applied for have been approved.

With its limited criteria and smaller loan amount, the BBL scheme is able to differentiate itself for the better. The 100 percent guarantee on the smaller loans and fast-track approval system means that businesses requiring an urgent cash injection can access it. However, it is important that before any business takes out a loan, no matter how small, they should consult their accountant first to ensure that it won’t impact on their enterprise’s future.

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What needs to happen to get your team back to work successfully?

With lockdown easing some entrepreneurs who have had to close their businesses or operate at a low level can start to reopen and get their teams back to work.

Navigating this transition period requires preparation. To help get plans in place here are some questions to help you and your startup or growth business.

a) Are team members anxious about returning to work? b) Have you developed a clear transition plan which incorporates the lessons learned? c) Are people ready and motivated to embrace necessary changes?

Let’s look at each question and what your startup can do to get your reopening plans on track.

Question a) Are team members anxious about returning to work?

Covid-19 has tested and threatened our basic human needs, from our health to food shortages to being apart from those we love.

As we transition out of the pandemic, people are left with the dilemma of balancing their safety with their security of employment.

The best way for entrepreneurs to engage their teams and help allay their fears is to talk

to them. In advance of your teams returning to work consider arranging a Back to Work conference call. This should be led by you as the business owner or startup founder and should have clear and concise messages about what happens next and when. You can use Zoom or other similar platforms to create an anonymous Q&A chat during the conference, where the presenter can address anyone’s immediate concerns.

Effective communication can be critical when engaging with your staff, especially during times of change and often the most important form of communication is listening and being able to respond clearly and definitively to the majority of questions, and action any takeaways.

People will need time and space to reflect on what you have told them, so follow up the conference call with a one-to-one call with their line managers (or you if you have a small team), ideally two days later. Managers will need to have a more in depth understanding of the company’s back to work plan and be given parameters as to what adjustments, if any, they can make. The last thing you want is for the person to come away from this call with more unanswered questions.

From conversations with our clients, we’ve noticed that people have ended up working longer hours through fear, uncertainty or even boredom. Restore work-life balance on their return to work, remember the goal is to work

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smarter not harder.

It is critical that you recognise this, find ways to restore it, and review your processes. A ‘lessons learnt’ workshop is a great way to do this. You will probably find that actually not everything during the Covid19 pandemic has been negative. Make sure you create an environment where people feel they can share their experiences and opinions, listen to what worked well during this time, and identify changes that were efficient and increased simplicity.

Ask your people what they want to see continue in their working life and what they would like less of.

Question b) Have you developed a clear transition plan which incorporates the lessons learned?

Your people will be very proficient at their role in normal circumstance, and particularly in small startups, be ready to help out where necessary.

However, the return to work and necessary changes may mean a drop in productivity, the need for additional training, and the ability to deal with frustrations that changes inevitably bring.

Planning is the key to managing the back to work transition. In your plan include the lessons learnt and then cover the 5 W’s:

Why – Why are the changes needed? As teams come back together, they will discover that everyone’s experience of Covid-19 was different. This may affect their behaviours and adjustment to the new norm. It will be very important to create an environment where people are respectful of other’s positions. To help teams reconnect set the ground rules clearly and explain why these are needed.

Who – Who is doing the work? Ever heard of the analogy of “you’re playing in my sand pit”?

People can get precious about their job role or the part they play in a team, and when someone else gets involved it can create childlike emotions of not wanting to share. During Covid-19, with people furloughed and teams stretched, it is inevitable that people will have been asked to pitch in and do things that were not usually part of their normal day to day role.

Effective delegation is needed to reallocate or reassign the workload, whilst being mindful of individual’s emotional responses. Setting clear roles and responsibilities, briefed well, will help your team settle into the new norm.

Where – Where will work be carried out?

Working in the construction industry means that I’ve been asked to visit sites to carry out Covid-19 assessments. When this can’t be done remotely, I visualise where I am going, how am I going to get there and who will be there. This helps me plan what’s needed for the day and ensure that everyone involved can adhere to the current social distancing rules.

As an employer, you can give clear guidance and information about where people will be working and how they can get there. This will help to alleviate anxiety.

When – When will this happen? Whilst the situation remains fluid it is important to give your teams ample notice of when these return to work measures will be in place. This will allow them to make arrangements in their home life and mentally adjust to the change.

What – What is the new work or role? Prior to Covid-19 everyone knew their job and the tasks that they needed to complete. Following a ‘lessons learnt’ review, you may have updated some processes. These changes will affect returning staff, and the people who took on additional tasks during lockdown. Your Back to Work plan needs to clearly communicates these changes and embraces them.

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As an entrepreneur, it makes sense to treat the return to work as a project in its own right.

Treat it just as you would any other project, which means managing the change and planning for the transition are key. You need a well-defined and concise plan, that is clearly communicated to your team, and managed with an understanding that these are unusual times and we don’t have all the answers. By letting your team know that you have a plan in place and that are you are working with them, taking their challenges into account, you can ensure a smooth transition and a united team.

Question c) Are people ready and motivated to embrace necessary changes?

Ensuring your staff embody the behaviours you want to see and focus their efforts on achieving the team’s goals, is a key part of team development.

Make sure your team has taken part in the lessons learnt exercise. Then demonstrate with your actions, not just your word that their concerns and their ideas have been listened to.

In this way, you will help to ensure that they will embrace the necessary changes much more quickly.

High performing teams need to work well together and be motivated, and during lockdown this team spirit may have been tested as the teams were necessarily fragmented.

As your team comes back together, consider a team building exercise. This can be as simple as a fun ice breaker or maybe even a quiz.

In an unusual situation, such as the one we find ourselves in today, both entrepreneurs and their teams will have to prepare and adapt.

However, with clear information about new processes and roles, and training to support those whose responsibilities have changed, you can bring your startup or growth business through the transition period successfully.

By Joanna Strahan is founder of C2C Training Group.

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How to Fully Realise the Value of Your IP Assets Companies, ranging from start-ups to SMEs, are frequently seeking a capital injection to sustain their business, and now even more so because of the significant economic impact currently seen worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With large numbers of businesses throughout the UK facing loss of income or even insolvency, there is a case to be made for the increased use or monetisation of the intangible / intellectual property (IP) assets held by such companies.

Traditionally, the value of companies has been largely based on their tangible assets - for example: buildings; plant machinery; production equipment; and vehicles, and as such, debt financing has been based on the value of these tangible assets. However, things are changing and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) [1], UK Intellectual Property Office and the British Business Bank all recognise this [2].

Nowadays, the value of intangible assets / IP assets represents up to 84% of the company’s value [3] [4]. This shift is further seen at a larger scale as many developed countries, including the UK, have moved from largely production based to being service-based economies. This shift to a ‘knowledge-based economy’ has seen a commensurate rise in the use and importance of intangible assets, including IP, and with this a rapid increase in the UK wide investment in intangible assets - almost doubling between 1995-2015 [2]. This has the secondary effect that many newer companies, especially operating in the software developments space, have few tangible assets on which to base traditional debt financing.

While it is recognised that IP can be monetised by selling or licensing the assets, not all companies recognise the intangible assets they possess and even fewer recognise the potential of these assets as sources of untapped capital. These intangibles including trademarks, designs, trade secrets, know-how, databases, client lists, domain names and associated goods.

The process of lending fully or partially against intangible or IP assets is also known as IP securitisation or alternative assetbased financing. This concept is a new arrival in a number of countries, including the UK, and has the basic premise of collateralising debt financing to SMEs and small companies by providing a security interest in the company’s IP assets [5]. With this in mind, and given the current dire situation in which many companies across the UK find themselves due to the COVID-19 crisis, there is a significant opportunity in raising awareness of the value of intangibles in a business and how to unlock this value.

In some cases, this can take the format of the financial institution gaining control of future license royalties for the IP asset in question, while others may effectively involve the purchase and lease-back or licensing of the asset from the financial institution. The IP securitisation or IP backed financing concept has already been trialled in a number of countries, with mixed results, but is still in its infancy in the UK with a relatively low number of financial institutes providing an IP backed financing service.

Those that have recognised this opportunity in the UK include:

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Lombard: Lombard, which is part of RBS, offers an IP backed funding solution based on a business’ internally developed and owned software assets [6]. Under this solution, the software assets are sold to Lombard and the business then licenses the software back from the bank for a fixed term of three - five years, after which time the agreement can be extended and further financing provided or the IP can be transferred back to the SME. Morgan Lloyd Management:

Trustees/Clifton

Asset

This UK based pension administrator offers two products, the Self-invested Personal Pensions (SIPP) and Small Self-administered schemes

(SASS), both of which will consider IP assets for investment [7]. In addition, a subsection of IP backed financing called pension-led funding may also be provided [8]. In this case, the pensions held by the SME are used to provide a capital injection, where the IP is used as collateral in a loan or is purchased by the pension fund and licensed back to the SME.

In all of the above, IP backed financing requires IP assets to be developed, owned by the company and free of any existing encumbrances or liens and not currently subject to any litigation action. In each case, in order for a loan or purchase and lease-back facility to be provided, the IP assets in question need to be valued by a third party, which has expertise in the area of IP valuation. For the

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most part, many current offerings in IP backed financing focus on software assets and the ability of management and founders to deliver returns based on their own know-how and the software assets.

As the valuation of IP assets requires knowledge of both IP and financial modelling, there are only an estimated 600 practitioners offering IP valuation in the UK [2].

This processes not only identifies the range of values under which the transaction should occur, but also helps businesses open their eyes as to how these contribute to the business and how their contribution can be further enhanced moving forward. In many cases, this takes the form of a review or audit of the IP assets to be valued.

While IP securitisation or IP backed financing is a very attractive offering and is likely to grow further under the current economic difficulties, problems still remain in wider roll out due to the risk involved. Some IP assets may not have easily realisable value outside of the business in which they were created, while there may be differences in the perceived value of the assets based on the methodology being used and the market conditions.

Ultimately, the valuation process is useful for businesses as it highlights where the IP assets add value to the business, and in doing so, ensures they are better prepared for negotiations and more likely to leave with a good deal.

References [1] WIPO, “The Securitization of Intellectual Property Assets - A New Trend,” 2020. [Online].

Available: https://www.wipo.int/sme/en/ip_ business/finance/securitization.htm.

[2] British Business Bank, “Using Intellectual Property to access growth funding,” British Business Bank Plc, Sheffield, 2018.

[3] Raconteur, “Intellectual Property 2020,”

February 2020. [Online]. Available: https:// www.raconteur.net/intellectual-property-2020.

[4] J. P. Ogier, “Intellectual property, finance and economic development,” WIPO Magazine , February 2016.

[5] OECD, “Enquiries into Intellectual Property’s Economic Impact - IP-Based Financing of Innovative Firms,” OECD, Paris, 2015.

[6] Lombard, “Intellectual Property Funding,” 2020.

[Online].

Available: https://www.lombard. co.uk/lombard/finance-options/intellectualproperty-funding.html.

[7] Morgan Lloyd, “Products - SIPPs,” [Online].

Available: https://www.morgan-lloyd.co.uk/ sipp.html.

[8] Clifton Asset Management, “Clifton Asset Management,” 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.clifton-asset.co.uk/.

By Anthony Coleman, Chief Analyst at IP valuation and commercialisation firm Coller IP. Based in London, it

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The Six Biggest Pitch Deck Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Raising funding for your startup can be a challenging task at the best of times. And then along came a pandemic, making it even harder.

The UK government’s Future Fund scheme is a useful boost for those startups who qualify (which means having raised more than £250K in equity funding before 20 April 2020, and can raise £125K in new funding which the government will then match-fund). Of course, you need to find that new funding in the first place, in order for the government to matchfund it. And, with companies clambering for investment to offset declined revenues and competing for a smaller pool of active investors, you’ll need to work harder than ever to stand out from the crowd.

Which means having a compelling investor pitch deck.

SeedLegals is the largest closer of funding rounds in the UK, and thousands of companies send us their pitch decks to review as part of their SEIS/EIS Advance Assurance applications.

This gives me a unique vantage point, by being given access to large numbers of pitch decks and seeing which of those companies then go on to secure investment.

Some pitch decks are really compelling, but many would leave an investor scratching their heads trying to figure out exactly what the company does, or how much they’re looking to raise, or what they plan to use the money for.

So, here are the six biggest things to get right in your pitch deck:

Explain the problem you solve, not what you’ve built When we started SeedLegals the first version of our website explained that we did document automation, machine-generation of legal documents. All very clever stuff. Then I came across Mike Butcher’s excellent The Press Release is Dead article and I realised… nobody cares. There are zero people in the world who wake up one day and go, oh, I need document automation. After that epiphany, we completely changed our website messaging to “the fastest way to do your next funding round”, because that’s what people are after.

So the very first thing I look for in a pitch deck is a clear description of the user benefit, the problem you’re solving. It’s amazing how many pitch decks spend all their pages describing their blockchainbased immutability without actually describing why anyone would want it. Show how you’re solving a problem (even better if it’s a problem the investor has experienced themselves) and you’ll have an investor who gets it instantly. If you’re thinking “But the investor isn’t my customer”, maybe so, but for sure they’re looking at your messaging as if they were a customer thinking “If I don’t get it, nobody else will either”.

Do one thing, and do it well Founders often try to impress investors by listing a grand vision of all the things they’re going to build. “We’re building a B2C product, and B2B as well, with partner APIs, and we’ll sell data, with an admin portal”. The founder is thinking “More is better, we’re impressing them with our vision!”. The investor is thinking “There goes all

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my money, frittered away before the business earns a dime in revenue”.

Think about it… if you’re spreading your resources over a B2C app, B2B portal, data warehouse… and your competitors are focussing all their firepower on just creating a great consumer app, who’s going to win? Plus, you’ll need to hire more people, so you’ll run out of money faster.

So, unless you have 50 developers, focus on one thing, and do it well. Stay focussed and aim to get revenue before you go wide.

Don’t over-value the company One of the most difficult problems every founder will need to figure out is how to value the company. Get it too low and you’ll give away too much equity and dilute yourself excessively. Get it too high and investors won’t bite. But, what many founders don’t realise is that get it too high, and your next round may have to be a down round, which makes everyone unhappy. That’s a particular problem for companies doing crowdfunding, where a bubbly pitch deck may entice small investors to invest at a high valuation, but when it comes to the next round, VCs may not buy into that stellar valuation. This SeedLegals article shows benchmark valuations for UK companies.

Avoid buzzwords and distractions It’s all too easy to sprinkle your deck with buzzwords. CAC.LTV. ARPU. GMV. You might know what it means, but don’t assume your investor does. Your investor may not engage in conversation about your business for fear of being embarrassed that they don’t know those terms. Or, if they’re industry-specific terms (e.g. medical buzzwords) you’re sending a message to investors who don’t specialise in just that segment that this isn’t for them.

Also, investors are going to be looking at every single word, every image, trying to extract meaning. That graphic of a man climbing a rock face, you thought it was a cool way to show you’re up for a challenge, but racing through

your investor’s mind is “Why a man, not a woman? / OMG, no ropes, they could fall / Hey, is that Chamonix? I need to book for next year”.

So treat every word and image as either adding value, or being a distraction that could lose the attention of the investor.

Remember the ask!

If your slide deck doesn’t end by saying what you’re looking for, your investor will be left thinking, “nice, but why are they showing me this?”. So make sure your deck ends with an ask, “Raising £300K, offering SEIS and EIS” and of course your contact details and web URL. You’d be surprised at how many decks miss that.

Know when it’s time to stop I’ve seen pitches which had me at slide 12, then lost me at slide 30. A pitch deck should tell a story, and like a story it has a beginning (the problem you’re solving, what it is), a middle (market size, competition, unique advantages) and an end (revenue projections, traction so far, team, the ask). And, then, job done, stop there. Get the slides in the wrong order and you’ll miss building the desire and holding the attention of the investor.

By Anthony Rose, CEO and founder of SeedLegals .

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How can conscious business practices transform a small business?

When people first set up a small business, they focus on certain tasks. Their priority is to get the underlying structure of the business created and all that comes with this - producing the product, ensuring there is a sales funnel, working on a marketing approach, etc. Whilst these are all important, they will not dictate the success of the business. It is actually items like your listening skills, the way you go about negotiating and your ability to lead that will set you apart from your competitor and ensure you thrive. And these are all conscious business practices.

The term ‘conscious business’ is relatively new, developing from the concept of corporate social responsibility. Whereas 20 years ago businesses were either commercial or communal, now the most successful businesses combine the two. The business strategy is not just about increasing the bottom line but about improving the lives of the people both inside and outside the company, as well as helping the planet.

Within a conscious business, the basics of a business are still important, yet it is the beliefs and values that drive the company forward.

Every member of the company from the executives to administrative staff have bought in to the company vision and ensure each task they complete is aligned to it. This means that everyone is responsible for creating the heartbeat of the company.

Business owners understand that, as the team is so important to their business, their thought forms will ultimately impact the company financially. For instance, if someone in the sales team is having a bad day their attitude could lead to them not making a sale which they’d

usually close effortlessly. Therefore, there is a focus on team wellbeing, ensuring they feel supported and are encouraged to rise to their full potential.

There is a simple way to help improve the mood of the team and that is to provide transparency on the workings of the business.

When the team are invested in the success of the company and see the direct correlation between the tasks they are completing and the benefits arising from the finished product, they will be happier at work and so more motivated.

This in turn benefits the company. It will lead to better communication, greater efficiency of tasks and heightened creativity within the solutions provided.

As a business owner, soft skills are therefore on some level more important than hard skills, as they really enable you to make a difference.

They allow you to communicate clearly with the team, so they have all the necessary information to produce outstanding products.

They help you to create a positive, safe environment with a no judgement policy so the team can brainstorm innovative solutions.

In this type of space, everyone is free to make mistakes… and then learn from them.

Soft skills are also essential for great conflict resolution. All business will experience conflict at some point, no matter how conscious; what is important is how you handle this conflict.

Being able to put yourself into another person’s shoes will allow you to understand why there is a difference of opinion. What motivates the other person? Do they understand the overall goal? Is their personal vision in alignment

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with the company’s vision? When you think in this manner, you will be able to remove any obstacles.

As you can see, soft skills can have a massive impact on your business when implementing them internally and this continues to be the case when employed externally. You will find that when you apply your communication skills to your customers and truly listen to their needs, you can deliver a product that fulfils all of their requirements… and even add benefits on top of this! This improves the relationship you have with them which will in turn lead to more repeat business and free marketing as the customer tells others about the type of service you deliver.

In line with this, the concept of creating ‘winwin’ outcomes that benefit all parties is also becoming increasingly common. The strategy has been around since it was introduced

by Stephen Covey in his book ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ and is especially important in companies that operate in a value driven and ethical manner. These businesses want to do everything they can to make their customers happy. Their customers’ profits become just as important as their own profits, encouraging them to produce truly customercentric products.

Care for the local community is just an extension of the care afforded to customers for a conscious business, as they continuously find ways to benefit or give back to the local community. The more people they positively impact, the better. This could range from providing discounted products to those in the local area, to raising money for a local good cause. Some companies partner with a nearby school so team members can help children to read on a weekly basis. Others join forces with the council so the team can volunteer to help with gardening or by contributing to a building renovation. These initiatives not only help the local community but also the team itself as their mood is positively impacted by the act of helping others.

On top of this focus on the local community,

conscious businesses also consider environmental impact. Today this is common within any business at some level, yet conscious businesses make this a fundamental part of their strategy. They look to source materials locally to reduce their carbon footprint, they consider the amount and type of packaging they utilise and they embrace technology to reduce the need to travel. Many conscious businesses even look to use renewable energy sources and so have a ‘zero-impact’ workplace.

Imagine how different your business would be if you started to incorporate these practices. When implemented in the spirit they are intended, they will have a positive impact on your team, your customers and the environment. Create your own conscious business strategy and each week introduce another practice. Then notice how your business upgrades. No matter how small your business, conscious business practices are sure to help you evolve to the next level.

By Lucy Spencer.

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How can entrepreneurs build resilience and adaptability as business faces a new normal?

As aspects of the lockdown start to loosen it does not mean that our business and personal lives can go back to normal. Instead, as entrepreneurs we need to think of ourselves as moving forward in to a new normal. This means running our businesses with the ongoing presence of covid-19. Understanding the new normal and learning to work within it will take resilience and adaptability.

What can help entrepreneurs to be more resilient and adaptable?

Resilience is an important trait for entrepreneurship. It is about having the resources to cope with unexpected, difficult, or adverse situations. To be able to use these resources we, of course, need to know we have them before we can deliberately use them. This is why spending time gaining self-knowledge is so essential for entrepreneurs.

These three things, having resources, being aware of them, and being able to deploy them, are what feed our resilience, and our ability to bounce-back from adversity in business and other areas of life.

Being adaptable means being able to quickly and appropriately change our behaviour when circumstances change. For example, at present people are having to find different ways to manage their startups or growth businesses, possibly while also having to home school their children.

The old strategies may not be appropriate now. For instance, although entrepreneurs are driven individuals being ‘always on’ for work might not be good for our mental health in the current circumstances. And we’re all going to have to adapt again as more workplaces are allowed to open.

For both resilience resourcefulness is key.

and

adaptability,

How can entrepreneurs discover their resourcefulness and use it to increase their resilience and adaptability?

Broadly speaking every entrepreneur will have personal resources and social resources to call on.

Personal resources Our Strengths One of our biggest sources of personal resources is our own unique strengths.

Strengths are the attributes that are at the heart of our best self. They are the things that are natural for us to do and that seem easy to us. We each have our own set of strengths.

For instance, entrepreneurs are inherently strategically minded while others are more naturally empathetic. Some are good at logical analysis while others are great at developing others.

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It’s important to know our own strengths as using them boosts our confidence and gives us energy, allowing us to recover more quickly from setbacks. We are likely to solve a business problem better if the solution uses our strengths. To learn more about your unique strengths as an individual and business-owner, you can take the VIA free strengths test or buy a pack of strengths cards so you can self-identify your strengths. Once you have done that, you can get some feedback from colleagues and others on what they think your strengths are, and when they’ve seen you use them in a difficult situation.

Our previous experiences As entrepreneurs are well aware starting and developing a business can be stressful at the best of times. When times are extra tough it can be really helpful to remember other times when we coped, when turned a tricky business situation around. Being in the grip of the present can prevent us from accessing resources from the past: our entrepreneurial skills, our business knowledge and experience.

We can discover these hidden resources by remembering our best experiences, when we weren’t just coping but really flourishing and excelling. Once we have brought these experiences to mind, we can mine them for tactics, strategies, ideas, conversations, that really made a difference then and that might be useful now. Appreciative Inquiry is a change process that is built on the understanding that resources from the past can help us in the present and in the future. There are there are some books about how to apply it to your personal life, or your business life to tell you more. If you want to try it for yourself, there is a pack of Appreciative Inquiry Cards with questions designed to help you through the resource discovery process.

Entrepreneurs need HERO abilities Our HERO ability made up of our states

of hopefulness, optimism, resilience, and confidence (efficacy). Add these four things together and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. In other words, although resilience is part of our HERO abilities, it is also boosted if we can boost our sense of hope, optimism, and confidence.

You can discover more in the Psychological Capital and Beyond, a book by the people who discovered this, or, invest in a HERO card pack that contains questions and quotes as well as explanations, to help you boost your own HERO abilities.

Tap into your social networks Our social networks extend our resourcefulness.

Think of it as ‘I know a (wo)man who can’. Our network contains people who find easy what we find hard. This means that for entrepreneurs they can be a source of inspiration, uplift, practical advice, useful contacts and many other resources. Exchange your strengths across your network. For instance, you might find it easy to use Zoom, Team and other online resources, while your friend, who is hopeless at that sort of logical rational technical stuff, might be able to reel off a whole list of fun ways to teach times tables to your children!

The social capital of your startup or growth business A startup or growth business’s resilience is about all of the above, and, about social capital. The social capital of a business reflects its connectedness. It’s about how easily information flows around the organization and how much trust there is. Both of these, quick information flow and trust, make it much easier for businesses to be resilient and to adapt quickly. As we tentatively ease lockdown, the enthusiasm of people to return to previous places of work will depend, to some extent, on the extent to which they trust the organization to look after them. Do they believe the organization is telling them what

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they need to know? Do they trust the plans to keep them safe? These positive organization development cards have lots of information about the features of the best organisations.

For entrepreneurs to weather the difficult months ahead thinking about this aspect of their business will be crucial.

Let me share some quick tips that entrepreneurs can use to boost their own resilience and adaptability in the new normal.

Follow safety instructions, but more importantly, understand the principles and apply them in different situations so you can be active in keeping yourself safe Manage your energy and look after yourself.

Having to suddenly adapt our behaviour means we can’t run on habitual lines, so it takes more energy even if you seem to be achieving less.

Go easy on yourself, adjust your expectations and standards

Re-prioritise, and then do it again when things change again. It’s very easy to assume the priorities stay the same even as the situation changes. They don’t. So take the time to think about what the highest priorities are now, in this situation within these constraints, with these resources.

Redefine your goals so you can succeed in the new situation. This is very important.

Create and recreate structure for yourself.

Structure really helps because it reduces decision-making, which is taxing. Keep evolving new structures to your working day or your life as things change.

These tips will be good to share with your team members. Help them to boost their own resilience and adaptability as they adjust to the ongoing changes in our response to covid-19.

If you are interested in learning more about resilience and adaptability, we are running 4 two-hour live virtual development workshops.

You can also access a video interview of two psychologists talking about resilience both generally and at work.

By Sarah Lewis C.Psychol., the principal psychologist at Appreciating Change.

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Can crypto help us through the coronavirus crisis?

You would be forgiven for thinking cryptocurrencies would die a death during a global pandemic. Many see them as a nice-tohaves in a time of abundance – when citizens don’t need the state and are keen to capitalise on intangible ways to build value. In the face of the Covid-19 crisis, the default is that we need the state, from service provision to funding to managing the money supply, to come to our aid and remain in control.

But is that really where we’re heading?

We tend to overestimate the effects of technology and innovation in the short term and underestimate it in the long term.

(Unfortunately, not my own pearl of wisdom but that of futurist Roy Amara.) Today, with stock markets and the real economy in disarray, it feels like the value of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies just starting to be understood. This is not something that will happen overnight, but bitcoin was born out of the last financial crisis; it is likely that it will help us out of this one.

Validating the white paper

The thesis behind crypto is, you could say, very (pre-Covid) 2020. Create a decentralised, nonpolitical, non-geographic based currency that is both digitally-encrypted and has a limited supply, as well as having the full feature set of a currency. The usefulness of these attributes has been advancing for years.

And while the need for redistribution of wealth accelerates, with democracies around the world turning to universal basic income and cash handouts, the limits of the fiat-based global financial system are thrown into sharp relief. Is crypto finally coming of age?

People have been waiting for a watershed event like this. As cashless societies get bigger and fiat currencies become increasingly manipulated, stimulus packages will weigh heavier and heavier on debt-to-GDP ratios.

This is exactly what happened in the last crisis, where we saw 120% debt-to-GDP ratios. Debt servicing will be costlier, while the poorest in societies start to feel the burn of inflation, and everyone feels the burden of rising taxation and a manipulated money supply. The relative value of those currencies will drop.

The former governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King (now Lord Lothbury) believes that the coming crisis caused by the coronavirus in the real economy will be worse than the financial crisis of 2008. He told the BBC last month that: “in the financial crisis, we were dealing with a relatively small number of financial institutions. We knew broadly what we had to do. In this case, the situation is extremely uncertain.”

For anyone not around at the time, take my word for it – it was pretty bad.

An unlikely safe haven

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From a central bank point of view, the coronavirus crisis is different to almost any standard economic shock in that it necessitated both supply and demand intervention.

And while global markets reel, bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies, have remained largely unaffected. Bitcoin’s most disruptive benefits have moved front and centre: scarcity and liquidity, in a world of money-printing and global financial strain.

Clearly, despite some sell-offs, for many, bitcoin currently represents a hedge in the face of huge stock market risk. And with institutional flows coming in, the foundation is well and truly being laid for it to be traded with trust and confidence. The super-speculation, which feels more like the dotcom era and subsequent crash, is waning. Institutions and other large financial organisations are now more engaged than ever, with the likes of Fidelity, Square, and Revolut all facilitating trading. And India has finally lifted its crypto trading ban.

CoinCorner, a bitcoin exchange in the UK, says it has seen a growing number of people entering the bitcoin market in 2020, perhaps also in the run-up to the anticipated bitcoin halving in May. If you don’t know about halving, there is a good explainer here. CoinCorner says it saw an increase in the number of new customers every month since the beginning of 2020 with February up 5% compared to January, and March was up 17.6% compared to February.

We could, of course, see new innovations in the crypto space come out of this crisis. But certainly the euphoric frenzy (based on not very much) that we saw in bitcoin’s earlier days has come to an end, and now, investors on both the institutional and retail side are interested.

The start of something more legitimate for financial asset allocation has arrived. And an asset immune, even somewhat, to the volatility and uncertainty of the present time, could be a saving grace to millions.

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10 Ways to Encourage a Safe Return to the Office After Lockdown Lockdown has taken its toll on both individuals and businesses, and many of us are feeling eager to return to normal, or at least a ‘new normal’. Since the Covid-19 lockdown, research shows that approximately 60 per cent of the UK’s adult population are now working from home, a transition that has been essential, yet difficult for many.

Remember, even when government says it’s possible to return to work, that doesn’t mean you necessarily have to. Take in all the official guidance available to you and make a carefully-considered decision based upon your business and your employees’ needs.

So, what happens when lockdown restrictions are lifted, and businesses have an opportunity to get back up and running? The government is set to release a series of papers which will outline its approach and advise businesses on how to return to work safely. Even with government regulations in place however, it will be up to you to go above and beyond for your employees and create an office environment that is safe, hygiene-focussed, and considerate of mental health needs.

When you do reopen the office, social distancing is going to be a challenge.

According to the BBC, the “principles may not necessarily insist that workers strictly observe a two-metre social distancing rule”. However, where possible, you should try to adhere to social distancing in any way you can. Tools such as social distancing floor stickers make this a little easier — offering your employees guidance and reassurance that they are not getting too close to one another.

In relation to a safe return of the workforce, Gary Peeling, Chief Executive Officer at Where The Trade Buys, said: “With shared spaces gradually reopening, businesses such as retail outlets, offices, factories, and schools will require numerous health and safety products to ensure the safeguarding of their staff, customers, and students. Before doors can reopen, careful planning will be needed in order to put the necessary protective equipment in place and enhance health and safety measures before employees return to the workplace.”

3.

Implement a one-way system in the office Another way to implement social distancing efforts in the office is to encourage a one-way system. If you have to ways in and out of your building, consider how these could be utilised so that your staff aren’t risking close physical contact.

With this in mind, here are ten ways to ensure that your return to the workplace is smooth, safe, and positive: 1. Closely monitor government guidelines As an employer, it is up to you to stay on top of all the recent information and act accordingly.

2.

Install social distancing floor stickers

4.

Provide hand sanitisers and other cleanliness reminders Cleanliness is key, and you need to up your hygiene procedures as much as possible.

As you were most likely doing before the full lockdown came into place, encourage thorough handwashing, provide hand sanitisers wherever possible, and install health and safety posters as regular reminders around the office.

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5.

Make sure you’ve done a deep clean before you reopen Before you open your doors once more and endeavour to return to ‘business as normal’, try to create as clean and hygienic a space as possible. Not only will starting on a fresh slate create a safer environment, but it will show your employers that you’re taking health and safety precautions with the utmost seriousness.

6.

Provide your employees with PPE equipment is appropriate If you want to go the extra mile, provide your employees with PPE equipment such as face masks and gloves. Depending on the environment you’re working in, fabric facemasks might also do the job.

7. Consider staff who use public transport or visit other premises The previous point is especially applicable for staff members who use public transport to get into the office or those who have to visit various premises due to their role. Make sure you’re listening to the needs of each individual staff member so that you can provide extra support to those who might be more at risk.

8.

Conduct one to one ‘back to work’ meetings Managers should conduct one-to-one meetings with each staff member to make sure they feel supported and listened to. Chances are, each employee has had a completely different lockdown experience — some may have been working from home throughout with 100 per cent pay, whereas some may have been furloughed and faced financial stress or anxiety related to other issues. The only way you’ll be able to offer the support each staff member needs is to take the time to understand their needs individually.

9. Offer mental health support In addition to these back-to-work meetings, you should make sure your workforce has access to ongoing mental health support. Each member

of staff will likely have felt the impact of this crisis, and whether that has manifested itself in health anxiety, financial concern, or loneliness, you must show them that the company is there for them to provide ongoing emotional support. For more information and guidance, consult the resources available at Mind UK. 10. Wherever possible, make it optional Finally, take into consideration that each staff member will be in a unique position, and for some, remote working might still be a safer and more productive option. Your employees will appreciate your flexibility and the fact that you are reviewing everyone’s circumstances individually. After all, if you’re a business that can work as productively online, it makes sense to allow people to continue doing so until they feel safe and confident to return to work.

Currently, it’s impossible to predict when you’ll be able to resume ‘business as usual’. Until then, carry on supporting your employees as best you can. When the moment to return to work finally does come however, take all the precautions you can in order to create a happy, healthy, and productive workplace dynamic.

This article was researched by UK print company Where The Trade Buys, currently producing PPE for UK workplaces, education spaces, shops, the NHS and more. The company has also been involved in manufacturing face visors for NHS essential workers in the fight against Covid-19.

Sources: https://www.finder.com/uk/working-fromhome-statistics https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ business-52496636 https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/ fundamentals/emp-law/employees/workplaceguide-returning-after-coronavirus https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ wuhan-novel-coronavirus-infectionprevention-and-control/covid-19-personalprotective-equipment-ppe https://www.mind.org.uk/informationsupport/coronavirus/coronavirus-and-yourwellbeing/

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How Entrepreneurs Can Reinvent Their Business During a Crisis What do you do when your business revenue dries up overnight? You can give up or you can reinvent yourself whilst contributing to the fight against Covid-19.

ChargedUp is Europe’s largest phone charging network. In early March, we watched with dismay as the venues hosting ChargedUp stations closed their doors to the public and our core business revenue started to disappear.

Let me share how we’ve tackled the current crisis and what other entrepreneurs with startups may find useful learnings from the story.

First response Faced with a potential tsunami for the company, my first thoughts were for my team; their health and wellbeing and their livelihoods.

Within 24 hours the Shoreditch based team had transitioned to remote working, with a framework in place to facilitate successful and fun remote working. We formalised the working day, tapped into fantastic and free resources, and optimised our virtual meeting tools. I also scheduled lunchtime hangouts, Friday evening beers, and other social events to help the team to help and support each other through the crisis. Then we spent several days reworking our finances to optimise our expenditure during this period.

The Choice - hibernation or reinvention We were faced with a stark choice, either go into hibernation and carefully manage our outgoings until the end of the lockdown, or look

for other opportunities to keep us busy and enable us to contribute to the battle against covid. The stakes are high, ChargedUp has 30 employees who have families to support and we were facing a potentially damaging situation. Never one to sit around and wait for something to happen, we quickly started the process of determining how we could do something worthwhile to fight covid-19.

A process led workshop One of our core values is that we encourage off the wall ideas, as you never know where the next great idea will come from. I scheduled a virtual workshop with my team leads, with two days to prepare. It is difficult to simply conjure up new ideas, particularly when under pressure, so I decided to adopt a process led approach to blue skying.

Preparation phase: Participants must not come to the table cold; they must have done their pre-work and research. Our starting point was to find some reference material online that could spark ideas. We found lots of sites providing advice on covid proof business ideas. We also found an excellent website from St. Catherine’s College Cambridge, which highlighted advice and guidance for managing Covid-19. https://covid-19.biorisc.com This pre-work and research provided a basis for the workshop.

Business model canvas phase: We then prepared a business model canvas; this enables you to highlight the key skills and assets that your business possesses. This captures your businesses key capabilities; your

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contacts, your core skills, etc. We prepared this on a single A3 sheet. You will find resources and templates online to help you to do your own business model canvas.

The dreaming phase: Allow the team to dream and share a wild wish. We came up with lots, most of which I cannot share!

Discussion & analysis phase: Write them down and discuss, refine and analyse the potential of each wild wish. We emerged after a daylong workshop with four ideas that we felt had legs and could conceivably work. We then set up virtual teams to investigate the concepts further. Each team had representation from technology, marketing and operations. We time boxed the research phase, and gave the teams just 24 hours to analyse, refine and prepare their business case for each of the four ideas.

Refinement phase: We reviewed and refined down to two concepts that we felt could work.

We then tested the concept with some of our partners to see whether they would be interested in our proposed offering.

Remember that this process took just three days. Each phase was time boxed to prevent the process becoming overly long and to ensure we acted swiftly.

The idea that emerged

Whilst doing our business model canvas, we noted down an existing asset; we had 100+ large charging station structures sitting in a warehouse in London, waiting to be dispatched to airports, shopping malls and other high footfall venues. The large stations allow us to fit a number of smaller stations and one of the blue-sky ideas was to refit them to hold hand sanitizer dispensers. This concept emerged as the favourite and having spoken with a number of our partners we felt there was a solid basis for us to proceed.

From concept to reality in a week There were many challenges to overcome,

mainly that the team knew very little about hand sanitizers, the market, and the industry.

We are lucky that one of our team has a Masters in Chemistry, and we were able to connect with an existing supplier of hand sanitizer gel, who acted as consultant for us. Within a week we had a working hand sanitizer dispenser and orders from lots of companies. Have a look at this short video that explains the design process

The Sales team started going through their black books and calling people. Within two day we had secured a deal for 90 stations with a hospital supplier to the NHS. It has gone from there, and we are continuing to dispatch, produce ‘stations’ and design more stations.

We have sold over 400 units and have interest from businesses all over Europe.

Where do we go from here?

We at ChargedUp are proud to be doing our bit for the covid-19 battle. So many people are risking their lives at the front line. Having established a business to enable ChargedUp to do its bit for the covid battle, we are looking at whether it is a short term pivot to help us through covid or indeed whether there is a longer term opportunity for our business.

Lessons learned As entrepreneurs it is important to “Never give up” and to foster an agile culture from the early days of your startup. Always look for the upside, our people are our most important asset.

All things are possible, it is a case of allowing your people to think creatively and see solutions where other business people see obstacles. A process led approach to blue skying can produce excellent ideas. Who know what additional businesses you may create as a result…

By Hugo Tilmouth , CEO of ChargedUp.

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How to run an effective virtual workplace With all of the organisations we support, whatever their model of working, we constantly encourage them the stay focused on daily, weekly and monthly conversations driven by the following essential questions: 1.

What success are we trying to achieve?

‘How’ are we going to do this and ‘what’ will we need to achieve this?

2.

What are the conditions that we’re trying to achieve our targeted success in?

3.

What performance ingredients are we already blessed with that we can use to maximise our chances of delivering the success in these conditions?

4.

What performance ingredients do we need to enhance or add to give us the best possible chance of achieving the success we’re aiming for?

Asking these four questions will help run an effective workplace, whether it’s surrounded by bricks and mortar, or is in a virtual world.

It’s probably most important to focus on the first two questions when it comes to adjusting to a work-from-home requirement.

And here’s why...

First, question 1 of “What success are we trying to achieve?” means that you very quickly ensure that everyone is focused onto defining what good looks like when you’re going to have to change your game plan and work differently.

Rather than keeping your targets the same, even though the context has changed, you

make sure that there’s a picture of success that feels relevant and realistic for everyone. You’ll get a motivational win straight away here by showing your readiness to adapt and update targets and give everyone a challenge that feels worth pursuing.

Second, with question 2 of “What are the conditions that we’re trying to achieve our targeted success in?” it’s essential to focus on a couple of things when answering this. We challenge people to get a really clear picture of “what’s staying the same for us that is a source of confidence and consistency?”, and “what’s changing that we need to recognise and have a plan for?”. By answering these two questions, you’ll get a pretty clear picture of the ratio between ‘same’ and ‘different’, which is important to stay focused on.

Our experience shows that if you don’t do this, people simply focus on everything that is changing and they get a skewed picture which typically isn’t helpful for seeking to learn from the conditions and use the change as a stimulus to learn and grow. We also challenge teams we work with to identify what’s either helpful or unhelpful about the stuff that’s the same, as well as changing. The language of this has to be spot on… HELPFUL and UNHELPFUL (never use good or bad). When you’ve had some conversations about these two concepts, you’ll again be in a position to take on the conditions with a clear mindset of ‘exploit the helpful’ and ‘mitigate against the unhelpful’. Being great at both these sides of the equation is important, and again helps everyone maximise Control, Confidence and Connectedness - the three vital C’s that underpin motivation.

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The most important factor is creating a united, collaborative approach. Having regular conversations - whether virtual or not - will help teams feel motivated.

The three C’s that underpin motivation: 1. Connectedness: Keep teams focused on the collective vision and goal by regular conversations. Check in for a community call at the beginning and end of the day, and stay connected through Slack, Microsoft Teams, VOIP. Being able to hear each other, see each other is important for helping create a sense of togetherness. It will enable a sense of personal autonomy and control, enhancing confidence and motivation.

2. Confidence: Share advice, tips and tactics for remote working. Share ideas and advice on working from home so people feel as confident as possible. Make sure everyone is regularly checking in with existing strengths, achievements and successes from the day this will boost morale and enforce confidence levels. Not to mention increasing motivation levels.

3. Control: Answering all of the questions collaboratively ensures that the sense of togetherness is maximised, but it’s also equally important for each person to remember how important they are individually to the overall success of the business. This mutual accountability along with individual responsibility does a huge amount toward keeping a sense of connectedness throughout the business, and leaders can do a huge amount to enable their staff to take control of their environments, their workload, their goals so they feel a sense of responsibility and motivation.

If you keep Confidence, Connectedness and Control at the centre of your business and remind everyone of the overriding business mission, you’ll be in a very good place to adapt to any number of changes, maintaining motivation, productivity and maximum performance.

By PlanetK2 Founder, Chris Shambrook.

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Rebooting the Economy: Key Legal Considerations for Businesses The slow relaxation of the UK’s ongoing lockdown is presenting another blow to businesses already struggling in the coronavirus crisis. According to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the UK is heading for its deepest recession in 300 years.

business recovery is stark.

So far, UK Government schemes to support businesses have provided loans and other forms of credit within existing legal structures.

However, we appear to be at the beginning of a new phase in the response, with UK Government proposals to relax wrongful trading rules and introduce a company moratorium likely to move forward. Moves to ensure that supply chains for businesses remain functional are also being proposed with a Government scheme to replace credit insurance with Government support and rules to stop business ceasing to trade with businesses that are in insolvency proceedings.

Direct costs incurred whilst shutdown continues: Businesses that have shut down quickly continue to have liabilities to suppliers, landlords and employees, without income to support those expenses. Even businesses that have apparently benefitted from the disruption, such as online delivery platforms and supermarkets, have had to foot the bill for social distancing measures, additional employees and managing disrupted supply chains. Many of these costs will not be recoverable or ultimately add anything to profitability.

These scheme challenge the way businesses under stress operate and, whilst increasing the breathing space for businesses and directors under severe pressure, they also open up new uncertainties for businesses trading with and financing those businesses.

The background to these developments is that businesses have really only begun to experience the financial impact of the enforced economic slowdown. Many have calculated that they will survive through to the end of lockdown, assuming ongoing relaxation throughout summer. But the backdrop for

Business managers and owners will need to navigate three phases to get their business trading again:

Ramp up: As we come out of the crisis, it is increasingly clear that the return to normality will be slow and it is unlikely that business will return to pre-crisis levels in the short term.

Through this ramp up phase, businesses will need to pay employees, acquire stock and meet usual running costs whilst planning for uncertain levels of business. They may be able to trim maintenance and investment expenditure but, if taken too far, this will also harm asset condition and future growth potential. Businesses that can maintain investment are those most likely to be able to take advantage of opportunities and benefit in the longer term.

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Rightsizing for recovery: Many companies and groups of companies will find that parts of their business are uneconomic or simply that they will have to focus their efforts on saving parts of their business and not others. These measures can be complex and are discussed in more detail below.

It is worth noting that, in the initial phase, some of the direct costs have been met by cash receipts from receivables as a result of previous trading, which in the ordinary course would have been used to fund the business, investing in stock, materials and work in progress. With those cash receipts spent elsewhere, businesses will need to fund huge amounts of working capital while facing uncertain demand. To some extent, prior to the crisis we had already seen an increase in supply chain financing and asset based lending based on receivables, stock, and even plant and machinery. This looks set to continue, and the latest UK Government proposals certainly suggest that they are seeking to support supply chain financing as well as direct credit.

Funding

Meanwhile ongoing costs have depleted cash reserves, driving an almost universal search for liquidity from banks and the bond markets with even cash-rich businesses looking to raise funds. A small proportion of these debts are in the form of government grants or direct funding of salaries, but many are being absorbed on to balance sheets in the form of debt. These debts will remain long after the crisis has averted and in some cases terms are unclear.

Businesses may have little choice but to incur liabilities in the short term. The UK Government proposal referred to above is designed to make it easier for businesses to do this even if they are in crisis. However, businesses will need to think very carefully about what their balance sheets will look like coming out of the crisis and how they will fund liabilities long

term. Businesses crippled by debt service will not be able to invest for the future in a world that has been changing quickly in the face of technological developments and shifting trade barriers.

One option is to arrange for sales of valuable assets to fund the business. This can involve the sale of a division or specific assets that is not required for the business or, for instance, the sale and leaseback of freehold property.

Obviously, prices for assets is subdued at this time, but there may simply be no choice.

Businesses may be fortunate enough to be funded by existing lenders or shareholders, but others will need to access additional sources of funding. On the debt side, options for most companies will be either bank debt, non-bank lenders or debt capital markets funding. For those with higher leverage, all of these can be accessed as unsecured or secured debt and in the form of asset-backed loans. Asset backed loans are increasingly popular since they offer improved capital treatment for regulated lenders and help to control leverage. If an equity funding is required, the right solution will be more bespoke and depend significantly on the size of the company. If helpful, advisers can be a useful source of introductions to new sources of financing, and we often find that reaching the right individual in an organisation is as important are choosing the right organisation to approach.

However, increasingly it is becoming clear that the scale of the balance sheet challenge means that shareholders and lenders are going to require other creditors, such as landlords and even suppliers, to share some of the cost of getting businesses back into operation.

Solvency

Businesses may find themselves in a position where their historic liabilities are simply too

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big to be solved with additional funding, even though they have a profitable underlying business or part of the business. For these businesses they will try to reach a consensual agreement with their creditors, but this may not be achievable without threatening or going through a formal company voluntary arrangement or an insolvency process. Those processes therefore form the backdrop to any negotiation with creditors, meaning that understanding the outcome of such a process is an important first step.

If handled correctly, a restructuring can be used as a tool to reach a fair position for all creditors of a company and allow all or a part of the underlying business to survive. Ideally this may involve accelerated sales and consensual amendments to agreements rather than insolvency, but businesses may, in the end, need to go through a formal process.

Restructuring, even on a consensual basis, incurs significant costs, including redundancy costs, equipment investment, costs for moving production to lower cost countries, shut down costs, landlord renegotiations and refinancing costs and waiver or amendment fees. Where a formal process is required, it is likely that advisors’ fees will significantly add to those costs.

Directors of companies going through these processes need to take ongoing advice to ensure that they are not exposed to personal liability.

The UK Government’s announced relaxations will make it easier for directors as they navigate a difficult business environment, but those measures have not yet been implemented and so the exact scope of the relaxation is still not clear. In any event, the news rules will require interpretation and directors will want to have advice on their scope before relying on them.

Most importantly, as we go through this continuing crisis, businesses need to be alive to the changing environment, including

both challenges and opportunities. The most impressive management teams are seeing the crisis as an opportunity to renew their businesses and ensure that they are flexible for whatever the rest of the year will bring.

By Ian Borman, Partner, Winston & Strawn.

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Entrepreneurs - Don’t fear volatility, embrace it!

At the beginning of the year, I spoke regularly in the media about what big events investors and traders need to be aware of as they map out their investment strategies for 2020. Based on what was happening at the time, I mentioned the potential of rising regional instability in the Middle East, the UK’s withdrawal from the EU and the US presidential election.

Underlining these observations, I made a clear and concise point – in trading, nothing is certain. Investors must always be prepared for the unknown and recognise that volatility is an inherent part of the financial markets. Portfolio growth is achievable, but it is by no means linear.

Jump forward to May 2020, and a virus originally discovered in Wuhan, China has triggered a global health crisis. Governments are trying to contain the pandemic through social distancing measures, and the race is now on to find a vaccine. Those earlier trends I identified in the New Year no longer seem as critical, for the moment at least.

The impact of COVID-19 on traders and investors

The impact of COVID-19 on the financial markets has been profound. From commodities and currencies to stocks and shares, there have been sharp gains and losses as investors scramble to restructure their portfolios and weather the immediate financial shock brought on by the pandemic.

In times like these, many investors and traders

are understandably worried; there is much uncertainty surrounding the current health crisis. The question, therefore, is what should investors do? In my mind, they have two choices.

The first is to hold onto their existing assets and hope that any loses will be recuperated as part of the post-pandemic market recovery.

By prioritising liquidity and security over shortterm returns, investors can minimise their risk exposure and ensure loses are kept to a minimum.

The second option appeals to the more bullish investor: rather than holding on to their existing assets, they radically restructure their financial portfolio, sell underperforming assets and take advantage of short-term opportunities by reactively buying and selling. It is an aggressive trading strategy that typically brings greater risk – furthermore, it can only be successfully undertaken for those who have an acute understanding of specific financial markets.

Determining the best approach will be informed by each investor’s individual circumstances.

Importantly, any decision must be shaped by one’s long-term financial objectives. Do you want a portfolio driven by growth, value or income? Answering this key question will likely dictate which is the most appropriate of the two options outlined above.

Look at the past to anticipate the future

No one can ever truly predict how markets will perform in a month, a week or even a

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day from now. There are simply too many factors affecting how different events will impact different assets. However, by looking to the past, we can observe how the markets have reacted when faced with a similar set of circumstances.

Gold is a very interesting example here. Classed as safe haven asset, it is a popular option for investors in times of crises and this explains why gold has risen in price by 12% this year.

The outlook for gold seems positive at the time of writing, but this does not mean investors should simply buy this precious metal as means of mitigating the impact of today’s uncertainty.

I believe that to understand an asset’s shortcomings, we need to understand its strengths. As a tangible asset, gold benefits from constant market demand. However, there is no steady income flow, and its value can quickly drop when a crisis subsides and investors rally to the stock market, for instance.

At the moment, however, there is a growing case for gold buyers. Firstly, we have central banks cutting interest rates, with the prospect of negative rates on the table. The Swiss National Bank, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan all currently have negative interest rates. For many countries, where inflation levels are higher than interest rates levels, money in the bank will simply lose value year on year. Therefore, investors who have moved into cash will be looking to place their cash in a safe haven.

In the last three recessions gold has increased in value, so as a hedge for a recession gold does have strong appeal. Furthermore, with large scale quantitative easing programmes being undertaken by central banks around the world, some analysts are anxious this will lead to high stock valuations. Again, gold offers a hedge against such devaluing risk. History, may not be repeated, but the fundamental outlook for gold is currently very strong.

An investor’s position in gold should be determined by their risk exposure and longterm financial objectives. However, if interested

in gold, a useful place to start is by observing the Volatility Index (VIX). This index provides a 30-day projection of market volatility. Watching the VIX closely, we can see that when there is a drop in the index, the price of gold rises soon thereafter, and vice versa. Investors could use the VIX to determine when they should be entering (and leaving) the gold market.

Cautious planning for the future

We live in uncertain times and any forecast for the future is by no means absolute. At the moment, we could be witnessing the beginnings of a market recovery, though this could quickly become obsolete should there be a second spike in coronavirus cases or a severe drop in investor confidence.

The key message is simple – investors should not panic. They must make any financial decisions with a level-head. For every piece of positive news regarding COVID-19, also consider the potential negative outcomes as well. This ensures every investment decision is made by striking the right balance between return and risk.

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By Giles Coghlan, Chief Currency Analyst at HYCM

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How to make the most out of your business during Coronavirus COVID-19 has without a doubt posed many challenges for businesses. But as we all navigate our way through uncharted waters and find our “new normal”, it is important to remain focused on what our priorities and values are as a company. For WOW Tech Group, that is first and foremost the safety of our employees, our partners, and those working on the front lines in warehouses and manufacturing to get products to customers. And not just their physical safety, but their mental and financial well-being too.

This means having our employees work remotely and supporting our third-party warehouses and their employees as staff shifts are altered to reduce the number of employees on-site at the same time and personal protective equipment (PPE) is distributed. It also means making hard decisions, like planning for worst cast scenarios, helping to minimize handling and demand in the warehouses, and cutting spending on any projects that don’t directly support sales. The reward? Keeping all our employees safe and on payroll.

While these measures certainly pose challenges, I feel that working in the Sx Tech industry makes us uniquely suited to find creative ways to overcome adversity. It’s an industry which is often underestimated, regarded as disreputable and supposedly has low standards and little regard for science when it comes to the products. All these challenges existed when I began working in the industry in 2015, and unfortunately, continue to exist today.

But I also know that our incredible employees

work every day to change and challenge these perceptions. We continue to innovate and produce sexual wellness products that enrich the lives of people and make them healthier and happier. Our team is the reason for our success despite the hurdles we face. It’s why their well-being has been, and continues to be, our top priority through COVID-19 and beyond.

I bought Womanizer in 2017 alongside private investors, and in 2018 we merged with WeVibe, and WOW Tech Group was formed. We now employ nearly 160 people from over 20 countries at three locations (Berlin, Ottawa and Hong Kong) on three continents. WOW Tech is the only major player in our industry that invests so many resources into research and development – 30% of our team are dedicated full time to product and technology innovation.

But what does that look like in the time of COVID-19, when our R&D team cannot access our labs and full resources they would usually need to continue their work?

Luckily, our R&D team boasts some of the very best in the industry and our engineers have many of the devices, tools and equipment they need to continue their current projects at home. Therefore, our team members who would typically work in our laboratories in Berlin and Ottawa are now working on the development of new products in improvised laboratories in home offices.

One of our Constructing and Development Engineers quickly installed a 3D printer in

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his pantry, whilst others have equipment in bedrooms, or laboratory power supplies in their living rooms. They can now continue working on new products and technologies with no major losses and I’m very grateful for their innovation and commitment to making sure our business continues to run...even at the expense of some of their home decor!

That’s not to say we’re able to overcome every hurdle. Certain mechanical work, such as milling or turning, can only be conducted in our main office laboratory and there are various tests that are simply too loud to be carried out at home and therefore must wait. It’s why we’re focusing on products that are easier to implement in the near-future, and temporarily putting longerterm projects on the back burner. Prioritization is key in times of uncertainty and figuring out what is feasible now and what can wait will help manage expectations and keep things moving.

Beyond adapting to our new working environments, we are also looking at what we can take from this experience and implement moving forward. The entire team has shown their dedication, commitment, flexibility and creativity. Team members are stepping in to support on projects they would not usually be involved with. This open and integrative mindset is something from which we will certainly continue to benefit, and so will look for ways to encourage into the future.

I would advise all fellow entrepreneurs and businesses to do the same. Ask what they have learned about their employees, their business, industry, and customers during this time and how can they utilize that information in the short and long term?

For example, we have focused on looking at our customers’ purchasing patterns before and during COVID-19 to gain insight into their motivations. During the last few months, we’ve seen an incredible spike in sales worldwide. Our global data year to date showed more than a 50% surge on original forecasts for Womanizer.

This highlights for us the importance of pleasure and intimacy during a time of crisis; insight

we can use as we continue to innovate our products and modify our sales and marketing approaches. This ability to listen and adapt is vital if you want to optimize business during a period of instability.

WOW Tech Group is a global leader within our industry, and despite the current situation, we have managed to maintain the highestlevel quality when it comes to our services and products. I believe this is due to our continuous evaluation of priorities, ability to adapt, focusing on our values, and supporting our employees. Although our working locations may have changed, our mindset, values, and end goal have not. We have had great success with this strategy to optimize our business and keep on with ‘business as usual’ throughout COVID-19, and I hope that other entrepreneurs do as well.

By Johannes Plettenberg, CEO, WOW Tech Group.

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Why Entrepreneurs Should be Working on PR Today For startups the current pandemic and lockdown has posed huge challenges and it may feel as if all your plans have been turned upside down.

It is likely that most startups and growth businesses have been tied up for the last few weeks: making provision for team members working from home; analysing the various forms of government help and evaluating how best it can be applied in our individual organisations; projecting the immediate and the longer-term financial impacts. And simultaneously, adapting to new realities: deciding how best to look out for vulnerable relatives and friends; adjusting to one-way systems in supermarkets; and getting used to amusing and educating children—all day, every day.

The world is different. But not unrecognisably so. The future we thought we were heading for is different too. But it is more likely to be one with fully stocked flour and pasta shelves than Hunger Games. So, when we get back to normal, or become accustomed to a close-aswe-can-get-to-normal interim period, you and your startup need to be fit-for-purpose. And you will need to make sure your customers know it.

The time for PR moving up the list of priorities will vary from business to business. Whatever the timing, whatever the budget, sooner or later, you are going to want to get out the

message that you are ready to provide services and/or products.

Should entrepreneurs be finding time to think about and plan this now? The answer is YES. Here are the reasons why:

People are listening Inevitably print media is suffering as people cannot physically purchase newspapers and magazines easily.

However, as many people have a lot more time on their hands, radio audiences have gone up considerably. According to Radio Today: Global says that there has been a significant increase in connected radio listening, with daily reach up 15% and hours up 9%, between 9-17 March.

LBC displayed the most notable growth, with its daily reach growing 43% and listening hours increasing 17%.

Online publications have also seen their readership increase dramatically, with the Mailonline editor claiming a 50% increase in visitors to its homepage.

Journalists are listening Inevitably, businesses have not been focusing on PR in recent weeks and, frankly, most of the press has been focused on the ‘here and now’

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of the virus. However, journalists are well set up for working from home—many already did, pre-Covid-19—so they are looking for relevant content ideas going forward. With fewer press releases coming in, they are more receptive than usual to those they do receive. Provided, as always, those releases are right for them.

If, a few months ago, you felt that you were a small fish in a big pond when contacting media outlets, these days , if you are in touch with journalists, you may still be a small fish, but your pond is far emptier. You are more of a catch.

The patterns of uncertain times The world being caught in the grip of Covid-19 is extraordinary, but we have been through economic uncertainty before (for example, the 2008 financial crisis) and in these circumstances, similar patterns are found. Amongst the most notable is that businesses that can and do invest in PR at the time of a crisis almost always fare better in the longer term. Analysis of crises also reveals the same three phases.

THE THREE CRISIS PHASES Here is what you should be doing at each point of the current crisis and why.

there. Also, if you have a product that is particularly relevant do make sure people know about it. If you can offer an effective delivery method that others can’t, make sure the people that can benefit from it are aware of it.

To be clear, this is not about profiteering. The majority of people are stuck at home and, if your product or service can benefit them, let them know it is there. If you can afford it, help them out by offering as much of a discount as you can. This is the right time to be helping others as much as possible. Your efforts will be remembered. Make sure your efforts are the type you can be proud of.

2nd Phase: the end is in view At this stage, the end of lockdown and the crisis is close. From a PR perspective this time is critical.

Planning and activity are on the increase.

Businesses are starting to re-open, and those that remain closed are about to put their recovery strategies into action. People are feeling more positive. They are thinking about the next few months and what they will be doing. In other words, the pond is getting busier.

Unless you are at the frontline of the news, there is not a vast amount you can do here, other than offering advice and consolation.

Make your contribution relevant and sensitive.

If you have been visible (for the right reasons) during phase 1, then you will be in a much stronger position; you will have the profile of a bigger fish. You need to maintain and grow your position, which means keeping up your PR efforts with as much helpful advice-based content as possible.

If you are a health company with proper insight into what is happening, offer advice on how to keep well in the circumstances. If you are an accountant, offer practical advice on how people should protect their finances. If you have insight into entertaining and/or educating bored children, now is the time to get it out

If you have been quiet during phase 1, then it is important to start making yourself visible again. Useful, relevant advice is the best way forward, so you will have been wise to have spent some time during phase 1 thinking about what people will want and need during phase 2 and working out how best you can provide

Ist Phase: crisis is ongoing

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that. Also focus on positive stories about your business: how you survived and your plans for the future are worth considering. There will be an appetite for good news.

3rd Phase: recovery starts People are going back to work, they have money in their pocket again, and the kids are back at school. While things are not quite how they used to be (some things may never be the same again), people can live lives that feel familiar and normal: eating out; visiting places as a family; getting a haircut. People are customers again.

And this will see businesses resuming spending their marketing budgets. For those business profiles that disappeared, budgets will have to work far harder to gain traction. But for those that managed to be present throughout the previous stages, they will have acquired big fish status.

MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR TIME Many big businesses will be looking at how to use their war chests (if they are lucky enough to have one), and it is understandable that many startups may be reluctant to allocate too much budget at this moment in time. But one resource that is likely to have increased is time. If you have more of it on your hands, invest some of it working on PR ideas: get some practical advice on the PR process and how to implement it. If you have the budget, appoint a good, reliable agency, and if your startup doesn’t have money today, look to do what you can yourself.

It is important for both startups and growth businesses to use their time well.

Keep swimming in the pond and get your message rippling outwards.

By Chantal Cooke, , founder of Panpathic Communications. www.panpathic.com

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