22-23_muk.qxp_Grid 09/06/2021 18:34 Page 22
OVER THE
COUNTER
BY DAVID ROBERTSON OF JP POZZI, ELGIN AND BUCKIE.
An Open
Book I am without doubt a bit of an open book. I say too much, I have strong opinions, but all of this shapes me and it also encourages others to open up. Not always, but often my frankness and honesty almost demand the other person to be the same. Covid too has forced us to speak more and share more as we are all looking for some reassurance. I have bought so many books, but I rarely get time to read anything properly. At best I skim read excerpts most of the time, but I am fascinated in the continued rise of self-help, business, positive thinking books. One of the books that is on my list of ‘must reads’ is by a local author called Stuart Mason who wrote, ‘How to wreck your business’. Stuart is a full-on character with great stories and posts across all the usual channels. He had a publishing company which ran for years, freehold properties and various other business interests, yet around its 20th birthday it failed, causing him to lose it all and eventually start again as a business consultant telling people what not to do. This month he ran an Eventbrite on Zoom to discuss the bits that couldn’t be published in his book. He basically put the failure down to one major thing. He was too busy working ‘in’ his business rather than ‘on’ it. Think about that for a minute. I know I did and it is something that has been levelled at me before. As hustlers, entrepreneurs and in some case even maybe chancers, we tend to work in our business. Serving customers, doing the day-to-day work 22
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
and wearing all the many hats that are required to keep the lights on in our businesses. Social media gurus, website designers, photographers, fashion experts, trend analysers… the list is endless in the card and gift industry and if we are not excelling at them all, we feel that we are failing. It is a common feeling at the moment especially with the retail bounce not being the huge leap that we had all hoped for and the pressure I wrote about last month on us rising. Retail is difficult and uncertain in almost every sector. I have stopped looking back at my figures from two years ago as you simply can’t compare then and now. We are literally living in a different world with different priorities. People’s lives and values have changed and our businesses and plans will need to change too. Most days I feel that I am not
Top: David Robertson is a self-confessed open book, but is putting learnings gathered from many other directions into practice in his business and personal life. Above: Work ‘on’ your business not ‘in it’ is the advice Stuart Mason gives in his book. Below: The current uncertainty means that many are feeling like they are in a hamster wheel, being busy but not feeling like they are getting anywhere.
getting the big things I want done. I feel like I am busy doing stuff and no amount of lists or planning is getting me where I want to be. Maybe my lists are too long; maybe there are things on them that are not worthy of scoring off - or maybe I am just too hard on myself. It all feels a bit ‘hamster wheelish’, like I am going round on a busy journey of busyness, stress and problems. Does this sound like you? If you feel you are acting as basically a full time/overtime employee and never stepping into the owner/manager/CEO position, then quite simply you will not get very far. In some respects people say you have to treat it almost as two businesses. You have to allocate and discipline yourself to spend time looking down on your business, making bigger picture decisions. At other times you can be right in the cut and thrust.