5 years in and 5 things we would like to share

Firstly, as always thank you for taking the time to read this, I hope it find you, your colleagues and loved ones safe and well.

Well time has flown and who would have thought it 5 years ago on the 22nd of March 2016 that I would be sitting here writing a blog about the first 5 years in business, well not me that is for sure.

On that date I had just been put on garden leave for the first time in my life and I was without a job and unsure what my next step would be. Strange as it may sound, I wasn’t concerned about the next career step, probably due to the fact I was so relived to be out of the job I was previously doing that the next chapter seemed somewhat brighter whatever it was. As I like reminding people life is too short to do something you do not like!

The next day I went to sign on to Job Seekers allowance for the first time, I little sheepishly as I didn’t expect to be doing that in my mid-thirties. I asked the careers advisor what were my options and she said do I have a business idea? It was at that point I decided to take the leap of faith, to back myself and create Advance Group. I replied Yes, yes, I do. From that point on it has been a roller coaster of highs and lows steps forward and steps back, but ultimately it has been enjoyable, apart from Covid, obviously.

So, what is the point to this article?

Well, here are 5 things I have learnt during my first 5 years in business.

• Self-Improvement – We have a philosophy of always looking inward and how can we improve ourselves before looking outwards. We never assume we know everything and if something didn’t work out the way we anticipated then my business partner and I always ask the question of each other what could we have done differently? How can we improve?
• Remain humble – No matter how successful you think you are don’t become complacent; complacency is the route of failure. Remembering where we can from and why we are in business keeps us grounded when it needs to and working hard throughout.
• Be relentless – No one said it was going to be easy to be in business, there are going to be good days and bad days, if you have a bad day pick yourself up dust yourself off and go again the next day and set yourself a goal or target no matter how high or ambitious and be relentless in your pursuit of achieving it.
• Quality over Quantity – The WHY behind setting up Advance was to have quality at the forefront of everything we do, we have not waivered or compromised this throughout our existence and will not regardless. We instil this into the whole team, Quality over quantity will always be the way we work.
• Trust the people in your team – Good people are hard to come by, treat them as you would wish to be treated, remember the people within the team make the company what it is & if you trust someone you empower them and they will naturally want to do the best job possible.

You may consider these 5 statements to be obvious however you would be surprised how easy it is to forget the simple things during the everyday grind and it’s always nice to reflect on the simple things and remind yourself of them.

So, after what has been a tough last 12 months for everyone here is to the next 5 years. I wish you and yours all the success in the world.

https://www.advancetmgroup.co.uk/5-years-in-and-5-things-we-would-like-to-share/

Take care and stay safe.

Mike Whitfield