Business learnings: 20 years – 20 tips

The last 20 years at Niche have been amazingly exciting – offering a cliché of business start-up experiences. Previously I posted on personal characteristics that help a new business owner to thrive. Here I wanted to record what the last 20 years has taught me.

I always planned for Niche to be a small and dynamic company of like-minded idealists and I have had the good fortune to share that ambition with many wonderful people. Today, we have 17 employees and over the last two decades we have outgrown several different offices. And yet, in may ways the business still feels like a new start-up. Niche is composed of young and dynamic individuals eager to make a difference. I am more energized and excited about our future than ever.

I have gained first-hand experience from the many brilliant people that I have worked with (and for) over the years. It has been a rollercoaster ride and involved mistakes as well as successes. Here are some of the most valuable lessons I have learned along the way – 20 years in 20 tips.

It’s your business not your life

No truly committed new business owner will understand this until its too late. I made the mistake of thinking that spending all my time doing what I loved would be reward enough. Don’t make my mistake. I spent far too much time working on the business and not on my family. They have been kind enough to love me anyway – but nothing will ever replace the missed first steps, first words and birthday parties. Find a way to have a business and a life. In the words of the Greek poet Hesiod (c.700 bc), “observe due measure; moderation is best in all things.”

Follow your passion and the money will follow

I have always been passionate about science and how to communicate scientific findings. In the 15 years before Niche, I had focused on the business of scientific regulation and communication. When we started I knew how critical it would be for our success, to establish myself as an expert in the field. I wrote articles, attended conferences and networked tirelessly. And, after several months we got our first client and we’ve never looked back. Find your own passion, and follow it through.

Leave your ego behind

It can be difficult when clients don’t trust your expertise. Beyond providing your best advice there is little you can do in the face of a tenacious individual – find the best way to deliver what they have asked for. You will hear anecdotes of how determined and dedicated service providers saved-the-day by giving their client what they needed and not what they wanted. Those episodes are few and far between – your client probably/possibly understands their business better than you do. Note – be careful not to behave that way when you engage professionals yourself. You may know what you want but give them the space to do their thing.

Demonstrating your mastery is part of your marketing costs

As a new business you usually need to break into an existing market. Demonstrating your mastery by going the extra mile will be a necessary part of that process. See the extra effort as part of your marketing costs, make it look easy rather than ask for extra because it was hard. You can recoup that investment on the next job. And the next. And the next after that.

Be better tomorrow than you were today

Although it is not always possible, we should try continually to outdo ourselves. There is nothing we do today that will be good enough tomorrow. Look for new ways of delivering excellence. There is no pinnacle to attain, and as such there's no boundary or limit you can place on your achievements.

95% of something is better than 100 percent of nothing

Don’t get distracted from the ultimate goal – to make money. Pursuit of total perfection shouldn’t handicap your business. You can get hung up on trying to achieve something that’s absolutely perfect. For example, creating quality systems that prevent you from ever making an error, providing service offerings that cover all eventualities and chasing clients that want to utilize all aspects of your business – these are dreams I have spent far too long chasing. Tell yourself to accept a compromise rather than expending time and effort driving for ‘perfection.’ Trust your judgement.

Contracts are your friends

There will always be clients who are keen to start their project NOW. They often make you feel that contractual delay is going to block any deal. Just don’t do it – or if you do, be prepared to do work and not get paid. Have template Master Service Agreements, Work Orders and Confidentiality Agreement at hand and be prepared to explain how the contracting process will only take a few moments to complete. Be professional at every step of the way, and use contracts for every job. The opportunity for misunderstandings on the road from brief to final product is just too great. Get something written up, not only to protect your interests and your team, but to insulate you from liability. Be prepared to learn the hard way – I did.

Don’t become complacent about success

Don’t fall into the trap of stopping in your progress to marvel at your success, forgetting that it takes constant effort to stay on top. With the successful completion of every job (and the abundant thanks of our clients), we savour the moment, knowing that tomorrow we need to try harder, do better and go further tomorrow. You need to be continually actively engaged in planning for the future of your business. You are only as successful as your next job. Your whole industry may change direction tomorrow and you need to be ready to change with it (or provide a creditable alternative). Are you up to date with current developments?

You can’t do it all yourself.

I have always loved working in teams. When I told my second brother-in-law (I have been married three times), a hard-nosed CEO of a NY insurance company, of my plans to start my own company, he told me that I was no longer a team player. I have always felt differently. You need to appreciate that it is impossible to do everything yourself. Share the load with your employees, vendors and partners – and don't micromanage them in the process. But also don’t take them for granted – they are the real engine of your success. Recognise this and share your successes with them, generously. Be the oily rag that greases the wheels of industry.

Stay educated – prepare to be a leader in your industry

It’s important to continue to educate yourself. Read books, attend trade shows and seminars and soak up as much information as you can. There's always more to learn. You may know it all today but I can promise you that you won’t tomorrow. You may know what you know but I bet you don’t know all of what you don’t know!

Share what you know

You need to share what you know with your team – it helps them (and your company) grow. Don’t be stingy with your knowledge. You only become a master of your craft once you start to help the newbies and apprentices in your industry. I write, blog and publish as much content as I can – sharing freely what I myself have learnt through the generosity of others. With our Insider’s Insights we provide our key industry learnings to anyone who asks for help, hopefully educating our customers at the same time – rather than just selling them stuff.

Invest in your image

I hesitate to think how much time and money we have spent on marketing Niche and establishing our brand over the last two decades. It’s difficult to calculate the real numbers when you consider the time we have all invested in keeping our image fresh and our message clear. We’re focused on continually improving our marketing, our website and our promotional materials. We invest generously in content marketing through our Insider’s Insights. Make sure your business looks the part as there is always someone out there trying to outdo what you've done and look better than you (obviously they aren’t).

Admit when you screw up (and apologise sincerely)

Use this with both clients and employees. Own up to your mistakes. You’ll make mistakes frequently – but it’s important to learn from them and change your behaviour moving forward. Employees don't expect you to be infallible – they expect you to be human. It's how you deal with mistakes that's most important to them. Similarly, clients can be understanding if you admit your errors early and offer solutions rather than excuses.

Aim for a positive workplace culture

Everyone places a high value on company culture. Build an environment that encourages creativity and fosters teamwork. The work we do at Niche is serious, but (I hope) we have a good time with each other along the way. You don’t need a beer keg/tap and ‘Pizza Thursdays’ to make it fun to work in your business. Let your team know that you are sincerely grateful for being given the opportunity to work with them. We’re all pursuing excellence, and each person believes deeply in our mission and what we stand for.

Always look ahead (and around the corner)

Expect the unexpected – and plan, but don’t worry. In the words of Mary Smich’s Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) “know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blind side you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday”. We’re always planning for what may lie ahead – and yet a couple of times we have suffered from blind-siding.

Hire people who are smarter than you

You can’t be an expert on everything. In the early days you may manage to run your accounts effectively on an Excel spreadsheet that you update at the end of the day or week (or monthly….). But that soon distracts you from where you add value in your business. Build a team of people who complement your own skills. That’s how you create a company of giants. Surround yourself with those who share the passion and vision of where you want to go, and who want to help you get there.

Surround yourself with those you admire.

Build a team of people you admire and who can help you grow personally. Equally, remove those who can’t get behind your vision, or tell you that you can’t do something or repeatedly blame their own failures on external circumstances.

Think global not local

Much of our business is based outside Europe and over 40% of our network can be identified as ‘Rest of World’. If someone had told me 20 years ago that we’d be working with people across the globe I would have been (pleasantly) amazed. We are living in a digital global age. There’s more business out there than just what you can pick up in your own backyard – especially when the service you provide is something clients can’t get locally.

Plan for an exit

This is one piece advice I have never been able to get behind – I feel as enthusiastic about being part of my business today as I did 20 years ago (and, after running my own show for so long, I am probably totally unemployable by anyone else). However, business owners are advised that at some point they should plan for an exit. It perhaps helps if you think that you will never execute the strategy but I promise you it is still important to have one in place. You never know what the future holds – in my case three brushes with death in 5 years underline the importance of having such a plan (and what happens when you don’t have one). Plan for a day when you may need to leave your business in the hands of someone else.

Be passionate about the success of your clients

This last point has been my defining guide of the last 20 years. I feel a real responsibility for making the people we work with (our clients) look great. When you take a genuine interest in your clients' success, they notice and appreciate it. While awards and accolades are nice, at the end of the day, all that matters is how your work translates into success for your clients. If you truly believe that their success is the most important part of your job, you’ll share in their growth and success.

So that’s it, at 55 years of age, it is unlikely that I will be around in another 20 years to see how much my advice has worked for you. All I can do is wish you good luck. Paraphrasing from Bill Parish (Anthony Hopkins) in the movie Meet Joe Black, “I will tell you my one wish, that you will have a life as lucky as mine, where you can wake up one morning and say, ‘I don't want anything more’”. Twenty years – I promise you they will go by in a blink.

Dr Tim Hardman is Managing Director of Niche Science & Technology Ltd., a bespoke services CRO based in the UK. He is also Chairman of the Association of Human Pharmacology in the Pharmaceutical Industry and an occasional commentator on science, business and the process of drug development.