Business lessons from a 10 year old('s favourite teacher ??!)

Mr Hodgson was my teacher during my fourth year at Junior School.

He was the first person - other than my Gran and Grandad - that I remember having a profound impact on my life.?

He gifted me some fantastic foundations.

Now when I use the word gifted, I don’t mean he gave them to me for free. Nothing in this life is free. Unless of course, you want nothing from life. And as much as I only want to live a relatively simple life, I still want certain things:

I want to leave the world in a better position than I found it in.

I want flexibility to travel and experience new cultures.

I want the time to be able to travel and experience those other cultures.

Of course, the common thread among those three wants is that they all require money. So even though I’m not striving for the biggest house, or the fastest car, I still need a business that is built with my chosen lifestyle in mind. The same will be true for you.

What are your three ‘wants’??

There are no right or wrong answers, and there’ll be no judgement from me if you do want the biggest house, and the fastest car. The world would be a very boring place if we all wanted the same things.

Whatever you want, there’ll be an element of blood, sweat, and tears involved - because even inner peace comes at a price – so being clear about what you’re striving for is a great starting point.

Can you write a proper sentence?

I ask you simply because this was Mr Hodgson’s opening question to the entire class.

And then it began…

Capital letters, full stops, semi-colons? No sweat.

Prepositions, conjunctions, interjections? Oh wait.

There was so much more to these ‘proper’ sentences than my pre-teen attitude had realised.

It got interesting; as I began to learn, understand, and use, the foundational principals of the English language. Even at that early age, I knew that if I had a solid foundation, I could develop from that point.

So long as I start with a capital letter, and finish with a full stop, then anything is possible in between!

“Nothing is impossible. The word itself says I’m possible!”

• Audrey Hepburn

These days, whenever I’m working with a client and we’re creating their mission statement, designing their business model canvas, or creating a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) that will provide them with the data and insight upon which to start, grow, measure, and build a business that works for them, I often think of Mr Hodgson.

Because essentially, all he was saying was that we should start at the beginning. Learn the basics, then grow from there.

The same is true for any small business owner.

You can have the greatest idea in the world, the best marketing plan, and the utmost confidence in your product, but if you don’t get the early nuts and bolts in place, you’ll never grow with any real purpose.

Doing the groundwork may be the boring bit – unless you work with me of course! - but it’s also the most important element to ensure you’re creating customer centred growth. After all, if you have no customers, you have no growth!

I’ve seen one too many small business owners start out and forget that they need to remain focused on solving a problem for their customers, rather than just shouting about how good their idea is.

This is where empathy mapping comes into its own. Originally created by Dave Gray, it’s a simple, yet powerful tool that allows you to gain a better understanding of your customer:

• Who are they?
• What are they thinking?
• What are they seeing?
• What are they saying?
• What are they hearing?
• What are they doing?
• Most importantly, how they feeling – and how can you make them feel better?

You’re basically using emotional intelligence to visualise the ‘pains’ of your customer, so you can build in the ‘gains’ they need into your product or service. Such understanding leads to better – and easier – marketing, more sales, and improved customer return and retention rates.

We all want to be listened to – and heard – after all. Effective use of empathy mapping ensures your customers feel both of these things.

Mr Hodgson was my favourite teacher by far, and still the provider of lessons I use today.

Incidentally, several years ago now, I was sitting in a café, chatting to a friend over a coffee, when I thought I saw him sitting at a table in the far corner. By that point in time, he would have been retired, and I hadn’t seen him since leaving junior school, so I couldn’t have been sure.

It’s one of my biggest regrets in life; that I didn’t ask him if he were indeed Mr Hodgson, because if it were, I would have loved to tell him how much he had influenced my life, my business…and the business’ of my clients!

If I were a teacher, I’d like to have known that.

With regretful intent, Lucy. ??

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