Managing a Business

It’s been a few years since the inception of 78inc and I wanted to share a little on the kind of questions people ask me and how I go about managing people, expectations, and running a business in general.

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So to start off with, we call ourselves a transformative business agency – not because we aren’t a marketing agency but because we offer more than just marketing services and I felt it was necessary to emphasize on the business aspect of it so we keep ourselves open to possible projects that may not be marketing related.

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Under the business umbrella, some of the projects we take on are consultancy based, while others are more strategy or training related – depending on the industry of the client. These are projects that I would take on personally mostly due to my previous experience working with numerous different businesses as well as my academic background.

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On the management front of things, in no particular order - there are several elements that play a role in the success of my operations.

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·?????Picking the right people for my team. While this has been a challenge at times, our working model has always been empowering the team with very minimal supervision and we achieve this by hiring people who understand their duties and responsibilities to the company – is it always the right fit? No, but when you do get that balance of team energies just right, magic can and does happen.

·?????Trusting in what we do. When setting up this agency, I put together a list of services I wanted to offer. I made sure to only include services which I had expertise in and would genuinely be able to provide to the best of my ability. We have been operation for just under 4 years and I am happy that we have been able to adhere to this to date. We are often approached to take on projects that are out of our expertise and in such cases I am happy to recommend an alternate provider who would be better equipped to oversee the customers requirement. In doing so, not only do I maintain the integrity of my own business, I also get to uplift another.

·?????Celebrating wins and accepting losses. Based on the nature of our industry, the highs can be really high and the lows can be real lows. Each day is very different from the other and there are times it feels like I chose one of the most disruptive industries to be in. We then have days when we have successfully executed a project across continents for a customer and receive tremendously positive feedback and it reminds me of why I chose to be in this field in the first place, learning to accept this bit of give and take is what has made it all worthwhile and reinforces my initial decision to start this business in the first place.

·?????Financial planning. Perhaps one of the more pivotal roles in running a business and by far my least favourite. What you learn at business school is not quite what you experience on the ground in real time. Managing finances, allocating of funds, paying taxes as and when they are due, maintaining cash turnover and balancing accounts with my auditor is not something I was prepared for but it’s a learning curve that I have had to adjust to and pre-planning and allocating your funds accordingly will do you wonders in the long-run.

·?????Open communication. This is a big one for us. When it comes to deadlines and client expectations especially, I like to ensure we have pro-active communication rather than reactive communication. Being in the creative industry has challenges of its own and sometimes the creative process creeps into the delivery time you have promised a customer. One way to apply to mitigate this is by having realistic timelines internally. We encourage the team to let us know well in advance if they are going to delay delivery on a project and this allows us to manage client expectations. Working with an agency such as ours can have enormous benefits to a business, but neither party will reap the fruits of that relationship if we are unable to built trust through communication. A client will be more tolerant of a delay if they have been well informed rather than having to stress call you multiple times at the expected time of delivery or even worse, right when the project is required.

·?????Industry collaboration. This may not be for everyone but, at 78inc I have no qualms sharing information with other similar-minded agencies. We have in the past worked on collaborative efforts with other agencies and shared industry knowledge all with the objective of providing the best service for our collective customer. Competition can be a challenge especially in our demographic but there’s enough business to go around and sharing experiences with other agencies has had only positive impact for us so far.

·??????Goal setting. When I first started planning this business, I came up with a whole business plan. I am pleased to say a majority of what I had envisioned I have seen come to life in the past 4 years. That being said, new goals have to be set periodically and some initial goals may need to be adjusted when reality kicks in. As a small business owner, I do have plans and a vision for where I want to see 78inc and I am actively taking little steps towards creating my little business ecosystem. Full disclosure, this may not work for everyone, but it is what has been working for me.

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These are but a few aspects that go into running a business and of course no one model will work for everyone but if you are looking into establishing an agency or a business in general you might want to take these elements into consideration, just remember - every industry is different and will have its own set of criteria for success, it is up to you and your determination on how to achieve that success.

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Are you also a small business owner or planning to establish one? Let’s hear about some of your goals and challenges below ????

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