Appreciating Your Business Story

Appreciating Your Business Story was published in Edition 20 of the Inner Self Magazine. www.innerself.com.au


Very successful, wealthy, high profile advertising guru and, up until this point, extremely fit and healthy, my client, let’s call him Jack, found himself in an emergency ward at 2am one morning last week suffering chest pains. What events took this energetic self made man to this potentially life threatening situation?



Back in September 2009, Jack’s small five man agency landed ten major publicity campaigns scheduled for April and May delivery. Jack was busy dealing with normal day to day business and the contracts were put to one side until January. Jack had been in this business for a decade and could service these campaigns with his eyes closed. Talented with a natural instinct for marketing, Jack was a creative animal who never bothered with business planning. That was for suits and bean counters – not for a true artiste like Jack!
It wasn’t until one midnight after a month of consecutive 18 hour days, when his office manager was diagnosed with cancer and departed on extended sick leave, his sales manager resigned and his assistant left for her honeymoon that Jack looked at his exploding IN BOX and gasped.


Now at this point, he could have easily called an employment agency to organize temporary staff. However he did not. You see, Jack trained people himself and held no value for training manuals or work procedures. That took him away from doing what he loved best. This team had been with him since day one – quite a record in the advertising industry. Loyal and reliable, they love working with Jack and created their own working system while on the job. Jack believed in trusting people to create their own best practice. He taught by example and repetitive instruction, was a great boss, fun, flexible and very supportive. Now with three people gone and major deadlines looming, Jack
had no time to create training manuals for temporary staff to come in and assist. He wasn’t even sure what his staff did in detail. He had relied on his office manager, now uncontactable in a private cancer hospice, to run the show so he could get on with business.


So Jack did what he knew best. He worked harder and longer doing whatever it took to deliver these campaigns. He also put more pressure on his graphic artist to pitch in and help. She could answer telephones but as Jack had no system, no manuals or procedures outlined for her to follow, she needed constant assistance. Increasingly frustrated with his graphic artist, angry with himself and way behind with his campaign delivery, Jack suppressed his emotions with sugar and caffeine so he could keep going by day taking four panadol each night so he could sleep.


Jack was so blinded by his personal “story” that he did not appreciate his current circumstances and therefore fuel himself and his business with their value.
Every personal development guru delivers a similar message – gratitude. The common denominator is to appreciate your life as it is regardless of anything else that is going on. 
Dr John F Demartini says: “What you appreciate grows.” He is talking about counting your blessings. So when your wife leaves you, the kids are sick and your small business looks like Jack’s, it’s kinda hard to feel grateful when you’re in the middle of it isn’t it?


So Jack’s body gave him some time out to look at his “story” and consider its value in his business and ultimately his life.


Eleanor Roosevelt said “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”


What better way to appreciate your dream than producing a business plan that manages everything you need to keep your business alive in every situation – good times and in bad.
Humanity has traded since prehistoric times. As an exchange of product or service in a transaction between a buyer and a seller, what early man bartered 21st century man charges in currency. The amount of charge is measured by our calculation of what it takes to deliver the product or service. In Jack’s story, he was being paid one cow in exchange for four months ploughing in a field.


An annually reviewed business plan could have helped Jack to evaluate his resources, plan his client proposals and projects and charge accordingly. Jack’s recent painful business experience clearly demonstrates what is important to him. Jack’s need to do what he loves plus the driving force of proving his worth to his father (one of Jack’s stories) effectively minimized his business risk management strategy limiting his business sustainability.


When you mean business and you know what you value, appreciate the “story” that drives the decisions you make in business (and in life) and match these with your business vision and goals; you appreciate what you have – you count your blessings and add value to your life and to your business.