Top Tips: How to be a success in business

• A common thread of all advice is that it is exactly that, advice. It is not wisdom handed down from on high which will magically transform a bad situation into good. Never assume that the advice you get is right for you just because its source appears credible. Use your own judgement and make your own decisions. Nearly all good advice will instinctively make sense to you. If you find yourself quietly nodding when you hear something because you’d almost come to the same conclusion yourself, then congratulate yourself on solving your own problem. Life isn’t usually that complicated.

• Be particularly cautious if following specific advice requires you to spend significant sums of money. Chances are you will only be able to get that kind of decision wrong once.

• As you exist in a creative environment, there are probably only three categories of reasons for running your own business: You want to enjoy the independence of being your own boss. You want to have fun, and you have a passion for using a skill of which you’re proud. You’re on a mission. You believe in what you’re doing and know that you can succeed where others may not. For you, the business venture is almost a vocation. Peer recognition is understandably important to you and you will get huge personal satisfaction from hitting your goals.

You’re driven by the pursuit of wealth. Money, more than anything else, will give you the independence you want, for as long as you want it. You can live the life you really crave because cost considerations become academic.

In practice, most creative entrepreneurs enjoy a combination of these three sets of motivation. Surprisingly, most put them in the above order, with ‘money’ last.

• The reality for all business managers in a creative industry is that you have an obligation, to yourself, to put money first. If you don’t, you’ll lose your independence and won’t spend your time doing the things you love. It’s as simple as that. You need to nail down the financial management of your business.

• Sell wisely. The most important part of deciding how to get what YOU want is to know what the buyer wants from you. Being good at what you do is a starting point for selling but not as meaningful as you would like it to be. Every buyer has a unique set of values and until you know what they are, you can’t possibly know how to sell to them. The only consistent element for every buyer is that they want you, the seller, to make them look good.

They are judged on how well they buy. You do your job well, they look good. Convincing them that this is likely to happen is the focus of all sales prospecting and should underpin your broad approach to any formal pitch or informal sales dialogue. Have fun.

Brian Rees, The If Agency

Enthusiasm gets you out of bed earlier than the competition, it helps you communicate, sell, recruit etc. If you don’t have this you are in the wrong job.

Many years ago, as a client, I inherited a large Ad Agency that persistently frustrated me with their lack of enthusiasm, negativity and arrogant inflexibility. It was like dealing with the customs office!

Enthusiasm makes you bounce back from the unsuccessful pitch, it motivates your colleagues, and it creates an environment for longer term success.

• Flexibility is also important. Nothing is permanent, no-one is always right, things can be done differently, yes, replicate best practice, but look for alternatives. An obvious example is how much attention and revenue has switched to the web in the last ten years. SP executives are the most pragmatic, flexible and ‘can do’ professionals there are. In the ever-changing world of marketing, which is increasingly response driven, good agencies have the ability to anticipate change, react, adapt and keep two steps ahead.

• Be as honest as you can without hurting people’s feelings. Colleagues need to know where they are, when they are working well and where things can be improved. You also need to be honest about your own abilities and that of the Agency. You can’t always blag it (some of my ex-colleagues will spit out their lattes on that one!)

Clients expect a realistic prospect of success and mostly respect a no-nonsense approach to achieving this for them. You may withhold some of the “hidden” problems and pressures but they need to know the real costs, timescales and outcomes.

Staff and colleagues need to kept informed on the agency’s performance and at some stage need to understand your ambitions and whilst you may not want to share all the facts and figures, giving them an honest update on the business is vital. It’s difficult to talk to all your staff regularly and we tend to communicate with closer, older colleagues, you then may miss out on invaluable feedback and emerging talent. If you are running a bigger business you can’t expect to be popular with everyone but you can open up clear communication channels and be seen to be fair and honest.

• Next, keep a permanent eye on the numbers. Let’s face it, business is measured on figures. Once you’ve set some budgets, monitor them and have actions to adapt if they go awry. Every business needs someone totally focused on the numbers but you need to understand them and make decisions that will affect them. Post crunch we are all fixated about credit payment terms and cash at the bank. It’s therefore important to have these figures on a daily basis to monitor trends and adapt overheads and manage cash flow on an ongoing basis. Communicating with clients and their accounts departments and suppliers regularly is essential.

• Have some fun, don’t take things too seriously, particularly yourself. I got into this business as it seemed like a lot of fun. When we got quite big we started thinking we needed to be more serious. The business became slightly impersonal and we lost a lot of our culture particularly the dafter elements that allowed us to let off steam. What we do as an industry is important but we start by dreaming up intangible ideas where creativity meets commerce. The best environment for this is where people can interact informally and be allowed to break some rules...

Paul Carroll, Zuma 011

• Know what you’re selling – and why it’s different/better than someone else’s. ‘PR’, design’, ‘digital’, advertising’ banners mean little to a client – it’s what’s different, more expert, more guaranteed to get results about your brand of PR, design, digital, advertising he’s interested in.

• Learn how to market – create a discernible brand proposition and punch above your weight. Use every trick in the book, and remember it’s a competitive marketplace, so you don’t only have to stand out; you have to stand for something. Spend lots of time – and money – on this.

• Learn how to deliver – promises are one thing, making things happen is another, so ensure that you can do what you say you can do. Don’t just meet expectations, but exceed them. To do this, you have to have a tightly run ship, and be able to focus on what’s important, and cut out what’s not.

• Get a performance from your people – everyone in an agency has a key role to play, so let them know it, help them to achieve their potential and reward success. A motivated team is a winning team. Recruit well, train and support, and invest in your people. Be prepared to let go if they’re not up to it.

• Innovate – whatever you did last year, improve on it. Introduce new ideas – working practices, technology, roles, new business approach, marketing, whatever. “If it ain’t broke, break it”. Involve the team, and remember dullness and lack of dynamism are not the acceptable hallmarks of successful agencies.

David Reid, Because Brands Matter

• Always find out what is unique or different about your product or service and dramatise it.

• Give some learning back. Take time to see students, offer placements and bring in fresh blood. If someone hadn’t done it to me. I would not have ended up employing well over 150 people in the 23 years I’ve spent in the business.

• Don’t burn bridges – especially in a small country like Scotland.

• Seek challenge from within and be prepared to embrace change.

• Don’t try and sell the client a Aston Martin if they asked for a Skoda. Give them the Skoda, then show them the Aston Martin. If they want to change their mind, you might get a better sale and they’re not pissed off that you didn’t listen.

• Finally... Employ a finance director.

Read the full report here