Step Into the Business When It Stalls

"When I started being more involved with the business, it started working. I was far from some sort of magic ingredient, but when we started out, we didn’t really know what we were doing. By stepping in and being closer to the action, I was able to really start refining things. I wasn’t interested in being a micro-manager, but when I was…"

"The move from a stunning piece of engineering to a more basic engine was a humbling move, and not a great look when you’re trying to paint yourself as successful in business. But that’s what you do. You need capital, so you sell an asset to free up cash that you then invest back into the business. However, from the outside, in that moment, it looks like something is wrong or not going to plan. Like you haven’t done the research or prepared well enough in advance. Anyone who’s been in business knows that it’s not always that easy. You take diversions. Sometimes you take the wrong off-ramp. There are long, clear stretches where you can see just how fast you can take it. And then you come around a corner and the road’s backed up and all you can do is crash or slam on the brakes and crawl. In that moment, I was thinking about selling the Porsche. But Donna’s remark was the kick up the pants that I needed to start winning. Until that point, I’d been trying to model myself on Eric, with his insistence on working on the business, as opposed to in it. When I’d worked with Eric, I was largely his right-hand. He had had most of the ideas and moved the big chess pieces, while I was the implementer. Now, at Netco, we’d installed a telesales team to do the bulk of the work selling, and I saw my role as that of investor. I’d been content with owning most of the pie while appointing others to work in the business and execute on our plans. Donna had swiftly sorted that illusion out. Her pep talk wasn’t just the threat of being seen as a loser by our wider network. She explained that I had to work in the business – to roll up my sleeves and apply all that experience. So, I did. I went in more regularly. I got stuck in working and learning alongside my business partner."

"It got to the point where our bank, BNZ, had us on credit watch. John Gibson, a representative from the bank, was installed in our office to keep an eye on us and our spending. We weren’t allowed to sign a cheque without his say-so. As he saw what we were doing, though, he eventually got much more on our side, in the end leaving his role at the bank to come and work for us. Those three years were among the hardest of my life. I would be leaving home around 6 a.m. each morning so I could start my commute and make sure that I was at my desk in our inner-city offices before 7 a.m. I wouldn’t leave work again before 7 p.m., only then starting the drive back home again. Even when…"