I bumped into Hermione Way at The Hospital Club in Covent Garden yesterday. Hermione is the entrepreneur and presenter behind Techfluff.tv and Newspepper.com. Through her viral videos, Facebook updates and Twitter comments Hermione has built quite a name for herself over the last couple of years.
Chatting with Hermione about the future direction of her businesses, she talked about the challenges facing her taking the next step. She has a number of exciting plans in the field of internet video production and social media. The problem is one of funding. She is looking for investment but is daunted by the time involved, weight of work and the sheer scale of the task.
This surprised me. I know a lot of people in Hermione's network, she admits herself that she is extremely well connected. The people I know would be perfectly placed to help Hermione both in terms of advice and connections and getting proposals and plans in place. Yet she is frightened to ask.
"I want to be independent", she told me. "I want people to know that I have achieved things myself."
Hermione's reluctance is perhaps understandable. She is a young woman with a brother who is already a well known entrepreneur (Ben Way appeared in the first series of Channel 4's Secret Millionaire show). However my advice was quite simple, Get over it!
Nobody has all of the talents, skills, expertise and experience within themselves to achieve everything we need in business. Successful people surround themselves with others who have abilities they lack. They see the big picture and get support from others achieving their goals.
In sport the best players have coaches who make them better, caddies who advise them on the most appropriate shot, tacticians who use their experience to help them win. Business is no different.
Hermione may have the potential to succeed, but that potential could be lost if she tries to do everything herself. Having surrounded herself with high achievers who have a wealth of experience, she now needs to swallow some pride and ask for some help where she isn't so strong.
Get over it Hermione. If your businesses thrive, you won't be judged any less for having had the courage to ask for help along the way.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Get Over It
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yes... it's harsh but true... I do need to get over it, but think the process for getting investment needs to be a lot easier.
ReplyDeleteVery true - no one person has all the skills (well rarely and certainly not in my case) to do every thing for a business. Raising funds may seem difficult, but look at in from the investors side - how do they know what you know; only if you take the time to explain why your business is so good. I am an Angel Investor and an entrepreneur so can see things from both sides - it isn't easy persuading people to part with cash, but it isn't easy picking winners from losers either. The only way to get investment is to start - find some potential investors, show them your Bus Plan, receive comments, iterate and continue; if your idea is a good one you'll get the investment even in these times.
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