Our regular contributor, Marcus Clifford – the PrintBoosterologist, talks about the beneficial power of thinking like a start-up
Find more contributions to Eye on Display from Marcus Clifford here.
Remembering that once upon a time, you were a start-up can be a powerful force for change. Rethinking things like a start-up is great for business remodelling. Reembracing a start-up mindset can lead to greater innovation, adaptability, and sustained growth.
Thinking like a start-up in an established business can be an energising and liberating experience and process that sets you up for exciting developments and profitable growth. Removing constraints, the bumps in the road, established siloes and baked-in mindsets. Would you like change to take place?
I have written about the ‘start-up’ mindset a few times now as I think it’s a cleansing process and a key part of reflective business planning. I was also interested in Ricoh’s recent published document
‘Anything in Print’ and the ‘anything in print is possible mindset’. (the reference later) which also frames power of thinking like a start-up mindset.
You were a start-up once! You displayed entrepreneurial characteristics, took risks, worked hard, and did the right things to build the business because they were the right things to do. But if you reflect now on the legacy of what you have, would you do things differently? Would you still carry the elements you carry now?
You most probably displayed the words of Winston Churchill, ‘A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.’
Do you still feel this, and would you like to rekindle it?
You need to congratulate yourself for being in business and surviving COVID; you must have done more right things than wrong. In today’s market, characterised by great Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity, decision-making is more difficult, and the ramifications of making a poor decision are more damaging. The statistics for start-ups today show that they usually fail. Those that survive it seem to train and harness talent, are very customer-focused and champion core principles.
Start-ups usually have clear goals and values at the time, but over time, these can be diluted or lost in the battle of business. A Coach can rekindle the goals and values more clearly and realign them to actions to make progress. A trained coach can create a powerful environment for growth, change, and development.
A trained Coach, such as myself, asks questions that not only open up understanding and debate but
facilitate self-reflection and awareness and challenge assumptions and my style of coaching facilitates
examples of what effective companies are doing. The questions should stimulate creativity and problem-solving. Uncover obstacles and, to a great extent, think like a start-up with no legacy issues. To aid progress?
Ricoh’s ‘Anything in Print is possible’ mindset.
‘The print industry is currently at an exciting juncture. Advancements in print technology are pushing the boundaries of creativity and performance.’
Some headings around the ‘possible mindset’ mantra I highlight but give me a call to discuss my Pep & Tonic workshops that will tackle key issues in your business and rekindle the flame in your business and team.
Thinking like a start-up:
• Prioritise agility – and that means customers and put data to use
• Only the customer defines value’.
• Focus on the basics – anything else is immaterial
• Start ups focus on doing one thing exceptionally well and build on it.
• Rebuild your team around a vision that rekindles that sense of passion, empowers your people so they feel they have real skin in the game.
For more advice on power of thinking like a start-up and much more, contact Marcus Clifford 0774 381 8806 or or email printboosterologist@yahoo.com
