Here in the middle with you

Kate Purnell’s article in the West Australian on the 20th of July,  Stuck in middle of vax risk highlighted the importance of Australia’s middle-market businesses as a powerhouse that drives our economy.

The article, whilst addressing WA centric issues, references Pitcher Partners’ Business Radar report – Understanding the businesses that drive Australia’s economy.  Released earlier this week this research focusses on the global, national, and local issues that impact decision making and success in the sector we all work in. Highlights:

  • The ability to adapt quickly to the COVID-19 related headwinds of the past 18 months saw an overall improvement in middle market business owner’s sentiment.
  • The sector contributes 25% of total national revenue.
  • As a sector it continues to lag in terms of succession planning and refreshing the leadership talent pool with over 58% of businesses stating they have never engaged in this thought process.

Click on the full article below and Business Radar report here.

Share this article:

Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Australia: Current Status and Recommendations.

Please see the following link to this just-published report compiled by Curtin University’s Associate Professor Jeremy Galbreath, my Co-founder and Director of Second Squared and WayFinder Capital, Lui Pangiarella, and 3 others.

The report highlights Australia’s entrepreneurial and innovation cultures, and amalgamates research and information from multiple sources to identify key trends relating to:

·       Australian sentiment and appetite for starting up new businesses
·       Funding sources and the economic benefits of start-up funding
·       Types of funders
·       Funding breakdowns by sector, state, etc
·       International comparisons
·       And more.

It may add some context to the overall understanding of the Australian market and our appetite for entrepreneurial endeavour.

Share this article:

Ted Talk that made me think…

Good morning!

Thought I’d share a Ted Talk that my daughter forwarded to me today to discuss over dinner tonight. It brings to the surface some very interesting thoughts and perspective around age and ageing.  I found it well messaged in the main.  Be interested in your thoughts.  Mine are below.  https://youtu.be/WfjzkO6_DEI

What I like is that the presenter has brought to the surface many blind spots that we have within our social system around the topic of age and ageing.  She counters them with really good arguments that allow us to ponder upon our own judgements and beliefs, and perhaps even help us to change just one of them.  That is a good thing.  I love her line about “I am getting old because my left knee hurts – but your right knee doesn’t and it’s the same age!” What a great paradigm breaker!

I disagree with some of her argument and constructs.  Whilst arguing  the need to break down the old beliefs, patterns  and judgements, she uses judgement and beliefs of her own to “make wrong” constructs like capitalism, ‘big business’ and ‘big pharma’ (and a lot more)  in the same breath.  What I think she is trying to do but doesn’t quite get there is to argue that ageism – or any ism is a part of the whole system.  That any “ism” needs to be brought to light – not in judgement but in acknowledging that it exists (even if just in our minds). .

Blaming one part of the system for the ails of another part of that system is flawed logic, a circular argument, and uncreative.  For example, I don’t personally believe that big pharma is out to conspire to make us feel old/sick/bad/wrong – (that’s marketing’s role if we choose to listen to it – and we unconsciously do).  While blaming them for being the bad guys, she fails to recognise that big pharma is still a part of our overall system.  And we cannot change the system from within it (to paraphrase Einstein).  By observing the whole system in context, we can address the beliefs and behaviours we need to address within ourselves (and that helps change the whole system).   My belief is that, on balance, big pharma scientists go to work ‘on purpose,’ perhaps thinking how they could make all lives better by reducing pain, eliminating suffering etc. What we have done, as part of the same system, is to wrap it all in judgement, blame and an unconscious belief that we must ‘make them wrong’ to ‘make us right.’  After all, “those big companies rob us of our money by making us feel bad about ourselves and then sell us stuff to make us feel better.”  No.  If I feel bad about myself – that’s me doing that. That’s me buying into a marketing campaign.  I can change that belief pretty quickly really.

I just need to take full responsibility and ownership for all my stuff – not outsource the issue to ‘the bad guys’ (which I believe to be another mental construct!).

I am reminded by words that my late mother used to speak around being delighted in ageing and gaining white in her hair – a privilege to be able to do so compared to the many that never get to experience it.  She also said once when I asked if she would retire at 80 “Why? I get up and my hip hurts, my foot hurts and it takes a bit longer to get to the bus, but why would I want to not go to work? Why would I not want to be with people half my age, active, alive, aware, thinking, challenging? My hip will still hurt at work, but my mind will be on other more important things.”  Purpose-full.

For me the message is – keep surfing!

Ak

Share this article:

Foundation Coaching Skills Program – Commencing 28th January 2021

As a business owner, leader or individual we understand attending one-day workshop is not ideal or possible in the current climate.

So, we have taken our 1 day intensive workshop and turned it into a online program over a short 4 weeks for 2.5hrs per week starting on the 28th of January 2021.

This program is intentionally designed to build your coaching capabilities to bring out the best in you and those you work with. Not only does it provide uplift for you and your team it is also accredited by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) and provides the first stage toward becoming a certified coach with this world-leading organisation.

The program has plenty of interaction and embedding of your knowledge. You will apply your learning during the online sessions and leave equipped to effect change.

Keen to know more? The flyer here provides you with a full explanation, dates, times and pricing.

Spaces are limited to ensure maximum value for each participant, so enrol with us by emailing info@beckonbusiness.com.

 

Share this article:

New Year – a time to change – or is it?

In my week off after New Year, I treated myself to a Masters Swimming intensive camp designed to help the more ‘mature’ swimmer with their swimming style, stroke and overall efficiency in the water.

It turns out that for years I have been slightly off time in my freestyle stroke – effectively slowing me down and reducing my efficiency in the water by a lot! By making just 2 or 3 minor changes to my stroke I seem to be stronger in the water and faster.

Minor changes – yeah, right! Turns out that those minor changes take a lot of think time and focus, and before the 50m tumble turn my mind is finding hard to concentrate on even one of those 3 changes.

I’m slower in the water, feel like I’ve lost all form, and most definitely am more puffed out and exhausted than ever.

But then I remind myself that you ‘have to slow down to speed up.’ Even the coach reassures me that my speed will improve as I get used to the new way of working in the water.  It just takes time and lots of repetition to re-train my brain. By my 2nd regular training session yesterday I was finding it easier, but don’t feel like I’m even close to half way there.

I’ve moved from unconscious incompetence, through conscious incompetence and into having to be very consciously aware and present  to maintain what I have learned.  I am a while off from being unconsciously competent like the rest of the squad in the faster lanes.

And then my coach shouts out “and remember to kick!”  Ha! Fat chance – maybe next month?

It brings home how even the  smallest changes we make need to be reinforced regularly in order to make them feel normal.  At work, we expect people to adapt and adopt to change at an increasing rapid rate.  Perhaps we need to reset our expectations and acknowledge that it takes us time to change.  Maybe we have to plan time into our change management to ensure people can process and incorporate the changes being made, into their consciousness.

And as for New Year resolutions – no wonder they are rarely fulfilled – you have to change!

Ak Sabbagh

 

 

 

 

Share this article:

Is there a way to fail better? (6PR Interview – Ak Sabbagh)

Are we a nation that fears failure? Leadership expert Ak Sabbagh thinks so, and he thinks it needs to stop if we want to move forward.

See Aks recent podcast with 6PR Chris Ilsley  here: https://www.6pr.com.au/podcast/is-there-a-way-to-fail-better/

Share this article:

Successful succession: An eight-step approach to passing the business baton (Ak Sabbagh) Smart Company Article

The average age of a mid-size company owner in Australia is between 57–75 years old, and yet more than 75% of them don’t have any form of planned succession.

It’s no wonder that we regularly see business transitions occur with frantic, unplanned haste and no real value for current owners.

But it doesn’t need to be that way if you plan out your process.

Below are eight considerations to get you and your business ready to pass the baton onto the next owner.

1. Are you really ready?

First, decide whether you are really ready to sell your business. Ask yourself what is motivating you to sell.

If the business is underperforming, while you may want to exit now, it might not be a good time.

If you have a major life event (divorce, death, illness) in your personal life then it might not be a good time either.

If it’s just ‘time to sell’ and you have planned for it, then you have many options. You could sell to some of your key staff (or help them acquire into the business), to a competitor, or to some form of financial investor (like private equity).

2. Are you running to or from?

Secondly, ask yourself if you are moving towards something important to you, or running away from something you don’t want anymore.

Your answer will change how you exit and who you engage with.

In particular, the answer to that question gives an indication of how quickly you want to exit and why.

If your driving motivation is to simply get out, and speed is the most important factor, then you want to engage with as many people as possible and have a clear understanding of the minimum price you will expect.

3. The buyer’s mindset

Third, be in the buyer’s mindset, not the seller’s.

Will you hand over the business to just ‘anyone’?

Are there any persona non grata? Are there organisations you would hate to see own your business?

What should the new owner be like, since they can’t be a replica of you?

What is your ideal person or company as a buyer and why?

Identifying your ideal buyer means you’ll know them when you see them. Otherwise, anyone looks good.

4. Dot your i’s and cross your t’s

Once you’ve figured out your plan, the fourth step is to get your house in order.

If you have no formal contracts, no formal documentation, a shoebox full of receipts, do you really have anything to sell?

It’s time to ensure you have invested in the right structure, systems, processes, people, and documentation so that the business is ready for sale.

5. What’s it worth?

The fifth step is to understand what your business is really worth to someone else.

Don’t confuse what you want for the business, or need for future life, with what the business is worth.

The first step is to do your own research. Find businesses that are similar to yours that have sold recently and go and speak directly to the past owners about it, not only what they got but also what the process was like.

But don’t just take one person’s word for it; consult widely.

6. The sales process

Step six is to understand all your options and make a choice.

To understand your options, don’t just ring your accountant or broker. Your sale process should be tailored specifically to the answers above.

Engage a professional who will help you find the right buyer who meets your criteria and can pay what the business is worth.

That buyer could be an employee, a customer, competitors or supplier.

7. Get flexible

Next, think beyond price. What someone is willing to pay will be different depending on when and how they have to pay.

Vendor terms, deferred components and conditional components are normal for reasonable sized businesses.

Flexibility may get you more, so if you want to maximise the price, expect to offer vendor finance and/or get a deferred payment.

8. Passing the baton

Step eight is to remember the business is yours until you pass the baton, but not a minute longer.

Be sure to plan for the distraction of the sale process, but you must continue to drive the business until you’ve sold it.

When you’ve finally got past the sale, you will have changed your identity overnight.

You are no longer a business owner. So, what are you?

The real work starts now. Plan for what you will be doing and how you will be talking about yourself.

https://www.smartcompany.com.au/finance/buying-and-selling/eight-considerations-business-succession/

Share this article:

Key success factors in any change program is to determine ‘quick wins.’

“Good things come to those who wait.” It is a saying that we are all used to, but sometimes in business quick wins are equally important.

This week I (Ak Sabbagh) was delighted to be invited to speak to a dozen or so CEOs as part of Bruce Fielding’s CEO Institute chapter here in Perth.  The topic was about not wasting a good crisis and using the time to be innovative and creative in your business.

We agreed that innovation does not mean that the business has to invent the cure for cancer or a new revolutionary app.  Indeed, many of the CEOs present were able to share how smaller innovations (like changes to current products and services, and tweaks to processes) have helped them to remain “business fit” in uncertain times.

With innovation comes ‘change.’ Change is an interesting thing – and right now, for many of us it feels like we are experiencing ‘change fatigue.’  Who isn’t exhausted by the amount of change that we are experiencing either directly or indirectly at the moment?

This led us to a conversation on our personal relationship with ‘change’ itself.  How do you feel about change?  For some, it is an exciting opportunity to challenge, create and grow.  For many, the mere thought of change brings up fears.  The fear of loss of control or agency, the loss of security and certainty, etc.

It turns out that these fears stem from deep seated chemistry within our brains.  In recent conversations with applied neuroscientists Lyra Puspa and Dr Paul Brown, I learned that our brains are naturally ‘lazy’ and love habit because it preserves energy.  This trait is essentially a key to survival.  Brains learn to become lazy by creating habits.  And as we get conditioned to those habits, (i.e. become creatures of habit), this reduces how much energy the brain exerts on doing things.

It’s why we look at systemising processes and creating procedures in what we do.

But there are times where we need to change the systems or the processes.  That means we need to change our habits, and our natural tendency is to resist the change.  Why? Because it means our brains have to work more to learn the new way of doing things.  This works at the most fundamental level – can you recall the agitation created the last time an invited guest sat at your dinner table in ‘your spot’ or your 2nd child’s usual chair?  Breaking the norm challenges us.

So one of the key success factors in any change program is to determine ‘quick wins.’  Incremental changes that move us towards the ultimate goal without a need to make major shifts all at once create an environment where ‘quick wins’ get associated with positive rewards (I guess that’s why they call them ‘wins’). A quick win sets off good chemistry in the brain.  Small, incremental, habit forming changes that are positively reinforced set off ‘liking’ and ‘wanting’ chemical markers of motivation (opioids and dopamine).  In contrast, change that cause negative reinforcements sets off cortisol – a key stress marker.

So, what are the innovations you are introducing that are creating positive motivations? Creating new, constructive habits? We’d like to know what’s been going on with you in your business.

Join us this coming Friday 21st August at 9am WST with other business leaders and owners for a Zoom conversation to discuss what we’ve collectively learned, what we take forward, leave behind, and how we Find a New Balance.

Join us to Find a New Business Balance, click here to register now.

Ak Sabbagh

Coach & Mentor

Director

Share this article:

Making lemonade from the Covid-19 lemon

As business coaches and mentors, my colleague Margaret Armitage and I are often asked by clients and contacts “what are you seeing ‘out there?’.” Over the past 6 months of our shared Covid-19 winter in Australia, we have lost count of how many times this question has been asked.

Our response feels somewhat ‘bi-polar.’  It all depends on what lens you see the world through and how you interpret that input.  We do see the tough side of how some businesses are not coping well, but in the main we are experiencing and seeing positive outcomes.

Part of the reason for this is that, as generally positive people, we tend to attract clients who are optimistic by nature, are open to learning and growth, possess a ‘on-purpose’ mindset, and have a creative ‘open’ quality about them.

When I shared this observation with a client last week, her response was “So I guess you’d call yourself a ‘glass half full’ person, then?”  My response: “Well that depends…”

I find the “glass half full/empty” analogy problematic as it never really considers CONTEXT.  And context determines (consciously or unconsciously) so much.

With respect to the glass, we must consider its purpose.  What is the glass for? If it is for beer, then for a beer enthusiast, half full OR half empty is not a good situation – it’s only a half a glass of beer.  If it is half full it will be too full for a red wine lover.  And if cognac is your thing, then the glass is most certainly over full – even at half.

You can apply the same logic to most things.  When it is raining, is that good or bad weather?  It’s great if you are on the farm and need rain, and not so great if you promised the kids a camping weekend!  In the end it’s a judgement call on a situation, and in the same way we judge anything as ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ our attitude and perspective/context dictates the outcome.

The “glass half full/empty” concept is often used as an analogy to describe a person as being either an optimist or a pessimist.  Australian research just released by the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute  shows a link between pessimism about the future and a greater risk of dying earlier.  It showed that, on average, participants who scored higher on pessimism were likely to die two years earlier than optimists.  Interestingly, a highly optimistic perspective did not show extended life expectancy above the average life expectancy.

Regardless, what I take out of the research is that while you may not live longer than average by adopting a positive/optimistic attitude towards life, business, and the world at large, it certainly doesn’t hurt.  And when we work with positive, and optimistic business owners, we witness incredible creative energy that spins off opportunity and a sense of Agency (refer to Margaret’s blog last week) and certainty in a world that for others seems out of control.

It’s time to stop thinking about how bad (or in some cases, good) the whole Covid-19 situation is – enough energy is wasted there already.  Instead, if we simply acknowledge that it is what it is and ask how we can make the most of it, then we can begin to see a way out.

So what are we seeing out there? We are seeing optimistically minded business owners making lemonade from a pretty bitter lemon.  Among other things we see them:

  1. Redefine their businesses, seeing growth in new markets that were unavailable to them only 4 months ago.
  2. Learn more about themselves and their personal relationship with “change” and “risk,” often surprising us with bold moves to expand when competitors have shuttered up.
  3. Take stock of Covid-19 Lockdown #1 – learning and determining what they will take forward, leave behind, or adapt if and when Covid-19 Lockdown #2 occurs.
  4. Be real about the situation – not being over-optimistic and betting on a cure-all vaccine by Christmas (although wouldn’t that be great), instead, they are pragmatic and prudent in their planning for what may be.

Above all they are not waiting for a ‘new normal’ to form.  They are pro-actively creating, defining, and shaping the new normal for themselves and their businesses.

What are you seeing out there? What have you heard?  What have you learnt?

We would love to know…

Are you waiting for a ‘new normal’ to form or are you pro-actively creating, defining, and shaping a new normal for yourself and your business?

If you belong to the optimists doing the latter, then please join us on 21st August at 9am WST with other business leaders and owners for a Zoom conversation to discuss what we’ve collectively learned, what we take forward, leave behind, and how we Find a New Balance.

Join us to Find a New Business Balance, click here to register now.

Share this article: