Here we are. Five years later. Bigger and better. Smarter and more world-wise. I’ve honestly had the time of my life with Viddyoze and I wouldn’t change it for the world — even the bad bits. It’s made the business what it is (a great one, of course). And it’s shaped me, too. Here’s how.
I’m More Empathetic
When I look back beyond the five amazing years I’ve had with Viddyoze, to the start of my entrepreneurial journey a decade or so ago, I can see clearly how my approach and mindset to business has changed.
Back then, I made a lot of decisions based on emotion. It’s easy to do. When you start a business, the fear of failure is very real. And it’s always there, a sort of dull ache that you can’t quite shake. And when you try to make it go away, it results in you taking on too much. You end up constantly chasing the next sale.
That affects the way you manage things. In the early days of Viddyoze, for example, if the bank balance didn’t move forward each month, it left us feeling uneasy — the pressure was intense. So, our response was simple. We made business decisions to improve our cash position — not necessarily to improve the long-term performance of our fledgling company.
I’ve since learnt to deal with fear. It’s an emotion I can now manage. Of course, it’s still there, in certain situations, but I no longer let it influence how I make decisions. That has been firmly put to bed. What’s happened is that I’ve become more empathetic as a person. And while this is largely down to some personal experiences I’ve been through, it has had a profound impact on my professional life and how I manage people and relationships.
For instance, I was fast to call out underperformance. Working with freelancers, it was easy to hire someone one day and fire them the next if I wasn’t happy with their work.
As we’ve grown, I’ve realised that not everything is black and white. People have bad days. Hell, people have bad weeks, months and years, Now I try to see things from their perspective. What drives them? What holds them back? What worries them? These are some of the questions I ask. I’m less reactive now, as well as much more considered in my thinking — to everyone’s benefit, myself included.
I Can Take The Long View
When I started out as an entrepreneur, I made decisions that impacted the here and now. The reason for this, in hindsight, was quite simple. More than anything, I did it out of necessity. You gotta put food on the table, right?
As Viddyoze grew, things changed — for the better. I found myself becoming more confident, acquiring more skills and learning from my experiences — and, in turn, my thinking changed and the short-termism of the early days started to crack. Likewise, as the company continued to flourish and the business began to make headway, we found ourselves shifting from a survival mindset to one that was more focused on strategic long-term growth.
Reexamining the past, I realise how detrimental that would have been to me and the business if we’d simply continued to get by. You can’t go on forever like that. You can’t function properly that way. And it isn’t good for your stress levels either.
Nowadays I tend to look at what we do today and think about how it will impact not just the present, but also the future. Is a quick win today, for example, going to cause more significant issues further down the line? It’s a fine balancing act, that’s true, but, on the whole, a much smarter way of doing things.
I’m A Lot More Experienced
This is a given really. Five years is an additional five years of time… and five years more life experience. Again, it’s only when I stop and reflect on the past — half decade in this case — that I’m able to see just how much we’ve gone through to transform Viddyoze from a small player into a business that can leave an indelible mark on the world.
Busy as we are, it’s easy to forget how far we’ve actually come as people — and not just as entrepreneurs. Five years ago it wouldn’t have taken much for our world to be set on fire. A bad review. An angry support ticket. Someone copying one of our templates.
I definitely sweated the small stuff. Don’t get me wrong, it was hard not to. When it’s literally you and your fellow founders managing every single aspect of the business, you can’t help it. And, arguably, you’re none the wiser.
Knowing what I now know and having experienced what I’ve experienced, I no longer let things like that hold me back. Things that took all my energy back in 2015, don’t really get on my radar in 2020. The way I look at it is this — it is what it is.
Instead, I prefer to focus on things I can control, whether it’s working with our product and engineering departments to make our product bigger and better for the people who love it or helping my colleagues hire more amazing customer-focused team members who can turn an angry customer into a happy one. In short, doing what I do best.
What I’ve learnt over the past five years is that there are some things you simply can’t just pick up or understand by reading a book. You have to experience them. And it’s those experiences, good and bad, that make you a far more accomplished and impactful leader, as well.
I’ve Found Balance
Founding, nurturing and managing a new business takes a lot from you. It takes all of your time and all of your energy. It taxes you physically, as well as mentally and emotionally, too. But it also gives you a lot back — unbelievable experiences, the sweetest of friends and, if we’re being somewhat philosophical, direction.
What I remember about the early days is the decided lack of balance I had in my life. I was always working and hyper-focused on growing the business. And I neglected my health, as well as my relationships.
This kind of (im)balance wasn’t sustainable. It led to burnout. And, from my perspective, burnout manifested itself as guilt. I felt like I wasn’t getting enough done and I felt like I needed to be visible to everybody because of this. Meaning, even though I was still very productive, I ended up putting in 120% to get 80%.
We all need to learn to switch off — and feel ok about it. From my experiences I’ve come to learn that leaders shouldn’t pride themselves on working long hours or use it as a way of judging the work ethic of staff. Quality, not quantity.
I’m happy to say I’ve found balance with work and with my family. Typically, I now arrive at the office at around 9.30am and I leave around 4.45pm (well, I try to). Around that I usually wake up at 7am and spend time with my son. And I do the same when I get home, before he goes to bed at 7pm.
I do this because I don’t want to end up in the position where, in 10 years’ time, l’m looking back and can clearly see all the things I’ve missed. All because I felt I needed to be the first one in the office and the last to leave. You can’t get those moments back.
That doesn’t mean I switch off totally when I’m back home, mind. That’s an important point. If I have something I have to do, I’ll do it. Post 7pm I will get out my laptop and get it done. I don’t mind that. What I do mind is missing out on quality time with my family. That’s balance — for me at least.
I’m More Introspective And Retrospective
I’m much happier these days and that that’s not just down to a better work-life balance. Other things that have contributed positively to my mental wellbeing have been the new and enriching experiences that have come about because of Viddyoze and. more importantly perhaps, taking part in regular therapy sessions.
You see, my journey as an entrepreneur has also been a journey with coming to terms with my own mental health issues. The simple backstory is this: anxiety and depression. You can read more about my experience here.
The short of it is that as part of my ‘recovery’ — as I describe it — I started to go to therapy. And you know what? I still go every week. It’s been one of the most transformative things I’ve done in my life — ever. It’s also something I’m very open about — more of us, especially men, should be. There’s no shame in it and my message is this — don’t think of it as a weakness. It’s a strength. I do.
The way I look at therapy is something like this — I’m spending an hour with myself (well, technically, I’m with my therapist, but you get the picture). What happens in that hour varies, considerably, but ‘d say that 90% of the time we just talk.
Sometimes I rant. Sometimes I get angry. And sometimes I get upset. I recap the week I’ve just had and get things off my chest. I analyse decisions I’ve made and why I’ve made them. And if I’m conflicted, I talk about it. Part of what makes it so effective and therapeutic is that it’s a space where I can be 100% honest. No holds barred. No fear of being judged. Just me being me.
That one hour a week makes me a better person, a better husband and a better dad. It makes me a better friend and a better colleague. And it makes me a better leader, transforming the way I see my business and how I work.
Therapy. I highly recommend it.
