1. Create an app that’s something you’re passionate about. WalkSafe came about because I was so frustrated and upset by violence towards women and others. I wanted to share my own expert safety advice to empower people. I always say it’s the app that shouldn’t have to exist and if it saves one person from assault or worse, then it has done its job.
2. Stay relevant and listen to your customers. We are now launching our second-generation app and we’ve listened to our users and incorporated their feedback to make WalkSafe even easier to use and provide the best safety technology in the palm of their hand.
3. Surround yourself with the best talent. I’m not a tech expert but I know a person who is and who can achieve what I want. That goes for the marketing team too. Get the best help and team you can afford.

1. Just get started… that’s half of the battle. Find 1-2 individuals that are exceptional in what they do and start working on the MVP. Spin up a google docs and start putting ideas together for your product, processes, team requirements, budget, market analysis, competitors, mission/vision. This will become the basis of your business plan and your pitch deck.
2. Get an alpha/beta customer early. This allows your to test out your MVP and get valuable feedback so you’re not building in a vacuum. It allows you to focus in getting product market fit early.
3. Learn to fundraise. One of your founders needs to learn this skill and it’s tough to acquire. Get started early in listening to podcasts like “funded”, sign up to SeedLegals (UK) and look at their resources/webinars in how it’s done, get advice from friends who have done it before. Also get started on building your financial model early.

1) How my “Big plans” years later would seem small because we often underestimate our ability to achieve. Dream Big! When I started FABRIC I was aiming to create a job for myself that I could do for the rest of my working career that wasn’t in statutory social work. I didn’t know what an entrepreneur was I was simply trying to find a way to have a job where I was making the difference I wanted to young people in need. 6 years after we opened and I am applying for funding to create a franchise model so that young people across the UK and potentially globally can benefit from our model.

2) The power of numbers- yep the self-confessed word lover now places huge value on the power of numbers. When I started FABRIC I had a business partner who was an accountant and I left all things numbers to them. I leaned away from what I didn’t like and essentially gave all my power away. Knowing the figures in your business can be as powerful as the difference between succeeding or going insolvent. I am now the sole shareholder and director of my business, knowing the numbers enables me to answer questions confidently when applying for funding, feel strong in my day-to-day management of the business and helps me make even bigger plans! P.s get a great accountant, one you connect with and one who empowers you to understand the finances of your business. If they don’t have time to help you understand- go elsewhere!

3) That business is a rollercoaster and not just over a year, sometimes it’s daily and even hourly. Understanding and expecting this has enabled me to flow with the challenges. The business rollercoaster is challenging at times but don’t fall into the trap of feeling you need to hustle, 16hr work days don’t do anything positive for you or your business. When the rollercoaster is tough, make more time for self-care not less. Over time the peaks and troughs get less high and low and you learn to ride the wave. “The sweet ain’t so sweet without the sour”- take time to look in the rearview mirror and at what you’ve surpassed!

1. That I didn’t have to wait for other people to give me permission to do things, I could give myself that permission
2. That being clear about the purpose of doing something is key to being successful. How many times did I end up doing something without really knowing – or asking – why?!
3. That if some things aren’t failing, then you aren’t trying enough new things. Failure is a sign that you are pushing the boundaries, that you are trying to create change in a world that really needs it. Embrace it, learn from it and keep trying new things.

1. Curiosity
An entrepreneur’s ability to remain curious allows them to continuously seek new opportunities, learn/unlearn and keep innovating.

2. Collaboration over competition

Two brains are better than one and once you start brainstorming and sharing ideas with like-minded people, the sky is the limit in terms of creative ideas and achieving goals.

3. Humility:
Humility strengthens self-image while simultaneously helping tone down the unhealthy ego.

C.S Lewis said it right –

‘True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.’

We tend to tell each other stories about big wins and rapid successes because they’re dramatic. It’s less interesting to hear about the small, but good things we do consistently every day. But you can’t have big wins without consistency. Consistency counts in every aspect of business, and in particular in culture.

At Cognician we consistently celebrate our people’s work in terms of the heart, the mind and the hands. We look at their work through these lenses because this is how we think about learning. Great learning experiences touch the heart, inspire the mind and direct the hands. It’s also how we think about how we treat each other and our clients. We are empathetic – the heart. We are curious – the mind. And we get stuff done – the hands.

So when we recognise great work, we recognise the passion our people put into it. We acknowledge the quality of their thinking. And we applaud their speed to action. There is consistency across the way we design our platform, the way we design learning experiences, and they way we interact with colleagues, clients and users. And there is consistency every day in how we apply and celebrate these principles. And it’s only because of this consistency that we win big.

1. Create an app that’s something you’re passionate about. WalkSafe came about because I was so frustrated and upset by violence towards women and others. I wanted to share my own expert safety advice to empower people. I always say it’s the app that shouldn’t have to exist and if it saves one person from assault or worse, then it has done its job.
2. Stay relevant and listen to your customers. We are now launching our second-generation app and we’ve listened to our users and incorporated their feedback to make WalkSafe even easier to use and provide the best safety technology in the palm of their hand.
3. Surround yourself with the best talent. I’m not a tech expert but I know a person who is and who can achieve what I want. That goes for the marketing team too. Get the best help and team you can afford.

1. Just get started… that’s half of the battle. Find 1-2 individuals that are exceptional in what they do and start working on the MVP. Spin up a google docs and start putting ideas together for your product, processes, team requirements, budget, market analysis, competitors, mission/vision. This will become the basis of your business plan and your pitch deck.
2. Get an alpha/beta customer early. This allows your to test out your MVP and get valuable feedback so you’re not building in a vacuum. It allows you to focus in getting product market fit early.
3. Learn to fundraise. One of your founders needs to learn this skill and it’s tough to acquire. Get started early in listening to podcasts like “funded”, sign up to SeedLegals (UK) and look at their resources/webinars in how it’s done, get advice from friends who have done it before. Also get started on building your financial model early.

As a lawyer involved in the business and property world the first rule of marketing is to focus on existing client service. It is obvious but so often overlooked in professional services firms who are often chasing the next big marketing idea. Be of service and value to your clients and they will stick with you and recommend others.

When I speak to new founders I always tell them their best marketing tool will be word of mouth. There’s nothing better than a genuine referral from an existing customer, whether it’s via a structured channel or, even better, offered up spontaneously in conversation. With my charity The Girls’ Network, we’ve worked to get people to connect with the cause on an emotional level, then delivered excellent and impactful work to match: people’s purchasing decisions are often driven by emotion first, so use that! After people, Twitter’s a great tool. Have purpose in identifying who the people you’re trying to reach are. Gain their trust on their terms, and they’ll listen to your story.

In my experience, the best small businesses use their natural agility to out-serve and out-manoeuvre larger more stable and more structured competitors. This requires an obsession with understanding what customers truly want and value. This of course is constantly changing as the world around customers changes. Large well-staffed incumbents often assume that what worked in the past and “the way we do things around here” will continue to work in the future. Challenging this is what enables small disruptors to create an exciting new normal. New businesses that maintain this obsession and constantly look for customer problems to solve, will in my experience find opportunities that others miss or are too slow to grab. Having the confidence to then invest in their growth ensures this is sustainable. However, as they grow and need to add new people and build their own processes and disciplines, the challenge is to ensure they don’t become the bureaucratic, “stuck in their ways” incumbents themselves and free the path for further new entrants. This requires them to be careful in hiring people with similar values and work ethics to the founding team and thinking hard about getting the right balance between structure and control to support a scaling business less able to co-ordinate informally, and flexibility/freedom to do the right thing to ensure ongoing agility.

It’s not enough to just be good at what you do. I learnt that the hard way. Despite being talented and skilled in my chosen field I just couldn’t get ahead. The key is to develop your personal brand, put yourself out there and use social media video and imagery to let people know what makes you tick, talk about what you are passionate about and what you are capable of making happen. Connect with like-minded individuals and with organisations whose values align with yours. Back it up with awesome work and relentless dedication to your craft and you have a recipe for domination.

1. Great communication skills.
2. Ability to negotiate.
3. Power to motivate people.

1. Listen, and then be honest. Treat everyone with respect
2. Do not be afraid to ask. Many problems can be solved by asking the right questions, most around you will be pleased you asked.
3. Surround yourself with talented, brighter people than you. Don’t be afraid of others success, embrace it, nurture it… it will take you forward too.

1. Curiosity
An entrepreneur’s ability to remain curious allows them to continuously seek new opportunities, learn/unlearn and keep innovating.

2. Collaboration over competition

Two brains are better than one and once you start brainstorming and sharing ideas with like-minded people, the sky is the limit in terms of creative ideas and achieving goals.

3. Humility:
Humility strengthens self-image while simultaneously helping tone down the unhealthy ego.

C.S Lewis said it right –

‘True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.’

We tend to tell each other stories about big wins and rapid successes because they’re dramatic. It’s less interesting to hear about the small, but good things we do consistently every day. But you can’t have big wins without consistency. Consistency counts in every aspect of business, and in particular in culture.

At Cognician we consistently celebrate our people’s work in terms of the heart, the mind and the hands. We look at their work through these lenses because this is how we think about learning. Great learning experiences touch the heart, inspire the mind and direct the hands. It’s also how we think about how we treat each other and our clients. We are empathetic – the heart. We are curious – the mind. And we get stuff done – the hands.

So when we recognise great work, we recognise the passion our people put into it. We acknowledge the quality of their thinking. And we applaud their speed to action. There is consistency across the way we design our platform, the way we design learning experiences, and they way we interact with colleagues, clients and users. And there is consistency every day in how we apply and celebrate these principles. And it’s only because of this consistency that we win big.

I actually have six tips!

1) Some people want to be developed; others don’t. Don’t use your influence/position to push people into roles or activities that you know they can do – but they might not actually want to for a variety of reasons. You will lose them.

2) Trust people, treat them like adults and don’t micro-manage. Never make new rules as a knee-jerk reaction based on one or more people abusing a system or process. Just deal with that person/transgression and don’t penalise everyone. Your trust will be returned in spades.

3) Muck in. Help out. Carry out tasks that may well be ‘below your pay grade’ if it gets the job done, reduces stress on your staff and keeps the client happy. But don’t make a habit of it and fix things to make sure it doesn’t keep happening!

4) Be open. Share information; seek opinion and be prepared to change/admit to your own mistakes so that others will be open about theirs.

5) Make sure people know it is okay to have areas of weakness; and that they should have enough confidence in their strengths to admit to and ask for help with weaknesses. That is the point of working in a team. Nobody is good at everything.

6) Recognise and appreciate the extra mile and reward it in some way; from a simple heartfelt thank you to a pay rise. (Oh – and just multiple thank yous won’t cut it!)

1) Lead by example. Never ask team members to do something that you’re not prepared to do yourself.

2) Always remember that your team members are human beings with lives outside of the office. Invest yourself in not just knowing what professional skills can that person bring to your organisation, but also invest yourself in knowing the person, the human being and the human qualities they can bring to your organisation.

3) Don’t fall into the mindset of “we can just hire someone else to replace this person if things don’t work out”. One of the most important aspects of your team members is that they know HOW your organisation works. They know how the internal processes, the things that all organisations have, that work in ways unique to that organisation, work. Therefore, it pays to build long term relationships with your team members. Your aim with your staff is always to keep them for the long term because it costs time and money to bring new staff up to speed.

In B2B, it’s easy to think of your customers as entities rather than sets of human beings doing their best to get things done. Especially as a marketer, it’s dangerously easy to get seduced by what you can measure and overlook the fact that to have great, sustainable relationships you need to have good listening skills and a good memory.

I’m lucky that I work with a team of outstanding Account Directors who provide me with a consistent stream of actionable information around their customer accounts. Nothing beats regular conversations with customers, but I’d say that the single most important thing for us to understand about our customers is: what are they trying to achieve?

We use the Jobs To Be Done concept as the starting point for all our content and sales enablement planning, as it forces us to think of our customers as emotional beings who are looking to get things done – our job is to help make that happen.

The single most important thing that a business should understand about its customers is what it must be like sitting on the other side of the desk looking back at you as a business.

I hate the term “customer focused” because it implies that your business is looking at your client from the outside whereas what you really need to be doing is looking at it as if you were on the inside, looking out.

This means that you can then work together to find the right solution and hopefully your firm can provide that option!

I’m from the B2B SaaS world where we need to work closely with our clients to make sure they are getting maximum value from our platform – otherwise, they won’t renew.

Value means different things and doesn’t necessarily equate to $$$$. At Ada, we’re a HealthTech platform and we work with our partners to save them money but, more importantly, to help them deliver better health outcomes to their end-users. Find out what value means to your client and work together on a plan to deliver it.

In both B2B and B2C engagements, the first thing you should strive to achieve is to become a Trusted Customer Advisor. Everything else really does come after.

You can become a TCA by doing four things, consistently and diligently.

1. Create and update a detailed influence map across your Customer Org, no matter how complex it may be, and build relationships with the people who care about your solution.
2. Always and genuinely care about the Customer’s issues. If you don’t, they won’t care about what you have to say.
3. Be an expert at what you do. Train, skill up and be hungry continuously.
4. Provide value at every interaction. The busier your Customer contacts are, the more this bit rings true.

As a lawyer involved in the business and property world the first rule of marketing is to focus on existing client service. It is obvious but so often overlooked in professional services firms who are often chasing the next big marketing idea. Be of service and value to your clients and they will stick with you and recommend others.

When I speak to new founders I always tell them their best marketing tool will be word of mouth. There’s nothing better than a genuine referral from an existing customer, whether it’s via a structured channel or, even better, offered up spontaneously in conversation. With my charity The Girls’ Network, we’ve worked to get people to connect with the cause on an emotional level, then delivered excellent and impactful work to match: people’s purchasing decisions are often driven by emotion first, so use that! After people, Twitter’s a great tool. Have purpose in identifying who the people you’re trying to reach are. Gain their trust on their terms, and they’ll listen to your story.

What makes your product or service useful to the person you are selling to? There is a real focus currently on unique selling points, however, if the product is unique, clever, and innovative but not useful to the person you are pitching to, they may be impressed, but they are unlikely to buy it. Unique is great but useful is vital, so make sure you do your research on why it will specifically help them.

At Liontrust we refer to, ‘Relentless application of the basics”, for any sales organisation, you need to have structure and process and you must apply the basics, relentlessly. Always make your clients feel appreciated, remember, the meeting is about them, not you. If you don’t know the answer to a question, be honest and say I don’t know but I know someone who does. Always deliver on your promises within agreed time scales. Follow-up is key to any salesperson’s career, over the years I have seen so many people, overpromise and underdeliver. It is so important to make that call when you promised, send that info and the final points, ask for the business, and don’t be shy, ‘will you buy my product/solution or service?’.

Most of all, ‘Smile’, no matter how bad your day is, make the client feel important and valued.

Salespeople must have drive and empathy. They need drive to push past obstacles and risks that customers, competitors, and their own company, put in their way. They need empathy so they can think like the customer, understand what is motivating the customer and so the salesperson can see the customer’s problems from the customer’s perspective. For superstar salespeople, you need two additional attributes, inquisitiveness to have them search and seek for more information and to fully understand problems; finally, you need intellect because the more you can solve the customer’s problem the more successful they will be.

What salespeople can do to be successful is to think like the customer so they can understand their customer’s problems. They need to take the time to think, not simply react and respond to a customer’s demands. Finally, they need to be proactive. It is not the customer’s job to buy our products – it is their job to do their job, successful salespeople do a lot of the work the customer needs to do in evaluating our products for the customer.

Sales is about relationships, when a relationship is in harmony there is trust , empathy and integrity. The best sales people work tirelessly on themselves which always includes there own integrity and relationships with people in their own personal lives
Those who do not project their wants onto others and truly help deliver an answer to the prospects problems, will achieve greatness.
I was once too salesperson out of 450, when asked how I done it, I replied I removed myself and ego from all interactions.
Happy Selling People
Jayson Webb. Telsa Media

What makes your product or service useful to the person you are selling to? There is a real focus currently on unique selling points, however, if the product is unique, clever, and innovative but not useful to the person you are pitching to, they may be impressed, but they are unlikely to buy it. Unique is great but useful is vital, so make sure you do your research on why it will specifically help them.

At Liontrust we refer to, ‘Relentless application of the basics”, for any sales organisation, you need to have structure and process and you must apply the basics, relentlessly. Always make your clients feel appreciated, remember, the meeting is about them, not you. If you don’t know the answer to a question, be honest and say I don’t know but I know someone who does. Always deliver on your promises within agreed time scales. Follow-up is key to any salesperson’s career, over the years I have seen so many people, overpromise and underdeliver. It is so important to make that call when you promised, send that info and the final points, ask for the business, and don’t be shy, ‘will you buy my product/solution or service?’.

Most of all, ‘Smile’, no matter how bad your day is, make the client feel important and valued.