Lee Willows

Trust building and transparency is so important, esp for not for profit orgs or charities. Blockchain enables donors to see every transaction and exactly where their donation is being spent withing your org. I think charities stand to benifit a huge amount from blackchain and has a firm place.in the next 3-5 years. Adoption is the challenge, but as with most ways of doing things, adoption will come over time.

In start ups and in your role as Founder, everything you do will contain some form of risk. Dont over analyise risks, always have a Plan B, Plan C, Plan D and move with speed and agility if things are not working out. Dont be surprised if your view of the world consistantly changes as you understand more about your start up and its abilities, challenges and the sector in which you operate. As founder, maintain a good helicopter view of your start up so you can potentially see things coming before they arrive.

Personal readiness is important. There are only so many podcasts you can listen too, books you can read or courses you can attend. Nothing beats rolling up your sleeves and diving in with both feet. The journey as a fouder will be like nothing you have experienced and if you have a lot of resilliance (which you are going to need) you'll love it. Remember to take time out to reflect, listen and involve customers and drive sales as they are key. Also consider UnLtd or Virgin StartUp who will suppport you wiyh a diverse peer group and coach too.

You dont need a huge sum of money to start a business and as a rule of thumb you might consider not taking on debt, until you have a feel and track record for income. The chicken and egg phase of a new business is so both challenging, but also rewarding, esp when you know you dont have big debts to service. Therefore having savings and a well thought through plan are important before you had in your letter to your manager to inform them you are going it alone. Personally I am a fan of growing organically. Yes you might not be the first to market, as lead in time will be slower, but you'll be thankful you are not risking everything.

Taking time out is really important, but how you take that time really is upto you. Lots of coaches will talk about setting boundries, not working execessive hours etc etc. However how many of these people have actually set up a business as a founder (other than their coaching business). If you are like me, I do and have done for 30 years very long weeks, knocking up 60-80 hrs per week, often working 6 or 7 days a week. I also have 4 or 5 holidays a year to recharge and usually spend. Christmas and New Year overseas. Many people have told me I have no balance, but for me (and my partner) it works really well. So find your own pace. It will come with time and it really is true, you are rarely switch off as a business owner.

How many conferences have you attended, where the speakers are the same, or the audience of deligates are effectly taking to themselves and not drawing in experitise from other sectors. Lifelong learning should also be about learning from your peer group, who are in a similiar role, but from a completely different sector altogether. Thats where powerful learning happens.