Opportunities

It seems that one opportunity with the OC takeover is dead in the water.  Having said that, OC seems to still be quite keen on us moving forward and are reducing the rent offering.  It is still high, but a lot different to what they initially offered us.  The key issue is that the current tenant is now not that keen to move out, so I still think the deal will not work out.  But who knows, let's see what they can do.

One thing with opportunities when I have my own business is that any opportunity is potential and needs some thought.  I guess the next few years will be trying to develop, maintain and improve the validity of multiple income streams.  At the moment, there is GAP and Rewind, and we are trying out a new Rewind event to see if it will work.  This means that each opportunity has its cycle of developing (usually quite intensive), maintain (when operationally stable) and then improve (with refreshes of the offering).

So I need to be conscious of what cycle each of them is at, in order to not burn out.  But also I can realise that not all the opportunities require the same amount of attention at the same time.  Unlike a job where I have to focus only on that, I need to develop the skill to quickly diagnose what is wrong and get it fixed up.   Multi-tasking is no good, but serial focussing may be a better solution.

The other skill is to be able to quickly discern the validity of an idea, and the probability of success.  I think I am still quite "on the fence" with many opportunities, so develop the quick "making a decision" ability will increase my capacity to test and see ideas.

The other opportunity is to work with Aives on a social entrepreneur expansion into Asia.  At the moment, it seems like their own execution in Australia needs time, but it gives a bit of space to do some proper market research to come up with a good approach to this opportunity.  I think it is a good one, as I want to get involved in social entrepreneurship.  I am slightly wary though, as I may have a romantic notion of what it actually is about.  Need to get out there and talk to those people in the industry and see whether I really want to do it.  Of course, there are many facets of that business, so another approach (which may be more fruitful) is to find the elements of that opportunity that I think I will enjoy and really push on those.

Control

I had an interesting moment talking about a new concept with an investor.  I had informed him that I was having a meeting with the mall management to go through the final version of the concept, and propose the PSF for the outlet.  He said that he should be at the meeting.  At first I said no because I believe that introducing new elements (being a new person) would affect the negotiation, possibly derailing the process.  And since he was only a potential investor, I wasn't sure if it was good to bring him into the process into the first place.

My potential investor (is his characteristic blunt way) pointed out that it was his strength in negotiation, and that (though he didn't use as many words), believed that he could negotiate a better deal than I would.   I thought about this for a while before agreeing to let him come to the meeting.

If I mapped the thinking process, I would guess that besides the derailing risk, I did have an ego hit when he pointed out my previous negotiation results.  As a "entrepreneur", I would think that I am capable of doing all the job elements.  To be confronted with that fact, is a hard pill to swallow.  And then the more I thought about it, the less downside there was.  Ultimately if there is no deal, there is no business.  And he is very keen to get the deal done, and (hopefully) has the skills to get the deal for the right price.  We have to use the resources we have around us to get the results we are looking for.  Also since he has staked his ability to get that PSF rate, then he should have more incentive.

Of course there is still a downside and that is that he alienates the relationships that we have built with the mall.  Given that we don't have any current business with them, then it is not too big an issue.  Let's see how this meeting goes.

As an overall theme though, it's about the amount of control each of the people have in a new company.  Having not worked with him before, I suppose this period is about finding out what the other person wants.  And in this case, I have to be clear what I (and GAP) is looking for.  I should not think of people as being adversarial straight away.  But I should not give the control up without knowing the reason why.  And the reality of the situation is that whoever has 51% of the votes will control the company. 

Reacting for People Management

I was told the other day that I needed to sort out some people issues straight away, for fear that the person might make a rash decision and leave.  That person was quite important to us.  It was suggested that I should bring forward a planned pay increment as that person had made a statement about her pay being not enough for the work she was doing.

So I went in and gave some encouragement.  I decided not to talk about any increment for that person.  I didn't really talk through any issues to be honest.

What I realised after soothing that person was the following:
1. I should be continually encouraging my staff.  Doesn't matter when or where, I should be doing it.  It does help calm a situation and reinforces the "we are here to help each other" mentality.  A lot of times, it is when people feel that they are doing it all themselves is when they get frustrated.
2. I should not act on any decision like pay increases based on another person's view to act.  I need to be willing to wait until the request is given to me, or when I decide it is the right time.  Trust my instinct.
3. Everyone has good and bad days.  We shouldn't blow things out of proportion and react prematurely.  And overall, as long as we are setting a good environment, things will be ok.  Look at the longer term.

I think I am calm in most situations, but I need to learn to be calmer when it comes to dealing with people.  And assume good people are emotionally mature and can take care of themselves.  Sometimes just a good word will be all that is required.