&A
ASK THE EXECS
AARTI PARMAR Director, AP Brand Communications
Two businesses at the same time – congratulations! First and foremost,
ensure that you’re absolutely clear about your purpose and vision for both brands. This will dictate how you grow them with focus. Then identify what “growth” means to you for each venture and over what period. This will help you to prioritise the areas of your businesses that require your most urgent attention.
Aarti Parmar is a member of IoD London BILL CARR CEO, Carpe Diem
You need to set clear objectives and targets against which you can measure progress. It is unlikely that your businesses will grow at the same speed, so prioritising your time will be key, especially to avoid burn-out, which would cause your health and that of both ventures to suff er. Scheduling time to spend on each will help, but running one business is demanding and running two is very tough. The time may come when you need to let one go or bring in someone to run it for you. Bill Carr is the former chair of IoD Cheshire
DOWSHAN HUMZAH Independent board director
Entrepreneurship is not easy. There’s no formula that guarantees success. All we can do is increase its probability. Any good strategy requires us to make choices. I have three recommendations. First, focus on one venture and dedicate your working time to that. Second, pursue outside interests for the sake of your wellbeing. Your other venture provides one such interest and it will also enable you to switch focus if the first doesn’t meet expectations. Third, if you haven’t already done so, read Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Eff ective People. It was first published back in 1989, but it’s a classic – many of Covey’s models remain applicable today.
Dowshan Humzah is a fellow of the IoD Dominique Unsworth is a member of IoD Berkshire
director.co.uk 25
DOMINIQUE UNSWORTH Founder, CEO and producer, Resource Productions
I founded a production company and an events firm in 1999 with the aspiration to build both in parallel. I made the mistake of spreading
myself too thin and ended up getting stressed out by trying to do everything. After the first year it became clear that I needed to devote all my energies to one business, getting it to the point where I was no longer needed each day before focusing on the other one. As part of this, I sought reliable business partners who shared my passion. I set up agreements with them by which I could cross-promote some services that weren’t part of my core business plan. This led to some successful projects and some lasting friendships. Despite this, I look back on the past 20 years and
still feel that one business is more than enough to manage alone. It is possible to grow more than one company at the same time, but you will need a good team around you. Trust and delegation will help you to achieve more than you ever could on your own.
SIMON FORDHAM Co-founder, Fordham Henderson Consulting
I’ve also started two businesses, but not at the same time. I allowed the first to establish itself before helping to set up the second, which went on to become the biggest in its sector. It takes focus, sacrifice and steely determination to make one venture work, let alone two simultaneously. Without focus, one business can distract you from the other. So this is about the “when” – as long as you ultimately know the “why”.
Simon Fordham is a member of IoD Essex
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