What If Your Brain Dies?

5 Responses to “What If Your Brain Dies?”

1. Asako on September 11th, 2007 3:48 am

   Thank you for featuring my site, Catherine. Ian Denny’s Phoenix from the Ashes is in fact an amazing site. His writing style makes it also very real and vivid, on this amazing business turnaround story.

2. Ian on September 11th, 2007 5:48 am

   Cath,

   Must second the recommendation to read Drayton’s books. I also understand he’s soon launching a site where you can access, effectively a download of his brain and 40 odd years in the business.

   I have had amazing returns from following his advice about marketing. And you’re right, there’s nothing “miracle” about it. Like most things that work, you have to invest a little time to become the success you want to be.

   One of the best results I ever got has £224,000 worth of business from a single mailing I produced after reading the book you mention (a single page letter, no brochure, no design, just words - sent to 625 companies).

   Our turnover went like this:

   Year 1 - £42K
   Year 2 - £189K
   Year 3 - £390K
   Year 4 - £719K

   And it was all Drayton’s fault!

   It’s not get rich quick. In fact, we didn’t get rich at all - needed to know how to run a business as well as generate the work!

   Now I still read and re-read his books.

   Now we’re starting again after failing from too-fast-growth, it will undoubtedly help again but this time I have the business experience and will have far more controlled growth.

   The aim is not to get rich, but to be happy. And to be happy, I’m more concerned with keeping the customers happy, take on work we can cope with, and go home at a reasonable hour each day!

3. cathlawson on September 11th, 2007 6:35 am
   Asako - you are welcome. I love your blog and I’m glad you’re enjoying Ian’s blog also.

   Ian - those increases in turnover are brilliant. I have trebled before but never quadrupled.

   But, I understand what you mean about too fast growth. It can really be harmful to your business. And what a lot of people don’t realise is, it’s not through greed for wanting to make more. It’s just the challenge of being able to double or treble your turnover (or in your case quadruple) that seems to spur you on, to the point where you’re almost collapsing.

   By the way, Drayton’s newsletter is brilliant, so I’m going to order the book today. Thank you for recommending him.

4. Ian on September 11th, 2007 8:52 pm

   I don’t feel proud about the growth. Moreso stupid that I didn’t see it and attempt to cope with it.

   And I hated what we became without realising. We lost touch with the clients. We were so busy doing stuff that we thought was important that we became right t*ats.

   That was against our principles. We had consultants in who knew better. We paid them small fortunes To tell us how to do it.

   And we listened to them nore than our gut.

   Suffice it to say, that we no longer use consultants. They’re absolutely sh*te.

   You need to listen to your heart.

   Maybe I’m unfair on consultants, but if you do have to deal with them (perhaps as imposed by the bank or lender) pick up the good stuff that they tell you and be braver than I was to ignore the stuff that churned your stomach and gut feel.

   We didn’t actually deliberately choose to create the growth as some sort of engineered masterplan.

   I’m ashamed to admit that it “happened” to us before we were mature enough to cope.

   I had business partners who were really good. But nowhere near as good as my current partners. They are real people.

   People who you would think would be frowned upon in the circles we mix.

   Steve, my current partner self-nominated himself as our “fat controller”. Becuuse (like me) he is slightly overweight, and NOT because he is a controller.

   He is a biker (supa-moto - Google it - it;s a suicideal form of motorcycle racing). He is a fomer ballroom dance teacher. He had worked in an abbatoir.

   He has had a life in other words. When we mix together in circles that wouldn’t mormally entertain (or so you would think!) people like us, for some reason we fit better.

   Steve for example has sold high-end sports cars in another of his many incarnations (he’s a bit like Doctor Who).

   Tonight I had a chat with him about a networking thing tomorrow. Outsiders may say “ask him to wear a tie” or “brief him to say x, y and z”.

   I say “bolloc*s”.

   You are who you are.

   Neither are the people ou are going to meet. You think high-end, topshelf solicitors are dead sophisticated. they aint.

   When me and Steve spark off a chat, we don’t talk shop. We bring them down a peg or two if they’re pompous and full of themselves.

   If they remain pompous, we move on.

   Most of the time thought, you find out that people are people. They;re the same deep down.

   They all put on a veneer and outside facade of who they think they should be at an event.

   But you know what? When someone acts like themself, it gives the witness permission to drag out the DNA they were born with and admit that they’re human too and just like you.

   Steve (I admire him deeply) has a rare ability to lack fear wherever he is, and whoever he is with.

   It’s not a lack of social graces. The guy can ballroom dance around anyone who cares to pretend they’re sophisticated.

   But he can also do a wheelie on his various race bikes at over 100MPH.

   And he can circumvent trickiest firewall VPN setting, authenticating the IP addresses and port-forwarding rules for the most compicated remote branch or user scenarios in the IT world for a client.

   If you haven’t gathered already, I worship Steve.

   I wish I could engage people face-to-face the way he does,

   And we should all aspire to being like him. Cast off our social graces, be who you really arre, no matter what the setting or audience.

   And do you know what? When you act like yourself, you enjoy yourself more and relate to people better.

   Regardless of the situation.

   Has Richard Branson ever been photographed in suit?

   Do people regard him any less?

   RIP Anita Roddick.

5. cathlawson on September 11th, 2007 9:24 pm
   But Ian - that is what business is about - you’re supposed to screw up big time in the beginning. I used to think everyone worked through the night every Friday, and stayed in the office all weekend!

   Totally agree on business consultants - I used a coach at the beginning of this business and it cost us over 5k for a month. I just fobbed her off as she was nice enough and I didn’t want to offend her. But, she’d never even ran a business before her business coaching franchise. And I’d made it clear that I wanted help with recruiting and training - my weak spots. And it wasn’t happening because they have a cookie cutter formula that any idiot could follow after 5 minutes explanation.

   I googled supa moto. So is it similar to Moto X. My dad does that, even though he’s in his sixties and has nearly killed himself a heap of times - he just never learns.

   Totally agree on the suits thing. I hate it. That’s part of the reason I would like to change the image of this blog - if only I could get the hang of bloody wordpress.

   I completely forgot about poor Anita. And she didn’t even make the front page of the Mail. Who would have expected that?

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