Highs and lows of running your own business

In reality, it was a world I knew little about. But two decades later, I am still in business and have a fantastic team of colleagues who have the skills I lack and help me hide my numerous inadequacies.

If you, dear reader, will indulge me, I will talk about some of the highs and lows of running your own business and even go as far as offering a few tips to aspiring entrepreneurs.

Cobb PR has a 10-strong team in Eastbourne, while our online agency, Cobb Digital, is seven strong after just two years.

I consider myself hugely fortunate as I still enjoy my work. I am out and about around the county most days, meeting a mix of people from all walks of life. One day I might be down a sewer in Brighton, the next I might be at a parish council meeting in a picturesque Sussex village.

The best aspect of my work is dealing with a wonderful group of clients. We’ve had a go-kart manufacturer, an inventor, a scientist and a smattering of directors of large multi-nationals.

In the early days, I wasn’t too choosy about the companies and individuals I worked for. After all, I needed money to pay the bills and to put food on the family plates.

One of our clients was jailed for VAT fraud owing Cobb PR – and many others – a shed-load of money. Another “client” turned out to be a con-artist who smooth-talked his way into the wallets and purses of many business owners like me.

With each setback, I have tried to learn a lesson … don’t be so gullible, get the money up front, take up references. But you have to balance this with being enthusiastic about new projects and ideas and not simply saying: “show me the money.”

As you get older and a little bit wiser, you develop an early-warning system that starts to ring alarm bells in your head. I don’t always get it right, but I haven’t had a bad debt for a few years now.

Job interviews can sometimes be a challenge. Upon discovering that my team comprised nine women and one man (me), a hopeful male jobseeker said he could not wait to enter the oestrogen tank and meet the ladies. We didn’t take him on.

Part of our work involves helping companies/organisations who find themselves in difficult situations. We deal with the media interest and brief journalists on what is happening, giving the management team some breathing space to sort out their problems. Our most high profile case of recent years was the Jeremy Forrest abduction saga at a school in Eastbourne. There are no winners in such cases, but we try to ease stress levels of the hardworking teachers and governors and support them as the local and national media descend on them.

Getting the right team around you can take time. When we launched our online marketing offer, I had two attempts at launching Cobb Digital. The people I took on were all great in their own ways, but they did not suit the direction I wanted to move the company in. But in 2013, I cracked it. We took on an ambitious and hard-working professional who has taken the brand from strength to strength.

In August, Cobb Digital will be working with a great new business incubator called Entrepreneurial Spark (www.entrepreneurial-spark.com). We’ll be surrounded by young and ambitious would-be Richard Bransons.

So what top tips will I be passing on to them?

• be bold, be ambitious and take risks
• be prepared to take advice, but also listen to your heart
• work like a dog, 24/7
• Never say never. Only give up on an idea when you have exhausted every avenue
• Don’t pay too much attention to your detractors. The world is full of negative people who will criticise you and your ideas.
• As the money comes in, invest it back into your business
• Know your weaknesses, we can’t be good at everything so understand where you lack skills. If budgets permit, hire people with relevant skills
• Never be boastful – let others tell the world how good your products and services are
• Giver’s gain – be prepared to give away some of your time and energies to help others. In time, your support will be acknowledged and you will reap the benefits
• Treat others as you would like to be treated. We are all only one trip away from a nasty fall from grace
• Community care – remember your roots and the community that helped spawn your success. Pay back your dues and be respectful of others.