entrepreneurship

February 12, 2015 by Christine

How To Shine Your Light, Even When You Don’t Know Who You Are

Someone emailed me after last week’s article:

“I loved your post about letting your light shine. But what do you do when you haven’t found yours yet?!”

They meant it in jest, but their question talks to the heart of something I come across, particularly when I’m working with you solopreneurs whose businesses are built around your personality.

There’s this whole insidious belief that you can and should nail some specific “thing” you’re meant to be or do that will transform your work and life. Indeed, that any failure you have in achieving the results you want will come down to your own lack of clarity in this arena.

The Insidious Belief

This whole thing comes at you in two key ways:

Self-development gurus

Much of the self-development world exhorts you to discover who you are. The implication is that “you” are a constant and that, when you can define the essence of yourself, then you will be able to put yourself out there so much more clearly.

Look, I’ve been there. At a time of feeling less clear and more lost, I felt pretty pumped up reading books with titles like “reclaim your soul” or “discover your purpose”. The authors were obviously so sorted about who they were, and what they were here to do, that they were writing about it. I devoured lots of stuff like that hoping some of their certainty would spark something in me.

But in the end it all just made me feel that I was missing something, because I couldn’t get my raison d’être down to one pithy sentence that I could wrap my whole life and being around.

Business marketing advice

And there’s a ton of stuff too that comes from the small-business marketing world. Particularly from the self-appointed experts who spend most of their life online.

They talk right at all of your uncertainties about how well your business is doing – or not, as the case may be. They’ve thought about your deepest vulnerabilities and they’re smart at wrapping slick words and offerings around them that look on the face of it like they’ll give you answers about that unique thing you think you’re missing. The thing that’s going to bring it all together.

Like I’ve said before, these guys may have some smart tools and techniques to offer you, some great platforms to use or whatever. But they cannot ever give you the key to the holy grail.

Because that’s not how it works.

Misunderstandings

Stumbling as I have done myself through all of this, I’d love to offer a couple of big reflections.

First, I now don’t believe that we ever go through life with only one purpose. Or only one perfect way in which we can put ourselves at the service of the world.

I think we evolve and that how we give our gifts and talents to others can and perhaps should morph over time, dependent on a whole load of factors.

So, for me, purpose is dynamic, not static.

Then, to trust that a success strategy someone else developed or discovered will also work for you is misguided. Only because you are not them. They are not you. They have their access to wisdom. You have your own.

And if you go outside yourself time and time again for answers, you’re shutting yourself off from your own knowing, your own clarity.

So how to work inside-out?

Want to get better at listening to your own internal knowing? Here are a couple of suggestions. I offer them to you on a test, don’t trust basis. They aren’t THE answer. And your own wisdom make take you elsewhere. But if you really are unsure of what it even means for you to shine your light, start here.

You’re okay right now, exactly as you are

There’s nothing different you have to be or do in order to be okay. You’re already okay. Trust that. Go with that. Allow that its own resonance within your being.

Understand your character strengths

In the absence of being able to articulate your genius, dip your toe in the water of character strengths.

Character strengths are those enduring qualities we automatically turn to just in being ourselves. I particularly like VIA‘s take on all of this. They look at strengths across six categories: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance and transcendence. And within these they define 24 separate distinctive strengths, like creativity, courage, love, leadership, forgiveness and playfulness.

Do their questionnaire. It’ll give you feedback on how you score on all 24 of their strengths. But look at the top five or six and consider how they’re at play, not at some future point, but right now in your life.

What’s the magic thing you can already see happening when you use them in combination?

Go to work with a hypothesis

So, maybe you do all of that and you’re still not crystal clear. Like I said, that’s okay.

Just work with what you know.

Amp up that little bit of magic you’re already in touch with.

Don’t demobilize yourself thinking you must be crap because everyone else seems to be able to nail their thing and you can’t. Just see past the need to be that defined even. Stay in action with what you have some felt certainty about.

Go give your best in the way that you know how right now.

That’s all that’s required of you.

The clarity on the rest of it will follow if you just stay tuned in to what’s happening on the inside.

January 16, 2015 by Christine

3 Secrets of Selling High Value Services That Won’t Leave You Feeling Naked

Admit it.

As professionals, if we think about selling at all, we think of it with distaste.

Most of our development has been focused on our craft. We may be masterful coaches or consultants. We may be great at accounting or lawyering. We may excel at design or product development. But we see business development and selling as a whole area of activity that we’re neither skilled in, nor hungry to do.

And yet once the early euphoria of setting up our own business wears off, we sooner or later face a choice: we can either get our heads round the whole sales and marketing thing, or we’re going to be at the mercy of whatever work comes along.

Entrepreneur or freelancer?

Now, don’t get me wrong – a good many of my consulting and coaching colleagues operate that way. While they have limited companies, they’re really well-paid jobbers or freelancers. And I can’t pretend that for some it’s not lucrative. At least while there’s a steady trickle of clients finding their way to their door.

But if one of your reasons for deciding to lead your own business was a burning desire to get your thing out there more clearly, leaving your business development effectively in the hands of the gods ain’t necessarily going to help you achieve that.

I know because this is my own story.

See, I spent the first years of my professional life being a rockstar HR person, crafting a name for myself as someone who could make big change happen. Then I joined a big consulting company where I went and did similar work with cross-functional consulting teams.

When I set out on my own, my original intention was just to do more of the same. I was known as a go-to person for stuff like business transformation, HR strategy development, organization design, and the first few years in were good as I got called in to do that kind of work under my own steam or by drafting in associates.

And that worked for a while, until I began to see that the kind of work I did best, and wanted more to do of was more focused on leaders and their development.

I got at a level that to create more of what I wanted I’d have to be more proactive. But I was really reticent about the prospect of having to open up new doors for myself. That was selling and I was no sales person. Indeed had you asked me, I’d have said till even a few years ago that sales and marketing was not my forte. I had a major limiting belief about it. It was something I really felt I just couldn’t do.

So I avoided the issue until I could no longer deny the lack of integrity in myself between wanting to do work in a certain way, yet taking whatever work came along.

Deciding to learn to love selling

We grow, we change. The more experience we have in running our own show, the clearer and clearer we get about what jives for us and what doesn’t. And more daring about what we’re prepared to take risks on in service of our true genius. And if we want to feel joined up within ourselves and enjoy what we do for a living, we need to morph our businesses so that they keep on aligning with our personal change.

I saw that and I decided that I was going to crack the whole sales thing. I was going to go from being someone who cringed at the prospect of sales conversations to one who was confident of running sales processes end to end.

Over a number of years, I’ve invested tens of thousands of pounds teaching myself a new craft. And I laughed recently when a new assessment questionnaire I did said I was a natural marketer!

It’s a huge area and indeed it’s something that I’m going to be writing and talking about in coming months with Steve. I first met Steve some years back when he was Sales and Marketing Director of the Entrepreneurial Services Practice of EY. Now, he’s someone for whom strategic, high-value selling comes very naturally and from whom I’ve learned an immense amount.

But for now, here are my three biggest insights about selling high value services.

1.There’s no one-size-fits all way to do it

When you start to put a toe into the vast waters of sales and marketing, you’ll quickly find that there’s a ton of “how to” advice out there.

Identify your niche. Have a website with a client magnet. Go to networking events.

Look, I’m not going to pretend that some of the advice doesn’t work, and you can follow it all you want, but its value to you depends on a number of things:

Fear or confidence?

First, from where in yourself are you looking at the advice?

If you look at it from a place of fear, all it does is feed your insecure thinking around selling, and lead you to believe that there’s some silver bullet, some trick you need to learn or technique you need for apply, in order to finally make you feel okay about it. There’s never an end to the things you can try in order to identify prospects or win sales.

If on the other hand you look at all the advice and techniques from a place of confidence, you put yourself in the driving seat of discerning what works for you and your business and what doesn’t.

Your personal sweet spot

Maybe even before that, look at what comes most naturally to you. What gives you your biggest buzz?

Some people write better than others. Some people are naturals when it comes to chatting to others. Some folks love the internet. Others detest it. The point is, if you play to your natural communication advantages, you’re more likely to discover for yourself what your best ways to get yourself and your business out there are.

Need and budget

Cut through all the noise and it comes down to two things: Who needs what you’re offering? And do they have a budget for it.

You know, if you’re running a consulting firm that does some snazzy analytics about your clients’ web visitors, you can identify niches and market segments and all that stuff, but unless the Marketing Director sat in front of you perceives that she has a need for your service, and the budget to come to some agreement with you on fees, you don’t have a sale.

Now, the big trap I see some folks fall into (and, yes, I’ve been in the trenches on this one big time myself), is to take the inevitable “no” that comes from this kind of interaction as some kind of judgement about your product or service. You can spend weeks and months going back to basics on your offering when the real issue was just that, while there may have been interest, there was no need or budget.

2. Selling is about listening

The other thing that can get in the way of selling is to get so wrapped up in thinking about getting a sale that you don’t actually take the time to be present with and listen to the person in front of you.

Meaning that, if they indeed have a need for your product or service, you’re not really hearing what that is.

A lot of this comes back to the fear point above. If you’re sitting there believing that you have to get a sale in order to tick some box and feel good about yourself, there’s going to be so much noise happening in your own head that you’re drowning the other person out.

Imperceptibly, they pick that up from you.

So get out of your own way. Know that you have the knowledge, leadership and expertise around your thing to deal with whatever comes up in the moment and pay attention.

3. It’s all about the conversation

See, it’s all about the conversation. All about the energy in the dialogue you establish with someone; the fundamental rapport you create. That’s what leads them to judge whether you’re someone they can trust or not.

Business is built in and through relationship. And, to quote Susan Scott “the conversation is the relationship”.

Indeed, stop even thinking of people as prospects or clients. Drop the illusion that they’re somehow different from or separate to you. Think of them as people. Business can look like it’s such a rational, intellectual thing. But it’s more about the feeling content than most folks give credit for.

So, drop any illusion you’re holding that you can’t sell and experiment with the possibility that you can; play to your own strengths in building a process that works for you; remember needs and budgets. And listen, listen, listen.

What trips you up when it comes to selling? What works for you and what doesn’t? Share your thoughts and comments below!

Photography credit: www.stevendurbinphotography.com

October 22, 2014 by Christine

What I Got From Creating My Blog (and Why I’m Closing It Anyway)

It was a blast.

While, five years ago, I still had a traditional site here supporting a traditional consulting business, it felt like a liberation to go off and create a somewhat more contrarian offering called A Different Kind of Work.

But today, as I unveil the fundamental recreation of my core business here, I’m pulling the curtain down on it.

Look, it was a lot of fun and I got a heck of a lot from it:

I got some clients from it which, after all, was a core reason for creating it.

I made some great connections – either through the blog itself, or from its social media outposts.

It totally forced me to upskill myself in the geek technical skills department.

And the writing I did there, not only allowed me to produce some great pillar posts, it also enabled me to learn a whole lot about myself. As a coach. As a writer. As a person.

Kill your darlings

But here’s the thing…

I think there comes a point for many creations when they’re done.

I could plow on with it. I’ve tried to. ADKoW has been a darling of mine. But as Stephen King and others have said about writing, you have to know when to kill your darlings.

And I’m pretty through with it.

Plus, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about things at a deep level this year. And while so much of what I wrote on ADKoW was rule-breaking in it’s own way, it was all delivered in a kind of “tips and techniques” kind of way. And I no longer believe that the kind of approach cuts it any more.

That’s because I am starting to see that people and their businesses don’t need more tips. They are swamped with tips. Just look at the blog posts on any of the big business or personal development sites. There’s no end of suggestions on how to hack just about anything.

Consider too the way that most coaches and consulting companies work with their clients. There’s just an overwhelming mass of advice, information, tools and solutions out there.

What I’m starting more and more to get is that people come with the ability to solve their own problems. And that my job is increasingly is to help people see beyond the superficial. To dig deep. To understand their own fundamental psychology and indeed how everything actually works.

To take stuff OFF of people’s minds not add to it.

So that they can be more effortlessly themselves in whatever it is they’re doing.

Core business

But there was something about the essence of ADKoW that I don’t want to lose. I loved the freedom I felt it gave me to say what I wanted, without having to imagine that I needed to be careful of offending any corporate clients or bill payers.

I loved its ability to put stuff out there that was a little unorthodox.

There was – is – an audience for what’s different, edgy and contrarian in business. People often gave me the feedback about ADKoW that, in a world of noise and bollocks, it was refreshingly different.

So that’s not going to disappear. But what I have decided to do is channel that whole vibe through everything we do here.

Day to day

What that means is that, day to day we’re helping business people get clear about what they want to achieve and why they want to achieve it.

Then, helping them – basically – get out of their own way as they set about trying to deliver on their goals. With a clear mindset, and a good understanding about the real source of things like creativity, innovation, resourcefulness, and resilience, great performance becomes a lot less like hard work. And the results speak for themselves.

Feel free to read more about the specific service offerings that the business delivers by browsing through some of the pages on the site.

Honestly? It’s kind of what we’ve always done had we not been – for whatever reason – so apologetic about it.

Bigger picture

Underpinning all that we do we have a piece of emergent thinking which we’re calling Keeping It Real. It’s brand new and we imagine that we’ll use this philosophy as the foundation for a variety of forthcoming programs and workshops. You can see more about Keeping It Real here.

Emerging clarity

So, there’s a big creative shift going on here and, frankly, who knows what that will mean for websites or web presence in the future.

For now, however, what I’m clear about is that ADKoW has served its purpose and that we’ve reinvented things back here “mothership”.

And we’d love it if you’d come along with us for the ride as stuff develops.

So, be sure to give us your email address here and we’ll share content and news with you as we go along.

October 8, 2013 by Christine

10 Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Quit My Job

How do self-employed people actually do it?

The successful ones? The ones that have good lives and make money without a corporation at their back?

That was a question I pondered for quite some time as I weighed up the decision to go it alone. In the end it took me at least a year to get up the courage to quit.

By that point I had complete clarity that it was the right way to go and had some immediate concrete steps that helped me transition from being on a payroll to managing my own payroll.

And things have taken their own path since then.

But from time to time it occurs to me to think that I wish I’d had a “me” alongside me then, sharing her experience. Here are some key things I’d tell her:

1. People May Doubt Your Sanity

In all my “should I/shouldn’t I?” deliberations, it did cross my mind to consider that some people might think I’d lost the plot to walk away from what was on the face of it a great job. But I wasn’t ready for how they’d share that or how it would impact me.

For example, my boss at the time thought I was having a nervous breakdown, and suggested I take a sabbatical and not do anything until I’d returned. That did cause me to wonder for a moment if he might be right.

Then, a headhunter I’d known called me up with some fantastic opportunity. He was shocked when I said no to it and told him why. In fact, he got a bit shitty with me, like I’d deliberately set out to upset him. That too made wonder whether people might be seeing things I wasn’t.

I guess till then everyone in my circle had seen me as a corporate ladder sort of person who would live out her career in bigger and bigger roles, and that when I chose not to see myself like that, it came as a bit of a surprise.

Looking back I can see that I was upsetting the status quo at the time and that people’s reactions just reflected that.

2. Disconnecting from office politics was easy

One of the things I found most difficult about working for a big company was the politics. No matter what anyone says, underneath all the rational stuff that gets attended to, there’s a ton of emotional stuff and outright power play.

I used to find myself in mind-numbing conversations about how to position this or that in order that someone in power would say yes to it. And endlessly reworking things, just because the guy at the top wanted it so.

I didn’t miss this for a second. But…

3. Disconnecting from the people was tough

On the other hand, it was much more difficult to disengage from my colleagues.

One of the great, positive things about corporations is that they are communities. They’re places where you can turn up day to day and feel part of something bigger than yourself.

I’d been part of a fabulous team and even though I still keep in touch with some of them socially, it was strange not to have them so present in my life.

For a while it was odd not to dial in automatically for voice messages, or jump online to get the latest stream of email.

But then a kind of peace decended and it was okay.

4. Sometimes you will feel lonely. But you’re not

I guess it depends on what you do after you quit. I spend, by choice, a large part of my week at home and coach mainly by Skype or phone these days.

There are days, especially if my other half is away and the children aren’t around, when I feel alone.

But I’m not.

Thanks to the internet and social media, I can connect with folks online when I want. I’m a member of several online communities and have virtual friends I rarely see in person but with whom I chat online.

I also make sure to do at least one in-person social thing a week, and to head off to my local coffee shop of a morning in the knowledge that some other *alternative* sorts are sure to be hanging out there too.

The important thing is that you have to work at creating your *colleagues* in a very different way.

5. You have to relearn how to spend your time

If you work for a corporation, the chances are that you are on some kind of contract that sets the context for how you spend your days. And you create habits and rituals around that. Get up. Travel (or not). Start work … All at certain times.

Even the content of what you do will be largely guided by the job you’re doing.

Working for yourself, it’s a whole new ball game. You yourself get to create it all: context, what and when.

Ah, the freedom!

But in the beginning, there were days when I felt a little adrift and disoriented. I guess I’d been so used to being in the system.

As time has gone by I’ve found my own rhythm. It has kind of emerged. I wished I’d knew from the outset that’s how it would be.

6. You have to rethink money

You know what it’s like. You have a salary and performance or bonus elements of one form or another, and maybe some benefits too. I know I did. There’s a kind of security around all of that.

This all goes when you work for yourself. You have to go back to basics in figuring out for yourself what you’re going to pay yourself and how.

And of course all of that assumes that your business venture makes money.

When I quit my consulting job at first, I started off freelancing, which was great. But it took a full three months of being self-employed and doing anything before any money started arriving in my bank account.

And a good year or so after that before I could get my head round managing the financial ebbs and flows and being okay with them.

There was anxiety for me in all of that then. Now, I’d tell myself that’s just the way it is.

7. You will impact other people

So, there are the doubters. But there will also be people who say “wow” and notice your move more than you’d imagine.

When I quit, a couple of my friends were soon after inspired to do the same. Not all of them have stayed the course – it’s not everyone’s bag and everyone has their own way of being at their best in work. But that’s not the point.

The point is: prepare to become a role model, and don’t play it down. In the beginning, I did. In fact, until a coach pointed out to me a few months ago that I was one of the best examples he knew of someone who had created work and life exactly on their terms, I had under-estimated the significance of my achievement.

8. It’s a huge change

The repercussions of you quitting may go on for years. Often good. But sometimes in challenging ways.

Sometimes more than others you have to work at being emotionally bouyant. If, on a down day, you catch wind of a former colleague landing a huge job, you might expect to feel a pang of jealousy.

Or to wish you’d stayed in a job and could collect a regular salary when the markets get quieter and your earnings are down.

You may have moments of insecurity that give rise to these feelings.

Now I remind myself of my decision and what I continue to love about it: the freedom of choice, and the excellent lifestyle, the ability to make money doing what I love.

9. The need for courage goes on and on

I suspect I imagined that the most bold thing I’d ever do was step off the corporate ladder and then it would be a breeze.

I could not have been more wrong. That bold step was just the first of many.

As a self-employed person, you have to find a certain courage almost daily to put yourself and your offerings out there and have people respond to them. For sure there are often more Hell No’s than Hell Yes’s.

I used to see that as rejection and feel wounded. Now I see that a yes or no – or even stoney silence – is just a piece of information.

10. You don’t have to get into self development. But you will

Given that I majored in Psychology at university, it’s amazing for me now to consider that, until I began thinking about working for myself, I had done very little personal development. Sure, the occasional leadership course. But no real depth work.

But I found myself drawn to the coaches and self-help writers when I began to get my head round just how I was going to quit.

And I’ve never stopped. Over the last years, I have spent tens of thousands of pounds on my own development in the form of coaching support, or training programmes I’ve attended.

I don’t regret a penny. Top class athletes wouldn’t compete without their support team. Why should you?

So…

Quitting your job is one of life’s biggies. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. The internet is full of false optimism masquerading as advice.

Which is not to say that it’s not rewarding. It is.

But if you quit, do it with your eyes open.

Over to you…

So, tell me, if you’re currently thinking of quitting, what does this raise for you? Or if you have already quit and are doing your own thing, what experiences of yours does this talk to? Do you have any personal “lessons learned” of your own? Jump onto the comments below and share!

July 8, 2013 by Christine

What Andy Murray Can Teach Start-Ups About Success

What Brit wasn’t proud of Andy Murray yesterday?

He’d come back from being the runner-up against Federer in the same tie last year and, not only did he beat the world’s number one, Novak Djokovic, he did it in 3 sets and put an estimated £1.6m in his bank account as a result.

Not too shabby, eh?

And, if you’re either just starting a new business or are aspiring to do so, here are some lessons I think his example offers:

Own your ambition

Murray was playing tennis from about the age of three. Ten years ago he won the US Boys’ Title. After which he said: “I think I have got a chance of going all the way in tennis and that’s what I want to do.”

So, he’s had ambition from the get go, and if you’re starting out in business, or have already, learn from his example.

What would you love to achieve? What would it mean to you to achieve it?

Get a great team around you

Murray was doing okay. By 2006 he’d succeeded Tim Henman as the most successful British player, and he’d won some tournaments, including the San Jose title.

But in truth he was neither Mr Muscles, Mr Calm or even Mr Likeable. Nor was he winning the big name titles he was hungry for.

Late December 2011, ending his fifth year in a row as world number 4, he hired Ivan Lendl as his coach. Alongside Lendl, he has Jez Green, his fitness coach, and Dani Vallverdu, his hitting partner. Working with them, he has made adjustments to his fitness regime and his game. Adjustments that have allowed him over time to develop his strength and his composure. And his results.

Meanwhile his PR people, Louise Irving and Matt Gentry, have been helping him get the word out on who he is in a different way.

And his mother Judy, who in the beginning taught Murray how to play, and girlfriend Kim are also never far away.

As the leader of a start-up, it’s often tempting to bootstrap and invest as little as possible in its support and development. But is that the right move?

Sure, it might be if you just want to do okay. But if you don’t want to leave success to chance, think about who else you need to surround yourself with.

Who is going to teach you things beyond what you can do right now in a way you can leverage for results? What other talent do you need to invest in?

Understand and embrace your competition

To win Wimbledon, Murray had to take on a number of other excellent players, including the world’s number one. In fact over the years he’ll have been watching how they play in order that he can match and indeed beat them.

There’s sometimes a concern in business that competition is bad. But it’s not. It’s good. It shows you there’s a market for what you’re doing. Imagine Murray was as good as he is and yet no-one else was playing?!

So, don’t be afraid or your competition. In fact, go find who and what it is, and what’s great about it. What are they doing that’s making people buy them? Then figure their weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Things you can exploit and develop. Then, go do it.

Don’t let disadvantage or hard times psyche you out

Murray was a child at school at the time of the Dunblane massacre, managing to hide as sixteen other kids were killed. And if that’s not big enough shit to deal with, his parents divorced when he was young. When he hit his glass ceiling in 2011, he could have – and may have – blamed it on any number of things. But he didn’t. He lived in the present, took a day at a time, and built himself and his strength.

I sometimes hear from small business owners who aren’t doing so well or are having a bit of a wobble that “it’s alright for others” whom they imagine to have had privileged backgrounds or cushy upbringings. But Murray proves that bad things can happen to you and that you can still win through.

So, if you’re talking yourself down because life has been cruel, change your tack.

The past is the past. You can do nothing with it. But you do have today. Use it.

Slow down to speed up

It was wonderful to watch Andy play yesterday. There were times when Murray was ahead and yet Djokovic looked like he could get back in the game, and where Murray needed to be sure to win. He could have, on serving and returning, acted quickly and tried to close the game down. Instead he slowed things down.

He took time to gather himself around his service. Played long volleys.

Being patient, he won the game.

There’s a temptation too in business to do things quickly. To close the sale. Agree the deal. But sometimes moving too quickly means we end up with sub-optimal results. The design that would have been just that bit better had we given it another few days. The client who doesn’t really match our brand values and who sucks our time or erodes our profits.

Quieten your mind

This has got to be the single biggest improvement I’ve seen Murray make over the last year. A year ago, Federer had him rattled, and didn’t we know it. He was grumpy out there on Centre Court. You could almost see him beating himself up as he made one unforced error after another.

Yesterday, he was so much more composed.

Sure, he was losing points. But I had the sense that he wasn’t making anything of that. So, he was just losing points. He was not – at least viewed from the outside – interpreting from that that he was a loser. And, then, turning himself into a loser.

He lost points, yet kept going. His mind seemed more quiet and he stayed in the flow of the game.

In business, it’s easy to get rattled if things go wrong. Especially if we’ve spent a lot of time learning the skills, or developing the competence to be able to do whatever. But skills and competence are only part of the picture. The ultimate business success game is won or lost in your mind.

What does Andy Murray teach you?

So, those are the things that occurred to me.

But how about you? What does Murray teach you about running your own firm? And how will you implement it?