Things we didn't sign up for as founders & what Steven Bartlett's team advised me

Not everyone enjoys being an influencer, Karen from accounts or Claire from customer service etc.

It might sound obvious, but as a founder you have to wear many hats. That might seem ok in theory, but what you may not realise is how many hats, how often, and how much time you could have to spend doing things that you’re not very good at, or just don’t really enjoy.

You probably didn’t sign up to be an influencer

Most of us didn’t create a business to become a content creator. But there’s definitely a demand, and therefore pressure, to show the real people behind the business. I don’t actually mind filming a video or two (that’s been a journey for sure), but what I did underestimate is the amount of time it takes to create good quality content. Hats off to the influencers out there making a living from creating content because it’s not easy. Good creators make it seem effortless, but trust me, it is not. Steven Bartlett’s team gave me some advice after Dragons’ Den and that was to follow the lead of some previous brands who document their every move, constantly sharing content of their founder journeys. And I’m not saying that’s bad advice at all, but for me, it’s exhausting. And actually, it’s not realistic, as I’ve simply got too many other things to do. Having a company that creates content for other brands means I know a thing or two about the process, and even the seemingly un-polished stuff has been carefully crafted, so don’t feel bad if you’re not doing as much of it as you think you should be.

[Me, posing awkwardly, not like an influencer, at my friends house. Picture taken by the awesome Elspeth Vincent]

Some advice we give to those wanting to create more personal content:

1.     Dedicate a day to filming (as you’re not going to feel like it often, so it’s easier to get into the groove once and go with it). You can also change into a few different tops to make it appear like you’ve filmed at different times. You might feel silly on the first couple of takes, but once you’ve comfortably filmed one video, you’ll then find it easier doing the next.

2.     Script it. Come up with a list of hooks/questions/lines you want to communicate - as people rarely get it right off the cuff. Also, it’s your business, so even with a little scripting you’ll still come across naturally.

3.     Get some equipment at home. You can get a ring light and phone stand online and have it set up at home ready to go, so it doesn’t feel like such a faff if/when you do feel in the mood to film something.

4.     Don’t overthink it. The best content is the least polished, so don’t worry about getting it perfect, just focus on showing the real you.

5.     Avoid filters. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but we all know when you’ve been filtered and anyway, the real you looks great as you are. You can always stand facing natural light to give yourself a glow and avoid emphasising any dark shadows, but I am personally against using filters as I think we owe it to ourselves (and everyone else) to show our real, perfectly imperfect selves.

I’m not enamoured by being Karen from accounts or Claire in customer service

I knew I was going to have to financially plan for our businesses, but there’s an awful lot of time that you have to spend chasing for payments and generally just being on the case with the monthly finances. I can’t say this is my favourite part of my role as founder, nobody wants to be a nag and I really don’t enjoy having to berate clients and accounts departments for the slow flow of finances at times.

Yes, we’d all love to employ someone in every single department, but the reality of small business life is that we often have to pick up many roles. A family member told me that he’d put on different voices on calls and had different emails when he was setting up his business, not because he wanted to deceive anyone, but because he felt he needed to be able to create some hierarchy for managing certain situations.

For me, I share the role of customer service, so we simply sign off using a generic response rather than a person’s name, as I don’t want to deceive anyone, but equally I find it better to be one step removed from those conversations. Luckily, we don’t get many complaints, but it’s not a part of my day to day that I enjoy whatsoever.

One of the things I’ve found useful is invoice financing. I wish I’d had set this up when launching my first business from the get-go. Having a third party’s support in chasing up outstanding payments is helpful, as well as the ability to be able to transfer part of the funds as soon as the invoice is created.

I’ve also found sharing the load of customer service emails with another team member helpful too. For ages I just did it myself every day, but then I recognised that it was actually making me feel bad. That ten minutes in the day, which obviously isn’t a lot of time, was really impacting my mood. So, I think it’s sensible to try and identify those moments in your day and get in some help, as there’s no point making yourself miserable over something so small.

Are there things in your day-to-day that you have to do, that you weren’t aware you were going to have to, or don’t really enjoy? Looking forward to your WhatsApp’s/DMs and emails, letting me know.