Hayley Koseoglu, founder of Crystal Clean and now a Business Improvement Consultant, is the guest on Episode 24 of The Executive Edge. Hayley runs her consultancy www.iekos.co.uk based on her experience of running a successful service-based business.
The first thing we discussed is how she feels people need to be resilient in business. Their personal and business goals may differ so knowing what they want and why is essential as it’s tough in the first 3 to 4 years. If you’re wearing all the hats you can’t take time out easily and the boundaries blur between work and home life. Knowing what you want the business to be makes it worth it so that you can stay the course.
Everyone makes mistakes.
It’s essential to recognise mistakes are normal. Her first mistake including spending all the vat money she made without realising it needed to be paid to HM Revenue within that quarter. This happened because no-one had told her. Although this might be common, Hayley didn’t like feeling less well informed and set out both to improve her own knowledge, and ensure other people in newly established business, don’t make the same kind of mistake. Over time, this determination paid off as she later found when her second employee needed her to get to grips with TUPE.
TUPE is a contract that the employer must protect and the complexity of it isn’t quick to grasp. Again, Hayley worked hard at understanding the process and now offers her coaching to other business to save them the struggle. Often asking for help is at the heart of problems. Embarrassment, lack of experience and a desire to persevere instead of admitting to struggle, is behind the determination to ignore persistent problems. Instead, it can be faster, more cost-effective, and efficient to admit to needing help.
Why?
Often it isn’t in what you know but how to apply it, that is missing. Learning everything you need to achieve success takes time and so many of us are impatient. It may seem counter intuitive but reaching out for help at the stages you find frustrating and difficult, may be faster and ultimately a better solution.
Hayley’s business offers a free mini gap analysis which includes questions about your position now, your purpose so that you can become clear about what you want, and the process you will use to get there. This analysis may help you begin to recognise what you need to become more successful and you can find this at www.iekos.co.uk.
