Posts Tagged With ‘ Lessons Learned ’

What shall I click on next? 🤔 It’s Sunday and I’m staring at my inbox; there’s not many messages to go through but even so I can’t be bothered; my heart’s just not in it. Still, I tell myself if you don’t reply then you’ll never make any progress on your goal and this is important to you. For once, I’m not talking about my work emails and my non-stop pursuit of new business for Shiageto Consulting. Nope, the inbox I am referring to is the one on Hinge (the dating app). Hang on a minute; are you talking about your personal life? It’s true, I don’t blog much about my personal... Continue Reading

What a way to be carried This is a reprint of a classic blog that I wrote in June 2020 when I first started my company Shiageto Consulting. Enjoy! In this series, I share with you some of the key learnings I have had from my first 6 months of launching my first start-up (Shiageto Consulting) and how those lessons are applicable for the challenges my business is facing during this pandemic crisis (and any business at any time in fact) The initial challenge Last Saturday morning I spent 2 hours videoing and editing a business vlog, followed by 30 minutes on Facebook Live joined by 20 of my friends... Continue Reading

Life as a small business owner: What happens when you email 200 connections asking if there are opportunities to collaborate? Somedays, running a business makes me feel like this giant fish in a sink In many ways the current market feels like there is a recession without there being a recession. It’s been 4 years since I started my business (Shiageto Consulting); the first year was terrible (thanks Covid) but since then things have gone well. In years 2 and 3 we managed to double our revenues each year, grow our client base and expand the team; then around Autumn last year, it became clear... Continue Reading

I’m convinced this shirt is too big for me This is a reprint of a classic blog that I wrote in Jan 2020 when I first started my company Shiageto Consulting. Enjoy! Ever found yourself spending way longer than you should deliberating what you should wear to work? Something that should take a matter of moments ends up filling 10 mins or more and suddenly you’re in danger of being late. Not only is this stressful and leaves you still debating with yourself at lunchtime, but it turns out it could or could not make a difference. [Sometimes I envy my old university professor who explained to... Continue Reading

So close yet so far 🤯 This week already had it’s weird challenges (including turning up to the wrong private members club for a business meeting) so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised this Sunday morning when another problem beset me. What happened? I woke up bright and early for a round of golf with 3 friends I hadn’t seen in ages. Modern life being modern life, we had booked it in a months before (something I was regretting when my alarm went off at 6am having only gone to bed a few hours before). Having showered, breakfasted and done all the other morning excitements, I headed... Continue Reading

Pick a hat, any hat,…. This is a reprint of a classic blog that I wrote in May 2020 when I first started my company Shiageto Consulting. Enjoy! In this series, I share with you some of the key learnings I have had from my first 6 months of launching my first start-up (Shiageto Consulting) and how those lessons are applicable for the challenges my business is facing during this pandemic crisis (and any business at any time in fact) The initial challenge So, what have I learnt in the last 6 months of running a start-up about my offering and how might that be of relevance to things currently? I... Continue Reading

Business in the time of Corona/recession: learnings from my first 6 months of Shiageto that might help Don’t try this at home kids This is a reprint of a classic blog that I wrote in April 2020 when I first started my company Shiageto Consulting. Enjoy! Do you know the tale from Greek mythology about Sisyphus? A king of Corinth, he was punished by the gods for his trickery and general evil by having to roll a boulder up a hill in Hades forever — every time he reached the top, the boulder would roll back to the bottom and he would have to start again. Now, I’m not saying that I’ve... Continue Reading

She is everywhere. For most of our years together, we joked about her seeming ability to transcend time and space. All-seeing, all-knowing, ever-present, and always watching…. The laughter did us good and served up some of our most unguarded moments. The laughs did what dogma couldn’t. It brought humanity to the Venn diagrams of our lives. This weekend I remembered some of our laughter, even in her final days, and could not contain the stuff that needed the light of day. Some of my stuff rolled down my cheeks this weekend as the country celebrated Mother’s. I cried. Not just because I miss... Continue Reading

How the Cookie Crumbles and My Upper Limit Late last Friday evening, I stood in my kitchen desperately trying to recall when and how I had consumed an entire plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies. Fragments of the evening were all that was left. Only ghostly recollections remain of snapping up two or three cookies at a time remained. I recall the occasional trip into the kitchen to clean up after dinner, brew some tea, or start the dishwasher, but the rest is a blur.  Deep in the pit of my stomach, I knew I’d been in and out of the kitchen a dozen or more times throughout the evening. You... Continue Reading

Recently I read a statement by a prominent business coach that “coaching saves lives.” Part of my brain said, “yea, we do,” but another part said, “Well, that’s a nice attention-grabbing toss-away line intended to grab attention, clicks, and likes.” He said, “More marriages break up over the lack of money than for lack of love. Business failures lead to personal ruin, destruction, addiction, depression, anxiety, suicides, and, unfortunately, far more. As good business coaches, we save marriages, families, and kids from self-destruction. We save lives!” Sobering observations and... Continue Reading