Establishing an Established Reputation
As a young CEO, when it was time for me to open my own office I was thrilled, positive and confident because that was what was expected of me. I was by no means “sure” nor well versed in the endeavor I was about to take on. But it was time to expand if my business was to thrive. My partner and I did massive amounts of research, and sought advice and mentorship. We even talked to family members who dealt with commercial real estate for guidance.
Family members cautioned us not to take the step, but friends patted us on the back. We didn’t back down. If we wanted success, we needed to take risks. So, we opened the doors and prepared for growth. One year later, I have learned that all we had gone through may have had been unnecessary.
While becoming established is any CEO’s driving force, I have come to learn that what was once considered established is no longer the case. Out of the hundreds of CEO I met over that past year, I was the only one under 30 with an office of their own. Everyone else was virtual. One thing that bugged me was that all these CEOs were getting business. Yet my company’s seemed to be slipping.
In retrospect being inside the office was counter productive to business. Instead of going to meetings I invited people to meet at my office. This was convenient and conveyed that my company was established and doing well. I was trying to make the space support my reputation.
Downside to Having an Office Space
My company impressed people by our capability to afford the overhead of maintenance and rent, but the office did no sales. The space costed more than its monthly monetary bill. There was time that went into up keeping the space, manning it five-to-six days a week. The space also cost me one or two meetings that did not take place because the requestor refused to come to my office. While that wasn’t too significant, I can’t help but wonder, “would they have wasted my time or could that have been a great opportunity?”
The fact remains I may not have needed the office space, even if my clients kept thinking I was a fly by night freelancer. The fact is that we should have spent the lost time on our company. We spent the lost time and effort on making sure there was revenue constantly coming in for the bills. Instead, we could have spent it on creating something awesome or sales worthy. I regret diverting my attention from work to manage an office space.
If I only knew then what I know now, I would have planned for a few other opportunities that weren’t at the top of my mind. Since I wanted to get the the office space to be taken seriously as a company, I wouldn’t banked all my chips in one revenue stream. I would have tried to make the space work for me and not I for it. I felt the day to day month to month operations of the office made me a slave to it. Everyday my concern was how do I keep up the office rather than what next venture the firm would bid for.
Focus
They tell you to focus, they teach you to pick one thing and stick to it. As a person trying to make your way – a CEO – you can not be narrowly focused on one thing. A CEO should hold a dream and walk in the direction of that dream, but he should not shut his eyes to other opportunities but, rather seek out and squeeze out more chances and ways for himself to succeed within their main goal.
If I only knew then what I know now. From the moment I signed on the dotted line I would have opened the doors to business meetings, event space or rented equipment not in use. The office didn’t turn out to be what made the business a company. It was it’s own entity. One that required attention of its own that quite frankly took away from the business. It took time that should have been spent on the company. I did not know then that it would have taken on a life of it’s own, and the job it required was not one that I wanted to work.
