It’s a new year and next month will be 8 years of running an Audio Visual company, can’t believe it has been that long.
What have I learnt…..
· That I don’t know everything about running a business….
· That I have to be patient when dealing with staff and of course clients – smile, smile….
· The best feeling is when a job is finished and everything works how it’s supposed to and the client is ecstatic
· How not to get involved with staff when they try to put one over you – best to say goodbye – oh and yes you can take that six pack from the kitchen
· How to troubleshoot audio visual problems both on the phone and on site – one of the funniest that still cracks me up was talking a client through some issues with her projector image over the phone, her problem was the image was dull and blurry – I had her checking her resolution on the PC to make sure it matched the projector, checking the focus etc etc till in the end I said do you have the lens cap on … oops the client said image great now thanks…
Sometimes it is the simplest things. Another time onsite where we had installed a heap of monitors for a hospital – the client had only just put in the PC and the image was blurry – we simply adjusted the gain on the extender boxes and when the client saw the perfect image he gave me a big bear hug – don’t get one of those everyday – love to see happy clients.
· How to manage finances through bad and good times and to ask for help when you need it.
· Learnt how to deal with suppliers that sometimes would forget that we are their customer.
· The biggest thing I learnt was not to cry in important meetings (oh sorry that was Steve Jobs – just reading his book can’t believe he was such a crier) that is something I learnt to control from my Army days – but sometimes you just have to walk away and get some composure.
As I think about it I have only just scratched the surface about what I have learnt over the last 8 years. I know that one of the REAL biggest things I have learnt is that you need to have a good team working with you. Once you find the right team it is important to look after them and in return they will do the same for you. I have only 2 in my team at the moment (maybe another soon) that have been with me for over 5 years and they have the best work ethic are great I am very proud to be working with them.
Just don’t forget you can never know everything and to keep your mind open you never know what you might learn.