By Mark Lindsay, Managing Director.

It’s fair to say that this year has been quite the rollercoaster, both in and out of the office. When we first launched WeDo back in October 2019, we had no idea what was right around the corner! I reflected on the first few months of business back in January before we were hit with a global pandemic and subsequent lockdown. 

Now, we’re eight months on and we’ve hit our year anniversary in style. We’ve seen a number of clients join us and their businesses flourish. It’s made me want to sit back, reflect a bit more and potentially offer some words of advice from what I’ve learned this year. 

1. Remember that all of your clients have different needs. Not all recruitment agencies are the same – believe me! That’s why we work with our clients on an individual basis, building relationships and tailor our offering and services to suit them. By learning about your different clients and understanding their business methods, you can improve your own product and offering. I think our clients value the fact that we listen to them and want to work with them, even if we don’t always agree on everything!
2. Your team is the essence of your business – talk to them and understand where they have development needs and ideas. Sometimes, running a business can take your eyes off the smaller processes or things that happen day-to-day on the ground. Speak regularly to your team and encourage them to speak up if they see a better way of working. I’ve now realised that I work for them as much as the other way around! I need to ensure I set them up to succeed, offer them support to develop and an environment to excel. If I can do that, WeDo will succeed too and we will have even happier client relationships.
3. Adapting to working from home is tough, but it is possible if you have a clear mindset. Obviously, this year has thrown a real spanner in the works with being based in offices and many of us have had to work from home. I’ve found that I still need to stick to a routine; have breakfast, get a shower, get dressed in comfortable work clothes and sit at my new work space. Working from bed or the sofa sounded like a great idea, but it’s not productive. Everyone has their own routines/challenges so there is no right or wrong, just find what works for you. Try and have a start and finish time, try and get regular breaks throughout the day and make sure you move from the desk/workstation to get some exercise however limited that is! 
4. Keep learning! As much as we like to think we know what we’re doing, there is always room for improvement. Keep looking at various blogs, news articles and keep an eye on what your competitors and customers are doing. By keeping on top of things, your knowledge and abilities will grow and you’ll be able to improve.
5. You can be wrong. There, I said it! Just because you run the business doesn’t mean you always make the right decision. You’re learning, your team is learning and your business is growing. Don’t beat yourself up about mistakes; use them as a tool to build on. So you can be wrong, but make sure you learn from it!
6. Most importantly, have FUN………….if you don’t enjoy what you do, whatever that may be, you will not do it to the best of your ability. Enjoy what you do and I am sure you will see positive results as a consequence.

I won’t claim to be Sir Richard Branson or Lord Sugar, but I do know what I’ve learned and what has helped me over the last year of running WeDo. All businesses are different and we all have a part to play in helping each other to grow. That’s the main reason I founded WeDo, I like working with people, building networks and helping and seeing success happen. 

WeDo started as an idea and has flourished over the last year; we’ve got a wide range of clients across a number of different industries, we’ve built a credible team of experts who are there to support our clients and we’ve survived an unprecedented and challenging first year in business. Here’s to many more and thank you to all those who have supported our adventure so far. We have a long way still to travel but if we enjoy the journey then the final destination might not matter quite as much!

Mark.