Lean Startups & Bartering Relationships (Part1)

Being self-employed, and a 'free agent' for the last 15 years, I have been asked questions pertaining to start-ups and sustainability. Here are my thoughts distilled over the years for those who are thinking seriously about taking that quantum leap of faith into self-employment. 

To start your own company, and launch it, you can start lean and still be mean. Key considerations are:

A) Have 12 Months of Salary

In case things do not work according to plan, you have a year's worth of savings to tide over your overheads. These include purchase of capital expenses (notebook, work-station, peripherals), operating costs (rental, staff salary, software,licenses, taxes), business expenses (transportation, travel, accommodation) and developmental costs (education, seminars, courses, books, DVDs, EBooks). Do your 'books' according to a simple plan of Input/Output, or Cost/Income. Learn about basic Accounting, if you will, as it is important to be compliant with taxation laws and enjoy prevailing tax reliefs and start-up benefits.

Now, this window of 12 months gives you an 'out', in case things do not pan out for reasons. You still have a sense of relevance and 'recency', as you have not been too long 'out in the cold'.

Leadership Lessons: Plan to succeed. Success comes with planning and working your plan. A 12-month bank of salary gives you an assurance that you can manage your current lifestyle or alter it. What endurance sports can teach us are values of patience, optimism, determination, persistence, and purpose. I used 'The Art of The Start' by Guy Kawasaki as a working manual, and it has useful orientations for business start-ups and entrepreneurial approaches. 

Efficiency & The Time-Crunched Athlete

Being efficient is the key. Efficiency is the value of reducing wastage. It is not merely about doing things fast, often mistaken for efficiency. Expediency and effectiveness are factors in this simple equation of being efficient.

1) Planning and organising

Where will your training take place? Proximity and ease of access is critical. Will you be doing your core-strength workout at home, or at the nearby fitness park? You can do a warm-up jog to the park, then do your exact sets based on your prescribed menu of exercises. If riding, factor in warm-up and cool-down time, so you are not late in your appointments, thereafter. Today, as planned I did a 60-minute pool-run, and this evening a 105-minute ride/60-minute swim 'brick session'.

2) Specificity of Sports

You can do one type of exercise, or a combination. Squeezing in too much into one workout may be counter-productive. Our body responds specifically to the type of activities we do. Type refers to any of the platforms of fitness including flexibility, aerobic, anaerobic, strength, power, agility or balance. For triathletes, you need to do 2-3 sessions of each discipline depending on your next race. For maintenance, two sessions of each discipline will be adequate to provide the ‘training effect’. It is akin to musicians practising occasionally once they have mastered the chords/keys. Amplify the workouts to three each before a half-Ironman or full one. Rule of guide: one workout for endurance, one for strength, and one for race-pace. If you are training exclusively for a marathon, you can still incorporate cross-training. That is why I run only three times a week, and I rarely exceed 40-45K in total mileage. My base fitness allows me to train with less chance of injuries, and I enjoy integrated fitness from my swimming and riding.

3) Stay focused on your goals

What is your intention of training? Is it to complete a race, earn a personal best time, to maintain basic fitness, weight-management, or to enjoy more vitality and vigor? Every session, however long or short must serve its purpose. You must also inject a modicum of commitment to completing the sessions you set out to do. Excuses are easy to formulate, however when they accumulate can/will impair your progression. There is no reason you cannot achieve more, with less (more concerted, focused and scientific approaches) sessions (total hours). Even a short 30-minute home-workout can comprise proprioception (balance) work, core-development, muscular strength, flexibility and anaerobic/power work.

Leadership Lessons: How do you organize your life? How much planning and preparation goes into your day and week? How efficient can you be at both your profession and pastime? How do you pack more bang for your buck with your time? By the way, I wrote and published this piece in 25 minutes after helping a friend remove her pedals from a road-bike.

Mapping Your Week on Monday

Monday does not need to be coloured the traditional black or blue. We have so easily bruised it with our off-coloured perceptions. This day has been tainted with the premise of contusions where staff tenderly look forward only to Fridays – TGIF.

How would you like to look at Monday and the rest of the week with relish? Be careful what you wish for. The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy can turn your perceptions into reality. If you believe that this week would be long and arduous a climb for you, then it just might be one. We have the natural, neurological, ability to imagine whichever scenarios may turn out. Having worked last weekend in the Middle East, I viewed Monday as mid-week instead of the start of something unpleasant. You can reprogram your thoughts to be more positive.

Do you plan your week? Do you have a clear and big picture of how you will spend your valuable time with people, activities and tasks?

Get a fresh page of your journal and jot down what you would like to accomplish this week. List down the main tasks from the mundane to the must-do to the marvelous. The best part of having a list is to ‘tick it off’ after you have completed a task. It is like playing teacher, marking students’ scripts.

Consider the early part of the week as preparing for the weekend’s adventures and challenges. Steven Covey touted in his famous book ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ to ‘Begin with the end in mind.’ This weekend, I will teach a half-day workshop, and officiate an event (at *Scape Park) as part of my volunteer duties for the Singapore Sports Council.

Yesterday, I ran in a half-marathon and today was spent running errands and enjoying moments of reflection the race. I reviewed what I have gathered and experienced during my race, as well as the solid data I uploaded onto the GarminConnect website. I evaluated my efforts and determined the relevance of my tactics that led to my satisfying finish. Even if the race route was botched due to professional ignorance and my carelessness, I still considered it a very good training day. It was memorable because I ran alongside my friends and acquaintances, with very good runners and champions. Thanks to Poon who believed that I could set the race pace for him – I did, at least, for a while as the data showed.

As clichéd as it may sound: ‘Not everyday is a Sunday.’ This is because today and this moment matter as much as any other day. Enjoy your week with a sense of purpose.

Leadership Lesson: Plan how you would use your week; lead with your time.