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‘Fame! I want to live forever! I want to learn how to fly! (High!).’ So sang the kids from the game changing TV series, which those of us of a certain age will remember with fondness, and a with a measure of youthful guilt at the trend for wearing leg warmers and for bursting into spontaneous song in the school canteen. The New York High School for the Performing Arts crashed onto the tired TV screens of our 80’s viewing schedule and suddenly it was good to be ambitious and to be enthused that ‘fame costs, and right now is where you start paying…’

And apologies for leaving you with an ear worm, as we remember the antics of Bruno and Coco and Doris and the comic, whose name nobody ever remembered (Danny, by the way).

Schools all invite their pupils to be ambitious and to go for their dreams and yet once we become adults, the idea of ambition can become passé and sound self serving. How many parents forget their own ambitions in the drive to raise their children to be ambitious? This seems a paradox. Being ambitious ourselves is a great lesson for our children to learn and if they see us striving to reach new goals they will learn that it’s okay to be ambitious too. Children are like tiny sponges and they see and hear everything, so what we do and how we do it helps to give them confidence and permission to have a fulfilling life.

It’s the same when we start a business. We have an ambition to be an [insert job title] and yet can lose our way once the humdrum nature of work starts to bite, and we have to juggle paperwork with clients and the stress of managing cash flow and keeping the lights on.

However, we can all keep sight of our ambitions for our business and ensure they remain alive and relevant to us. We can tell our kids and our colleagues what we are aiming for and in doing so our ambition remains real to us. When I was writing my first book I felt silly in wanting to be a writer, until one day when a colleague shared my plan with a mutual friend, who was already successfully published. To my surprise he didn’t laugh at me and instead offered to help me out. His helpful comments boosted my confidence and I realised that the world is full of ambitious people who want to help us on our way, and that my feelings of being thought ‘silly’ were just a fantasy.

Reality is often quite different to the fantasies that we run in our heads, in order to keep ourselves safe from potential ridicule or criticism. Reality can be a world full of love and support and is often a well-spring of energy and good wishes, helping us achieve our goals.

In the spirit of sharing, my own ambition this year is to launch my own podcast radio show. I love being a radio host and am good at it, so now is the time to take it to a more global level and see where it takes me. I’m currently researching podcasts and assembling a workable format, to allow me to be me on air in a new and exciting way. There, I’ve said it! My ambition is out there in the world now…wonder if anyone wants to book on as a guest?

If you would like to share your ambition for this year please email me, or say hi on Twitter at @RichardMaun and put your words and thoughts into the world! Ambition loves company!

Go for it!

Next week: The VAT Surprise

Running a business of any size can be all consuming and can easily devour our time, like a hungry teenager wolfing down a cheese burger in a hurry. We can also fall into the trap of enjoying the kudos associated with being a Managing Director, so it’s essential that we take a step back from the glamour of being our own Top Dog and ask ourselves if we are honestly doing what is right for our business?

We have two key jobs to do and that’s it. We need to deliver and we need to sell. These are the two activities which add value to our organisation and everything else, and I do mean everything, is ancillary. For sure, both marketing and finance are important and if we don’t know what our cash flow forecast looks like then we are really just an enthusiastic amateur heading for a fall.

However, spending time plodding through paperwork might make us feel good, and who hasn’t enjoyed an office day shifting invoices, but the truth is these tasks are about working in our business. Every day we work in the business is a lost opportunity, when instead we could choose to be working on our business.

For me there is nothing more important than delivering business coaching and leadership workshops, as that’s how I earn my income. And, running a close second, is me eating cake, drinking tea and chatting. This is my preferred way to sell, by taking the time to get to know people, having conversations, building relationships and seeing what opportunities pop out. They may not pop for a while, but we can be assured that, over time, cake leads to sales. Easy.

Other tasks can be reserved for Sundays, or we can delegate them. My three colleagues who work in the business for me are priceless and their expertise enables me to do what I do well, leaving them to what they do well. Raising invoices, sifting expenses, organising marketing tweets and maintaining my ILM training centre status are all essential tasks and my team get them done speedily and accurately. Leaving me to focus on the sharp end of delivery and cake eating.

Many people who are reading this will recoil and say ‘Oh but Richard you must have loads of money and I can’t possibly afford the salary for an assistant.’ Well, the truth is this …my team all work part-time and I focus them on specific tasks, which is very cost effective. In addition, I don’t have pots of cash to throw about, but I do see the cost as an investment in my long term success and not as a nuisance. Spending money on support buys me time to go and eat cake, and I’ve noticed that a one-person business tends to create fewer opportunities than a two-person business, or than a one-and-a-quarter person business. It’s a simple equation.

So this week, take a long hard look at your diary. Decide if you are working in your business as your own PA, or if you could afford £60 a month to hire 4 hours of help, which gives you 4 hours to go and eat cake and grow your income. Support is more affordable than we think and we can all start with what we can afford. Or we can spend time kidding ourselves that a cosy office day is truly productive.

Anyone for a slice of Victoria sponge? Much tastier than paperwork!

Next week: Sharing Our Ambition