Being 12

We’re celebrating here at SE².  We often don’t need too much of an excuse but today is our birthday!  Yes – we’re 12, teetering on the brink of adolescence for some but for business it's actually quite a grand old age - especially for a micro business like ours. We've had our ups and downs of course - but we're still here, smiling, and doing things the SE² way.

Birthdays are a time to sit back and reflect on the year gone by, and so here’s my musings on what’s important (and what’s not) when you’re running a business like ours.

1. First and foremost, the importance of having a great team. People you can trust, that you actually like spending time with, who (mostly) see the world your way and will go that extra mile because they want to make a difference.

2. Just as important for me is having an amazing business partner. We're the same in so many ways, but Liz is also the ying to my yang. We're our own two-woman support network - bouncing ideas off each other, getting excited, staying realistic, making the big decisions - together - and creating a business we both love.

3. You can be at the heart of things but also at the cutting edge.  Due largely to all the events and workshops we run, we're very well connected. We like being a hub and helping others connect too. But we're not staid. We like new and exciting challenges - be that new areas of work (we're doing lots of things with universities at the moment) or different approaches (my latest glory was a huge action planning matrix that took up 6 pages of flip chart...). It keeps our business fresh.
 
4. Say yes. Take a gamble on a new project. Keep challenging yourself. Stretch.
 
5. If you're here long enough, you see the same ideas come around. It can be hard sometimes not to feel jaded when you see policies and initiatives recycled ('ooh - I know - let's have a nationally accredited installer network...'). Corporate memory can be a fickle thing and we are at the whim of political change, which can mean that small but solid businesses like ours can actually provide stability and continuity.
 
6. The environment is still a good sector to work in.  I pretty much fell into sustainability by happy fluke back in 1996 (which yes, makes this my 20th year in the sector...!). There's been huge changes - global leadership, more professionalism, higher awareness levels from the public.  But there is still of course so much to do.  I truly believe we can - and must - change more, and change it quicker.
 
7. If the sector is to thrive - and if we're going to make a big enough difference - we need to change our way of thinking. The energy efficiency sector was brought up on a diet of grants and handouts. Those were great, halcyon days but we're in a new era now - one with less cash, fewer staff, more stretched resources. We need to be inventive about how we deliver change - be that retrofitting homes, reducing demand, maximising the opportunities that all things 'smart' seem to be offering us or whatever else the exciting new thing might be.  We need to make sustainability sustainable.
 
8. Have fun. You're a long time dead so do something you enjoy. Do a job you believe in. Eat ice creams in the park. Feel the sun on your face. Laugh.
 
9. Sometimes the big decisions make themselves. When we've been faced with tough decisions - like letting staff go or closing the office - in the end choice became obvious. I'm lucky that Liz and I are often on the same wavelength - perhaps a function of having worked together for so long.  We've tried hard to do what's best for the business, and I think our reputation within the sector is testament to that.
 
10. Sometimes it's scary. Running your own business is about taking risks and all too often the work flow is uneven: it's feast or famine. You work hard when you need to but worry when there's not enough cash coming in – and sometimes the ‘next big thing’ seems horribly out of your grasp.  We’ve definitely had our droughts when we’ve had to hold our nerve longer than either Liz or I are comfortable with.  It makes you think more flexibly, be more open minded, track opportunities down, get out and meet people – and that can never be a bad thing.
 
11. Make sure your work/life balance works for you.  Liz and I dropped down to four days a week when we were going through a ‘lean’ time four or five years ago, and although the business became buoyant again we both decided that we rather liked it!  I admit it’s an imperfect system, and we both work way more than that when we need to, but it means I can work round the kids and Liz can write (yep – told you she was amazing!).  It gives us time to do things that are important to us, frees our minds a little and makes the time we do devote to work more focused and fresh.
 
12. Celebrate!  Never a hard one for SE² (there’s plenty of photographic evidence…) and although it can sound silly I think it’s important.  It doesn’t have to be anything big or flashy (though sometimes that’s nice too) but gives the whole team a real boost!

So there you go.  Take it or leave it, but I don’t think it’s too bad a list.  It’s kept us gainfully employed with clients we like and understand, working with colleagues who become friends while still doing our bit for the planet.

Here’s to 2016!

I'd love to hear your thoughts - drop me a line at rachael.mills@se-2.co.uk or find me on twitter at @se2_rachael