Podcast: The Technician vs Entrepreneur Mindset

Margarida: Anthony, how easy or difficult is this transition of being a technician to entrepreneur?

Anthony Laurie: Nothing worth doing is easy. The person that turns around and says to you this was easy, is not being totally truthful. I think that anything in life worth doing is always a challenge, but I’m always up for the challenge. I have a mindset that everything is possible.

Margarida: Good.

Anthony Laurie: If you’re interested, I broke my vision down into four categories. There’s embracing the technology, number one, and I’ve actioned that this year. Number two was to learn about running a business, to be on the business, therefore I’ve enrolled in a business coaching course that I’ve now been doing for a year. That’s been a great asset to me because it’s been like having someone on your shoulder saying, you’ve got to do this, you’ve got to do that. Thirdly, in order to grow a successful business, people have got to know what you’re doing and that you’re changing and that you’re out there and that you’re open for business in a big way. I’ve been very fortunate that I have a friend and he’s, in effect, become my marketing executive. We have a new website that we opened a couple of months ago. Finally, in the real world you cant make all these changes and development without finance, to invest in machinery, to invest in new staff.

Margarida: What beliefs have you had to change or let go of?

Anthony Laurie: The belief that I can do everything. I’m not indispensable. That there are people out there that are more than capable of doing what I do as well as I do, if not better than I do. All I’ve got to do is bring them in; invite them into my environment and train them and let them get on with it. The other thing that I realize is the term, burning your boats –

Margarida: Burning your boats?

Anthony Laurie: Burning your boats. It’s something from the history in the past where I think it was a Portuguese admiral took a group to South America with the idea of settling there. When they got there, they found that the indigenous population weren’t going to happily let them settle and they put up one hell of a fight. His crew and his army weren’t up for it, they wanted to go home again. He got his captains to burn the boats so that they couldn’t go back. It was either live or die. That’s where the term burning your boats came from.

I recognize that my boat that has to be burnt is that in two years’ time, if I’m still sitting at the bench the way I am now, all my planning, my vision won’t come to fruition. The boat that I burnt is I’ve set in stone that within the next two years, by 2021, I will be in a position where I don’t have to sit at that bench anymore and I’ve made a commitment to that. That’s a big commitment to make.

Margarida: It’s a big commitment.

Anthony Laurie: It’s a huge commitment. My whole life has been sitting at the bench doing what I do and what I love to do.

Margarida: Some people might be thinking, what’s wrong with staying as a technician if that’s what I’m good at.

Anthony Laurie: Well, there’s nothing wrong with being there [in the field].

Margarida: There’s nothing wrong.

Anthony Laurie: There’s absolutely nothing wrong, but you’ve got to be realistic and realize that if you have the technician mindset, you’re the one doing the work. There’s only so many hours in the day and there’s only so much that you can produce with one set of hands. Yes, you can employ other people but you have the mindset, well can they do it as good as I do it, or do I have to watch over them? It’s constantly limiting. I’ve found it nigh on impossible to grow the business at the same time as sitting there doing the work, day in, day out.

Margarida: Have you changed how you use your time every day?

Anthony Laurie: Take a deep breath there. It comes and goes. I certainly have the mindset of a businessman now. I know I have to spend time daily on the business, as the year has progressed. Clearly, I’m having to spend more time looking at that and that’s why we’ve now employed an administrator/trainee technician. As from the end of this month, I’ve taken on another highly skilled technician. He was a past student of mine so I know his potential, I know his ability. Once he’s up and running, that will, again, make available for me more time to be one the business.

Yes, you can’t just click your fingers and change from being in the business to on the business, but I know what my targets are, what my goals are and I know that I have to plan it carefully. If I were to just say, oh well, there’s a half an hour here, I’ll spend some time on the business, oh no, I can’t do it now because I’ve got to do that, I’m never going to be successful. I have to be disciplined and I have to –

Margarida: I think it’s a work in progress. Now that you are aware that you need to some time on the business, it’s a matter of creating this routine where you find this –

Anthony Laurie: Yeah, you create the environment that allows you to do it and that’s what I’m doing now. I’m taking on staff that I know will create some time for me. I’m embracing technology, which I know will cut down my working time of being in the business. My expectation is, by the end of this year, I will have a lot more time on my hands to be not only working on the business, but to actually enjoy some time with my wife and my children and my grandchildren. I’m a squash player, I love squash and I struggle to get all my games in, in the league and I will have time to do all those things.

Margarida: Good, good. Thank you very much, Anthony.

Anthony Laurie: Thank you.

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