Nathan started Granny Eats Wolf after finding himself frustrated by the confines of the 9-5, and wanting to explore opportunities he saw emerging in the sector.
A former collaborator contacted him about Be The Business, which Nathan says turned out to be “exactly what I needed”.
“I knew I had to have an accountant and pay taxes, but I didn’t know a lot about a lot of things. I tried to read stuff on the internet, but it was all quite useless. ‘How to be the next Silicon Valley unicorn’ kind of advice, and the real world isn’t like that”.
Nathan felt uncertain about Granny Eats Wolf’s suitability for the programme, since it was a very new business. But despite his reservations, he applied and has now completed the full 12-month programme.
Learning business know-how
Started his company full of incredible ideas, but was less knowledgeable about the technical aspects of business ownership.
Tackling the big issues together
The first thing that Nathan and his board did was to take on the tricky legal issues he was facing. He needed to understand how the legalities of the sector worked as a whole, and how they could affect the brand he was trying to build.
“We talked about the big issues like contracts and copyright, and now we’ve got everything in place and we’re watertight”.
"As a creative, I learned to balance my aspirations with the need to cover costs, guiding my priorities and time allocation."
Nathan was unsure how to prioritise his efforts in searching for new business and was hesitant about working with clients where he'd been in full-time employment. However, he heeded the board's advice not to pass up opportunities that could sustain the business financially.
The board also assisted Nathan in creating a five-year plan, now his guiding "roadmap" amid uncertainty, and identified consultancy as a lucrative revenue stream with low costs. Nathan is now pursuing consultancy work to achieve his primary goal of making the business sustainable and profitable, while earning a salary comparable to what he'd been fortunate enough to have before.
The power of self-confidence
For Nathan, this advice from the board went beyond getting his business basics in order; it also helped him to find his self-belief as a business owner.
"The board increased my business understanding and accelerated my confidence. Now, I handle high-pressure boardroom situations with clarity about my goals."
Putting faith in others
Nathan’s hesitation when he first heard about Be The Business came down to a simple doubt: “what’s the catch?” But his advice to fellow business owners is to trust the knowledge and good intentions of Be The Business’ experts.
"There's no catch, just genuine help from people with your best interests in mind."
He adds that having a board on your side, even just an advisory board, helps to give a business owner structure and take control of all aspects of their business. “You are accountable, so that makes you put things in place to sort stuff out and not leave it to others”.
Support is essential in business
Nathan’s belief is that nobody in business can, or should, do it all alone. “Business is difficult, and it does take over, so what’s really important is getting support”.
He says that his board members acted as that support for him after he’d found getting advice elsewhere so difficult: “Without it, it’s easy to spiral”.
Want your own board of expert advisors to help take your business to the next level? Be The Business might be the answer – you can find out more here.
