Softcat's Martin Hellawell shook hands with all his employees, while QuantIQ's Stuart Fenton listens to music most of the day. We caught up with this duo, as well as eight other channel entrepreneurs, to find out what idiosyncrasies they feel are - or were - crucial to the success of their businesses
'I don't budget; it's an enormous waste of time'
Entrepreneur: Stuart Fenton
Credentials: CEO of Microsoft Dynamics partner QuantIQ: 2013 - present
Quirks: Listening to music all day, reading, forgoing budgeting
- "I read a great deal - business books, business theories, autobiographies of successful businesspeople, the news, industry research. I consume at least one book a week, usually on my commute. Books expand the mind and the horizon.
- "I look a long way ahead in my business plans - typically three years - and work backwards from there to implement tactical initiatives.
- "I use my diary extensively to make time for the initiatives, strategies or tasks that I have assigned myself or others.
- "I use a daily to-do list, creating it in the morning, and ticking off tasks through the day and try to clear it. For longer- term items, I use Microsoft Planner for me and my team and break activities into ‘sprints' of tasks/initiatives.
- "I communicate publicly with my team monthly on live-stream video to share our performance, progress against plans, etc.
- "I hire the best people I can find. Pay them well. Then I play to their strengths and work around their weaknesses as I expect them to work around mine (which are numerous).
- "I don't budget - it's an enormous waste of executive time. Large companies that I have worked in spend thousands of hours on budgeting - time which could be usefully spent elsewhere. So I set high-level financial goals, and perform a rolling 12-month forecast each month, adapting the model to the business and environment. Working with a fantastic team, we tend to make good, quick decisions.
- "I try to keep meetings short and only with a handful of people - so there is meaningful dialogue. I avoid too many meetings - giving people time to perform their tasks. I do hold one-to-one meetings monthly to assess people, progress, personal development and feedback. I need people to come to a meeting with some preparation and actively contribute.
- "I try to have fun at work.
- "I listen to music all day - when not in meetings."
Click onto the next page for HPE's Mitchell Feldman's quirks...
