6 life lessons

Six things random things, from Andrew
(Previously published here as part of this post.)

1. Some people become progressively less able to think for themselves the more times they are promoted within an organisation. Sometimes I wonder if they undergo progressive lobotomies - it's certainly one possibility.
2. Be very suspicious when people make exaggerated claims about themselves or what they can do for you. Obviously this doesn't apply to Qryztal.
3. On the other hand, never ever put yourself down. There are plenty of people in life who will delight in trying to destroy your self confidence - they don't need you to help them.
4. Speaking of foes, these can sometimes be found within one's own family (thankfully not mine) or disguised as friends. But they will always show their true colours in time. And when that time comes, having one or two true and trusted friends is going to help ease the blow.
5. If at all possible, build your support network when things are going well. Hopefully those people might be there for you if times get hard. But be prepared to be misunderstood and perhaps abandoned by the ones who are only there for you in times of fair weather rather than foul.
6. If you are kind and good-hearted... there are those who will take advantage of you. But you will reap what you have sown - the good stuff will be paid back to you. (I can't say what happens to those who cause harm, upset and distress to others - but you can bet it won't ultimately be pleasant for them. The seeds that they have sown will grow into a particularly distasteful crop.) 

The DogBox is now on Kickstarter - please back (fund) it

The rather clever invention that you'll have read about on this blog at Motorcycling adventures with a dog - video is now on Kickstarter.

It's called the DogBox - and you can find it on Kickstarter here.

We need to raise £10,000 by 26th June 2016.  If you pledge £100 or more, you will receive a DogBox as soon as the first batch has left the production line.

What exactly is the DogBox? Here's Arthur's description from Kickstarter:

As a motorcycle rider myself I always wanted to be able to take my doggy around with me, however legally you can't put doggies on the seat as a second rider so I never thought it was possible.

After many months I realised that the box would be big enough for my Jack Russell sized dog and thought about how the box could be modified to fit his safety and comfort needs. 

It turns out that it's very difficult to do. The box needs to be conditioned to be able to cope with the weight of a dog, the temperature needs to be controlled inside as most boxes were black and the heat would build up. Doggy needed to be able to see out and also needed to be safely locked in. 

Here's what DogBox includes:

• A head hole just the right size for a dogs head to fit out but not the torso (to avoid jumping out) 

• A small air conditioning unit within the box to extract hot air and circulate fresh air into the box

• A Head protector for when it's cold and windy which secures onto the box with ease (can be removed in summer for maximum air eating, tongue flapping action)

• Comforting soft bottom allows doggy to sit comfortably inside the box without any pain while riding over bumps

• To stop chaffing of the neck, a fabric is embedded around the neck hole which also stops the possibility of any cutting if the box was not designed this way

• A beautiful design that's going to be available in a variety of colours and shapes. (for both scooters and motorcycles)

• Heated floor allows extra heat for cold days (works the same way as your heated grips would, with a switch on your handlebars / dashboard.

• A handle for easy carrying of the box when unclipped from the special adapters

Risks and challenges:

The one thing I had to make sure was everything I was doing was legal. It so happens that the DogBox is well within the law, and you'll find any officers who do see you out and about will most likely take a snap and ask you where you got the box from!

Motorcycling adventures with a dog - video

Arthur, our technology specialist, is incredibly inventive.  He needed a way to take his dog to work by motorbike - so he adapted a top box so that the dog could travel safely and comfortably.  Simba (the dog) loves it... he's probably the happiest dog in London!

This video shows you the result:

Update: Simba now has a ventilated plastic cover to protect him from the wind and rain - and also a heated blanket.


After you've watched this video, take a look at SocialLondoner's other YouTube videos.

SocialLondoner: brought to you by Qryztal

A random walk through life - and some things I've learned

More musings from Andrew...

I've just found out about block quotes - I really can't believe I've written blog posts without knowing this. Going to have to go back and edit them now - but maybe not just yet.

When I was doing budgets, costings and forecasts for the Spend to Save team... my fellow-director hadn't yet started school. (Yes, the grey hairs are genuine.) All those battles with Excel have turned out to be useful - I won't say how many years down the line it is.

Some people become progressively less able to think for themselves the more times they are promoted within an organisation. Sometimes I wonder if they undergo progressive lobotomies - it's certainly one possibility.

Be very suspicious when people make exaggerated claims about themselves or what they can do for you. Obviously this doesn't apply to Qryztal.

On the other hand, never ever put yourself down. There are plenty of people in life who will delight in trying to destroy your self confidence - they don't need you to help them.

Speaking of foes, these can sometimes be found within one's own family (thankfully not mine) or disguised as friends. But they will always show their true colours in time. And when that time comes, having one or two true and trusted friends is going to help ease the blow.

If at all possible, build your support network when things are going well. Hopefully those people might be there for you if times get hard. But be prepared to be misunderstood and perhaps abandoned by the ones who are only there for you in times of fair weather rather than foul.

If you are kind and good-hearted... there are those who will take advantage of you. But you will reap what you have sown - the good stuff will be paid back to you. (I can't say what happens to those who cause harm, upset and distress to others - but you can bet it won't ultimately be pleasant for them. The seeds that they have sown will grow into a particularly distasteful crop.) 

What's it like being a director of Qryztal? - a personal viewpoint

Andrew, one of our directors, tells us about his experiences of being a director.

I'd like to start by tackling a popular misconception of the life of a company director. If you think it's at all glamorous or easy, think again. It's a huge responsibility and it's one of the hardest things I've ever done.

The very first thing you learn is how many people are after your money. You soon get wise to sales tactics and realise that you can't spend what you haven't got coming in. The word 'no' and its synonyms soon become your most frequently used words when speaking on the phone.

Statutory obligations, filing dates and taxes are another bugbear. It might be tempting not to do things by the book, but if you want the business to prosper in the long term I'd strongly recommend keeping on the right side of the law. Yes, it's a lot of record-keeping, but I don't think there's any other way of running a company if you want to be able to sleep at night.

Speaking about sleep - it's easy to stay up too late thinking about and discussing company strategy as well as day-to-day matters. Give your body and mind a chance to recover by getting a reasonable amount of sleep.

Aside from business considerations, there's the interpersonal aspect too. If, as is the case for me, your fellow-director is already a friend, being in business together moves things up a notch or two. In some respects the mutual long-term commitment to the company makes things easier, but in other ways it's harder. For me there's the personal angle of not wanting to let my friend and colleague down, and giving him support and encouragement, whilst at the same time allowing him sufficient space to be himself and to get on with the things that he needs to do. This is where shared interests (cars, in our case), a goodly amount of give and take, and an abundant sense of humour come to the fore. Innuendo and intentional double meaning are always lurking around somewhere.

Yes, it's tough, but I can honestly say that I'm enjoying it. And I consider myself truly fortunate to be doing this alongside Arthur.

Making a change - a personal story

Andrew, one of our directors, tells us how he started on the journey that is now Qryztal.

Business is in my blood.  My mum and dad ran a thriving retail pharmacy business. It was literally what kept a roof over our heads, paid all the bills and allowed us to be comfortably well-off and got us safely through recessions.

I was about 21, I think, when I had a vivid dream of taking possession, along with a business partner, of a huge house in the country - which was going to be our new corporate headquarters. I remember waking up and feeling intensely disappointed that this was just a dream and that I couldn't see any way that it could become reality. I'd left home and didn't know anyone in business. I was at the very bottom of the civil service; prospects for survival were excellent, but prospects for prosperity seemed to be non-existent.

I was in a survival mindset and couldn't see any possibility of growth, let alone having a growth mindset. In fact such things were frowned-upon where I worked and among the people I knew.

So the dream was buried and forgotten, apart from the occasional wistful 'might have been' recollection. Life moved on and so did I.

In late 2000 I entered a phase of my career in which (with the benefit of hindsight) I seemed to be accumulating a variety of potentially useful experience. I picked up a lot of business knowledge through my work, whilst at the same time advocating on behalf of colleagues who'd found themselves in trouble with their employer. I also discovered and developed a talent for teaching adults, both in groups and in one-to-one situations. But something was still missing.

I had a busy year from the autumn of 2014 into 2015 learning how to facilitate continuous improvement in a work context and putting this into practice in a number of tough situations. As a result of this I felt I was now ready for a real challenge.

The incorporation of Qryztal Ltd was the point at which I - finally - said a big wholehearted 'yes!' to my dream of too many years previously. And here we are, steadfastly working towards the fulfilment of a bigger vision - which you'll hear more about in the near future.

What to measure - and why

In business it is easy to become obsessed by metrics - counting widgets, measuring time, tracking your sales to the nth degree.

Just a moment. Before you start measuring, can we ask you a couple of questions?

1. Is it something that you can influence? Is it something under your control? Can you take action to change the outcome?
2. Is it worth measuring? Is there any point in tracking it?

Let's just unpack that.

If you can't influence an outcome, any counting or measuring that you do will be purely academic. But it could be a marker for something that you do influence. Or it could be something that will help you predict another outcome.

For instance, correlating your sales with the weather (or more specifically, the number of hours of sunshine and the day's maximum and minimum temperatures) could be very useful - particularly if you are selling ice creams in Brighton or Bognor, or even Budapest.

This example has other applications too. In fact, almost any trade associated with discretionary spend will find their takings vary with the weather - and possibly with days of the week. As Karen Carpenter sang, "Rainy days and Mondays always get me down." It could be a positive or a negative correlation.

Raw data will tell you how much or how many. Intelligent analysis may tell you why.

(This article is brought to you by Qryztal Consulting. Engage the power of the sharpest minds in London - email us at consulting@qryztal.com)