Brief

If your business depends on you, you don’t own a business – you own a job.

Sadly, this was the case for Northstar IT’s Managing Director, Christian Fleming, who needed a way to break the cycle of fixing computer after computer.

For too long, Christian ran his business as a one-person engineer struggling to meet the demands of a growing client base.

And, despite his previous efforts to take Northstar to the next stage, he found himself becoming a prisoner of his own business with no time to live the life he intended as a director.

If the Northstar support ship was to survive its journey through change and growth, it was time for Christian to be less of an engineer and more of an entrepreneur.

Problem

Being a great engineer is insufficient to the task of growing a small business. And while Christian was consumed by the tactical work, it left no one in the strategic department to oversee the direction of his business.

It meant Christian had accidentally become an employee of Northstar, working in excess of twelve hours a day with no clear way of breaking the cycle dominating his life.

It was time for Christian to stop viewing his business from the bottom up and, instead, take a lead by overseeing operations from the top down.

Here’s what we did.

Approach

To get the Northstar support ship back on track, we started by performing a work-time analysis.

The results of which made it clear to Christian he was working far too many hours for little reward. (In fact, he would have been better off working in a supermarket).

It was a shocking revelation that gave Christian the urge to jointly review all areas of his business, including finances, marketing, HR, recruitment and operations.

Once we had steadied the ship and had a strategic vision on the direction of the business, it was time for Christian to open the thrusters on Northstar’s potential by expanding his team.

Not only did this move alleviate Christian from all the technical work that stopped him growing his business, but it also meant Northstar could still operate when he was away from the desk.

In recent years, recruitment has been a recurring theme at Northstar. Christian now has a team of ten, including managers, admin and technicians – all operating out of beautifully-branded offices in Lancing.

After years of going on holiday attached to a mobile phone and laptop, Christian finally felt free of his business on his fortieth birthday. With no contact from the office whatsoever, he took four weeks off to cruise the Caribbean.

And while he was away, his business was still earning money.

Results

  • Northstar team expanded to allow Christian time away from the business
  • Business continues to grow, even with Christian’s extended leave
  • Christian is now enjoying more holidays than ever!

“Working with Gary is like having a supportive business partner – he’s there no matter what. I know without doubt, I wouldn’t have the company I have today without his tireless support over the years.”

— Christian Fleming, Managing Director, Northstar IT

https://www.northstarit.co.uk

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