In Your Shoes - Kallum Russell

Kallum “with a K” Russell is co-founder and Chief Enterprise Officer of Acorn Enterprise. They are on a mission to grow Scotland’s entrepreneurial culture!

Acorn Enterprise educates and accelerates new businesses and enterprising students. They are opening a new Business Accelerator in Dundee in September.

Kallum is a multi-award winning entrepreneur and was: featured in the Sunday Times Maserati List 2016, won Virgin Media's Pioneer of the Week and is a Scottish Enterprise Champion for Startup Britain. He is also a much sought-after speaker on entrepreneurship and student enterprise.

Start By Planning the Week

It’s important to me to start the week by planning ahead: sorting out the week’s priorities, reviewing goals and blocking off time in the diary to work on tasks.

I have developed goal-setting as a habit over the last 4 years and I start every day by checking in with myself to make sure I’m still on track. It can be so easy to be pulled off course by the daily grind and fire-fighting we encounter.

Here’s a great example I love from Darren Hardy’s book, Living Your Best Year Ever: “a plane going from Los Angeles to New York would end up 150 miles from its intended destination by being pointed only one degree off course at the beginning of the flight!”.

When was the last time you invested time to ensure you are still on course?

Interviewing for Our New Business Accelerator in Dundee

As you may have heard, we’re kicking off our new Business Accelerator in Dundee, on  Tuesday 5th September (woohoo, exciting!).

We spent most of Tuesday sorting through the applications from new business owners in the Tayside area who want a place on our highly-competitive Programme.

Acorn Enterprise has around 15 places for ambitious, exciting and cool startups and we’re working our way through the applications forms. We work with new business owners (0-3 years) to develop: confidence, business skills and clarity.

Shameless plug: do you know a new business in the Tayside area? If so, please ask them to apply for our free Programme here it will change their life (that’s a promise!): http://www.acornenterprise.co.uk/newbusinesses/programmes/20-week-business-accelerator-programme/

Katching up with the “Saplings”

On Wednesday, I was down at our Fife office in Rosyth Business Centre.

Part of our mission is to build a movement of growing business owners, a real community that not only supports each other, but also inspires others to think “I could launch my own business too”.

One of the parts of my role that I really enjoy is catching up the “Saplings”, Acorns that have already graduated from our 7 Business Accelerator Programmes in the last 4 years.

Craig McKay is the Bearded Executive Officer (BEO) at Bearded Basturds and launched his business just over a year ago from a spare room in his house, now he is: exporting to over 10 different countries, has secured some white labelling contracts with salons and has just opened his own barber shop in Dunfermline (in around 12 months!).

When was the last time you got together with an old colleague?

Lights! Camera! Action!

I had the privilege of being interviewed by Inspired Edinburgh on Thursday.

This is a world-class interview show that delivers powerful conversations with fascinating people!

For once, it was someone asking me challenging and probing questions: what’s your purpose? What drives you? What does ’success’ mean to you?

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and Elliot, who runs Inspired Edinburgh is a total legend!

Watch this space for the full-length feature coming to a cinema near you!... ;)

Learning Never Stops!

After another full-on week, it’s important to make time to reflect and to unwind.

I like to chill out by reading business books. I’m currently reading, How to Win Friends and Influence People, written by Dale Carnegie in 1936 (the irony of reading this alone in a pub, whilst waiting on my friend arriving, was not lost on me!).

I’ve only just started reading it but what has struck me most is that this book, which was written around 80 years ago, is how relevant it still is. Even in this world of ever-changing technology, innovation and Justin Bieber (who?!).

The main lesson I have taken away so far is: "the only way on earth to influence other people is to talk about what they want and show them how to get it."

Do you always talk about what you want? Or do you put the other person’s needs first?