We sat down with start up consultant and founder of REALWORK Fleur Emery, who gave us some great food for thought on staying grounded during periods of slow growth.

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As a three-time founder, it was a no-brainer having Fleur join us as a guest to share some of her learnings over the course of her career. Fleur’s theory is that as founders, we’re trained to measure growth and success conventionally, through numbers and awards, but she challenges us to dig a little deeper, and be a little more radical with our approach.

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If you’re wondering how, check out the full conversation here, or read on to get the highlights:

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Establish your own measure of growth and success

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Many of us lean into the same conventional metrics of success. Yes, numbers help keep track of progress and set goals, but, how do they help measure value ? Fleur challenges founders to be more specific.

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Fleur’s first idea was a business called ‘Grasshopper’, her porridge in a pot - the first of its kind. She started in her kitchen with her sister and even with no experience or connections, they soon got it on the shelves of Waitrose, Harvey Nichols and Soho House (they even got their own window display at Harvey Nichols).

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Although Fleur originally felt like this was a failure as they didn't sell at exit, shifting her perceptions of success can reposition everything they achieved as successful.

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Understand why you’re doing what you’re doing

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What is it you're actually trying to achieve? What do you have to offer as a business? Your strategy will provide a structure to help achieve your purpose, but having the answers to these fundamental questions provides your business with a strong core to work from.

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When launching REALWORK during lockdown, Fleur knew it was important to understand her motivations as a founder. As people readjusted to working in-person, Fleur noticed a dip in the business’ growth. She thought 'exiting' the business was the only key success metric - but through this slump she  discovered a new sense of purpose; supporting and providing female founders with the right tools to start their own business.

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Fleur adopted a more attentive approach, deciding to measure her growth by checking in with her customers and tracking their feeling of success, while also  cutting back on efforts to boost numbers. As a result, although revenue has decreased, net profit has actually increased, all while ensuring value is being created throughout.

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Believe in your gut instinct

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A lot of founders in their early days will receive lots of advice that’ll pull your business in different directions. Ironically having so many people trying to help can end up doing the opposite. Discerning what’s appropriate for your business specifically is the real deciding factor, so don’t be afraid to go with your gut.

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Additionally, Fleur encourages you to ask who has successfully done what you’re trying to do and figure out how they’ve done it well. Experience is a great teacher, and if you’re getting advice from people who haven't been in your position, or don't have the right expertise for  what you’re trying to achieve, you’re probably not going to end up with the right guidance.

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Fleur’s parting advice is to stay grounded. A lot of founders can often get lost in what we aspire to do and get lost in the excitement of potential success without a sense of reality, so when the numbers aren’t what we imagine, we lose motivation.

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Fleur encourages founders to pay attention to the reality of your situation. A practical view of what you have to work with helps put aspirations into a more realistic perspective, so when the dreaded slump rears its ugly head, it isn’t a massive blow to your ego.

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I’d love to know your thoughts on this, as well as how else you may have approached this.

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PS: Fleur has an exciting startup founders program for women, so check it out for some great tools to get started on your business! You can also follow Fleur on LinkedIn to stay updated for more nuggets.

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