Which should come first People or Profits?
@peloton_the
Mike Hutchinson, Founder, The Peloton Chartered Accountants and Marketeers Financial historian, property portfolio owner, business coach, creative, innovator, entrepreneur, vintage boat owner, kitesurfer, ex newspaper boy, cycle proficiency badge.
Widely acclaimed as the most desirable office in the West of England, Mike single-handedly designed and created the exciting and contemporary interior of The Peloton in an old warehouse on the town quay at Penryn, Cornwall. With it he created a culture where the team could flourish and in turn give the very best to their clients...
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s the owner of an Accountancy firm I need to make sure the figures stack up. We spend a huge amount of time budgeting and forecasting. We’ve set ourselves a challenging growth curve and we know we’re on track to get there. Last year we grew turnover by 67% and we’re still on that trajectory. Is this because we keep an eye on every penny? Maybe, partly. But what we do know is that those figures wouldn’t look so pretty without the team behind them.
So, for me it’s absolutely about putting people before profits. Because if you get the right people on the bus, in the right seats, then you can go anywhere. It’s not about what you know, it’s who you know If you were at Xerocon London this year then you’ll know that machines are going to take over the majority of our workload. You’ll also know that whist machines are vastly more efficient and accurate than we are,
they are rubbish at some jobs. People, the right people, excel at relationship building, reading and understanding emotions, delivering business advice and tailoring this to each different person. The figures need to stack up but it’s the people who make a business and this is where your focus needs to be. As the saying goes: “People buy People”. Get the working space right On average we spend half our waking hours at work. We look for ambitious, motivated people to work for us and this type of person isn’t going to waste half of their waking hours sitting in an uninspiring office. It needs to be a great place to work. That means comfortable chairs, the latest computers, space, good lighting, the right temperature, healthy snacks and drinks always available, areas to sit, stand, take a private call or hold a meeting. At the very least people need to be comfortable, ideally the office is a space they are very happy to spend time and proud to work in. Create something to be part of Office culture is also hugely important to getting and keeping the right people. A team needs to
6 / Issue 13
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