Survive or thrive - the key to running a successful business

An entrepreneur in the UK believes he has the key to running a successful company: offering a combination of consulting, mentoring and training - plus what he calls his “motivation measurement” tool.

It’s a long way from professional football but Steve Jones says he swapped his boyhood ambition for a more realistic goal - to enjoy his work, whatever career path he took. And his own company, called Skills for Business, is the result.

Now aged 54, Jones spent his formative years in the leisure industry in health and fitness management, working in the public, corporate, commercial and private sectors.

An outstanding achievement award for raising awareness of the benefits of corporate health facilities led to a bigger prize. He was asked to run a fitness club on the UK’s south coast and within seven years he became part of the Fitness First phenomenon, now the largest independent health club chain in the world.

“During that time I was launching and running a succession of clubs,” said Jones. “It opened my eyes to all the joys and pitfalls of being responsible for a fast-growing business, from the strategy to the motivation of staff and the operational challenges. I don’t think there’s anything I haven’t seen - good and bad.”

Jones moved on to international coaching group Shirlaws, an Australian organisation that, at the time, was setting up in the United Kingdom, and once again was in at the start of a rapid company expansion, both in the UK and abroad.

Six years ago he started Skills for Business. His philosophy is simple. It’s not enough to win business. You have to exceed expectation each time if you want to grow your company and keep existing clients. It’s the difference between thriving, as opposed to merely surviving.

About 30 companies have used his services in the last year alone and a quick look at the website confirms that feedback is very positive. And if it’s not? “Occasionally, people are sent on my courses rather than choosing to be there and that always presents a challenge but I’ve never had anyone complain or ask for a refund,” he added.

There are a variety of courses he can offer - retainers, day, residential - but often his work continues because training on its own is not enough.

Do these sessions throw up weaknesses common to all managing directors? “That’s an interesting question. I would say that a lot of managing directors are technician-gifted first and owners second, and by their own admission have had no formal management training. This tends to lead to the expression working ‘in’ business rather than working ‘on’ business.

“That can be a real hindrance as the company grows because the tendency is to want to control everything - which of course is impossible. They then become the limiting factor in their business. Equally, very few MDs have an exit or succession strategy.”

Other stumbling blocks are a failure to communicate clearly with staff and with clients, inadequate business strategies, and an inability to cope with growth once generated.

Steve Jones is convinced that what gives Skills for Business a competitive edge is the combination of consulting, coaching, mentoring and training, plus a unique process that can metrically measure and address motivational issues - for individuals and for businesses.

The canny question and answer test - the “motivational map” which he helped devise - takes about 20 minutes to complete. It is divided into specific sections, each allowing candidates flexible options (I had a go and it analysed my own “map” absolutely correctly). It also helps, he thinks, that he has “been there and done it” which a lot of his peers have not.

He doesn’t advertise, at least not if he can help it. He follows his own advice that he calls his “supermarket” approach: building relationships with clients who have the same clients he works with but not the same skills.

He sums up his strengths as “a facility to communicate, articulate and present my ideas”, taking inspiration - not surprisingly - from self-made millionaires who have achieved success through originality and challenging the status quo. And yes, Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson would probably be at the top of that list.

Looking back on a career that is sign-posted by numerous outstanding achievement awards in business, Steve Jones’s next aim is to build the company to a six million pounds turnover within the next five years. And he is confident that he has a viable plan in place.

He shares his life in a village in southern England with his partner Kim and two Jack Russell terriers - Maddy and Poppy. Dog walking, the gym and reading autobiographies recharge his batteries.