¶ Entrepreneurial Insights
Hello and welcome to the we Are Power podcast live from our we Are Power studio . Every week I get the opportunity to speak to some of the most amazing individuals in and from across the whole of the UK lots of cracking northerners as well .
That's what we love People from different paths , different adventures , different stories , and we bring them together so we can pass on some of those top tips , guidance , tote bag moments , slogans on t-shirts , you name it . That's what we're trying to check , and today I am delighted to be joined by Kelly Whitfield , who is the founder and CEO of Click UK .
I can see that in your background there , kelly . Kelly is a businesswoman , entrepreneur , director , media personality , mentor with over 20 years experience in , to name but a few , policing , recruitment , human resources , technology . Get it all in one basket there , kelly . Welcome to the pod .
Absolute pleasure to be here , delighted to be here . I think I need to lie down after that .
My goodness , I've got a fair few things to my board , shall we say you are on one heck of an adventure and you have , as a serial entrepreneur , founded multiple companies , including Adept , MVB , Freeport and ClickSAS . I was going to say SLS decided to spell it out , but it's all good .
What are the key ingredients to launching and growing successful businesses in today's ? Because it's super competitive out there .
Oh yeah , it is , and I think competitive is the key word . Let's focus on that . I always look at the need to stand out . I think it's so important to differentiate yourself in a competitive market . So with my first business , simone , back in 2006 , when I incorporated Adept , I needed it to be better .
I needed it to be better and I started that business with a 500 quid overdraft and I paid somebody 50 quid to draw me the best , most professional logo that I could get at the time and I put an advert in the Yellow Pages . If you can remember that , wow , if you can't , everybody look it up . But that's pretty much all we had back then .
And you know , I made a genius move of describing my businesses deliberately different with two capital Ds , and it was my way of saying I'm not like them . You know what we do and how I work is deliberately different from what they do , and I think that's the key thing .
Starting in a competitive market , you've got to differentiate yourself and then , once you've perfected what it is that you do , I think then you need to innovate . You need to constantly try and stay , not necessarily one step ahead of the competitors . By the way , I always had half an eye on my competition , but I never wasted time on them .
So I always wanted to stay one step ahead of myself . So I always wanted to stay one step ahead of myself . But yes , that's the key is to differentiate and then to continuously innovate and improve . How do you not get distracted ? Sometimes I think you can get distracted by the sirens , by what are they doing , are they doing it better or whatever .
So how do you not do that ? How do you not get caught in being caught over there by the siren ? Do you know what ? So I know we're gonna have a . I know we we're gonna have a good , um , a good discussion today around other ideas and some of that good stuff I want to bring in a little bit later .
But being distracted by the sirens , just yeah , you've got to be aware of them . But if you , if you're too busy looking at the , you know the , the , the ambulances whizzing past with the sirens and the blue lights , you're taking your eyes off your own steering wheel . Keep looking forward , perfect what you are doing and aim to be the best at that .
That's my advice on that one .
And I love . We talk a lot about role models and people who inspire you along the way , and you have three very different people out there . So Coco Chanel , daniel Priestley and Simon Sinek how , why , what ? How would you say ? Are there different chain feces that inspire you ?
do you know what I ? I so Coco Chanel's an unusual one , because I actually don't have a closet full of her stuff . Um , I'm a mom . You know , if I did it would be an absolute , it would be ruined . My youngest boy is five and I'm a rugby mom , so I don't know whether many people know , but she had a pretty tough start .
I think her mom died when she was relatively young and her dad just basically abandoned her , and I think , when you look at her , she was , above all else , rebellious . And I don't know whether I'm a self-confessed underdog .
I had a pretty tough upbringing and I , you know I champion underdogs and you know I want the Seabiscuits to win , if ever you've seen that . You know that was a racehorse that was taught to lose and then somebody you know enabled him to win , and goodness me , he . So Coco Chanel she was . She was rebellious , she was incredibly creative .
You know , in those days women were confined by their clothes and she brought comfort into it . You know I'm I . I remember reading something , clearly , I've read something about her and you know , black . When you think she was born 1880s , something like that and you know black was used for mourning , then you know , you think of .
You know Victoria , and she made black chic , you know , and we all have dresses in our closets because of her . And also , one thing that I really do like is she was really controversial . She applied men's wear to women's wear , so then women were wearing two-piece suits . You can go to the loo , you were comfortable . I just really like that .
Now the other one , daniel Priestley . I like him because he's like me . I'm very linear , I like process , I like things to be clean and lean and efficient . You know , I like things to work and he's very much of that mindset . And I think Simon Sinek is why .
If you've ever heard his TED talk , you know he talks about a lot of businesses , know what they do , but not everybody knows why they do it . And I think I remember , I remember watching that talk and it it really sort of said something to me , because I think I'm always steered by the want and the will to do good and do better .
And Simon Sinek bringing why into it , you know , I think that's quite powerful and I think a lot of businesses and a lot of entrepreneurs and managers and leaders , even if it's not their own business , could probably do good to sit down and just think right , ok , so I know how we do what we do , and I know you know , I know what it is that we do , but
why do we do it ?
And then communicate that , and that goes back to your needing to stand out , doesn't ? It Goes back to some of that . I get more reason for it If we go forward now . To Click this business now is all about focusing , helping businesses to focus in on connecting and collaborating , which I love , and also to stay competitive when attracting talent .
What advice would you throw out there to business leaders who are struggling to hire and retain , actually more importantly in this fast-moving market right now ?
Yeah . So the first thing I would say and and I'm I'm going to be careful when I say what I'm about to say I'm saying it from the perspective of a previous recruitment entrepreneur who had a specialist search and recruitment firms that then evolved , by the way . So we talked differentiating and then innovating .
So my business , back in 2012 , innovated and we then partnered with a company in Silicon Valley .
We were providing recruitment , employee engagement , then retention initiatives , which is what enabled me to retire at 42 , by the way and I think my advice , with those hats on , is for employees to take recruitment in-house , and I've been asked to write a book around this subject . And in my head , I've got this working title of being fit to compete .
And when I talk and think about being fit to compete , it's to encourage employees to say right , hang on a second , let's just take a step back . If we were going to offer somebody a job and they had another offer , why would they accept ours ? What's it like to work here ? What can we offer outside of money ?
And , by the way , employers , it isn't just about money .
I've been a board advisor for quite a few years and I remember being helicoptered into a board to enable that business to scale from 16 to over 100 people quite quickly in the UK and then to set up a second operation overseas in Australia , and I knew that that significant and rapid scale would dilute that culture .
But I also knew we were going to have a challenge in recruiting people because we were headhunting from oil and gas and asking people to come and work in a business in Teesside in an office , and everybody knows oil and gas pays a handsome salary . So I remember saying to their then advisors and accountants what else can I promote other than money ?
And I ended up working with their accountants and we put together a flexible benefit scheme that enabled people , instead of working overtime and it being lost , they counted it and they got an extra day off each month . Then we had compressed working week schemes and flexible working so they could pick up and drop off .
So then I was able to say to our consultants when you are talking to a candidate , say to them look , we're not going to be able to really compete with your salary . However , you can sleep in your own bed , you can drop your children off and pick them up , and you can .
You can get up to 12 additional days holiday a year , just from doing a bit of overtime , and they loved it . So take recruitment in-house . Have a look at what it's like to work for your organization . What's your culture like ? Do engagement initiatives ? Are people happy ? Take the feedback that they give you , because that is absolute diamond , diamond , gold dust .
Uh , advice on how you can create a better place to work within your business . Um , that would be my top things and what's another piece of advice ?
while we're seeking some of that out , you've worked in many different industries that we talked about . But to women , particularly stepping in or stepping back into industries where they may feel they're outnumbered or overlooked , what's your one piece of advice ?
Oh , now this one makes me want to rattle cages in the kitchen because I am a woman and I shout louder , I stand taller , I push harder . I remember being a police lady . I was independently policed when I was 19 and my sergeant I forget his name . He said to me , kelly , knowledge is confidence . He said .
If you learn all of your legislation and all what we used to call points to prove around , all the different bits of legislation that we used to have to memorize , you can go out onto that street and you can deal with absolutely any situation that can come up , as in if somebody walks past me , simone , with a handful of pheasants and a shotgun over their arm ,
I need to know whether I can lock them up or not . So knowledge is confidence and I think if you know your stuff and I make it my purpose and my mission to know my stuff I think you can enter a male dominated industry . I've done police and I've done tech and I've done recruitment , as you say , and you can stand your ground .
I do not and I will not play golf . I'm not interested . So if there are deals being done on the golf course , you know I'm going to miss out . That annoys me , but you know , I remember hearing a story once I think it was actually Daniel Priestley where there's 100 people in a room and there's an auction in a room .
And there's an auction and this guy on the stage is offering , you know , a one-to-one some of his time to the highest bidder . Out of those hundred people , only two people were competing with each other and that drove the price up . You don't need to promote yourself to the hundred people in the room , just find the two that want you .
Let them do the deals on the golf course . Who bloody wants it anyway ?
now , one of the best bits of advice I read about you that you received was the value of extra work by itemizing and invoicing discretionary effort at zero cost to highlight the value . Talk to me about that , because this is something I know particularly . You know not wanting to just solo focus on female founders , but this happens a lot , doesn't it ?
Just do it for free . Just do it for free , You'll get lots of exposure .
Yeah , so , yes , that is true . I think my take on this was a long time ago . I got this , you know this was gosh . This was within probably the first two or three years of Adept , so it would have been , you know , 20 years ago and back
¶ Keys to Entrepreneurial Success
then . When you're starting out , let's focus on that . You do things for love and you provide what I call discretionary effort . You go above and beyond , and that's all well and good when you're winning business and you want to take care of your client . But it's incredibly difficult , as you know , simone , to maintain as you scale .
And the problem then is if you've done something for free and then , all of a sudden , you can no longer do it . You know that's a difficult bridge to cross .
So my advice is , when you're doing the small things or the big things for love , whether it's traveling or whether it's attending a meeting or whether it's , it depends on how you , I guess it depends on how two hours , you know , and just enter a zero free , just put complimentary the fact that when they're looking at it , it's seen , it's recognized , it's
appreciated . And also it would make me feel good if I was looking at an invoice to pay for one of my suppliers and there was a few little gestures on there . I would think nice one , guys .
And then , when it comes to building your business and scaling and you know , looking at who you award more work to you , go to the people that make you feel good , that you value , and they value you .
So yeah , that's my advice on that one Love that , and you said you got that many years ago , so that stayed with you right . And you said you got that many years ago , so that stayed with you right . You know you've got over 20 years of industry and entrepreneurial experience .
What do you think are those kind of real top qualities that you need to thrive and grow through entrepreneurship and leadership ?
Yeah , I think you need to be fearless . I think you need to be incredibly flexible . I think if you're starting out in business now , you've got to pick one thing and be good at it .
I delivered a talk , actually for the first time ever , on this particular subject at something called Netfest a couple of days ago you might have seen it and there was a lot of startups or budding entrepreneurs in the room and I said to them look , just , focus on one thing and just if all you're going to do is do the same as many others , as in competitive ,
saturated market , as we've talked about in the first question you asked me just do it better , just whatever it is . If you're selling shoes , sell shoes better than your competitors . Put something in the bag with the shoes that makes them feel good .
And I think you need to be very driven to be good at the one thing that you do do , but also be prepared to fail , and fail quickly and ideally inexpensively .
So when I was coming up with the idea of Click , before it was even called Click , I built a prototype , an inexpensive prototype , on a different platform than what the final product was , and that was my MVP my minimum viable product product , took that to market and tested it over a good period , got some phenomenal feedback and we knew at that point actually ,
yeah , we can put our you know , an element of our children's inheritance into this and be confident in the outcome because people liked it , um . But you know , I don't believe in failure , I believe in feedback . I don't think I don't think you failed to invent the light bulb . You've just found another way that doesn't work .
I love this . I can't even . I'm running out of pages to write down these tote bag quotes on and we're going to . There's not enough t-shirts out there . Looking back , I'm from Teesside . We talk quickly . Looking back , what is the one challenge that actually has helped shaped you and how did you kind of batter it down ?
right , this is a good one . This is a controversial one , and I'm gonna I'm gonna share something with you that I've got to be careful sharing um to , so it's a bit of an exclusive , but um , it's not something I've spoken about openly , um , but I do think it's something that should be shared .
So , to put it bluntly , I was pregnant , then screwed , and I don't know if you've heard of that website .
We know Jolie .
Brilliant , absolutely fantastic . So I actually co-founded a business with some nameless men and the business was phenomenal . It was fantastic up until the very last board meeting . That again was recorded phenomenal and fantastic . And it was until we got to the any other business bit and I said I need time off .
And I asked for about four weeks off and when I eventually told them that you know I was expecting my third son and I knew at that point that that was it , we were done , we were finished , we were over .
And you know not to be serious and not to be downbeat about it , because actually it's the best thing that ever happened , but sure enough , that was probably the most challenging thing I've ever gone through . We did go to court and , stupidly , those individuals had used our company email to communicate on how to trump maternity pay .
How can we make her look incompetent ? I've never made a solvent business look insolvent , but I'm sure it can be done . And , long story short , it did go to court and I did win . And , long story short , it did go to court and I did win . So you know , it was one for the ladies on that one . And what was really phenomenal about that was I .
We actually had staff . I walked into the offices and said to everybody and they knew At that point I was heavily pregnant I said , look , I love you all , but I'm never , ever going to come back to this business . I'm going to personally guarantee all your salaries .
I will help you , I will support you until you , you know , you're settled and you've moved on .
And what was ironic , that business ran for quite a long time , didn't need a single penny from me , and it was only when the last wonderful person was happily reappointed , I went in , locked the door , took the money out of the business as you would expect , because at that point I was 100% shareholder sat down and came up with the idea of Click , and it took
me to go through all of that to then be sufficiently motivated and to have the time and the clarity to think . You know what I want to do . I don't want to go back into business . I want to have a digital asset .
I want to create a machine that generates reoccurring revenue , that makes money while I sleep , and then I want to offer that technology to other people so that they can license it , so that they too can have a reoccurring revenue asset . And that's what I've done so . Thanks guys .
By the way , that's the first time I've heard that , but I think it's a good one to share .
I love that and I really appreciate you sharing that with us . And Kelly , honestly I feel like this is part one of probably a four part series for you and I on this . We need to do this again . I want to thank you so much for joining me . The fact that you need to stand out . You are the self-confessed underdog .
It's all about the why you have to be fit to compete . Knowledge is confidence . Know yourself . Fail first , Fail inexpensively and actually it's not failure , it's feedback . They were just some of the ones that I could scribble down as we chatted today , but , Callie , thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today . You're a total legend .
I look forward to continuing this conversation and thank you for being you . Fab Love to you all . Oh , and thank all of you for joining us . There is so much conversation to carry on after today's episode . Kelly , total star , Please do keep on the conversation going .
Subscribe , watch our podcast now from our fabulous studio YouTube , Apple Music , Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts . Leave a review . We love that , but please keep the conversation going . We are power underscore net on Insta , TikTok and Twitter . We are power on LinkedIn and Facebook and we are underscore power on YouTube .
Find out everything that we're doing on our digital hub , wearepowernet . So much going on , so many phenomenal role models out there . Thank you for joining me . My name is Simone . This is the we Are Power podcast .