Businesses need a story. Not a traditional one with a beginning, middle and end (at least not an end you would ever plan), but a path with a clear storyline.

One of the reasons Apple has so many fans, is that every big announcement they make extends their story in a clear manner. For example, early this year they announced an improvement to their Apple TV box making it easy to rent movies over the internet without a computer. More content and easier to get. Prior to that they offered the original Apple TV with movies to buy. And prior to that we had the development of the iPod and the iTunes store. So in the future we can expect them to make more products which make it easy to buy lots of media and watch it on our various Apple products.

Their story is clear and predictable. Yet there is also a sense of mystery; we don't really know how they will achieve this goal.

About four months ago I did not have a clear story for Humte. I had a vague concept of where it was heading but as far as a concrete storyline was concerned my ideas were muddied. I'd completed a goal, but not yet dreamed the next one.

So I kept this problem in the back of my mind for a couple of months, daydreamed and talked about my business with various people. Eventually a clear plot materialised. And now I have a plan for the next twelve months or so to take my business to the next stage. A stage that flows naturally from the first.

Of course, I won't spoil the story now.

This free ebook is a delightful and concise read. Although the whole book is good, a couple of sections really jumped out at me (impressive in such a small book).

The first was the vivid image that gave the book (and the author's business) its name 'The Business Brickyard'. The story (which I will not spoil here) follows a theme I have heard many times before, but I enjoyed how this particular story played out. The image it painted is a vivid and simple metaphor for the importance of getting the basics correct; one I'm sure to remember.

The second of these stand out sections was on getting paid quick, even if you risk losing important customers because of your demand. 'We are not a bank' is a simple phrase that I will also remember.

Really, though, the whole book is packed with great content. Much of it I've heard before but never so concise, but there are also a couple of new ideas as well nuances on old ideas.

In a couple of sections, the brevity did make the advice seem incomplete. Creating a one-page snapshot of my business, for example, would be wonderful, but I'm not sure how I would put that together so that it updated automatically. However, having the idea is good enough for now. I'm sure I'll work it out.

The other bonus is that the book is illustrated by Kevin Cornell. I like his work very much.

Your Business Brickyard

As a new member of Toastmasters I'm learning the art of public speaking. I'm a total beginner, but that's okay because I have been given a structured path to improvement.

Making effective telephone calls, however, is a skill I need to improve much more urgently. For this, however, I do not have a pathway that will help me improve this skill.

To rectify this, I have decided that at the end of every call I will look for one good thing I did and one element I can improve on.

Today, I made a call which I had planned in advance. This gave some structure and focus to the call and made sure I covered everything I wanted to talk about. However, I did not complete my plan. There were a couple of dates I was going to look up ahead of time but I never got around to it. So my next call will be planned properly.

I recently started looking for networking resources (that's networking with people not networking computers).

So far I've been disappointed by my options. What I'm after is just a place where business people gather to meet other business people. But what I'm finding is exclusive networking clubs; clubs that allow only one member per job type. That means if I joined, no other web developers would be allowed to join the same club. Therein lies the exclusivity.

The basic idea is that every member carries around a bunch of business cards for their various networking friends. When they come across people who need the services of someone in their network, they recommend that someone and hand out the card.

I hate stuff like this. Fine, I understand that they qualify the people who join up and make sure they are up to standard. But people are still recommending another business based on their membership to their group. It's not natural.

I'm not interested in joining a group where I don't have to deal with competition. I don't want to join a group where people remember me because I qualified to join their clique. I don't, in fact, want to join a group at all. All I want to do is meet people and have enjoyable and interesting conversations about business.

Turns out I'm not socially dynamic enough to do something as simple as ask for help. This has to change.

When I was at school I used to hate working in groups because I knew I could do a better job than anyone else. This was just my opinion and arrogance, but it stopped me from being effective when we were forced to do group work.

When I got to university I discovered group work was absolutely brilliant. I could get so much more done; achieve so much more. Even if I could have done the work better than anyone else (I couldn't) I didn't have time to do it anyway. And by learning each person's strengths and what motivated them, that work became ten times better.

I know this. I've just forgotten to practice it. Why am I not seeking help when I could really use it? What am I trying to prove?

When working at home all the time it is, of course, easy to isolate one's self all the time. But this is still my fault.

I read the following by Richard Branson earlier today:

I had never really been in business before – other than the usual schoolboy schemes of the lemonade stall variety – but I knew enough to know that no man is an island. We all need someone to act as a counterbalance to our weaknesses and work off our strengths. Sometimes it's one person, sometimes it's a team, all of whom bring their unique talents and abilities to the table. Your family is often your network of support – and my advice to a budding entrepreneur would always be: listen to your family, accept their help, don't dismiss them out of hand.

_{Richard Branson in Screw It, Let's Do It. Expanded. Lessons in Life and Business (2007) Virgin Books Ltd. p14.}

I've always had the intention of one day forming a company, employing some great people and getting back to team work. But why am I waiting?

Just because I'm currently freelancing doesn't mean other people should not be involved.

I shall begin by asking my parent's for their help and advice.

Once again I'm entering scary but very exciting waters.

In fact for most of today – as I began to work out how to implement my plan – I've been full of nervous energy. I'll certainly be stretching myself in the months to come because I have to learn to conquer my worst skill.

Sales.

The last sales job I had was selling shoes. And I sucked at it. My technique went a little like this:

Customer: I'll take them!
Me: Are you sure? They don't quite fit properly and they're not real leather.
Customer: No, they're fine, thank you.
Me: See how they slip at the back? That'll give you blisters if you walk in them for any length of time.
Customer: H..
Customer: Why don't you try that new store up the road? Much higher quality.

And to be fair, it was much higher quality at the store up the road. Our store was buying cheaper and more cheaper goods and nobody wanted them. (Sure, I admit I probably didn't help matters).

The moral of the story is I can't help being honest.

About a year ago, I almost certainly had the skills necessary to be making a living from developing websites. But if I tried selling myself a year ago my sales pitch would probably have been: 'I can create you a slightly above average site'.

Since then, I've become a little obsessed with the subject of web development, design and programming. I shifted my focus away from getting a steady stream of work and put it squarely on learning to be better. I'm not sure how healthy it is to work seven days a week, but I'm pretty sure I've learnt a healthy amount about web development in that time.

It's time to see if sales is easier when you truly believe in what you have to sell.

A huge reason why I'm choosing to freelance is the freedom it gives me to work when and where I like. When summer comes, the idea of sitting indoors and working drives me crazy.

Last year I really did go crazy. I had to sit in a darkened room (to help keep it cool) with the jet-engine sized noise of a fan whirring in the background keeping my computer chips cool, but doing nothing for my personal overheating problems. I had to escape to the outdoors during breaks to cool down (I found screaming helped too).

This year I have a laptop and today I've taken it outside for the first time.

I was a bit concerned at first because I thought the reflections on the glossy screen were going to make working impossible. Then I realised I had my sunglasses on; as soon as I removed them things became a lot clearer. But then I had another problem: the casing of my MacBook is white which glares in the sun with an intensity unmatched by Medusa. But moving to the shade cleared that problem up too. I'm still not totally happy with all the reflections on the screen, but it is at least workable.

My MacBook also seems to have a phenomenal battery life. I've gone to work a couple of times (when I need to go to an office) and accidentally forgotten my power cord. The battery has averaged a good seven hours which has practically got me through the day. That means I should be able to work outside for a good portion of the day without any power issues.

I'm very happy about this. Mankind was not built to spend the summer indoors.

I know that it is an absolute impossibility for a business to be perfect all the time. But as a customer what I care about is the overall experience. If you mess something up, I'll be very forgiving if you get everything else right.

A few weeks back, I had lunch in an Italian restaurant in Norwich. I was close to walking out because we had to wait so long to be seated. Then we had to wait for the menu, they took a long time to take our order, an age for the food to arrive and there was another long wait to get the bill.

Lunch probably took about two hours.

Normally, I'd be thinking about never going there again.

However, the restaurant was comfortable, the price was very reasonable, every waiter and waitress full of smiles and pleasantries, and the food was delicious. Also, I wasn't in a rush.

I actually want to go there again. Despite the flaw, I want to go back.

I think Richard Branson speaks best with his actions, but that doesn't mean his words lack any fascination. TED (the Technology, Entertainment and Design conference) have published a half-hour interview with the man. From the TED blog:

He talks to TED's Chris Anderson about the ups and the downs of his career, from his multibillionaire success to his multiple near-death experiences, from Virgin's line of spacecraft to the failure of the Virgin condom. He also reveals some of his (very surprising) motivations.

You can also watch it on TED.com where you can download a higher quality version.

There's plenty of advice going round the internet on setting up a business. I've been reading it for a couple of years now and if there is one thing I've learnt it is this:

The most valuable advice is advice you don't want to hear.

This is not to say advice you want-to-hear is worthless. Most of it is pretty accurate and true. It's just that the stuff you want to hear is probably not your sticky point. It's not the thing you are having trouble with.

Going into business on your own is such a hard experience because it makes you confront those sticky points. Bad discipline, sales skills, job expertise, focus, financial awareness and so on, show their ugly heads and don't go away until you become stronger. Good advice helps bring those weaknesses into your awareness. It's not pleasant, but it's necessary.

Veerle has posted some ugly heads I don't want to hear:

1:

The very first days when I started freelancing I was so motivated and thought I could conquer the world, but reality told me differently and I needed a lot of courage and energy to put myself over this and not to give up. Financially it was very difficult to survive and you start to wonder if it's worth the effort.

2:

Geert's idea was to approach and confront potential clients directly with my work. This was something I didn't dare to do, but I had no choice and so I did it and after a while I might have gotten the hang of it even. One morning, I visited about 20 companies, handed over my business card and even had a chance to present my work here and there and landed myself two real jobs.

3:

Another warning sign is clients telling you that they could give you tons of work if you just dance to their tune. For example making endless logos because they can't make up their mind. Put a number on this from the start to avoid this kind of thing. Believe me when I say that you will be surprised to what length some people go to make you do what they want. The guilt trip is something I experienced, the client makes you feel you didn't do enough and hopes you will do more for free.

I can think of counter arguments to all three pieces of advice here. Reasons why my situation is different and this advice doesn't quite apply to me.

It's not easy to admit these are excuses in disguise, but they are.

read more of Veerle's advice