This is the 44th in a series of business tips from industry leaders that Enterprise Times has interviewed. Enterprise Times recently spoke to Colin Johnson, co-founder and CEO of Aprika, the company behind Mission Control PSA. The conversation focused on the recent Mission Control update, 1.63. However, I also had time to ask him what the best piece of business advice he received was
Johnson replied, “Honestly, it’s to enjoy it as you’re doing it. A lot of the time, you tend to get focused on the – Are we doing the right thing? Are we delivering a good service to the customers?
“Looking back over 13 years, I think there’s definitely times when I should have probably enjoyed what we’ve been achieving more than I did.”
And with hindsight, how would you change your approach to achieve?
“I think just to be comfortable in what you are actually achieving. Recognise the wins. In our early days, we might not have necessarily recognised it as big a win as it was or as big of an achievement as it was. We were always, alright, that’s done, let’s move on to the next milestone. Taking time to recognise and enjoy those achievements is probably something we should have done a bit more.”
Three things Aprika should have celebrated more
You mentioned wins and achievements. I’m assuming you’re not just talking about customer wins. It’s other things within the organisation. What are the three top things that you feel should have been celebrated?
“The main one for us, as you know, is we bootstrapped the development of our product business. So certainly, reaching a point where we became 100% product was a huge achievement. Looking back at the time, we were probably so focused on, well now we’ve got to make this a success, that we probably didn’t recognise the amount of hard work and effort that had gone in to realise that goal in the first place.
“Equally obviously, setting up certainly So setting up the international team, seeing the team grow
“Things like even just taking time to recognise The successes of our customers, which obviously get reflected in things like our GT reviews. We’re always just focused on making sure we continue delivering that service. Actually just taking a minute to reflect on the amazing, positive feedback we get. What we’re doing as a team directly impacts the success of our customers, and they’re sharing their feedback with that. It’s important to ensure our team is aware of the benefits they’re providing to the customer.”
