Born from an idea, grown in a community

Sharing Experience: Chris Harbutt, NEV Leasing

These thoughts come long before a company name, website or customers. It’s the moment someone decides to act. That was certainly the case when I decided to exit my old business of almost ten years, sell my shares and start afresh with NEV Leasing – there just had to be a better way.

Founding and building

From the outside, starting a business can appear bold, brave and even reckless, as a stable career and income offer levels of security that starting a business rarely promises.

Despite this, founders still step forward – not because of certainty, but moreover a pioneering spirit, an unwavering belief and endless enthusiasm that the idea is worth pursuing.

That spirit, belief and energy provide the fuel for those early days.

And the early days are rarely smooth: plans change, ideas, products and services evolve, progress can feel slower than hoped or planned, and decisions are made without all the facts, instead relying on instinct to make the best move. Either way, momentum is retained because of the character of the founder. In the words of Magnus Magnusson of Mastermind fame: “I’ve started so I’ll finish.”

Of course, a business may start with the courage of one, but great leaders recognise that building it is not about doing everything themselves, but about surrounding themselves with people whose strengths complement their own, offering expertise, challenges, perspective or encouragement at exactly the right moment.

As colleagues join, the business stops feeling like a solo pursuit and starts to resemble something much larger, with a culture created and driven by people who have shared in the destination and believe in the direction of travel.

The courage that started the business remains but is now amplified by the energy and enthusiasm of those joining the journey, while the pioneering spirit continues to seek improvement, discovering new markets, services or products to fuel the next stage of growth.

I’ve found that East Anglia is full of businesses that have shared a similar path and, as businesspeople, we are fortunate to have such a supportive and collaborative network on hand to help our businesses grow and succeed, together with the products and services to back them up.

Progress is rarely the result of one person’s determination alone – it comes from a community of people who share the same belief that something worthwhile is being built. And once that spirit takes hold, it has a remarkable way of carrying a business further than the founder could ever travel alone.

We all have our part to play to both support and benefit from this network. In fact, there is probably everything we need to succeed on our ‘doorsteps’.