Jo Haigh, Founder and Chairman of fds, joins Sonya Morton Firth in the latest episode “No such thing as work-life balance. Now is the time to start your own business”.
In this episode, Jo Haigh and Sonya discuss the drive, determination and skills necessary to sit on company boards and start your own business.
You can listen to the episode via the podcast links below:
- Podbean: https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-qevxh-f97176
- Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-sonya-morton-fir…
- Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/jo-haigh-no-…
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7bGa7APvNCzMZH9bB…
Can you tell me a bit about your journey into the entrepreneurial world?
I originally trained as a lawyer and didn’t find it boring enough, so I trained as an accountant. To be honest, I just hated working in the profession- I wanted to work in industry. I came from a background of business owners. Both my mother and father owned businesses, so I went into the city to work as a company secretary/CFO. This wasn’t immediately after I qualified, but that was my first serious job for a company that did buy-build. They bought businesses and amalgamated them together, and then sold them on. This is where I got my taste for corporate finance, for buying and selling businesses, so I did that for a number of years. I have four children, and it’s very difficult to work in the city with four children, but in the 80s and 90s, it was almost impossible to be a mum and have a career.
You’re in the city, you’re in a man’s world. To be successful career woman back then, did you have a lot of challenges with that?
Oh, lots. There was no question of asking “I need to go and pick my children up from nursery”- I just absolutely would never have been entertained. It’s much easier now, I think, but it’s still nowhere near an equal world. Anyway, I didn’t get hung up on that, so I decided I could do this for myself. Because the business I worked in in the city was based around buying and selling other businesses, I met lots of entrepreneurs on the way, and I understood that world because I had come from it. What I wanted was to set up this business that will help broker deals, but for SMEs, owner managers and entrepreneurs who I can relate to that do not want to go to the bigger companies- I wanted it to be a much more user-friendly approach.
I set up the business, and it’s grown from there. I thought you’d have more time running your own business, and while this didn’t turn out to be true, you do have more flexibility.
Did you find any massive challenges when you let when you made that leap of going from corporate life to running your own business? With the pandemic, I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of people considering if they want to continue in their corporate job or if it would be better to set up their own business.
Funnily enough, I wrote a book in the first lockdown called The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting a Business because I absolutely recognised that was happening. Members of my family lost their jobs and have since started their own businesses.
Starting a business takes time, but after one or two good jobs, this usually leads to a knock-on effect. I was very lucky that a friend asked me, almost as if he doing me a favour, to help him look for a company. After I did this and he was really happy with the result, we went on to do other things, which he then told people about. Word of mouth was a big factor- this was long before social media. I used to write articles all the time for the local magazine, and I went on the radio just to get a presence. As my business has progressed throughout the years, I blog, vlog and speak at around 120 events a year. This is all part of building my presence, therefore helping us win other work.
Do you think that’s really helped you in terms of the success of your business? Tell me a little bit more about fds.
I actually have a couple of businesses, but fds is my main business. fds is a corporate finance company, helping people buy and sell businesses, which is where it all originally started. We also help raise finance, deal with shareholder disputes and sit on boards as a Non-Executive Director. In the summer of this year, I transferred 90% of my business to my staff in what is called an employee ownership trust. This wasn’t because I want to retire- that’s the last thing I want to do.
Do you think that’s changed in how we look at work? Back in the day I was brought up to go to school, go to university, get myself a corporate job and then retire with a pension. I look at that now and think, well, I don’t want to retire. What does that mean? I love my work.
Well, I think 50 is the new 40, isn’t it? And I can’t imagine what I would do. In fact, I have really struggled in lockdown to fill my weekends. I’m used to being really busy and very sociable. I like being out and about all the time.
You’re a successful, driven and ambitious woman, but everyone needs to relax at some point. Is there anything that you turn to in order to relax or de-stress, or when things are getting a little bit overwhelming?
I usually love holidays, and I’ll have at least 10 to 12 weeks holiday a year. So, I love travel, and I like to meet interesting people in those places. I also like to be pampered; I normally have my nails done every week, have a massage.
If you look at your drive, what do you think you owe that to? Have you sort of self-reflected on that? Because everyone wants the drive and ambition to be successful, however you deem success, but there’s clearly an energy within. Even through Zoom, I can feel the energy through the screen. What do you think you owe your determination and drive to?
Well, I lost my mother when I was 16, and then my father’s business was affected by what was called a three-day week when the miners’ strike was on. We suddenly went from being a reasonable affluent, upper-middle-class family, to having nothing. My sister was at boarding school but she had to leave, my mum had died, my dad’s business had gone bust. We had to sell everything. I was at university when my father eventually had to sell the house. I had to get a job because I had no money, and my dad couldn’t give me any money, and so I thought to myself that I will never be in this position again. My mum had been ill for years. I was at 16 and I was doing my O levels, but it I wasn’t interested in it.
I met this fantastic, inspirational guy who was an ex-barrister. He told me that I can do this, turn myself around. He told me I had been through a traumatic situation and to use that to give me strength- and it did. If you look back on my past, it has definitely contributed to my drive. However, I do think I’m also just naturally very driven. But I think that’s where it comes from.
What would you say if there was anybody that was looking to sell their business right now, is it the right time?
Of course, some amazing businesses came out of the depression, so out of adversity comes a lot of success. When I set up my first business, I was 28/29 years old. At that age you think you know everything. But of course, it really wouldn’t have mattered if it had all gone wrong because I could have got another job. I appreciate now it might be more of a challenge to start a new business, but if you’re unhappy and you’re not doing anything else, what have you got to lose?
I think there are a lot of people that sit there in sort of fear or they’re still in their comfort zone. They like the idea of it, but they don’t put that foot forward. I can’t remember who said this, but there’s a wonderful quote that there is nothing to fear except fear itself. If you don’t try, you never will. I’ve had loads of disasters, you know, loads.
Well, I think that’s what makes us as well, right? You can’t, that’s the best way to learn. You’ve got to have those things that don’t quite succeed to learn from what you wouldn’t do again. Absolutely.
Oh, loads of stuff has gone wrong. There’s been many, many, many times when I haven’t been able to pay myself a salary for months.
Is there anything you do now to mitigate against the risks? Say somebody was wanting to start a business, what would you say the first thing you should really think about is before you get going?
I think you’ve got to just ride the waves. It’s easy to say don’t worry about the small stuff, but when you’re in the middle of it, it’s very difficult. So, adopt coping mechanisms- I write down everything I’m worried about in my little book. I have this little book here, the cover says “history will be kind to me, because I intend to write it myself”. Then days, months, years later, I look back and I think, why the hell was I worried about that? It’s cathartic writing it down, but it’s also, it’s very interesting when you read it back and you think that you lost sleep over this issue.
Sometimes in my job, I have to be brave, even when I might not feel like that. Now, I have a coach, a therapist, a fantastic non-exec director and a brilliant MD who I can be myself with. I think that’s absolutely fundamental to have a good set of people around you, and even take that further into your own business.
You sit on a number of boards as a non-exec director. Are there particular qualities that one should look for in a non-exec or somebody on their board?
I think it’s a symbiotic relationship- it’s what you look like looking for in each other. One of my tests is asking myself the question of if I could bear to spend a long-haul flight with the CEO. This is particularly important because I’m often engaging as a Chair, so it’s a very close relationship between me and the CEO. This goes way beyond respect, which should be a given, I’ve got to like this person. If you haven’t got a sense of humour and a resilient nature, you will struggle to survive. I think you need a lot of personal strength. I also think that if your values don’t align with the values of the company you’re working for, it will never work. You’ve got to be of the same mindset. You don’t have to agree on everything, but my values are: kind, work hard, stay positive, have fun.