When you run your own business the buck stops with you. You must make tough decisions, you have to keep people happy, make sure everything is on track. But perhaps the most important thing is to manage your own mindset.

It’s something that isn’t hugely talked about but when we work with clients it is something we get into quickly because what we see is that if a business owner’s mindset isn’t in the right place, it usually shows up on the balance sheet somewhere.

In life, perspective is everything. The way we think and perceive ourselves determines who we are, who we become, and how well we do – it is this perspective that we mean when we use the word mindset.

Your mindset is your outlook and way of thinking. It determines what you do, whether you take risks, and ultimately if you will succeed or fail. The saying goes ‘Whether you believe you can or believe you can’t, you’re right’.

So how can you manage your mindset? We often talk about the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset when we are coaching leaders on this. A fixed mindset is limited, static, and unchanging. It thrives on phrases like “I can’t” and is filled with limitations, self-doubt, and fear of failure. 

It is the belief that talent, brainpower, and abilities are pre-determined, and everyone has faults that can’t be improved. This viewpoint restricts the possibilities and outcomes of a business. Ultimately, we want to seek out any people with fixed mindsets in our businesses and help to coach them towards a growth mindset – otherwise we simply will never push forward!

The good news is that most people can be coached into having a growth mindset and see things from a positive perspective (we say most because not everyone can!).

A growth mindset encourages employee improvement and doesn’t pigeonhole people with preconceived notions of what they can or can’t do. Unlike a fixed mindset, this positivity encourages creativity and innovation. Leaders who encourage a growth mindset amongst team members empower people by clearly defining goals and letting team members come up with creative solutions to achieve them.

So how does a business embrace this positive potential? It starts with a strong leadership style, growth-oriented thinking at the top, and the right people. Here are some top tips:

• Hire people who embrace challenges and like to collaborate
• Attract people who want to develop themselves and are ambitious
• Encourage positivity even when facing challenges
• Lead by example with flexibility at the top
• Don’t punish failure – recognise the lessons learnt
• Encourage team development which increases positive outcomes and innovation
• Look at the big picture – be forward-thinking and plan for the future

Ultimately your business success will be determined by your mindset and the leadership shadow you cast as the owner. If you would like any support with your mindset, we can help. Get in touch to find out more about DICE Coaching: [email protected]

Are you harbouring a secret desire to run your own consulting business? If you are, this is the post for you!

Working for yourself is an incredible privilege – one that gives you time freedom, uncapped earning potential, and the chance to make a significant impact.

We live in an incredible time when people who have a business dream have the tools and technology to make it happen – without financial backing from investors. But it’s easy to get lost if you don’t know where to start on your entrepreneurial journey.

If you have proven experience in a career and have been considering utilising it and moving into the field of consulting, this post is for you. We want to share our experiences so that you can learn from our mistakes! 

Starting DICE Business was overwhelming at first – we didn’t know what we ‘should’ be doing, and we were stuck wondering what exactly to offer and how to find clients. Kate had already spent a year in what she calls ‘the wilderness’ trying to establish herself as a consultant, feeling lonely, confused about what to do, and ultimately scared of failing. If she hadn’t found Steve and they hadn’t been in it together getting DICE rolling, there’s no way she would have carried on.

Running your own business successfully takes determination and you can fall into so many traps along the way if you’re not careful – whether it is analysis paralysis working out who your ideal clients are and how to craft the perfect offer to get them to buy, or comparisonitis looking at other people in your field and thinking everyone else has worked it out and is further along than you.

These feelings are more common than you think but it doesn’t have to be that way! You can choose to follow a proven business model that works. You can choose to join an ambitious, growing team of dynamic professionals who love what they do and are rooting for your success.

You could come and roll with us as a franchisee, learn what we do and get to work growing your own business consultancy in your own locality. You’d be in business for yourself but not by yourself – that is the beauty of it!

If you’re ready to roll and want to find out more, we would love to hear from you. Download our prospectus here: Your Franchise Opportunity – Dice Business

There’s nothing worse than experiencing conflict in the workplace. It is something we can come across in our client’s businesses and be asked for help to resolve the issues. Whilst every situation is unique, we can find it helpful to refer to one of our methodologies which helps a team to understand how to collaborate so that differences can be overcome to ultimately support the team’s effectiveness.

Someone’s conflict behaviour in the workplace is usually a result of both their personality and the conditions of the situation in which they find themself. They might naturally be someone who comes at a situation with a confident stance, or it might be that they are working with someone very different in personality style to them and they are struggling to put their opinion across constructively. When there is a conflict situation between two or more people, there are two dimensions to their behaviour:

• Assertiveness – the extent to which the person attempts to satisfy their own concerns.
• Cooperativeness – the extent to which the person attempts to satisfy the other person’s concerns.

There are then a variety of more specific positions which can help to work out where each person is coming from in terms of the conflict situation: Competition, Avoiding, Compromising, Collaboration, and Accommodating.

Competition is assertive and uncooperative—an individual pursues his own concerns at the other person’s expense. This is a power-oriented mode in which you use whatever power seems appropriate to win your own position—your ability to argue, your rank, or economic sanctions. Competing means ‘standing up for your rights’, defending a position which you believe is correct, or simply trying to win.

Accommodating is unassertive and cooperative—the opposite of competing. When accommodating, the individual neglects their own concerns to satisfy the concerns of the other person; there is an element of self-sacrifice in this mode. Accommodating might take the form of selfless generosity or charity, obeying another person’s order when you would prefer not to, or yielding to another’s point of view.

Avoiding is unassertive and uncooperative—the person neither pursues their own concerns nor those of the other individual. Thus, they do not deal with the conflict. Avoiding might take the form of diplomatically sidestepping an issue, postponing an issue until a better time, or simply withdrawing from a threatening situation.

Collaborating is both assertive and cooperative—the opposite of avoiding. Collaborating involves an attempt to work with others to find some solution that fully satisfies their concerns. It means digging into an issue to pinpoint the underlying needs and wants of the two individuals. Collaborating between two people might take the form of exploring a disagreement to learn from each other’s insights or trying to find a creative solution to a relational problem.

Compromising is moderate in both assertiveness and cooperativeness. The objective is to find some expedient, mutually acceptable solution that partially satisfies both parties. It falls intermediate between competing and accommodating. Compromising gives up more than competing but less than accommodating. Likewise, it addresses an issue more directly than avoiding but does not explore it in as much depth as collaborating. In some situations, compromising might mean seeking a middle-ground solution.

Each of us can use all five conflict-handling modes but certain people use some modes better than others and therefore tend to rely on those modes more heavily than others. We find that the key in coming to a positive resolution between individuals or within a team environment is having someone outside of the team to help facilitate discussions and try to work towards everybody having an equal voice, being understood, and most importantly, being respected.

Having a team with different personalities and diversity of opinion is proven to be valuable in helping organisations gain a competitive advantage but when it tips into a conflict situation it can be very stressful for everyone involved. If you ever find yourself needing support with this, we can help – reach out to us at: [email protected] to arrange a confidential call.

It’s been five years since Kate Cousens and Steve Lloyd were introduced to one another by the owners of HM3 Legal who were looking to develop a business consulting arm for their successful 70-year law firm.

The combination of Kate’s marketing skills and senior leadership experience with Steve’s operational expertise and knowledge of turning business strategy into bottom-line profits has proven to be a perfect recipe for success. Through utilising Kate’s creative communication skills, they have translated a vast amount of business theory into easily understood, tangible client-facing materials across five service areas:

• DICE GAME PLAN (strategy development)
• DICE TEAM SPIRIT (culture development)
• DICE TEAM PLAYERS (leadership development)
• DICE COACHING (business advice)
• DICE WINNING MINDSET (mentoring)

Each service has a suite of bespoke materials and methodologies which support business owners and leaders to address organisational challenges such as employee engagement, performance management, talent development and succession planning.

Kate and Steve both share a passion for helping businesses to succeed and having proven their approach, they are now focusing on their own growth of DICE business, choosing franchising as the method to do so and working with franchise expert Patrick Burge from Lime Licensing to help them.

Explaining why they have chosen franchising as their route to growth, Kate said: “I have always been interested in franchising as a business concept and experienced first-hand how successful it can be when I worked for McDonald’s. Steve and I realised that the materials we have developed together over the last five years are a real asset to other professionals who might be looking to set up and grow their own consulting businesses.

“In 2022 we on-boarded our first franchisee to test the concept and the feedback on how useful the materials and methodologies have reinforced what we believed! We know first-hand the value of having a professional by your side to help your business grow and after shopping around, we found Patrick and knew instantly that he was going to be the person to help us find our next tranche of franchisees. We are excited to find our next franchisees to come and roll with us!”

The Covid-19 pandemic has left many people disillusioned with work, whether it be down to redundancy, the threat of redundancy, a lifestyle change, or the feeling of wanting more. There’s no wonder then that according to statistics from kwfinder.com, the keywords on Google exhibiting the highest searches since the beginning of the pandemic in the UK have been ‘how to start a business’ (22,000 people per month) and ‘business ideas’ (24,800 people per month).

The franchise industry is thriving, as people look towards following their entrepreneurial dream through business ownership whilst minimising their risks. Whilst there is no shortcut to business success, when you take on a franchise you can be comforted by the knowledge that the franchisor has already made mistakes, refined the service offering and created tried, tested, and trusted ways of working to help you get your business off the ground quickly so that you can focus on finding your first clients and start earning money. When you combine this with your hard work and determination, it is hard not to become successful – a stark contrast to the unpredictability of starting up a business on your own.

Becoming a DICE franchisee allows you to get a head start as you will be supported every step of the way by Kate, Steve, and the rest of their HQ team. You are in business for yourself, not by yourself! So, whether you want to gain back control over your own career, make use of your redundancy package, or just pursue a new challenge, a DICE franchise might be the very thing you are looking for.

To find out more, visit: Your Franchise Opportunity – Dice Business

Henry Ford said that ‘Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently’.

The word failure in business is often shied away from and it is true, it is a strong word. For the purpose of this blog let’s consider it as being when things don’t go exactly to plan, and let’s reframe it because we believe that failure is an opportunity.

It provides an opportunity to learn, an opportunity to make a different choice, a different decision, to make sure that something doesn’t happen again. It also provides you with the opportunity to grow and develop yourself further.

Consider this, have you ever grown from solving an easy task? When everything is going smoothly and there are no challenges you aren’t developing new skills. Don’t get us wrong, comfort zones are nice places to be for a while but make sure you don’t stay for too long or you might be missing out on growth.

When you are facing a challenge or don’t achieve a big goal, see it as an opportunity to increase your mental strength and improve your chances of succeeding next time. Like training a muscle in the gym.

Embrace adversity and analyse things that haven’t gone to plan. Ask yourself why you didn’t achieve your goal. Was it because of a lack of effort or the wrong strategies? How can you do better next time?

It offers the chance to re-evaluate and come back stronger with a different approach. Take these famous examples:

• Albert Einstein said: “I have tried 99 times and have failed, but on the 100th time came success.”
• Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything.” He was fired from his first two jobs for being “non-productive.” As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.
• Henry Ford’s first two automobile companies failed.
• Oprah Winfrey was fired from an early job as a television news anchor.
• Sir James Dyson suffered through 5,126 failed prototypes before he landed on the first working Dyson vacuum.

Whether failure is final or not ultimately depends on your ability to get yourself off the ground, dust yourself off, learn from it, and try again. The faster you can do that, the sooner you will turn things around.

We believe that one of the most important things in business is having a growth mindset – seeing the opportunities in adversity, seeing the possibilities when things don’t go to plan. If you need some help to embed a growth mindset culture in your organisation, get in touch – we can help. Drop us a line to find out more: [email protected]

When starting out with any kind of strategy or plan, whether it is for a business or for an individual, we always find value in starting with the end in mind. Having a goal or a destination in your mind helps to shape what actions you might want to take to get you there. In his book the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Dr Stephen Covey says all things are created twice – first in the mind and then in the real world – like a blueprint for a house.

Sitting down with a blank sheet of paper can be overwhelming but try fast-forwarding 12 months or 2 years or 5 years – what would be different about your business? If you had a magic wand, what would you be doing?

When you start to build up a picture in your mind of what your business will look like, you get closer to working out the actions that will help you get there. The saying goes that inaction breeds doubt and fear, whereas action breeds confidence and courage. This is where it is often helpful to get an accountability partner to help you stay on track. Like hiring a Personal Trainer at the Gym – this is where hiring someone like a DICE Roller can help you in your business!

Sometimes it can be the very first action that is the most difficult one to make, but once you get going you get into a routine. In your business you might aspire to grow but it is taking that first step towards growing that will actually get you closer to it.

We know that it can be scary when you set goals because there’s always that nagging doubt at the back of your mind that you won’t achieve them but really, what is the worst thing that can happen? There’s no Goal jail! You might have to tell employees and shareholders that it didn’t quite go to plan and that you are tweaking the course of action, or you might surpass your own expectations. Either way you are more likely to get closer to achieving the goal if you’ve taken some action towards it.

Start by getting things out of your head. It’s not enough to just have your ideas and goals floating about in there! Go old-fashioned and find a pen and paper to write them down. Yes, you can use your phone or a spreadsheet, but we recommend physically writing them and breaking down those large-scale ambitions into smaller actions or baby steps.

Set yourself targets to achieve each week or month and make a commitment to look back on how far you have come. Consider diarising time for the actions you are taking so that you don’t get busy caught up in doing other things. Also factor in reflection time once a month, once a week or even once a day depending on how focused and committed you want to be!

Once you are clear on where you want to go and the actions you are going to take to get you there, you have to fully commit to actually taking action! Put the actions onto a roadmap or a calendar for the year ahead and then use it at quarterly intervals to keep you on track.

Breaking down your big goals into actionable steps is how you will achieve them. And if you need any help – this is what we do! Get in touch to get the dice rolling: [email protected]

There are many times in our business where we can feel stuck. We may hit a wall of our own self-limiting beliefs, or it could be that we have a setback with loss of clients or challenges in our market.

At these times calling upon a business coach can really help get you unstuck. However one of the most common things we see is that many people simply lack the courage to ask for help. As humans we can have these feelings that we should be able to do it all on our own, that asking for help is a sign of weakness. In fact, the opposite is true.

When you are able to recognise that an outside perspective will help you, that is a sign of great self-awareness and therefore strength. A coach has a neutrality to a situation that means they can therefore provide a different opinion. Being asked probing questions can feel uncomfortable but it is in that discomfort that growth usually takes place.

The difference between a coach and a mentor is through the questioning process. A coach will ask questions that require you to find the answer, as opposed to a mentor who will tell you ‘this is how I did it’. There is benefit in both approaches, but with a neutral mindset, a coach puts the power in your hands – you have all the answers within, they are just teasing them out of you!

If you’re unsure as to whether you’d benefit from some business coaching, consider these questions….

• Are you feeling stuck in a rut about where you currently are in your business/career?
• Do you have ideas but aren’t sure of how to move them into actions?
• Do you have big goals you want to achieve?
• Are you in your comfort zone and feel ready to get out of it?
• Have you lost your mojo and want some help to get it back?
• Are you lacking people around you who challenge you and give you honest feedback?

If you have answered yes to any of these questions, coaching can help you. At DICE our business coaching is not off the shelf – we get to know you and your business so that we can become that real trusted advisor to you. Our coaching relationships go deep, so if it’s a superficial cheerleader coach you’re looking for, we are not for you. But if you are ready to take action on your big goals and would like someone on your team who is rooting for your success, we can help. Get in touch with us today at [email protected] to get the dice rolling.

Running a business has never been an easy option. Anyone who thinks it is clearly has never done it. Even if you have the best strategy and business plan in the world, there are no guarantees of success and there will always be curveballs thrown at you that you have zero control over (Covid-19 being a classic case in point). Add people into the mix with their foibles and differences, and you suddenly realise that as a business owner you need to be an expert in human behaviour and psychology, as well as everything else.

However, when you are the business owner, the buck stops with you, and you have to stay motivated and committed to the long game in order to inspire and drive everyone else around you. So how do you stay motivated as a business owner? Here are our top tips…

1. Know and play to your strengths – when you are doing work that you are good at and able to make a difference, it makes your working week a whole lot easier. We find that when we are coaching business owners who have got themselves into a bit of a rut, it is usually because they are operating outside of their zone of genius and being dragged into things they are either not good at, or don’t enjoy. Obviously, we can’t always work on everything that lights us up, but you want to be aiming for a solid 80% of your time to avoid getting dragged down!
2. Set goals and targets – these can be motivating for you and everyone else around you. Consider creating a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) for your business – something that is really aspirational to aim towards. This can really focus you and get everyone else around you focused on the future and the potential that is out there.
3. Recognise yourself – when you are in charge you won’t have people lining up to pat you on the back, so you must do it yourself! Take time to celebrate your own wins – keep a note of them each week/month in a notebook that you can look back upon and see how far you have come.
4. Keep learning and growing – it is natural to get bored when you do the same things over and over again. That’s why we are such big fans of lifelong learning. It doesn’t have to be related to your business; you can take up a new hobby.
5. Head back to the floor – remember that TV show when the boss went undercover in their business? Take a few days or even a week out and go and experience what it is like to be an employee in your business. Sit with different teams, lunch with your employees, get out with your field teams. It’s a great way to engage with people and also will give you loads of insight and fresh ideas that you can take back and implement.

Our final tip is to drop us a line because this is what we do with business owners day in and day out. In our coaching we are there as a trusted advisor, we are an ear to chew, an extra pair of eyes, and we care about helping you succeed. Get in touch with us today at [email protected] to get the dice rolling.

One of the things business leaders often share with us is that they would like more honesty from people in their organisations. During employee listening exercises they want to know how people really feel and not be told things that they think they want to hear.

Ghandi once told a child’s mother “I cannot ask your son to stop the bad habit of eating too many sweets until I have dealt with my own bad habit first”. He started with looking inwards at himself and being honest about his own shortcomings before casting any judgment on the child.

In business, honesty is something that is often talked about, but this type of self-reflection and empathy is often missing. The bottom line is that as a business leader, you can’t expect others to be honest with you unless you are willing to be honest with yourself.

This requires self-awareness and the willingness to challenge our own abilities as leaders. It’s not about what we say but about what we do every day in terms of our behaviours – remember actions speak louder than words.

It requires leaders to accept their own shortcomings and be vulnerable in sharing them as opportunities for development. Gone are the days when business leaders need to be hero’s coming to everyone else’s rescue. Employees are looking for authenticity, vulnerability and real honesty – not just paying lip service to the word.

Leaders who are truly honest in their approach will accept their limitations, will openly share those with their team and seek opportunities to plug the gaps with a collective and collaborative approach, rather than trying to go it alone.

They will seek feedback regularly from all areas of the organisation and be curious to understand how things can be improved. They won’t be defensive, they will see any perceived negative commentary as a chance for growth and improvement.

They will accept when things don’t go to plan, not seeking to blame. They will give recognition to those around them when things go well, even if they were solely responsible for the success.

So, if you are looking for more honesty in your organisation, maybe it is time to look in the mirror and see how honest you are being. Commit to sharing more openly about your own deficiencies, show humility with your employees, and over time you will create the environment and the culture in your organisation that allows employees to do the same.

If you are a business leader and would like some support with your employee engagement, your mindset, or just a trusted ear of someone who has been in your shoes – get in touch. That’s how we roll.

There is something about Springtime that we think brings a new energy to business – the days are lighter and brighter (generally) and there’s plenty of the year still left to go at to achieve our goals.

The Winter months of January and February can be challenging from a motivational perspective, it can be cold, damp, dark. When the new leaves start emerging on the trees and those green shoots and flowers start sprouting up, you will be hard pressed not to feel that same burst of renewed energy.

As the first quarter of the year draws to a close, it is also a great opportunity to review and maybe reset those New Year intentions you set out for your business. Are you on track? Are there action steps you need to take that maybe you’ve been procrastinating? It’s time to spring into action!

The strategy work we support our clients with is the DICE Game Plan. Every business needs one – we call it your ‘Plan to Win’. Of course planning has to be fluid, as we can never plan for every eventuality in business (we see you Covid-19), but having a plan on a page which articulates what you want to achieve in your business over the year ahead is a great tool. Not only does it keep the leadership team on track, but it is also a great engagement tool which helps employees understand the bigger ‘why’ behind the everyday tasks and actions they are carrying out.

We love helping business owners to translate their over-arching vision into a roadmap that details step by step the milestones they need to achieve to get them there. In the face of constant change, planning timescales are shorter than they used to be. The key to success is that the roadmap isn’t just something written on a page – it must be implemented, and it must be a live document that ebbs and flows with every month.

When you work with DICE, we are there as your conscience, keeping you on track, looking for solutions to issues as they crop up, considering ways to pivot and change if needs be.

Here are our top 5 tips on creating your Game Plan:

1. Be guided by your Vision – having a clear vision to where you want the organisation to be in 5, 10 years plus is a great ‘North Star’ for you to be able to hang onto.
2. Think long and short term – once you have your Vision, it is important to work out what are the longer term and shorter-term actions that are going to help you get there.
3. Hold regular (ideally monthly) reviews to track progress – as outlined earlier, the need for your Game Plan to be a live document is because things can and do change regularly. Make sure you have a meeting structure with the key implementers (usually your senior leadership team) that is in place to track progress and make changes to the roadmap as needed.
4. Communicate, communicate, communicate – see your Game Plan as THE most important tool in your business toolbox for engaging your employees in the bigger purpose behind why they do the work they do. Schedule regular (ideally quarterly) all-employee briefings to share progress against the plan.
5. Rinse and repeat – planning done well is a cyclical process – it isn’t one and done. Create a calendar for your business and schedule those monthly, quarterly, and annual dates – it will really help to keep you on track.

To be a truly strategic organisation requires discipline, and it can help you to have the outside support from a DICE Roller to answer to! If you need some support or accountability in achieving your big goals this year, get in touch – we can help.

PS: If you’re coming to this blog at another time of the year, see it a sign that you are ready to spring into action regardless of the season!