Scaleup Q&A: John O’Rourke, Get John

John O'Rourke is the technical director of growing Burnley-based software developer, Get John.

Below, John, who took part in Two Zero’s Scaleup Leaders Network programme shares insights and tips from his experience scaling a business.

What is the most important quality of a scaleup business leader and why?

Can I have two? Acceptance and desire. Acceptance means being able to accept where you and others are at right now – showing kindness to yourself and others, instead of frustration at something being missing. Desire is a deep need to see positive change, which is present no matter what mood you’re in or what uncertainty you’re dealing with. People normally think of resilience as a stony-faced emotionless state, but it’s actually to always have acceptance and desire despite our emotions.

How have you grown and developed as a scaleup leader?

I’ve learned that most of what holds a business back is mental – when limited by the owners’ capacity, in time or headspace, a service business is limited to £1-4m in sales, because there’s only so much energy one person can give. The way through that limit is in taking the owners out of the day to day running, leaving it to standard processes and capable staff. The Scaleup Leaders Network taught us about the importance of culture, how to find efficiency, and much more – it was a really effective catalyst for deeper learning.

How do you inspire and empower your people?

How do I inspire? Let’s for a moment assume that I do! I try to understand someone’s way of working and their learning style – in the world of disability support, there’s a term 'person-centred care', meaning you can’t have a universal method for helping individuals. If we apply that to everyone, able or otherwise, it means people will feel valued, seen, and safe to take risks.

What is the best piece of business advice you have received and why?

'Business is simple, until we complicate it!' - from my coach for many years, Rob Bickerton, who is always reminding me to keep it simple. This exactly matches our vision – 'to help buyers and sellers communicate effectively'.

What is the biggest lesson you have learned on your business journey, and how has this impacted you?

I should try not to be the cleverest person in the room – you know the old saying - if you are, then move rooms. I’m a lifelong learner, always open to changing the way I think. The biggest lesson has been that it’s all very well learning something academically – but we are emotional beings. Until you can accept yourself and your place in the world, it’s difficult to internalise new ways of thinking and being, because our old emotions, beliefs and habits try to block out the changes we want to make.

What scaleup business do you admire the most and why?

Few people know this but I keep a collection of 'invoice number 1s' – people going freelance where I was their first customer. In 2014, a startup called Artclub Creative sent me their first invoice. Since then, the two guys behind it each have their own growing Lancashire businesses – Matt Brunton’s Studio Spielen, providing brand design for the sports industry, and Joe Clegg’s Artclub, providing creative services to the music industry. Watching their journeys from solo operator to pulling together teams of contractors for projects is a real pleasure.

What key metrics do you look at everyday in your business?

Predicted profit and loss for the month, aged debtors, open support tickets, and how much work is scheduled for the team. No matter how amazing your mission statement, social media game, or community outreach is, cash is the oil that keeps the engine running, and 'work in progress' is a measure of how efficiently you’re serving clients.

What is the legacy you want to create?

I want to see a world where people can communicate more easily, in the style they prefer. This plays into our products – we help buyers and sellers communicate by automating the purchase order process, into our team – we try to have person-centred ways of learning, working and communicating, and trying to teach, communicate and work in a way that works for them.

What books would you recommend to a startup wanting to scale?

For moving from solo creative 'doer' to having a team, Michael Gerber’s e-Myth Revisited is superb. For trying to develop a product, the 'minimum viable product' described in Eric Ries’ The Lean Startup is well worth reading. For growing from leading a small team to a bigger business, two books - Marshall Goldsmith’s What Got you Here Won’t Get You There, and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic’s Why Do So Many Incompetent Men become Leaders? is one of the best leadership books I ever read.