Thursdays with Paul

Routine and moderation = productivity

Introduction

The business activities of Projects RH (www.projectsrh.com.au) and Tabatinga (www.tabatingasg.com) are anything but routine as we are engaged in corporate advice and in the case of Tabatinga with a clear focus on renewable energy internationally. We are currently working with 3 companies who are preparing for IPO’s in Australia and one in Singapore over the next 18 months. Our lives are peppered with business opportunities from Brazil to Cyprus on a daily basis. We in turn need to speak to people in the UK, US, Canada and Europe too. All sounds exciting until you live it.

We need all develop our own coping mechanisms which for me include exercise, meditation, diet and giving thanks.

New Business Model

In 2018 it became clear I needed to look for a new business model. I was considering undertaking an adjunct career as a company director. In the mid-tier listed and large private company sector many directors have effectively have both a director role and are specialist part-time employees where they consult 8 – 15 hours a week for three companies in different sectors and do some ad hoc independent consulting. Such directors do not necessarily aspire to be on the boards of the ASX 200 and are happy not to have the associated publicity. They can see the value they are creating and can have significant impact on the management of the companies are associated with. There is generally flexibility in what they do. About 3 years ago I had been asked to undertake such a role for a client but refused as it was inconsistent with our prevailing business model.

Why Change

Having decided it was time to move to a new business model, I first sought the advice of long-time friend who said it is a process and you need change your mind-set. I then decided I needed a program / course / coach. I found and commenced the Director Institute Program offered by Kyle Hammond. It was clear that this needed to be worked into my program and it need at least ½ a day a week. It needed to be during business hours because that was when the people I needed to reach out to where available. This was going to be a long-term commitment – well at least 12 months. It has proved to be of value as I now periodically review what I am doing and why.

I needed to build by own “eco-system” without being pretentious about it. I needed someone to be accountable to and be a coach, good staff and others to delegate to, bookkeeper, serviced offices, adjunct team and manage my time. Carmenza understands our mission and works very hard so I have the time to do my jobs – she supports “Thursdays with Paul”. Effectively we are accountable to each other. I need ensure that the business model is working and we both appreciate that it will need to be redefined as the global and economies change.

We have changed the focus of Tabatinga. Initially I believed that it could and should do the same things as Projects RH. Carmenza has convinced me that it needs to be focused into specifically the renewable energy sector. This was a wise move as it is a growing sector and we can focus on expertise on this. In turn it has not stopped mining or energy people calling and asking for our involvement. (We continue to work towards an international mining listing on the SGX.) Tabatinga is also rebuilding its presence in Colombia and building a presence across Latin America for having this expertise. Tabatinga, in Colombia, is currently focused on solar and wind energy. As with so many parts of the world Colombia are having to address its sources of energy as the demand accelerates. The electorate also wants cheap green energy – like so many other parts of the world.

Our Colombian team happened to have expertise in electricity and marketing. This shift played to their strength.

We were fortunate when we recruited in Sydney, we gained a staff member who had been in marketing in Argentina for about 10 years and a USA educated engineer with a Spanish MBA to join our team in Sydney.

In Sydney we have a wide area of interest we are working on 3 local IPOs over the next IPO. They are in different sectors and we have a more general consulting business which looks at assisting companies with financing issues.  We have spent a lot of time understanding what we are and what we are not. We are not a lender nor do we issue or underwrite. Knowing this gives us focus and freedom.

Paul’s Freedom

It was also clear to me when I am in our small CBD office if clients, co-workers, associates call or visit I need to be available. Blocking time out in my diary was not working. I looked at my diary and said I need be in the office the first and last working day of the week. My meditation class and professional training/networking activities then to be Monday to Wednesday’s nights. We have finance and team meeting on Friday to come back for the new week.

Kyle Hammond and Tom Ferris make it clear you do need to block out some time to do what you need to do. I have accepted Kyle’s first principle – my time has a price and I need to delegate some things even if they cost. Time has a price but it is different to model in the 2011 movie “In Time”. We now have bathroom and kitchen cleaners on Tuesdays. We have a bookkeeper and use external IT and social media consultants. Whilst we live close to the CBD the work routine is 40 minutes in the morning and about 30 minutes at night. Thursdays with Paul saves an hour. I tend to work 8:00 am to 7:00 pm so it is a good day. Yes, there are some interruptions – but nowhere near the normal day. Today I have a mentor visiting from Melbourne so we are having dinner at 7:30 pm. I see this as a bonus. Like most things it how you see it.

How it happened

In March 2013 I had met and later married Carmenza. Carmenza Hoyos Llano a Colombian engineer and fashion designer had come into my life in Brisbane and changed it for ever. Carmenza is a lover of the big picture, technology and a marketer at heart but her soul is only happy if it is organised, with time and other resources are allocated to the right tasks. Her confidence is infectious and life at work and at home is organised but if the need arises there is flexibility.

Carmenza and I have formed a great business partnership she runs the business operations (media, office …) – the “big picture” and I am the business lead to the world and do the client work – prepare and deliver the proposals (“the details”) and documents such as Information Memoranda. In Projects RH and Tabatinga our business is “chunky” it is generally a services agreement which runs a year or more. We consider it important that the people you see will be the people who do the work on your project. On a number of proposals, we have felt our pitch would be better if our skill base was supplemented. If that is the case the client needs meet this person as part of the pitch.

The Template

Fundamentally, I needed a default regime, the template of my day or week, with flexibility and this needed to be communicated to those who matter.

My default weekday regime is up at 5:00 am and off to the local gym (it is functional but nice). Home by 7:00 am and out the door at 7:45 am. We are in the office about 8:30 am with coffee and the Australian Financial Review. I do have the same breakfast and similar lunch each weekday.

Saturday’s is Carmenza’s house day. Up and out by 9:00 am. Shopping, gym and lunch with our son Christian. We go home with the shopping and I go to meditation – magically the house changes and the washing is done!!! We go to Church and have a light dinner we may or may not see friends.

Sunday is our day gym, washing and development work. We do go out for a few hours.

Having laid the foundations, we then had to accept variation. We need travel a lot to meet clients and their investors. We generally to the same cities – Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth in Australia and Singapore, Hong Kong, Cali and Bogota in Colombia, London and New York / Miami. The key is we take our routine with us and move to the time zone. We do try to stay at the same places or nearby – we go to the same gyms and eat mostly the same things. In the airport lounges and on the long-haul flights we each have a routine and we don’t sit together – we both get an aisle seat. We try to arrive low key, have some exercise, a lite meal and get bed sleep. In the morning into the routine.

We do need to manage – balance distractions such as email, phones and social media. Yes, we need be client driven and service the clients but have the time to do so professionally.

The Theory Meets Reality

We need to have a healthy balance between marketing (especially social media), seeking new clients and serving existing clients. There are some clear inconsistencies between the themes of “In Search of Excellence”, Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and Tim Ferris’s “The 4-hour Work Week”. I believe what I need to do is “cherry pick” the ideas for each situation and keep the other tools in the briefcase for when they are needed.

An example of this is: Carmenza is planning a six week visit to Colombia to lead on a solar power business opportunity which needs to be hands on. She will work with our local Tabatinga team but bring with her the experience of what we are doing and seeing in Asia and especially Australia. Whilst she has a mini-break from the day-to-day business I will need to be more hands-on. Later in the year I will be joining one of our clients to do road shows in Melbourne, Singapore, Hong Kong, London and Miami 3 crazy weeks which will challenge my routine.

After this period, I know I will need to return to my routine. I will need to especially get back to my goal weight and re-comment with family, friends, clients and my corporate network before Australia’s financial markets effective close from mid-December until after Australia Day.

Conclusion

To work effectively in the long term, we need to have positive energy or strive to be happy.

My mediation teachers talk of “acceptance”, “karma” and “dealing with life on life’s terms”. I guess that having the default routine including mediation allows me to do that a little easier.

Well back to the routine … next Wednesday is a training day followed by Thursday in Brisbane … with flexibility.

Paul Raftery