Ben Fletcher is the founder of The Mothership a consumer branding growth company. He successfully raised $22 million in 2 years and achieved £10 million in revenue.
Today, we’re going back. Way back! To 1999.
Ben was the founder of his first company which had been growing rapidly over 5 years.
The focus was on event management. But, they had their fingers in many pots — which resulted in chaos often.
And the catalyst of this particular event? A virtual recruitment fair.
As this was 1999, it wasn’t quite as easy as webinars are today.
Ben spent weeks planning the event. Dedicating every free minute to organisation.
He’d got a group of blue-chip recruiters on board and marketed it as much as possible. It all seemed very exciting. And the recruiters were hopeful for the event.
But again, this was 1999. Few people were on the internet. And far less looking for jobs there.
The expectations were high. And the delivery was low.
Suddenly, Ben was dealing with pressure from recruiters who had a bad experience.
And to rub salt into the wounds even more, some were angry.
Dealing with the Pressure and Uncertainty
Unsure what might happen if they wanted to take things further, Ben contacted his Dad who was a lawyer. He connected him with a consultant who could offer some legal advice on this situation.
But instead, he got a pitch that left him paralysed in fear — were the recruiters going to threaten a lawsuit?
If they did, the business would sink.
The uncertainty of it all cut deep. So much so, he couldn’t possibly tell his team and co-founders. Who were out celebrating the business’s success after their best month yet.
Would they be sympathetic to the situation?
Or would they blame him for potentially killing the business?
In this episode, Ben discusses,
- What happened when he finally did talk
- The impact the situation had on him
- 4 steps to solving a problem actively
The story that Ben tells us is one that I run into often on the podcast — dealing with uncertainty.
His resolution is one that’s helped him to take a step back when making decisions after this moment. Although, not quite as dramatic as the story that he tells today!