"Avoid the paradox of practice. Always practice what you preach, become the embodiment of virtues that you want to see in your managers."
Simon Brisk
Meet Simon Brisk. A humble and hands-on leader who is comfortable presenting to clients and willing to support innovative work ideas. High-integrity, energetic leader known for delivering proven results and creating successful outcomes that drive organizations forward. A career built using strategic information to introduce effective marketing solutions. Diverse industry and functional expertise, with a tenacious commitment to driving innovation, and high-quality growth to meet organizational goals.
Let’s learn a little about you and really get to experience what makes us tick – starting at our beginnings. Where did your story begin?
Simon Brisk: The Way to Get Started is to Quit Talking and Begin Doing.
Back in 2013, I had a job as an SEO specialist with years of digital marketing experience. One day I woke and realized that my job did not give me freedom, no matter how hard I push. And thought, “I need to invest in myself and do something of my own.” Marketing was my forte, so a marketing business was the most viable option.
I shared the idea with a friend who agreed to co-found Click Intelligence with me. The marketing industry was crowded with well-established companies, and new ones opened every day. But we seemed to have forgotten that fact over our excitement about the future.
I believe, if we had thought about the idea for a few more days with clear heads, I wouldn’t be writing this story. Our rationale would have certainly prevailed. Eight years in, Click Intelligence has offices in the UK and the US employing over two dozen people.
Was there somebody in your life that inspired you to take that specific journey with your business?
Simon Brisk: I am thankful to my friend and co-founder – James Owen – for always being on my side. He was the one who came up with the idea and has shown unwavering commitment ever since.
What are the most common mistakes you see entrepreneurs make and what would you suggest they do?
Simon Brisk: Eyes on the finances.
Cash flow is like blood to a body or fuel to an aircraft. The system is bound to crash without adequate cash flows. Therefore, tracking the cash reserves is extremely important for business survival. Business owners don’t keep contingent reserves because “things look good”. And all of a sudden a revenue drought hits, leaving heaps of unpaid bills, salaries, and other operating expenses.
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Has the pandemic and transitioning into mostly online shopping affected your company positively or negatively?
Simon Brisk: The lockdown in 2020 was a novel experience for my business. We had to shift our entire workforce online. With offices in the US and the UK, communication was extremely hard due to the time differences. There was a sharp decline in our revenues from small businesses as their focus turned from growth to survival. Most of our revenue came from bigger firms particularly those related to medicine and e-commerce.
However, by late 2020 a lot of new SMEs emerged and the demand for our services rocketed to a point we had to make new recruitments. The majority of them were online startups that wanted increased visibility online.
In your opinion, what makes your company stand out from the competition?
Simon Brisk: We love innovation!
I encourage my employees to come up with innovative ways of doing the traditional work. Over the years, we have gradually worked towards integrating digital marketing with on-site marketing. This defies the conventional norms of marketing. However, we expect to see this kind of strategy rise in the future.
Delegating is part of being a great leader, but what have you found helpful to get your managers to become valiant leaders as well?
Simon Brisk: Model the way.
Avoid the paradox of practice. Always practice what you preach, become the embodiment of virtues that you want to see in your managers. If I want my management team to take responsibility and not play the ‘blame game’, I first set an example by taking responsibility for a failure instead of mindlessly blaming my subordinates. This will inspire my management to be empathetic and responsible.
Become an enabler- Enable others to act towards a common goal. Encourage collaboration through collective thinking and delegate to strengthen the management’s skills and competence. Leadership is honed with a continuous effort, so give responsibilities, believe in others, and keep investing in the training of your management.
How do you monitor if the people in your department are performing at their best?
Simon Brisk: Most of our project assignments are based on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and other marketing-related tasks. These campaigns go on for weeks and months and may take even longer for results to show up. Therefore, the delivery time of results is the KPI I frequently use to gauge and compare team performances.
The team that achieves its objectives organically and in the shortest period is considered the highest performing. However, the accomplishment time may vary due to the complexities involved in a project. Therefore, teams are compared after accounting for the difference in their assigned tasks.
What advice would you give to our younger readers that want to become entrepreneurs?
Simon Brisk: You can find tons of advice in books and online, but here’s a one-liner that did wonders for me: Listen to your head but follow the heart!
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What’s your favorite “life lesson” quote and how has it affected your life?
Simon Brisk: “The Way to Get Started is to Quit Talking and Begin Doing”
I have mentioned this on several occasions. This quote by Walt Disney is what changed my life. Reading these words was a pivot point for me. It helped me defeat years of procrastination and start my own business.
This interview was originally published on ValiantCEO.
