Someone asked me a question today about PRPR growing its revenue. It got me thinking. While of course one of our goals is to get more clients on board, is this how I want to measure my success running PRPR?
So, I jotted a few things down on paper (yes, I still use a pen and paper quite a bit, and I read books rather than use a kindle!), in rough order of what is most important to me.
Having a team that enjoys work. It is important to work in an environment where everyone has a voice and decisions are made with their well-being in mind. The team needs to feel supported and empowered. And yes, if even the best paying client was abusive to any of the PRPR team, we would terminate the contract and have done so. Over the years we have mainly had the loveliest clients. In fact, the cyber security industry is jam-packed with fantastic people. So, life is too short to work with people who are ‘not nice’, regardless of what that does to revenue.
Being (genuinely) ethical. Working within the cyber security industry, ethics is something that is talked about a lot. Afterall, you need to be able to trust the people involved in your cyber security! I could write a lengthy description of what ethics are and what they mean to us as a PR company, but essentially, it is about honesty and integrity. It is about ensuring you are doing the right thing regardless of whether it is the most beneficial decision for the company. Ethics is far more than saying you are ethical; it needs to be demonstrated in everything you do.
Growing the team. This of course means we need to increase revenue and hopefully will also mean a growth in profit, but the key thing is that I love the fact that PRPR has a great track record in employing recent graduates and helping them thrive. The first of these was me. And as the very old advert said, “I liked it so much I bought the company”. The next was Sam who now lives in Australia and still works happily in PR, and of course, currently Rachel and Sarah.
Being kind. Kindness is such an underrated virtue in business. In the past I have been accused of being a bit of a pushover. We have, and always will, go over and above for all our clients. We work for companies we care about in an industry we care about. We often work with cyber security companies who are just starting out and who often have a limited budget. We also provide 40 days a year free work for industry CICs and charities such as STEM Ambassadors and Neurocyber.
Put simply, we want to help. Of course, it is not completely altruistic. Working with startups and SMEs is incredibly rewarding. Seeing the difference a little targeted PR and marketing communications can make for them and watching them grow is fantastic. But also, more often than not they will continue working with us as they grow, which is great. This loyalty we have been lucky to have with so many clients is not just because we have been kind though, it is also a reflection of the results we have got and that we have helped achieve their objectives.
It is all about priorities. Running a business with a main objective of revenue growth seems wrong to me. It is an objective but not THE objective.
So, while on occasion the way we work means we are faced with people who do not have the same ethics as us, I would rather continue to operate the way we do. It is better to occasionally make a little less money than to not offer help and support to the industry or to have a team that is stressed and unhappy.
When I hand over the reins to PRPR one day, hopefully to people on the team, I want people to look back and say, Allie was honest, kind and great to work for.
