KEY POINTS:
Graeme Beals is not Gen Y, he does not live in Auckland and asks nothing more of others than he expects from himself. At 53 years, with three grown up children, he is currently working on some of his best and most exciting ideas.
He has just returned from the Frankfurt Book Fair (the world's largest) where he and his wife Jane create opportunities for Kiwi authors.
I caught up with him just before he left and tried to understand what makes him tick and what drives him to leave Taranaki on a very regular basis to visit the big city.
Graeme's Life
My companies:
Jane and I own Zenith Publishing Group Ltd which contains:
* Publishme.co.nz (a fast growing assisted self-publishing option which has attracted over 2000 members in its first year of operation),
* Curriculum Concepts (an educational publishing arm) and
* Zenith Print (a sizable specialist digital book-print operation).
* I also run our finance company; Aspire Finance Ltd (thankfully we only loaned - never borrowed)
* I work in The Healthy Thinking Institute Ltd in which we have a shareholding.
* It sounds like a strange mix but there are many synergies.
My interests:
* I'm really interested in the interplay between mind, body and spirit and the power of the mind to turn paradise to hell, or vice versa. As part of that I feel very connected to nature and spend a lot of time walking in bush or by the sea and rivers, growing things and just dreaming outdoors.
* As a publisher, of course I also do a lot of reading, in matters related to business, politics and people's interconnectedness with the physical and the less obvious. As a scientist and educator I also read a lot in these areas, though I am a major science skeptic in many ways these days. So much science proves nothing more than the narrowness of the researcher's mindset or the perversity created by science funding systems.
* I also celebrate the roles the various arts play in enriching us spiritually/creatively and the opportunity to travel and share in the rich cultural diversity within and beyond New Zealand. My family is the hub from which these explorations radiate.
The roles that I play:
* I am dad to three great kids - the eldest girl Emma (27), a communications manager to the Chief Executive of the Lambeth City Council in London, my son Hadleigh (25) Associate Director at UBS bank in Auckland working in mergers and acquisitions, and my youngest daughter Bridget (22) one of the few girls on the trading floor at Westpac in Wellington, spearheading Commodities and Carbon Trading.
* I'm of the age where ailing parents take a lot of time too - a time to give a little back. I visit daily over lunchtime and I cook the evening meals so Jane can visit over tea time. It's all highly choreographed, but it works.
* I'm on the Taranaki Arts Community Trust running the TArt Gallery for the development of Taranaki's visual artists and Limelight for our performing artists.
Recent accomplishments you are proud of:
* I'm pleased that we have started publishme.co.nz to give New Zealand authors their voice back as the publishing world is transformed to the detriment of their traditional pathways, and I feel that we are well placed to bring them unique value from being their own publishers.
* I'm delighted my kids are off the payroll and into exciting avenues of endeavour that will open up great opportunities for them to add value to the world too, and that after 33 years married (I was 20 - Jane 19) we still have a great relationship that allows each of us to grow as people without shading one another.
* As General Manager of Distance Learning and IT at Practical Education Training Centre Ltd (one of NZ's largest PTE's) I set up a distance education model for their 4000 students (75% Maori, 75% women at home - often on DPB) which dramatically altered engagement and pass rates such that it became the model the Government has put in place for all funded distance education in NZ now.
Did you celebrate them? And how?
Yes, we celebrate success with a special morning tea each month where certificates and awards are handed out by us, and the staff can make awards too. For big achievement goals we take the gang out to dinner or put on a shout.
I am busy at the moment doing:
* Tweeking the website (as you do)
* Follow up from our stand at the Frankfurt Bookfair.
* Development of the Healthy Thinking courses & formation of the Foundation.
* Overseeing the finance company.
My big hairy audacious goal this year is to:
* Have 5000 publishme.co.nz members by Christmas.
* Attract $1m into the Healthy Thinking Foundation
I knew I was onto something when:
I did the Icehouse owner managers long course at Auckland Uni last year and for the first time in nearly 20 years in business, was able to stand back and have a protracted look at our businesses, what was in them that was good/bad/developable, where they were going, where they could go and what a model for an ideal business could be.
I was armed with that info as we designed and built publishme.co.nz and it made me see the opportunity in The Healthy Thinking Institute Ltd clearly, so I bought in.
My secret for getting things done is to:
I'm a random, creative type person who likes chaos and change. I learnt at the Icehouse that I need a strong team of great people around me who dot i's, cross t's and develop strong systems to enact what I vision. I need to convey the vision really well, then keep out of the day to day stuff, to ensure that the actual customer focused operation IS focused and reliable through its systematic predictability. I also need space for the reading, visioning and planning, but I can be involved with a number of operations because I'm not so hands-on. When there is a need in any of the companies I will take on a fixed role for a fixed period to achieve an agreed outcome, and then draw back again. We have that working in each of the companies now and it runs well.
My darkest hour was when:
General publishing hit the wall almost overnight a few years ago. The change came as a wave as Amazon and the like penetrated our borders taking bookstore market-share, bookstores formed chains and began buying overseas to get better margins, and international publishers who used to republish New Zealand titles came under similar pressure and cut back, leaving New Zealand publishers with little access to NZ bookstores or overseas markets.
We hemorrhaged cash, and eventually had to lay off good staff, cut way back and create a new way forward - an online aggregator. It met both our needs and the needs of NZ authors who were also suddenly missing out in this change.
I came through it by:
We had to sell a few properties and bring the cash back into the business as well as cut back on the cost lines, but for three years we got no income from publishing at all and were reliant on our finance company and property income for personal cashflow.
I came up with the idea for/to:
* Start an online model- as it seemed obvious to me at the time that if publishing was dead or dying because they couldn't sell enough books or had to give away more margin than they could afford to, NZ authors couldn't get published, and the public was increasingly being offered international titles in bookstores, that they were going to still want NZ material.
* I looked at what other creatives were doing - musicians were delivering direct to the customer online as were film-makers increasingly and I realized that these two markets had just beaten books to that point because they were largely the preserve of the young and tech-savy screenagers, but as the older book readers caught up technologically, they would also want the same.
* I gave it a lot of thought and decided that if we could offer the author effectively an entire small publishing house - i.e. all the help with preparation, marketing, sales and accounting that they would need, then we could disintermediate the publisher.
* The author would make the same or more from fewer sales, and we'd do well charging very small amounts for making it all happen for them.
* Also, if we could aggregate enough NZ writers into the one spot, as TradeMe did with goods-traders, then the economies of scale would benefit all - print would be cheaper and a customer brought to the shop by one writer would see the books of another and so forth.
How old were you when you first had the idea?
53 years
How many businesses have you tried before this one?
Quite a few. I have started quite a number including a weekly newspaper, and put some profitable ones to bed because they weren't profitable enough. I was in an educational software company that developed the economics program for schools with Dr Alan Bollard - Treasurer of the Reserve Bank - and Photographer software for Kodak. I sold the software in USA but the prices plummeted and it wasn't economic. Later I entered a VC IT incubator in Wellington doing English as a Second Language software, but it crashed when the NASDAQ went down and all VC vapourised. So I've had some fun along the way without doubt. You've got to try a lot of things I think.
What do you do to cope with stress?
I don't get stressed at all so I don't have to cope with it as such. I have used positive thinking techniques for many years such that I am pretty much able to wipe away most emotional upsets leaving little more of a trail than a bird flying across the sky. I still feel, but I choose thoughts that do not lead to emotional stress.
How many hours do you work each week?
Normally 8.30am-5 pm five days and no more except if I am traveling or have an evening meeting for some reason. I do read magazines and the internet at night though and prefer watching TED.com and the like rather than most standard tv programmes if I am drawn to watch tv. Most nights the tv stays off after the news.
What do you do when things aren't going your way?
* As part of the healthy way of thinking, I will have first programmed my brain's expectation centre with words like prefer and rather than must and should, so that I'm little damaged by such things which are, after all, a regular part of life. You're setting yourself up for constant falls if you hold too tightly to targets, as in this sort of exciting business environment, there will be plenty.
* Usually I try to jump over to the other person's side (by thinking or talking to those who are there - customers or whoever) and try to see it from their viewpoint. That often changes your approach to something more successful.
* But we always take the longterm view. There's no point in poisoning the water to catch animals. You'll catch yourself at some point.
What is the most important piece of advice you'd give to people who are struggling to create a positive change in their lives?
* Learn to think effectively. We get letters from all over the world from people who's lives have been changed - in some cases saved - by learning to think in a healthy way. These simple techniques to gain control of their thoughts, and thereby, of their emotions.
* Other than that, I'd also add two other things that serve me well time and again;
* doing what you always do will get you what you always got, and
* when everyone else is turning right, take a good hard look at what's happening going left. That's often where opportunity lies.
What is the hardest lesson you've had to learn in life/business?
* In life - that no matter how good or deserving you are, when it's your turn to go, it's your turn to go. Life's not 'fair', so live it fully while you can and be thankful every day for the fact that you can.
* In business - it is all founded on trust unless you are large enough or concerned enough to back up your contracts with litigation. Thankfully, most can be trusted and doing business with them is a pleasure. However, some people can't be. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. If the person who is offering you the deal is telling you about a sneaky way they make money, then expect to be shafted. I value integrity, expect it in my business associates and staff, and like to be able to rely on it. If you deal with people of integrity, contracts are effectively just a way of expressing the shared terms of agreement or vision.
What separates successful people from unsuccessful people?
I think you have to love business to be good at business, but I think the real separators are clarity of thought, ability to retain focus over time, empathy and responsiveness.
Do you have any daily rituals that help you keep focused and in the right mental state to succeed?
Yes, I have moments throughout the day that I treasure - the first coffee (of two), or emptying the morning's inbox for example - and I take the time to notice those things and be grateful for them. I have them all through each day, so that there is stability within change, and so that I can take many small moments to feel good as I go along. It doesn't matter what they are really. Just the act of feeling grateful on a regular basis is hugely uplifting and raises the spirits enormously.
What was your working background before you started what you are doing now?
I was high schooled in Te Kuiti then South Auckland, getting asked to leave at 6th form. I tried a few things and through a set of circumstances ended up as acting General manager of the Mandalay Reception Lounge in Newmarket for 3 months at 18. I was offered the role permanently, but decided to get a qualification. I applied for teaching and went to Palmerston North. I always expected to get back out of teaching, but stayed in it for 17 years as I kept getting thrown new challenges including a rural school lifestyle, principalship, science advising, science lecturing at Massey, and running a regional Teachers Centre. When Tomorrow's Schools came in I realized that teachers wouldn't want the resources they had been given by the old boards if they held the purse strings. So I left and started publishing from home, seeing the children to school and home again, while my wife went back teaching part time to support us. It just grew from there.
Do you have any school/study qualifications?
B ED (Hons), TTC, Dip Ed
Do you have any other business interests at the moment?
Working on setting up an informal Taranaki Internet Entrepreneurs network (Crazy TIE)- maybe leading in time to an incubator here. Being Taranaki we'll do it a bit differently - include high school kids and capitalists etc.
What are the three most important personal qualities you've had to develop to become a successful business person?
* Total integrity (like pregnancy, you can't be a little bit integritous).
* The ability to interrelate ideas from different settings.
* An adventurous spirit.
What are the three most important skills that you would advise up and coming youngsters to develop?
* Listening
* Noticing - being present
* Wondering - how, why and what particularly
How do you know when you've found a good idea?
* I just know in my inner self. I trust my intuition. I sleep on it and if it still seems a great idea, I'll go with it.
* I am more able these days to take note of the inner warning voice. "Do you REALLY want to get tied up for two or three years doing this?'
* I've got tons of ideas that I've reserved for another lifetime or that I occasionally give away to the right person.
Do you have a formal goal setting process?
Yes.
Have you ever been scared in your role/business? What did you do about it?
Not really
What comes first...success or confidence?
I was confident as a teenager, so I can't say. For me it was confidence.
How do you build confidence if you're not a confident person?
Lack of confidence, luckily, is a state not a trait and you can change it. Usually it is brought on because you are a bit of a doom merchant and a fortune teller combined - i.e. you always think of the worst that might happen and then you predict it probably will and tell yourself that you shouldn't try for this reason.
The Parting Shot: When I feel frustrated that things are not coming together as I wish, I proceed to:
Analyse, empathise and reformulate.
Dwayne Alexander, our goal guru is founder of LiveMyGoals, the social network for goalgetters.
