What May learned from Amayzine
There are people who prominently display the fact that they have a business, even if it’s not a two-thousand-employee multinational. I don’t feel in a position to boast about management tricks; on the contrary. Who am I to measure myself against real entrepreneurs in that regard? But now that we are celebrating our five-year anniversary, there are indeed lessons learned. Big and small matters, and I share the most notable ones with you.
1. Don’t buy a receipt holder
One of the first achievements of Jet and me at Amayzine was a trip on the Vespa to Gebroeders Winter, a well-known name in Amsterdam when it comes to office supplies. We bought all sorts of things, but we were particularly pleased with the receipt holder. It was so handy. This way, we didn’t lose the receipts and could give them to our accountant once a month.
The holder got a prominent spot on our desk. But what turned out? Receipts that you are going to declare must be intact and as pristine as possible. I still have it, that holder. It’s going in the museum.
2. Don’t buy letterhead
It depends on your industry and your business, but if you’re going to start an online magazine, you can safely assume that not many letters will go out. Invoices are sent digitally, contracts too. If you do send something by post, it’s something nice. So fun cards for thoughtful purposes; yes, boring letterhead with logos and Chamber of Commerce numbers…not necessarily a priority.
3. Cherish criticism
A thousand nice things can be said, but that one critical and less enthusiastic message keeps gnawing at you. When you wake up, you think about it. I know which articles cause discussion on Facebook, and sometimes I decide not to read the comments, but then I can’t help myself and I’m all in. Sometimes people have their opinions ready while they haven’t even read my actual article, but still, still. Criticism ultimately makes me think. No matter how stupid, annoying, and irritating I may find it, I almost always learn something from it.
4. Engage in conversation
If someone completely disagrees with me, I seek dialogue. Not on Facebook where everyone can watch. That feels to me like the schoolyard where two boys are having a fight with a group of excited types behind each of them with clenched fists. They don’t want you to make up; they want a fight. Step out of the arena, argue your case, and be open to the other. Try to see it from the other’s perspective, and usually, you find each other, and that gnawing sh*t feeling suddenly disappears.
5. Calling is better than emailing
Especially when a conflict is looming. If you start emailing back and forth with arguments, you can bet it will end in a quarrel. Or at the very least, in an awkward situation. You interpret the other person’s words differently than they intended, and vice versa. You read the annoying email aloud to your colleagues, they say ‘tsss’ and ‘ridiculous’ along with you and help you formulate some spicy sentences. Then you find yourselves incredibly witty and proud and hit ‘send’. There. Here. Take that. On the other side of the email, the same recipe repeats itself. There, sleeves are rolled up and pens are dipped in acid. As nice as such correspondence can sometimes be, you don’t reach a solution. Pick up the phone, call directly, explain what you mean and what you want, try to put yourself in the other’s shoes, and especially channel that you both hang up in harmony. I almost always succeed at that.
6. Make it small and throw it away
Something unpleasant, no matter how trivial, can stay with you all day. I try to articulate what it is that gives me an unpleasant feeling. I talk about it, write it down, and then think of the words of my former art director B. ‘Make it small and throw it away.’ Sometimes I even do it physically. I write it down, crumple that paper into a ball, and whoosh, into the trash with it. Or even better: I borrow a lighter from my neighbor and set it on fire. It works.
7. Enjoy
The nice people around you, your freedom, the fact that you can do things without having to get fourteen stamps at seven counters. That you can drink champagne at lunch if you want, that you have nice Urban Nature Culture tableware in the office kitchen, that you have six types of milk in the fridge, just because you and everyone who works with you want that.
Amen.
