Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Gareth Lock, Founder of The Human Diver, located in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, UK.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
My business is about developing high-performance teams by taking the knowledge and practice that makes aviation safe and applying it to other areas. My customers are normally SCUBA divers who explore caves and shipwrecks or who instruct other divers - on places and situations where there are greater risks in diving.
Tell us about yourself
I started diving in 1999, didn't dive for another 5.5 years, and had a close call while on a trip with work. I recognised that there wasn't the same attitude to learning from near misses and incidents in diving as there was in aviation, which was my current profession at the time. Having left the Royal Air Force after 25.5 years in 2015, I set up my own business to teach in high-risk industries, starting in oil & gas, but also healthcare and software teams, before focusing on divers in Jan 2016 when I set up The Human Diver.
My motivation is seeing people have a lightbulb moment when it comes to an understanding how incidents and accidents have happened as the convergence of multiple factors and not just a simple root cause, and that through the training and education I deliver, with the other instructors I have developed, that their diving will be safer.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Producing this documentary. The reason is that I was able to tell a very powerful story that has changed the lives of many divers out there.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Balancing time. I have a wife and a 13-year-old son. I am still the focal point for the business which means that I am travelling a fair amount. I would like to spend more time at home, and hopefully, with the creation of four more instructors this year; I can do it.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Understand that you are not your client: my clients do not think the way I do. I have to change my message to meet their actual needs, not the needs I think they need. You have to meet them where they are.
- Do not fear failure. Create an environment where you can fail safely, so when things DO go wrong, nothing is catastrophic.
- Be vulnerable and build psychological safety in your team. You WILL not have all the answers; together, you might. That means listening to what they say and doing something with it. Without psychological safety, your team will not grow.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.thehumandiver.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gareth.lock.5
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehumandiver/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HumaninSystem
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garethlock/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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