How to productively build and be purposeful with Asad Hamir Co-Founder of Klyk & Co-Founder of Ocushield

10/08/24 • 33 min

It’s challenging enough to be productive while building one company. However, productively building multiple ventures at once requires incredible focus & purpose. So, I wanted to hear from someone who has achieved this alongside several investor, advisor & board positions all while keeping purpose at the heart of every endeavour.

Asad Hamir is the Co-Founder of Klyk, the sustainable IT company helping businesses tackle e-waste & reduce their carbon footprint. Alongside Klyk, Asad is also a Co-Founder of Ocushield, a clinician-led eye healthcare company. In addition to both his Co-Founder roles, Asad serves as a Non-Executive Director & investor in several tech & healthcare companies.

Keep listening to hear Asad’s advice on how to scale without losing productivity or purpose plus how to make your calendar work for you and not the other way round.

Asad’s advice:

Any previous enterprises will have been valuable experience & will teach you what not to do
At the start of the week, agree weekly objectives / at the start of the day, define what needs doing
Allow time each day for checking emails, don’t leave them till the end of the day
Leave space for you to react to clients’ needs if necessary
Initially you will be fire-fighting on every front; aim to get to a place where you can look at the big picture as well as the immediate problems
Celebrate both the big and the small wins - and keep your eye on both
Try using Calendly - but protect your time
Set boundaries for yourself and make sure your team understands those boundaries
Parcel the week up, eg. meetings on Mondays, and maybe a certain day each week to concentrate on something different
Focus is key; concentrate on one business at a time
Draw a line at a certain time and finish your day
Pay attention to your health / fitness / diet and you will be more energised
Be open with your team and allow them to share your vision and plans
B.Corp is a big help both guiding people inside the business and attracting people from outside who will want to work with you
Write your own job description

FF&M recommends:

LastPass the password-keeping site that syncs between devices.
Google Workspace is brilliant for small businesses
Buzzsprout podcast 'how to' & hosting directory
Canva has proved invaluable for creating all the social media assets and audio bites.

FF&M enables you to own your own PR. Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2023 MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason. Email us at [email protected] or DM us on instagram @fallowfieldmason.

MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Link & Licence

Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail

Support the show

Keep listening to hear Asad’s advice on how to scale without losing productivity or purpose plus how to make your calendar work for you and not the other way round.

Asad’s advice:

Any previous enterprises will have been valuable experience & will teach you what not to do
At the start of the week, agree weekly objectives / at the start of the day, define what needs doing
Allow time each day for checking emails, don’t leave them till the end of the day
Leave space for you to react to clients’ needs if necessary
Initially you will be fire-fighting on every front; aim to get to a place where you can look at the big picture as well as the immediate problems
Celebrate both the big and the small wins - and keep your eye on both
Try using Calendly - but protect your time
Set boundaries for yourself and make sure your team understands those boundaries
Parcel the week up, eg. meetings on Mondays, and maybe a certain day each week to concentrate on something different
Focus is key; concentrate on one business at a time
Draw a line at a certain time and finish your day
Pay attention to your health / fitness / diet and you will be more energised
Be open with your team and allow them to share your vision and plans
B.Corp is a big help both guiding people inside the business and attracting people from outside who will want to work with you
Write your own job description

FF&M recommends:

LastPass the password-keeping site that syncs between devices.
Google Workspace is brilliant for small businesses
Buzzsprout podcast 'how to' & hosting directory
Canva has proved invaluable for creating all the social media assets and audio bites.

MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Link & Licence

Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail

Support the show

Previous Episode

How to harness your hormones at work with Roxy & Margo Marrone, eyeam co-founders

CIPD research shows that 67% of UK working women aged between 40 and 60 with menopausal symptoms had experienced a negative impact on their work, with 79% reporting feeling less able to concentrate at work. Clearly, hormones play a large role in the lives of female founders of all ages.

I wanted to hear from a team with great experience in helping people overcome hormonal imbalances. Margo Marrone, founder of The Organic Pharmacy and her daughter Roxy are the co-founders of eyeam, the solution-led skincare, supplements and education brand. Inspired by Roxy’s experience with adult acne and hormonal imbalance, the duo are supporting people to overcome debilitating conditions which impact their energy both at work and at home.

Keep listening to hear Roxy and Margo’s advice on how founders can harness their hormones at work and how they can create a supportive environment for their teams too.

Margo & Roxy’s advice:

Never go against what your body is telling you
The four different hormonal phases are effectively four different sets of skills:
- Follicular - energised, a good time to schedule and plan
- Ovulatory - communicative, a good time to set up talks and events
- Luteal - detail-driven, a good time to tackle paperwork
- Menstrual - a good time for rest and reflection
Communication is important; there is no shame attached to your bodily cycle so share how you are feeling. This is constructive and helpful for your colleagues
Listen to your needs; you don’t have to push to the limits
Managing hormones is not just a physical concern, it’s a mental one too. Understand why you are stressed and self-regulate
Work smarter not harder; it’s the output that counts, not the time spent. Ideas which come when in the shower or on a walk can be so useful
Quick ways to reduce stress can be breathwork (4-7-8 breathing helps) and humming
Nutrition means not just food but your whole environment: the people around you, the things you read and watch, as well as what you eat
Stop worrying about the to-do list; simply clear your head and tackle one task at a time

FF&M recommends:

LastPass the password-keeping site that syncs between devices.
Google Workspace is brilliant for small businesses
Buzzsprout podcast 'how to' & hosting directory
Canva has proved invaluable for creating all the social media assets and audio bites.

MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Link & Licence

Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail

Support the show

Next Episode

How to be more productive & less stressed with Emily Austen, Founder & CEO of EMERGE

The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy found that 96% of UK entrepreneurs admit to ‘bottling up’ the stress of running their business. Many founders are clearly overwhelmed with too much on their shoulders, leading some to feel a sense of unproductive busyness.

So, I wanted to hear from a founder who has cracked the code of productivity. Emily Austen is the founder of leading PR agency EMERGE and the author of SMARTER: 10 lessons for a more productive and less-stressed life, publishing this autumn. Having founded EMERGE in 2012, Emily has navigated entrepreneurship and discovered a tried and tested formula for avoiding unproductive busyness.

Keep listening to hear Emily’s advice on how founders can avoid becoming busy yet unproductive and why tracking your energy rather than your time can help unlock your productivity.
Emily’s advice:

Set boundaries, which will be different for everyone (soft ones which are ‘crossable’ and hard ones which are not)
Be vigilant with your time; Emily uses a desk timer to time tasks and she maps out her day in minutes
Prioritise
Don’t be performative; it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about your working hours
Know when to move aside from the top job
Don’t allow small things to annoy you; take the long view
Know your own energy cycles and plan work accordingly

FF&M recommends:

LastPass the password-keeping site that syncs between devices.
Google Workspace is brilliant for small businesses
Buzzsprout podcast 'how to' & hosting directory
Canva has proved invaluable for creating all the social media assets and audio bites.

MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Link & Licence

Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail

Support the show

How To Start Up by FF&M - How to productively build and be purposeful with Asad Hamir Co-Founder of Klyk & Co-Founder of Ocushield

Transcript

Juliet Fallowfield: [00:00:00] Welcome to season 11 of How To Start Up, the podcast helping you start and scale your business with advice from entrepreneurs on what to do now, next, or never. This season, we'll be hearing about all things productivity from amazing entrepreneurs sharing how they've hacked theirs. Hosted by me, Juliet Fallowfield, founder of the B Corp certified PR communications and podcasting consultancy, Fallow, Field & Mason. Our mission is to enable you to maste