The short answer to the question if you’ve not got time to read my amazing blog is "YES" they are. With every simple answer there is a more complex explanation so if you have a bit of time. Grab a coffee or your preferred beverage, sit down and read on. I promise not to be too boring and hope you enjoy my blog if you do please comment and share on social media for me that’s you're part of the relationship.
 
I discovered back in 2010 that I was dyslexic (i appologie now for any grammatical mistakes). This explained a lot of my educational struggles, feelings whilst growing up and work life experience. Due to a dreadful experience with a major organization I decided enough was enough and took a leap of faith and started out, "building our businesses".

To achieve this I decided to get a little more education, yes that’s right find out you're dyslexic and go to university at the age of 44. That’s me all over hit it head on and I feel most dyslexics are the same. I wanted to prove to the world that I was not stupid because I had this label. 
Far from it I just saw things differently, I consider dyslexia is one of my main asset, it's not a disability.

 It's like comparing a Mac with PC , both computers do the same thing but the operating system are completely different. 
They can communicate with each other, but sometimes its difficult due to the way the programming is written this can cause confusion.What I am saying is a dyslexic can confuse non - dyslexics because they are in a different place entrepreneurial, in fact, the potential to see thing before others do. That’s my view and what a great tutor told me at an interview.

So as my Master degree in “Global Entrepreneurship” progressed. I needed a subject to complete 14,000 word dissertation. 


Now as you can imagine that’s scary for anyone at the best of times let alone a dyslexic. I sourced a very good proof reader to help me, an ex journalist and off I went into the world of research, documentation and formulation of a balanced argument. Hours of head rubbing, coffee and lonely afternoons and weekends with our dog ned.

 

What is Dyslexia

Dyslexia is classified under the DDA 1995 (disability at work act), however this does not necessarily mean that it is a disability in itself. Dyslexia was first documented in 1896, which is staggering considering the perception of some people within the academic world. Some still do not believe the condition exists an put it the condition down to student not applying themselves or intelligence level. Dyslexics are not all the same but generally have trouble with

1.    Reading and Spelling

2.    Identifying difference between left and right

3.    Recalling sequential information (days of week numbers etc)

4.    Phonological tasks

5.    Clumsiness

6.    Organising information and materials

7.    Missing appointments, time management

To name a few of the main amazing dyslexic's


Dyslexic's subconsciously build coping strategies and therefore adapt to situation, as example over compensate, be very rigid in time management and meeting deadlines.

My way of explaining the difference

How I like to simply explain what happens in the dyslexic mind compared to a regular mind (if there is such a thing). 

Information in a non dyslexic is stored like a library with the image of something, the name and spelling all stored in separate files that come together in a split second to result in the sound of the ‘thing” the spelling or image.

In the dyslexic mind the best way to think of the same scenario is similar information stored in cylinders apposed to files like a library. When the dyslexic person see or want to say, spell  a word the information is sourced from the mix of information and retrieved. This is where some of the mix-up comes from and later I discuss the benefits.

e.g If  the non dyslexic wanted a pen they would think the image of a pen and ask for one or quickly write “pen”. A dyslexic however in the same scenario would go for the information in the cylinder  (remember similar things are grouped together) and as a pencil was similar to a pen could in fact ask for a pencil or completely misspell the word required.

That’s is a high level view but hopefully it makes sense (does to me, pass me a pen oh no a pencil)

n.b 10 – 20 % of the UK population is dyslexic so look how many people you have in your organization and you’ve have a percentage that are dyslexic. Tap into these people they are creative, dedicated people, you're lucky to have them on board.

Some famous dyslexics

Now there are loads of famous dyslexics we’ve all seen the list

1.    Winston Churchill

2.    Richard Branson

3.    Jamie Oliver

The list goes on these dyslexics are entrepreneurial in their thinking they can be very creative and think differently. However its worth remembering they are not always very confident.

Remember the cylinders from earlier well in a nutshell that one of the advantage of having the soup of information floating around in a cylinder’s.

It means the dyslexics make links with things non dyslexics don’t, they make fantastic problem solvers and come up with innovative solutions to problem or customer demands.

My dissertation "Are dyslexic's predisposed Entrepreneurs" also found that one of the reasons dyslexics become business owners is, they don’t fit into a lot of organizational structures. They feel trapped and frustrated. In other words they might not fit in but more likely don’t want to fit in and prefer to make sense of the world and its problems in their own way.

It's worth noting not all entrepreneurs are dyslexic and not all dyslexics are entrepreneurs. It just that there is an overlap in traits in both groups making them different but similar at the same time. The number of entrepreneurs that are dyslexic is much higher than the number of dyslexics that are CEO of organisations. Yet both groups of leaders have very similar roles, levels of responsibility and scale of businesses to manage.

So there you have it “Are Dyslexics Predisposed Entrepreneurs” YES! they are given the right environment and opportunities, they will grow and develop solutions to problems that don't yet exist.

I hope this blog has helped you understand dyslexics a little more. Please comments and share if you found it interesting. You never know it might help someone like me or the next Richard Branson.

 

Thank you giving me you're time reading my thoughts

Kirk   

Its a scary and exciting time when you have decided to set up your own business. I remember back to when we took the leap of faith from being "employed" to running our own business. 

What do we need to do ? how do we get started ? how do we get customers to buy our products. Our products at the time were us, our knowledge and experience.

so here are my top 3 tips to help you on your way to creating your own successful company

1. Type of business
First you need to decide if your going to be a sole trader, limited company or partnership.
All have pluses and minuses and depends what kind of business your setting up the level of risk and reward you want to take and size of turnover. Companies on the internet can help set up a limited company for a fee this gives your the registration and documentation at companies use, remember you'll need to submit yearly accounts to companies house and pay corporation tax (a percentage of profit your company makes) sole trader and partnership need less detail accounts and a preferred option for a lot of small business.

as an example 
http://www.companiesmadesimple.com

2.PAYE

Pay as you earn, you'll need to down load from the HMRC https://www.gov.uk/paye-for-employers/paye-and-payroll will help you down load the software you'll need to set up employee (remember even if your the director your still an employee)

3.Keeping records 

Good house keeping in regard to paperwork is key, get yourself a small filling cabinet even a second hand one will do. Separate your paper work into various files to allow you to quickly retrieve information and date. I find the best thing for me is to also have clearly marked folder that have as an example:
a. receipts
b. Invoices
c. expenses 

use a system that captures your spending, revenue and expenses there is loads of software out there that makes tracking and completing Vat returns and year end balance sheets virtually automated. I use a system call VT cash book http://www.vtsoftware.co.uk/cashbook/ its free and allows me to send a small file to my accountant who completes the submissions for the company. save money as well due to the accountant needing to do little with your data. Don't leave inputting too long try to be deciplined in inputting on a regular basis.

I hope that help give you a little start on your way to creating your own enterprise and successful business, i know these were the areas I had to spend a bit of time understanding and searching for . As an example try to attend the courses run by HMRC that help new directors and business owners comply to the regulation and know what "your" responsibilities are.

I plan to produce more blogs that may help other SME on their journey and if you got this far hope you benefited from spending time reading the blog and will enjoy the others that i plan to produce

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duggystone