Earlier this year I was commissioned to research and write the story of Forty Winks, the leading bedding franchise in Australia.

I love the process of getting to know a company through interviews and primary research. For me it's a jounrey of discovery,

one that I approach with no preconceptions, agenda and, mostly, no requirement to take a specific viewpoint.

Sometimes there's a significant amount of historical material available, others times very little and occassionally nothing

other than the memories of management and employees past and present.

 

Fortunately, with the Forty Winks project a number of the original founders are still alive and well and I my enjoying

meeting and talking to them about their memories of the early days, the early stores, marketing and promotions. 

The Forty Winks project is also the first history of a franchise I've undertaken so it's a great learning curve.

 

I am often asked how I go about researching and wrtiting a business story.

My general response is that I am a bit like an information vacuum cleaner. I spend a lot of time

seeking out information, whatever format it might be in: interviews, reports, marketing material, articles

in newspapers, industry magazines, library searches, Google searches . . .where-ever I can find it.

I then build up an outline of the chronology of the business, the key events, who was involved, the key challenges

and successes (and why), all the while developing an understanding of the key themes that flow through the history.

This is where being from outside the company is most valuable. I can 'see' trends, patterns, themes where perhaps those

who have been or are involved in the company can't as they haven't had the opportunity to overview company's

full journey.

 

A position of trust

A critical aspect of business storytelling is trust. Companies and organisations grant me access to their

board members, senior executives, clients and customers as well as, in most cases, their board papers,

business documents and any number of confidential internal papers and reports. As such I often know more

about the history of a business than any of the current or former leaders. Those I interview often share insights

and commentary 'off the record' to provide context to specific events or moments in the company's 

history. I take this position of trust seriously and this underpins my reputation as a business storyteller/historian,

 

Applying general business history knoweldge to the specific business story

Having written over 20 business histories – my first one being a history of business and entrepreneurship in 

Australia from 1788-1991 – I have a deep understanding of Australian and world business history. This general

understanding helps me to place the specific business story I am writing into a broader perspective. No man is

an island said  xxxx. Similarly, no company exists in isolation. 

 

An important element of business storytelling is to integrate the history of the company to the economy and

communities in which the company operates. This could be local, national or international. Contexualising a 

company's history helps to provide insight into the inevitable ups and downs of business, espeically 

businesses that are 20, 50, 75 or 100+ years old.

 

So, I'm delighted to be working with the Forty Winks family on their business story, which

incorporates a family business theme as some of the franchisees are now into their second generation.

And, I'm hoping to learn how to sleep better. As you can probably guess getting my mind to stop

and get ready for sleep is a challenge.