For your Business and Mine
By Sam Jenks
2017. It looks as good on paper as it sounds to my ears.
Calendars are changing, the first quarter is beginning, and businesses around the world are figuring out how to “crush it” in 2017.
And, what would a New Year be without a New Year’s Resolution; the age-old tradition that originates from Ancient Rome or Babylon; the debate is still up in the air and rather unknown.
One thing that’s certain about the tradition is that individuals, worldwide, will make New Year’s Resolutions and break New Year’s Resolutions. Tomorrow Michael will start smoking again, in 2 weeks Janice will break down on a bag of Lay’s Original, and by December 31, 2017, I too, will have broken my New Year’s Resolution.
It’s hard to try and hold true by your lonesome. We all need support from others if we want to fulfill our resolutions in our personal, and our business lives.
Hence this week’s post!
5 New Year’s Resolutions: for your business and mine.
We will check our sources.
Facebook found out the hard way that publishing not strongly cited, potentially phony, info on their site doesn’t usually end with positive publicity.
Facebook is still reeling in the bad press and finding ways to discredit all charges brought against them (inc.com).
Your company probably post blogs, articles, white pages, and/or yearly reports. Whether you’re posting content to engage customers, gain exposure or report results for stakeholders; make sure your sources are credible.
We will not try and be the “cool company”.
Indoor basketball courts, spa days, and LoveSac beanbags for employees and clients to enjoy in your company’s “cool office” are all glitz and glamour, but where is the ROI?
Source: Inspirationfeed
Getting ahead of your budget with toys and gadgets might not be the best first-step in 2017, especially as a startup. “While one of the pleasures of launching a business is setting up an office that you are proud of, expensive trappings have put many businesses out of business before they got off the ground” (smetoolkit.org 2016)
Invest that extra ten grand on an advertising budget, not a Ping-Pong table.
We will stop investing in people that are “willing to learn more about technology”.
Sorry Baby-boomers and Generation X; not all of you, but some of you. Technology and technologically savvy individuals are dominating the business world.
Source: Forbes
It’s happening suddenly and brashly, in tsunami-like cyber waves. If you aren’t willing, or able, to grasp the technological assimilation of present day, and forward, chances are you’ll be out of a job and/or searching for one that no longer exists.
“A good argument can be made that technology favors the young. First Round’s investment portfolio gives credence to this argument. Founding teams with an average age of under 25 (when First Round invested) performed nearly 30% above the average investment. And while the average age of all First Round–backed founders is 34.5, the average age for the top 10 investments was 31.9. In the realm of technology, younger entrepreneurs do seem to be a key factor for success” (hbr.org 2016)
We will follow the Finns.
Finland and it’s capital, Helsinki, especially has become a hub of startup beginnings and successes.
Source: visithelsinki
The capital city has seen a surge of high-tech businesses known for extensive knowledge. Innovation of this scale has been made possible, in large, due to the education level of Helsinki inhabitants. “The city […] possesses one of the most highly educated workforces” (Helsinki Business Hub 2016; NewCo Helsinki 2016). Statistics of this kind further the notion; innovation sprouts from education. Amongst the crowd are companies such as, Kiosked, Enevo and Smarp. If you don’t know about them, you probably will soon.
More can be read about startup success, ecosystem and planning in the study written by Addou Babet from Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences in “Helsinki Startup City Guide”.
We will stop trying to do it all by ourselves.
Admitting defeat.
A founder’s, entrepreneur’s, investor’s, and executive’s worst nightmares stem from experiencing that down-trotted emotion. The bottom line is, sometimes outsourcing to consultants, using that Ad agency or integrating a SaaS solution is the best option.
We can’t be the best version of us without a little help from them.
Best put in a Kodiak Community post marking out 4 Supply Chain Trends: Now and hereafter,
Accepting that your company needs the help of an external application isn’t admitting defeat. On the contrary, partnerships and service relationships create an ecosystem of dynamic business practices, which we all must humbly accept […](Jenks 2016).
Until next week.