EO Melbourne secures Growth CFO as a Strategic Alliance Partner

EO Melbourne is excited to announce its newest Strategic Alliance Partner — introducing Growth CFO! This new partnership will deliver exceptional value to EO Melbourne members by providing access to leading strategic financial advice — with a difference.

Growth CFO is a leading Melbourne-based strategic financial management and accounting firm that assists business owners to achieve transformational growth through accurate financial data enabling plan clarity, learning profitability habits to minimise waste, and developing processes enabling its partners to perform in the top percentile of their industry.

With Growth CFO as an EO Strategic Alliance Partner, they can help EO members evaluate growth options to select the best path for their business, review monthly profit reports and develop a customised financial road map that meets business objectives, develop cash forecasting that matches their business cycle, and establish workflows and accounting platforms that enable scale, among many others.

Companies partnering with Growth CFO can expect to understand where their business stands today and maximise it with clear growth plans for future development and position their business to take bold moves that enable transformational growth.

The strategic alliance partnership of Growth CFO and EO Melbourne also extends to EO members a special free offer where they can obtain their Value Builder Score and report. In addition, Growth CFO offers the use of their select meeting rooms to EO Forums and offers topics for forum presentations.

EO Melbourne has a positive outlook for the year ahead, especially with partnerships established with reputable companies like Growth CFO. Learn more about our partnership at https://www.eomelbourne.org/growth-cfo.

Dealing with rejection in business

Rejection is an experience that happens anytime and anywhere, even more so in the business and entrepreneurial space. It is a part of the journey that new and long-time entrepreneurs alike have to deal with every now and then. 

A transaction that never prospered, a possible partnership that didn’t come through, a loan that failed, a proposal that was not accepted, and so on and so forth. These are just some of the many scenarios where rejection happens in one’s entrepreneurial journey.

Getting a “no” may often be hurtful, but it doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the road. It is just a bump or a hurdle that one has to overcome to move forward and come out better and stronger. So, how do you move past rejection and make it work for you and your business?

Never take it personally

There are various reasons when one rejects your idea or proposal, but don’t deem it as something against you as a person. It could be that they are not amenable to your price points, they don’t see a fit with their business needs, or there’s just a different opportunity or option that they prefer to take. 

“Rejection is a reality in every business and it needs to be used to fine-tune aspects of your business or product offering without taking it personally,” Nitasha Badhwar, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Sunpower Renewables, remarked.

Similarly, David Fastuca, CMO and Co-Founder of Locomote, shared this insight. He said, “Being in marketing and sales for a good part of my career, I'll probably take the line of sales, such as being able to cold call and reach out to people. As a business owner and founder, for your first hundred customers, you're doing whatever you can to get them on board and you get rejected a lot. You're interrupting people's day and you don't know the right time to reach out to them, so the biggest sort of rejection is to have these people telling you to piss off, go away, and them being rude on the call. You really need to have a thick skin and understand that you should not take it personally.”

Be resilient

Take every rejection as a lesson that will only further improve yourself and your business. Many leaders would say that a failure only becomes a failure when one stops trying. And for every success, there are countless trial-and-error and rejections that happen along the way.

“The way I've dealt with it is in light of those ways of being really resilient,” David professed. “It's not about how many times you get knocked down, but it's how many times you get up. I try to instil this ethos into my children as well, wherein to expect failure and that it's going to happen, so anticipate it and agree with it with a smile and know that every ‘no’ gets you closer to a ‘yes’. If you don't hear back from someone, it's always a ‘yes’ until it's a ‘no’,” he explained.

So, keep trying. Keep approaching people. Keep on refining and upgrading your products and services. Never allow rejection to weigh you down.

Stay positive and find an opportunity from the experience

A rejection is oftentimes a detour into something even better and bigger. Find an opportunity in a rejection. Will it lead you to a new client? Will it give you more time to do other projects? Does it give you a new idea to work on?

For David, “it's just having that approach where even if someone gives me a ‘no’ on a call, I'll smile, I thank them and I even try and turn it into something like ‘hey, it may be not right for you, but can you recommend me to someone else you think this might be a right suit for them?’ So, even if I'm taking a negative sort of conversation, I try to flip that into a positive one.”

Use it as a way to improve and progress

When rejection happens, find out the “why” behind it. Knowing the reasons can help you develop yourself and your business by fixing things that are within your control and letting go of things you can’t.

Nitasha gave an example of how rejection has enabled them to refine and enhance their products. “In our organisation, we have tried to use it to deviate from the status quo and redefine the norm. After all, Einstein once said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. An example of this would be in the early years of the business where we started with a home power system with a PAYG business model.”

She continued, “We kept reorienting the model expecting better results. That didn’t do as well as we expected due to various reasons: lack of telecom infrastructure in remote places, affordability, and issues with collecting payments to name a few. However, in listening to the market, we evolved our product offering and our business model to redefine our product, thus, creating our independent solar power station. It functions independently, allowing a customer to choose what features to add. It is not restricted by telecom infrastructure and can scale up as much as the prosumer needs. Getting rejected helped us in developing a better product.”

Next time you get rejected, go back to the drawing board and rethink the best approach forward. Have you experienced rejection in your business? How did you handle it? Share with us your thoughts and learnings through the comments section below.

How Melbourne Business Owners find opportunities in difficult situations

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” — Maya Angelou

Successful entrepreneurs get to where they are now because of their determination to reach their goals, which includes braving the odds and overcoming hurdles. The recent global scenarios in the past two to three years have been very challenging. Many business leaders have looked into finding opportunities under tough situations. But how do you do it?

Look at the present needs where you can provide a solution

Entrepreneurs have shared how their businesses fill a gap. Dion Castle, CEO of Struber, said, “With the fast-changing environment in society and the world, in general, it is easy to see that the culture, technology and customer experience in our industry were due for an upgrade.”

But when the conditions of a society change, the needs of society also change.  If there are difficult circumstances, how can your business help in this time of need? Are your products and services relevant in such circumstances? It is good to look into new problems that arise and find the areas where your business can offer a solution.

Be open to new creative ideas, innovate and pivot

Unexpected things happen, so when a crisis arises and you hit a wall, take advantage of this hiccup to go back to the drawing board and revisit your plans and current offerings. This is where innovation comes in. Brainstorm for new ideas that can help boost your enterprise and make it thrive when the going gets tough.

Nitasha Badhwar, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Sunpower Renewables, shared that “Innovation for us is more than just implementing new technology, solution, or process. It is our culture and one of our cornerstones – something that we come back to in good and bad times.”

Also, opportunities open up when you pivot. Arosh Fernando, Creative Director of WooHah Productions, once shared the changes they had to do within their business to keep them going during the lockdowns. “All these changes helped us, as we would have no income if it wasn’t for these pivot ideas. We have managed to claw up to 20-30% of our monthly revenue,” Arosh said.

Keep an eye on new markets

It is often said that “when one door closes, a window opens.” A crisis or a setback can be a turning point where new opportunities are formed. Look where the resources go. Observe the trends and be ready for new markets that will emerge.

According to Clayton Cross, Head of Strategy at Expia, “The pandemic has opened hundreds of opportunities. Most golden. Essentially new markets have been created, especially in the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) space, which we are targetting.”

Offer help and strengthen relationships

When problems and adversities arise, that is the best time for everyone to help each other and work together to overcome the challenges ahead. The pandemic has shown how important relationships are – within the family, among friends and even with people you meet through your business. 

Ben Beattie, Managing Director of True Blue Plumbing Australia, talked about his experience. “When they shut down construction in Victoria, we had 10 plumbers a day off work with only enough emergency work for 12 guys. This was the week the earthquake hit and thousands of insurance claims were lodged. We contacted our major clients and offered to assist them with virtually assessing all the damage from the site back to their head offices as they were swamped with work. We were able to keep 3 additional guys busy for the final week of lockdown reducing to major financial losses we were incurring.”

We never run out of opportunities. The important thing is to look out for it at all times or even create those opportunities when you can.

Data vs gut-feel in decision-making

When do you use data and when do you rely on instincts in making business decisions?

Decision-making is important in every business and organisation. It is crucial in finding short-term, medium-term and long-term solutions to problems or plans that need to materialise. 

There are different ways and factors in arriving at a certain decision. Some have to be done at a snap of a finger due to the need for urgency. Others have to be deliberated carefully by a team. Then, there’s this age-old question, “Should you use data or should you rely on your instincts or experience when making business decisions?”

Many entrepreneurs recognise the value of both in decision-making. One must be able to know how to weigh when one is more necessary than the other in a given situation. Relying only on one may put decision-makers at a disadvantage. It is helpful to look at data and listen to gut-feel and learn from experience when coming up with a plan or strategy to navigate through one’s decision-making process and arrive at a sound resolution. 

Data and gut feel go together

There are circumstances when data weigh heavier than gut and vice versa. But one has to consider both when arriving at a resolution. According to Renata Freund, Founder and Director at Honeycomb Strategy, “Data and intuition go hand-in-hand, both playing a role in business decision-making. Together they are the secret sauce that underpins great entrepreneurs. Data is your confidence. It is what allows you to make decisions with conviction, knowing they are grounded in truth. Instinct is your creativity. It is what allows you to experiment, to create the new and reimagine the old. When you pair that confidence and creativity together, that’s when the magic happens.”

This was echoed by Hayden Brass, Founder and Managing Director at Zea. He remarked, “They are both critical and both play an important part in my business. For marketing, a lot of instincts have played a part in coming up with unique concepts and ideas for campaigns, but often, this has to be backed up by relevant data. When it comes to reviewing the return on investment for a marketing campaign, it is crucial to look at the data and statistics to determine whether one’s gut instincts are accurate or not.”

He also added, “And when it comes to hiring staff, this is probably the most critical of them all. It is important to go through the relevant standard hiring processes to see if they are “on paper’ a good fit for the organisation. This is one of the most crucial steps in vetting candidates. But as it approaches the pointy end of the hiring process, the more I like to pay attention to my gut instincts as to whether I believe they are the right person for the role or not. By no means is this always accurate, but it is complementary to the data collected on the candidates and both play important roles in finding people that are a good fit for our organisation.”

Nitasha Badhwar, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Sunpower Renewables agreed that both go together. “I think both data and gut-feel go hand-in-hand, and you can’t necessarily isolate one from the other. Data prepares you (like a weather app) but your gut-feel defines your direction.”

She cited an example from her experience, “When we started working with lithium-ion batteries, the prices were exceptionally high. It was difficult to develop a commercially viable product without stripping features to a bare minimum. If we had just relied purely on data, we would have started many years down the line which wouldn’t have afforded us the time to experiment, develop and evolve a truly comprehensive product. At that time, it was just gut-feel to jump into product development, given the data we had in hand. Today, our product line has a range of products catering to customers’ every need including an Intelligent energy flow optimizer which turned the product from a regular generator to a smart generator. On the other hand, our gut-feel was to stick to b2b and not develop the online sales channels, but the pandemic and data proved us wrong, and we are now embarking upon developing this sales channel.”

A balanced approach can help

David Fastuca, CMO and Co-founder of Locomote, maintains a balanced approach when it comes to making decisions. “I relate this back to marketing because within the marketing world, there's often this fight between data-driven marketing in which you spend a dollar, you get X dollars back, and then there's the marketing that you can't attribute, which is like a brand.”

David further illustrated this by providing an example, “When someone sees a link to a post on LinkedIn, just because you might be getting low engagement or five likes and two comments, it doesn't mean that few people are viewing it. The ideal customer you're trying to get might have read it but just hasn't interacted with it. Then all of a sudden they come to your site and then they inquire about a demo. Where does that attribution go to? It's easy to say, ‘Okay, they clicked an ad and then they signed up, so let's throw more money on ads.’ But the truth could be is that they saw your post, they read your blog, they interacted with some other content on your website, or they heard you on the radio. Maybe, all of a sudden, they saw an ad as they were scrolling through Instagram and then decide to click it.”

“But what happens is that the CEO of the business or the CFO says, ‘That lead is attributed to this ad spend so let's put more money into that,’ when really you need to attribute that to beyond other channels. So, that's where the instincts and gap come into play. I try and have a balanced approach where 50% of my decisions are using data and 50% is based on my instincts and what I'm learning in the space. If things are improving, such as more conversions are happening on my website, then I will attribute a good percentage across both channels, the ones that you can really track because it's really analytical. But then, it's always important to be working on your brand and your awareness through channels that you don't spend on. So, while I do 50-50 decisions, I also split my budget differently across those channels. So, I do 70% of my budget on what I can track really tightly and closely, such as outbound meetings being booked and calling. Then, I reserve the remaining percentage to the brand, which is content and things that you can't track because as a business, you always need to be investing in your brand over the long term,” he explained.

Decision-making in business is crucial because it affects a lot of people, both in the internal and external environments, including the peripheries. It is important to take into consideration all the factors that may be necessary for arriving at a particular resolution. It’s always good to check the numbers and it also pays to listen to your instincts.

The value of training in organisational development

How do you nurture your organisation’s human resources? Every member of your team is valuable on how to bring your business forward and achieve its goals. But as you take in new challenges, aim for greater heights and expand your horizons, how do you equip your people to ensure that you can all move towards the same direction and at the same speed?

When you want to grow your company and develop your organization, it is also necessary that you upskill the people within your team so that they’d be able to perform better and increase their productivity. What kind of training do you provide to your team that contribute to your business growth? Entrepreneurs share their experience on how they value training and how this has benefited their people and their organisation.

Areas where they can excel

Having some expertise in a particular skill, field or area is beneficial to individual team members as well as to the entire team because it facilitates growth in your organisation and establishes authority within your industry. Honing your people to be great at something can boost their morale as well as your customers’ confidence in your business.

Understanding the benefit of this to his business, Karl Simity, Managing Director of Canopy, supports the growth of his staff by equipping them through proper training. “Training for our team is a key focus, both in-house and external. If our team isn’t growing, the business won’t either. We encourage and coach our staff to look for areas where they want to excel in or areas where they could improve and then we build specific training plans for them,” he stated.

“Right now, we are running an executive training with our leadership team. Our design team is doing further technical training and our consultants are doing some external sales training. An investment in our team is an investment in our future,” Karl added. 

Learning resource and follow-up sessions

Building a learning resource for your team can be a huge help in ensuring continuous growth and development within your organisation. This is what Nick Clift, Co-founder at Otto and Founder of DWM Solutions, had in mind when they established the Otto Academy.

According to Nick, they have “Leadership Training, Personal Coaching, Individual development plans for all staff.  We have recently launched our online Otto Academy, this is a great learning resource that enables our staff to develop both role-specific skills and various other business/soft skills.”

But it doesn’t stop there. As in most learning processes, having follow-throughs are essential to ensure that there is regular progress and growth. “We run monthly and quarterly team meetings, where from time to time, we bring a Subject Matter Expert to run a session for the team. This often leads to follow-up sessions to hone a particular skill or technical knowledge,” Nick explained.

Team development plans

“Personal growth and development is a massive focus at Honeycomb and we begin building team development plans as soon as someone joins the team,” John Bevitt, Managing Director at Honeycomb Strategy, shared.

It is often advantageous to create learning opportunities for your staff and team development plans early on. Sometimes, learning opportunities don’t always come knocking at your doorstep, so it is better to proactively search for them and then work on plans that will ensure the growth and development of your team. 

John expounded on this, “Rather than just looking at training that helps employees to perform better in their role, we look at learning opportunities that help make all of us (including leadership) become better, more authentic and well-rounded humans. We’ve learned from experience that you do your best work when you’re being your most authentic self. This makes working on Dev Plans really interesting and really diverse – sure, we definitely have on-the-job training and such, but I’ve also got team members who have added ‘learning to weld’ or ‘get my pilot’s licence’ to their dev plans.”

Learning can be done not just on skills development but also in honing the mindset of individuals. John further explained, “As researchers and consultants who need to understand behavioural psychology and consumer behaviour as part of our role, a big element of our team development plans is also around understanding our own psychology, why we respond on how we do, and how our underlying beliefs, values and motivations contributes to this. This also helps to build empathy and emotional intelligence, which makes it easier to understand consumer behaviour, but also connect with clients. We often bring in subject matter experts to help with this and even had half our team attend a virtual Tony Robbins conference recently!”

Cross-education

Having additional knowledge outside of one’s field of expertise can also be helpful to your organisation. It widens your staff’s set skills and enables them to support each other and work better as a team.

Nitasha Badhwar, Founder and CEO of Immersify and Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Sunpower Renewables, illustrated how they do this in their business. “Our endeavour is to upskill our team members regularly. We have multiple internal departments, and for them to work better as a team, we found that it is important, every so often, for our staff to spend time in different departments to get a better understanding of other areas of the business. This cross-education has been crucial to our success, so far. We have implemented buddy days where they shadow a team member in a different department to learn about their job.”

This provides better coordination among departments and individuals. She added, “Learning and understanding each other’s roles and responsibilities, daily pressures, and deliverables creates a healthy and respectful working environment. In turn, this has created a much better workflow and has deepened the bonding between interdepartmental team members. This has the added benefit of making social and family days a lot more interactive and fun.”

Education and growth do not stop when we step out of the confines of the classroom. Learning continues in workplaces and it is necessary to develop your organisation and your business. There is a proverb that says “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link”, which is why it is critical to look after your people and ensure that they not only grasp the tasks or work assigned to them but also master what they do, be the best at it and expand their knowledge and set skills.

Filling a gap: what is the purpose of your business?

A sense of purpose is what every individual and business chart their path as to where they want to go. Without it, it’s like losing one’s direction in the journey. Businesses thrive because they provide a solution to a problem or responds to a certain demand in society. Many enterprises were established because the founder has experienced or witnessed a particular need that has to be filled in.

If you are planning to start a business or if you have one and want to revisit your mission and vision, it is essential to identify the purpose of your business. What is the gap that your product or service trying to fill in? Still in the process of figuring out the solution that your business must provide? You might find some inspiration or insights from the experience shares by these entrepreneurs.

Austin Vaughan

Managing Director, Pacific Solar

We fill the requirement for commercial solar installations. Nationally, most companies now consider a Solar Energy System as an essential item to convey their corporate environmental credentials, as well as an energy cost savings from the bottom line. We offer an end-to-end solution to ensure our customers have a seamless delivery process to achieve the environmental and return-on-investment outcomes they aspire towards.

Joanne Camilleri

General Manager, Telco Business Solutions Group

Co-Founder, Work Tank

In 2018, my business partner John Rovas identified a gap for high-quality coworking & shared office spaces in the suburbs of Melbourne. We were often travelling to the CBD to conduct off-site meetings and connect with colleagues or suppliers. We started to talk about how great it would be to have something like this locally (our businesses were based in North West Melbourne). 

We continued to build out the concept of what we would like to see in our coworking space, and construction commenced in August 2019. We planned for everything – except a pandemic! We were scheduled to open in March 2020 but Work Tank was officially opened in June 2020.  We are proud to say that one year on, we are building our community and whilst the impacts of COVID have been challenging, we have seen some benefits coming from it, also with people wanting to work closer to home.

Dion Castle

CEO, Struber

With the fast-changing environment in society and the world, in general, it is easy to see that the culture, technology and customer experience in our industry were due for an upgrade.

Data-full decision-making drives our thoughtful mix of communication, engagement, marketing and creative solutions, forging strong human connections one major project at a time. With our eyes firmly on the prize, we build bold engagement programs, working hard to deliver greatness for our clients every day. And it’s this greatness we’re most proud of. It’s what’s earned us the respect of people in the Struber universe – our clients, our peers and each other.

Cameron Bell

CEO, Pyrochar

Oh wow, I see more and more as I become more experienced. Right now, I am focusing on two, which are (very briefly) disability housing and scale capital for globally expanding ventures.

But I've honed it down to two main areas:

• Painkiller - is what you are solving a real pain or problem for a consumer?

• Vitamins - Is what you are solving a more interesting or easier way of doing something?

The data shows that neither is more likely to be successful than the other, which is very interesting. There are just so many new businesses to be created that easily fit into those above two categories.

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If you just look around you or pay attention to the day-to-day things you do, you will find that there are gaps, hurdles and obstacles that people need to overcome. However, every challenge and problem presents an opportunity – the opportunity to make things better, to provide a solution, and to make people’s lives easier. And that’s what visionaries see. They don’t see the huge rock in front of them as a reason to turn back and give up. Instead, it’s a way for them to jump higher or build something to surpass that wall that prevents them from going forward.

Share with us your experience. What is the gap you’ve seen that inspired you to start your business?

How do you communicate bad news to your clients?

In every business, there are times when things take a different turn and projects can often head south, may it be due to human error, unforeseen circumstances, or uncontrollable situations. When things go awry, how do you break the bad news to your clients?

“Bad news is never good to deliver, but developing a process over time has made it easier to handle.”

- Steve Jackson

There are different approaches to it, depending on your client’s characteristics and your relationship with them. A few entrepreneurs share with us their experience and how they tackle the problem when the situation calls for it.

However, all of them have one common word – HONESTY.

Truly, there’s no better way than to be upfront about things, especially in business. It saves all parties time, resources, and effort when things are talked out promptly and issues are tackled head on.

Austin Vaughan, Managing Director at Pacific Solar, confirms this. “I would commonly take a direct approach as we feel honesty applies in all our communications,” he said.

Nyree Hibberd, CEO of Koh Living, expounds on this further. “Honestly, as it’s one of our 5 brand values: “We are honest, authentic, and down-to-earth; ‘keep it real’ is our number one mantra. We tell the truth and strive to always do what we say we’re going to do.”  For us, bad news may be around stocks selling out or delays in arrivals of replenishment. So at every stage, we aim to keep the customer informed with accurate information to limit the interruption to their business.  In most cases, we find it’s about the communication of the news rather than the news itself, so we aim to always be upfront and honest with any bad news,” she remarked.

While unfavourable news cannot be avoided, it often depends on how the information is delivered. But having a method or careful approach can help mitigate the negative impact it may bring to the client or business. However, it doesn’t stop with just telling the client about the problem. Coming up with alternatives at the onset can also help ease the worries of the client.

Steve Jackson, Director at PurpleMonky and Founder of Moon & Back Co., shared, “Bad news is never good to deliver, but developing a process over time has made it easier to handle. Firstly, an urgent team meeting internally to discuss what happened, and what solutions are available. Then, we make an immediate phone call with complete honesty to the client about what happened and how we want to work together to find the best solution. No matter the outcome, the client always respects the honesty & willingness to find the solution.”

In short, crisp words, Dion Castle, CEO of Struber, stated it simply but powerfully, “Communicate quickly, clearly, honestly with a solution ready.”

This is echoed by Joanne Camilleri, General Manager of Telco Business Solutions Group, “With complete honesty, authenticity and ensuring, if necessary, that we are taking ownership.  Ideally, we communicate face to face.  If appropriate, we would finish it off with the challenge or opportunity that is arising from the bad news.”

A more detailed explanation is provided by Ben Stickland, Founder and CEO of Alliance Software, “We do it with brutal honestly and as quickly as possible. The formula is simple: we tell clients this is what happened, this is how it'll affect you and this is what we're doing to fix it. We also always tell clients that right now, we're focused on the fix and when the dust settles, we'll do a review and work out how we avoid these problems in the future and make it right. In our space, clients are very understanding if you're upfront and drop everything to make things right.”

Have you experienced a similar situation where you have to break some bad news to your clients or customers? How do you do it? Share with us your approach and its effect on your business.

Essential items in an entrepreneur’s business scorecard

What is a scorecard? It’s a tool or report that monitors the status or success of a project. In business, a scorecard allows teams to set their goals and rate their performance vis-à-vis what they have set for themselves. Every organisation may have different scorecards, depending on their targets, focus and key performance indicators.    

For entrepreneurs, what are the most essential items in their business scorecard? EO Melbourne members share with us the important things they put in their scorecards and why they keep track of them.

• Net cash flow – According to Rahul Kale, Director at Sunpower Renewables, one of the three most essential items on their scorecard their Net Cash flow position (current and forecast). “This can make or break your company. You can be profitable in the long run, but if your net cash flow position is negative or has the potential to be in the red then you are in serious trouble. For me, this is the most important metric to monitor,” Rahul explained.

• Cash at bank – For Jeni Clift, Director/General Manager of DWM Solutions, “no cash = no more business. We need to know the cash position every week,” she stated, which is why they need to put Cash at Bank in their scorecard.

• Total dollar amount quoted - Anthony Lam, Managing Director of Punchy Digital Media, remarked that knowing the “total dollar amount quoted gives us an indicator of our future work and pipeline.”

• Headcount, revenue and net profit – Appscore Co-Founder & Managing Director Alex Louey shared that they have various scorecards in the various levels of their organisation. “At the company level, the most important ones are pretty boring – headcount, revenue and net profit. We use the headcount as a measure because our target is to be 300 persons in 24 months,” he expounded.

• Performance measures – “At the team level, we use a dashboard to measure performance and predict outcomes. We normally have 2 leading indicators and 2 lagging indicators, i.e., for the sales team, each salesperson is to have a rolling $3M new business qualified pipeline for a $1M new business target. On the other hand, our recruitment team’s measure is on the number of interviews as a leading indicator and the number of contracts signed, targeted at 3 per week,” Alex added.

• Customer and employee satisfaction – This is another item on Rahul’s scorecard. “This is not a regular metric as we update this semi-annually, but we have found this to be a great metric to monitor and shape our strategy. This gives us an external perspective of what our employees and customers are thinking of us and our products and it helps us improve, innovate, and get better.”

• Days when projects are open – This is found in Anthony’s scorecard because for him and his team, “the average number of days that projects have been open gives us an idea of our current production pipeline.”

• Total projects open – In addition to the number of days that their projects are open, Anthony also looks at their “Total number of projects open, which gives us an idea of our capacity.”

• R&D and Non-R&D costs – These costs are important to Rahul because according to him, “We are all about innovation, and understanding the R&D spending is an important gauge on how we innovate and evolve our product offering.”

Depending on your industry and type of business, you may have different things on your business scorecard. Also, within your organisation, each level, department, unit or team member may have different scorecards based on their deliverables. Also, this tool helps in improving one’s performance, growth and development, whether as a group or as an individual.  

Share with us in the comments section below what you have in your scorecards and why they are important to your business.

On trends and predictions: how it will help chart your business growth

Setting targets and goals is an important part of keeping a business running. It provides the team with the direction of where the company is heading and allows them to come up with strategies based on the objective set. Looking ahead may include forecasting, which helps gauge if the target is attainable and feasible within the given timeframe and resources on hand.

Entrepreneurs prepare for the future by looking at trends and coming up with a prognosis of what is to happen. EO Members share how they keep themselves updated on the latest trend in their industry.

• I talk to suppliers and partners to get to understand where the business is changing, as well as to the leading businesses in each industry category that we work in. – Carlo Santoro, RetailCare Founder

• Being an avid reader certainly helps with staying abreast of the latest trends in the translation and localisation industry. In my spare time, I regularly read global industry news, blogs and reports. When I am on the move, I also listen to industry podcasts. I also enjoy exploring research papers from academia to help understand how research and evaluation can help influence our translation company. Finally, staying connected with other professionals in the industry, including attending networking events, as well as arranging one-on-one meetings has been incredibly valuable. – Costa Vasili, EthnoLink CEO and Founder

• I read a lot of books, listen to podcasts and follow thought leaders on LinkedIn. – John Liston, Liston Newton Advisory Director

• Edison has M&A Advisory, Strategy & Transformation Consulting and Private Equity business lines, so it’s important I’m up-to-date across all three areas. To do so, I read extensively, listen to podcasts – including www.Disciplinn.com (which Edison proudly sponsors) – but most importantly, I engage with entrepreneurs and business owners to understand their priorities and listen to how their respective landscapes are changing. – Jason Ellenport, Principal at Edison Partners

Watching out for trends and conducting research enable business owners to have a foresight of what to come. It may not be 100% accurate, but it gives one a preview of what to expect and prepare for possible opportunities and threats. It also provides a different perspective on how we would be doing things and have a better understanding of things around us.

And what are some of the business predictions entrepreneurs have for the rest of the year? Here are a few we’ve gathered from our members:

• I believe many businesses have simply realised the number of unnecessary processes-protocols-routines that are nothing more than decorative stuff, mostly a waste of time and energy that until now has never been questioned. Today, we know that people can be more productive working from home and managing their own time. We know that we don’t always need fancy offices; that you can maintain relationships without travel; and that Zoom overtime sucks! I’m predicting a simplification to the way we do business. This is the time when we have the opportunity to adjust our work our lifestyle and start living the life we always wanted. – Cesar Aldea, Aldea Consulting Founder and Managing Director

• Heightened activity in M&A markets, with continued domestic and cross-border inbound interest in ANZ assets. – Jason Ellenport, Principal at Edison Partners

• Integrations and automation is the biggest growth area for business in 2021. – Carlo Santoro, RetailCare Founder

• Staff will not go back to normal pre-COVID work. As a business, we’ve seen the fall out of extended lockdowns and the way it’s affected how people prioritise work-life balance. Several team members have decided that travelling 2 hours every day for a job they love with an incredible culture - isn’t enough when they can work 5 minutes from home and be home at 5 every day. Priorities have shifted with people working from home and I am expecting many offices will see their people demanding to spend some of their time working from home with more flexible hours. I think we’ll also see a lot of people changing careers. – Gry Tomte, HÜD Skin + Body Director + Founder

• Increased volatility in listed-equity markets will likely drive an increased appetite for alternative private equity investment classes. – Jason Ellenport, Principal at Edison Partners

• E-commerce and digital products will be bigger than ever. I can see that the convenience of having everything accessible online at any time is something that won’t be going anywhere. And I think this world will see a lot more exciting innovation in the coming years as companies have pivoted their technology and operations to adjust to a covid normal. But I think the businesses in the tech space who will do best are those who have a broader purpose clear to the consumer. Even though we’ve gone online people still crave connection and genuine care. – Gry Tomte, HÜD Skin + Body Director + Founder

• High growth for all business that is focused and listening to their customers. – Carlo Santoro, RetailCare Founder

• My biggest prediction is that people will prioritize happiness; spending more time doing the things you love with those you love, over money and career. Therefore employers will need to shifts their focus from KPIs to KHIs to motivate, retain and attract new people. – Cesar Aldea, Aldea Consulting Founder and Managing Director

How about in your industry? What are the trends you currently see and from those, what predictions can you formulate for the rest of the year and the coming year? Share with us your thoughts through the comment section below.

The path of entrepreneurship through acquisition

Not all entrepreneurs start their journey from a garage; some entrepreneurs decide to jumpstart the process and follow the entrepreneurship by acquisition path.

This is not a made-up term. As a matter of fact, top-level universities and business schools like the Harvard Business School, Columbia University, The University of Chicago, and Duke University, among many others, offer Entrepreneurship by Acquisition in their main MBA curricula.

The truth is that you don’t really need to have a brilliant new idea or a unique opportunity to become an entrepreneur. Some people prefer to look for an existing business that already has the available resources and assets and then scale it or do a pivot or bring the company to a better position than from where it was before. Acquisition entrepreneurship is a good option for those who want to put their advanced entrepreneurial skills into good use from the get-go because they can spend more time on implementation and putting things into motion rather than be stuck on conceptualisation, trial-and-error, and ascertaining the business environment.

Is it the right path for you?

This was the route that Mobile Skips Owner and Managing Director Jacob Spencer took, who acquired the business from the original owners. He said, “Whether choosing to start a business from scratch or acquiring an established business, both have their relative pros and cons, usually quite different from the other. In my case, I chose acquisition, as the option best suited my strengths and weaknesses.”

“Before making this decision, I spent quite some time identifying and listing clearly what I needed (and wanted) in a business to acquire—with fundamentals like valuation and profit a given. I then spent the lion share of my time on the non-financial attributes that would complement my experience and skills. The first challenge then presented itself: a very limited amount of acquirable businesses that fit my detailed list of requirements…there were none. So, the first lesson was prioritising the list so that the right compromises could be made,” Jacob continued.

While buying a company may seem less risky than creating a start-up from zero and then building it, there are still varied difficulties to face for those who choose this path. One of these challenges is looking for the right business that corresponds to the needs, wants, capacity and capability of the entrepreneur.

To successfully acquire a business, would-be business owners must be able to:

1.)    Do a proper search for the right business to acquire

This is a crucial phase in acquiring a business. According to Damian Blumenkranc, who has founded and sold businesses before like Creativa Videos and now taking the entrepreneurship by acquisition path, recently acquiring Sunset, a concrete precast factory in Melbourne, “The first challenge, and it is not a small one, is to find a business you are comfortable with to buy and run and close a deal.” It has to be done properly, checking into the background of prospective companies you want to buy, their profitability, and other factors qualitative that are important to you.

2.)    Review or come up with a good proposal and negotiate

When you have done proper research and preliminary due diligence, you can then prepare an offer and negotiate all the terms of the deal. It is critical to try to get the whole picture of where the company currently stands and what is important for the current owner for this transaction.

Another important factor in acquiring a business is having the capital needed to invest in the company. Here are a few options when it comes to financing the business:

• Direct investment – you put your own resources to invest as capital to acquire the assets or ownership of an enterprise. This is usually done without an intermediary or broker.

• Loans from banks – you apply for a business acquisition loan which you can use to acquire an existing company, buy a franchise or buy out your business partner.

• Search funds – if you have limited resources for capital, you can look for other investors to pool funds into acquiring and financing a business.

3.)    Take the reins and lead the transition of the company

The success of the acquisition does not end with the signing of the agreement. As Damian stated, “That is just the beginning. I would say the second big challenge of buying a running small business is that the business won't wait for you to adapt, learn and take over. You, as a foreign entity, need to catch up quickly and find your place in the new business. It is like jumping in the cockpit of a commercial plane in mid-flight and taking over the controls without causing too much turbulence.”

Once the deal is done and the sale is closed, immerse yourself in the company, engage with your internal and external stakeholders and review your plans and the changes needed to implement. You may need to reassure your new employees and customers, present a plan and work towards adapting your team, systems and processes.

Lessons learned

Damian shared the lessons he learned in every stage of the process. “For the search stage, I would say, you must have real clarity of the parameters of the business you are looking for (i.e., industry, size, markets, financials, structure, capital requirement, etc). For the deal stage, be as clear and specific in the letter of offer as you can regarding the deal – from what type of contract you will expect to use to even specific guarantees you will expect to have. If you have investors, keep in constant communication with them, and set clear expectations of the type of shareholders agreement you will want to sign. Finally, for the handover stage, make a good 90-day plan, grab every key aspect of the business, such as people, cash, occupational health & safety, marketing, sales, and manufacturing, and set a weekly plan for 15 days to 90 days with all the things you want to do for each area of interest. This will help you manage the workflow, prioritise and ensure that you don't drop the ball on something critical to the business.”

He added, “To be able to launch and build a brand that existed before, the first thing for me is to understand the history and heritage of the brand, do nothing until we totally get it and understand the market and consumers well. Once we feel comfortable that we understand and get the brand, it is time to plan the strategy for the next few years.”

The rewards of entrepreneurship through acquisition

Despite the challenges, struggles and difficulties, the whole experience and the results can be rewarding. “One of the significant rewards is that instead of having to start from scratch, you can immediately grow the business and make it more profitable, experiments and small changes can be meaningful from day one compared to a startup where you need to build momentum first. With a running business, you might be able to make small adjustments and get significant rewards quicker,” Damian pointed out.

Similarly, Jacob also finds his journey of entrepreneurship through acquisition satisfying. “The benefit of the acquisition is that much of the hard work proving out the product or service model had been achieved. But much like buying a house vs building one from scratch, some things needed remodelling, renovating and even rebuilding. When I bought Mobile Skips, much of what we could see and review was in great shape, but some elements needed to be rebuilt to enable our skip bin hire to be scaled. I realised these unforeseen things seem to be more normal than not and having available capital to deal with them (and expecting some issues) meant we dealt with them quickly, getting us back on track and growing the business with limited disruption. Having enough capital and resilience to ride the bumps in the early stages ensured we weren’t snagged down early on.”

“My most enjoyable part of the acquisition was having an established group of customers we could learn from and quickly improve our skip hire offer. This meant we were able to do some great research early on and update the service offering, making it even better and getting instant feedback from our customer base. This helped drive more sales quickly and also built loyalty with our customer group by listening and reacting to their feedback. Happy and loyal customers are a huge part of the acquisition valuation. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my journey with Mobile Skips since the acquisition almost 5 years ago. I hope these small experience shares somehow contribute to your journey as well,” Jacob shared.

Share with us your experience on entrepreneurship through acquisition, if you have any, or drop a question in the comments section below if you are contemplating acquiring a business.

5 ways you can easily make your business more environment-friendly

“Go Green.” We often see this call-to-action in advertisements, advocacy campaigns and establishments. Businesses have become more conscious of their impact on the environment and have joined efforts in minimising their carbon footprint to help preserve our planet’s biodiversity. But how do you get your business and your entire team to go green?

Making your company more environmentally friendly entails great responsibility as it involves the way you do business. However, you can always start with a few steps that can lead to achieving greater things.

Before you map out how to make your company be a green business, it is good to first take a look at companies that practise eco-friendly methods or consult experts that are knowledgeable on this area, then have a committee within your organisation that will help plan and execute your initiatives.

At EO Melbourne, we are privileged to have all these businesses that are operating in this field: Energy Ease, Pacific Solar, Sunwiz, Sunpower Renewables, TCK Solar, and Your Energy Partner.

To give you ideas on where to start, here are five ways on how your business can become eco-friendly:

1.       Reduce, reuse, recycle

Minimising waste, utilising things again after use, and making new products from waste or used items are among the basic methods of being an environmentally-responsible citizen. These three words summarise the ways we can help our planet. To put these into practice, you can segregate your wastes so that you can reuse bottles and plastic containers or create something from fabric or paper products.

To cut down on waste, avoid the use of paper cups, plates or utensils and instead choose reusable mugs and utensils in your office. Go paperless by having forms or documents in electronic copies. If printing on paper is necessary, use both sides or utilise again the blank pages at the back of old files. Also, brief your employees the proper way of doing this because educating your team is key to getting them on board and encouraging them to take action.

2.       Use products and supplies that are energy-efficient or from sustainable sources

Make sure you use non-toxic cleaning products or you buy organic products for your meals and other supplies. Replace old appliances with energy-efficient ones and use LED lights instead of incandescent bulbs. Prefer recycled products as much as you can. Choose suppliers that are also practising eco-friendly ways and look for local vendors for your materials and equipment.

Also, check out your office design and find alternative ways where you will be able to use more energy-efficient materials or tools in your day-to-day office activities. Carpool if you must, and limit transportation by doing online meetings or voice calls.

3.       Conserve water and electricity

Water and electricity are a staple for every household and most especially businesses. As we use them every day, we need to be conscious of their usage as there can be activities or practices that result in a lot of wastage of these resources. Use as much natural light in your offices as much as possible. If the design limits having natural light in your workplace, consider installing motion sensors for lights in your meeting or rooms and faucets in your toilets and pantries.

Another option is to observe lights-off hours during breaks or after office hours. You can shift to desk lights when there are fewer people in the office. Always put reminders to turn off lights and electronic appliances when not in use.

4.       Put plants or have a garden in your office

Plants not only make an office attractive but they also clean the air. Also, plants help reduce noise levels, relieve people from stress, increase productivity, enhance creativity, combat illnesses and lower absence rates.

Aside from that, having some greens or a garden in your office also reminds you and your team to be always conscious of the environment. Assign them a plant or give them a schedule to take care of your office garden so that everyone takes accountability in looking after them and carries these responsibilities wherever they are, being mindful of their duty in protecting our planet’s resources.

5.       Use alternative sources of energy

You can install solar panels, windmills or rain catchers in your work areas to utilise alternative sources of energy. While this may be easier said and done, it can be achieved with careful planning and good execution. It is a good step towards becoming a more environmentally friendly business.

You can start with these initiatives and expand your company’s green campaign as you go along. And before you bring this to your external audience, be sure to run an internal campaign among your team members so that it becomes part of your corporate culture. The important thing is to embed the mindset and values of being responsible for taking care of our environment within your organisation.

Do you have other suggestions on how to make a business eco-friendly? Share with us in the comment section below.

Ways of streamlining your business

As your business grows, you will find that tasks increase, files pile up, materials (and dust) gather and more things need your attention. Some items take longer to turn around, need several documents and require to deal with a lot of people. When work gets more complicated and unproductive, maybe it’s time to review your business and see where you need to streamline and simplify things.

Streamlining items and systems means you declutter objects and remove unnecessary steps so that you can cut down on wastage and use resources wisely. You can use modern technology and techniques to make your organisation more efficient than before. How to do that? Take a look at a few suggestions on how to simplify different aspects of your business, whether they are physical objects or processes.

Focus on your core products and services

When you try to expand your business, the temptation to do many other things that may no longer be part of your core products or services is high. Instead of doing so many things within your business, it is better to separate them into different ventures and let each focus on its strong components. Pay more attention to the quality over quantity of work you do. Eliminate factors that are not essential to your business but take a lot of time, resources, and energy from you and your team.

Outsource certain tasks

For you to be able to focus on the core of your business, outsource the components that are not your expertise. Which part of your business can you farm out to experts? Is it design, finance, IT, engineering, PR, marketing or delivery? Outsourcing allows you to have lesser things to think about, do what you’re best at, and reduce cost. 

Take out unnecessary steps in processes

From hiring to finance to procurement to operations to generating reports, review if there are steps that are not very essential to the processes within your enterprise. Go through your workflow and check the gaps and bumps that may hinder more than help accomplish a particular task. If you need checks and balances, you can put in systems that will enable you to monitor and generate reports without having to go through extra steps and assign too many people.

Remove redundancies

Check for any redundant positions, tasks, items, or machines. There may be too many forms to fill out. While back-ups are necessary, you can always come up with techniques and strategies to do this without adding another layer in your process or extra task to do to get work done. See if there are any overlap of roles and work. The leaner and simpler things are, the easier and more efficient you accomplish your goals.

Shift to electronic copies

Do you have piles of paper stacked on your desk? Is it difficult to find an important document among the folders kept on your shelf? Shift to electronic copies and cut down on paper usage. This way, you not only minimise your expenses but you also help save the planet. Be sure to have a system on how you organise files to make it easy to find. When it comes to streamlining, also review your physical space if it is conducive for work or if there is too much clutter that sometimes affects the way people do their job.

Automate your systems

Take advantage of modern technology and see the available software in the market that can help you in your business. You can consult an expert to check which part of your venture you can automate and make things faster and more efficient. Focus on the portion where you spend more time and workforce so you can ease the flow of processes.

Reduce delays

Maybe there are things where you can communicate online or electronically so that you don’t need to spend more time on the road or be physically present in meetings. If you can make things faster or lessen the amount of time you need to spend on menial tasks, find ways to reduce delays. Cut down on your travel time and do meetings more efficiently.

When you have streamlined your business, review it from time to time so that you can adjust and refine the changes you have instituted. No need to complicate things when you can do them more simply. In the end, you can even be more productive while saving some of your energy and resources.

Tech brands that made it big

Most companies and businesses nowadays do not have a physical product to sell. With information and transactions mostly done online, many brands that we have come across offer various services through websites or phone applications. From photo sharing, social networking, email marketing to buy-and-sell, there are plenty of industries that now rely on the internet to push their businesses forward.

Some of these businesses started as side projects, yet they became so popular that they evolved into core products of their companies. Others offer simple yet valuable solutions to certain challenges or difficulties we encounter in our day-to-day lives. Let’s take a look at a few examples and get insights on how they have built their brands from nothing into something big.

Mailchimp

While founders Ben Chestnut and Dan Kurzius created a web design agency for large corporate clients, they also made an email marketing project on the side to cater to small businesses. But this email service has become a valuable tool among individuals and small to medium-sized enterprises, garnering a user base of tens of thousands that continues to grow exponentially. It led the founders to focus exclusively on their product, called the Mailchimp. At present, users can integrate Mailchimp in their websites and social media platforms, making it easy for them to communicate and reach out to their customers and those in their mailing list.

Craigslist

One of the early players in the field is Craigslist, named after its founder, Craig Newmark. It began as an avenue for Craig to inform his friends of the latest happenings in the San Francisco Bay Area. Eventually, other people started posting jobs, items for sale, apartment for rent and other announcements on the list. The site, which is very simple in appearance and easy to navigate, has become the go-to place for people offering and looking for various items and services. Now, Craigslist service several cities and countries around the globe.

Skyscanner

The tourism industry is among those that have benefitted greatly from the advancement in online technology. Several websites and apps provide information and easy access for travellers to plan and book their trips by providing information on accommodations, flights and car rentals and compare costs. One of these sites is Skyscanner, which traces its roots in Edinburgh, Scotland, and later acquired by Trip.com.

Twitter

In the social media realm, Twitter is one of the main players where people can connect and share thoughts, moments and information. The microblogging site was initially called twttr, a project of its mother company, Odeo, and it was first used internally among the employees. Later on, celebrities, brands and even government officials turn to Twitter to post on various topics and users turn to the “trends” to jump in the conversation. Now, Twitter is a company in itself and is widely used worldwide.

Shopify

Before it became an e-commerce platform, Shopify was just another online store, called Snowdevil, that was selling snowboards. Not satisfied with the existing e-commerce tools at that time, one of the founders, Tobias Lütke, decided to build their own, which is now Shopify. This online marketplace grew from just five people meeting and working in coffee shops to having thousands of employees across the globe, servicing over a million businesses and buyers.

Unsplash

It all began as a Tumblr blog filled with photos from photoshoot outtakes of founder Mikael Cho’s company. He welcomed others to use the photos until it grew and became what is today’s Unsplash. Now, it is one of the sources of stock photos although changes have been in place and there are certain restrictions. But who ould have thought that from a humble beginning, it is now widely used by various individuals and companies?

Grammarly

At first, Grammarly was created by Alex Shevchenko, Dmytro Lider and Max Lytvyn to support students in their spelling and grammar. But the product held so much promise that it was also being used by professionals in business and everyday writing. Grammarly can also be used as an add-in to various platforms and browser extensions.

GoFundMe

If you’re looking for a job, a property, an item, a picture, a flight schedule or an event, you name it and the internet will surely lead you to something. But it’s not just products or services that are found in e-commerce and tech sites. There are also crowdfunding that aims to help those in need. GoFundMe is one site that provides a platform for those looking for resources and those looking for a cause to support. Its forerunner was Paygr which was originally established to provide its members with an avenue where they can sell their services.

Houzz

The advent of the internet also paved the way for many do-it-yourself projects, allowing those who cannot afford to pay professionals to do things by themselves or seek advice from people with similar interests or concerns. Houzz was born because founders Adi Tatarko and Alon Cohen were remodelling their home. Frustrated with piles of magazines where they cut out pictures of houses and still couldn’t put together their dream design, they built Houzz and became an online community on interior design, architecture, landscaping and home improvement.

Groupon

Groupon is a platform that banks on the concept of collective bargaining power. Its founder Andrew Mason first helped establish The Point, which was based on the principle of the “tipping point”, gathering people for a common goal. Eventually, people started using it to band together to save money through group discounts. It evolved into Groupon, an e-commerce site focused on group buying.

There are many more technology-based startups that have grown in a span of a few years. It goes to show that people turn more and more to the internet for all their needs and wants. The challenge, however, is in sustaining these brands by staying relevant amidst the changing times.

When to partner with a competitor

It may not be commonplace to find competitors partnering with each other, but it is also not a rare case. Besides, such collaboration only lasts for a certain period and is not expected to be done in the long-term.

However, there are benefits you can get by working with a competition, although it may also pose some risks. But if you have a common goal in mind, then doing so may mean you have to set aside your differences and cooperate until you achieve what you both want to attain. Just make sure that you keep your trade secrets close to your chest as certain circumstances may call for it.

During times of crisis

A crisis, tragedy or disaster, such as the global pandemic we are currently experiencing, are few instances when you need to put two minds together until both your businesses can surpass such difficulty. Oftentimes, several companies in the same industry come together to cooperate so that they can survive and navigate through a crisis.

For innovation in the industry

Competition happens not just among businesses belonging in the same field but also among various industries. With the rise of online and app-based ventures, physical stores or those with physical products experience a dent on their performance. Other industries are left behind because of the fast technological advancements. Partnering with a competitor to revive your industry or innovate it is a good move to help your business withstand the rising trend of other new industries.

When expanding the market

It is often difficult to enter a new market or expand your existing one to new territories. To save you on your effort and resources, as doing so may require a huge risk, partnering with a business similar to yours may be a wise thing to do in certain situations.

To complement each other’s business

While you are competitors, you may have different strengths and unique selling propositions that one may have over the other. You may complement each other’s businesses by putting on the table something that the other one does not have.

In facing a bigger competitor

When a huge corporation dominates a certain market, small businesses sometimes suffer as they only get a meagre portion of the pie. They need to join forces so that they can increase their market share and have a better competing power against the big player in the field.

For a common charitable cause

Businesses usually help out a sector that is related to their brand or operation. Construction firms would want to build homes to the homeless or schools to communities in need. Enterprises that are into children may help in education. Competing companies can work together to help a particular sector of society, hoping to provide better conditions to that group.

It may be an opportunity to find a circumstance where you can partner with a competitor. But then, think it over thoroughly, do a lot of research, discuss it with your team and analyse the situation carefully. There are benefits with working with a competitor but know the risks. Be sure that you do it to advance your business and help you get closer to your vision and goals.

Tips on doing niche marketing

Getting exposure to as many people as possible may be a good thing. But it can take so much time, effort and resources on your part. Meanwhile, if you target a specific market, it will take less but may produce the same or better results.

Niche marketing is a strategy where you direct your initiatives towards a target market and customise your messages and design to their preference. It is different from mass marketing, wherein you convey you communicate to a bigger audience. On the other hand, niche marketing focuses on the segment which has the most need and most interest in your product or service.

To make sure that your niche marketing strategies are effective and successful, here are a few tips that may help your business.

Get the demographics of your market and segmentize them

Surveys, feedback forms or interviews are just a few methods of getting information about your customers. It’s always helpful to gather data, observe first-hand and analyse the numbers to set the foundation of your strategies. Know the age, location, occupation and other information on the demographics of your clientele. From the statistics generated, divide your market into segments so you can decide the best group to target for your niche marketing.

Research on the behaviours and psyche of your target market

Delve deeper into your target segment and know their behaviours, hobbies and preferences. These will help outline your strategies on how to approach and communicate with your market. Understanding their needs and pain points and seeing the connection as to how your products or services address such will enable you to tailor-fit your marketing campaign towards them.

Maintain a database of your customers from that niche

Put together a database of your clients belonging to your target segment and communicate with them regularly. Better yet, provide an avenue for them to form into a community. It will enable you to strengthen your relationship with your target market and encourage loyalty to your brand.

Choose the right communication platform or channel

Once you have determined your target market’s mindset and behaviour, select the right platform or channel where you will communicate to them. Although bags are the same, targeting a high-end and matured market is unlike communicating to a young group. The idea with niche marketing is that you don’t have to be all over the place. Instead, you can focus more on where you can be most visible to your intended audience.

Craft your messages and design for the target segment

When you have fully known and understood that market segment you want to aim, craft your messaging and design your marketing materials as to how they will appeal to them the most. Doing so is like communicating to them directly. Adjust your messaging and design according to the platform you are using. Ads in written format should not be the same with broadcast media. Similarly, direct emails are drafted differently from press releases and social media posts.

Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up

Sustain your initiatives by scheduling properly your activities. If you did an exclusive event for your target market, sent out an email or launched an online campaign, make sure that you do a follow-up. With so many things going on in a single day, people may tend to forget about your brand. Make your presence felt in a way that your product or service becomes more relevant to them.

If you even know better the market you want to target, you can be even more specific on your action points. Don’t forget to evaluate how effective your niche marketing is and if it’s something that you should consider doing for your brand for the long-term.

Benefits of business collaborations

Companies, big or small, sometimes work together for a common goal that will mutually benefit each party involved. Collaborations are not uncommon among brands and organisations, especially if this can lead to increased knowledge and sales. Such partnerships may occur through joint projects in developing new products and services, enhanced processes, training and upskilling of people, sales and marketing initiatives and so much more.

Before you get into any form of collaboration, you first have to assess your current state and upcoming plans vis-à-vis to that of the prospective partner organisations. Conduct a SWOT analysis of your business and the other participating businesses. How will this benefit you and your company? What will be the division of labour? How are you going to work out the partnership? What are the stipulations in the collaboration?

One thing to note is that you need to do your thorough research and risk assessment before committing to a collaboration. Make sure that things are documented in black and white so that you have something to refer to in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the business relationship. But if such cooperation between businesses become a huge success, the benefits to your venture can be enormous.

Shared learnings

Collaboration may lead to the sharing of new information, best practices and additional knowledge about your industry and current trends that can be useful to the development of your business. It is when you go outside the box and expand your horizons that you will get to see so much more things to learn that can help you and your venture grow significantly.

Enhanced human capital

The best training for your people is to provide them with on-hand training and exposure, one that collaboration with other businesses can bring to the table. It can widen their horizon and allow them to think outside what you consider as a norm in your organisation. This will enhance their capability as they get to experience new things in a different setting.

Improved products and services

Whether your partner with other businesses to develop a new product or service, combine the best parts of your respective offerings or enhance what is already available, such cooperation will allow you to offer more to your customers. In effect, it will attract additional prospects to your business and grow your clientele.

Increased promotions and brand value

Some collaborations may be limited to joint promotions or marketing tactics. Nevertheless, partnering with another brand, especially a stronger one, may increase the value of your name and expand your reach. It will widen your audience and market as you will be able to communicate to your collaborators’ network. In the long run, it will be helpful to your brand, not only for name recall but also for its trustworthiness.

Financial gains

With experienced people, better offerings and attractive promotions, collaborations may be able to help boost your sales and increase your profit. Successful partnerships may even benefit your bottom line in the long-term as more and more people will look at it as a sign that your business is one that they can depend on. Moreover, the resources and effort that you will put into collaborations vis-à-vis the advantages you will gain will be more cost-efficient as compared to you doing it all by yourself.

Competitive edge

During and after a successful collaboration, all the learnings and improvements that your venture will obtain will give you a competitive edge over other players in the field as you move forward on your entrepreneurial journey. Other businesses get into some form of cooperation with other companies, even for a short period, to use it as a launching pad for more endeavours.

There are surely great wins when you work with other business entities. There are also risks involved and failed collaborations may even have an adverse impact, so do it sparingly and with caution. But if you work towards making it successful, you will reap the fruits of your labour a hundredfold. They may not necessarily come immediately or in monetary form, but it will provide your organisation with many more insights that you will not normally get when you work on your own.

How to pivot a business

During interesting times, such as a global pandemic and an economic crisis, some industries and businesses suffer due to little, no or negative growth. It often happens during normal days as well, when the market does not seem to be enthusiastic about a brand or certain products or offerings. There are several moments when a business hits a plateau or reaches a downward slope. When this occurs, maybe it’s time to revisit your goals and if you need to do a pivot.

Pivoting is an option to save your business from eventual failure. If you do it at the right time and proper strategy, you may be able to even grow your venture. While it may not be easy to do a turn, especially if it’s something that may not be aligned to your core products or services, it is an opportunity to test your flexibility and resourcefulness.

The question is how do you pivot? How do you decide what kind of new offer should you be doing? How do you get out of the mould and institute changes in your business?

Assess your talents and assets

Have an inventory of your assets and talents. Maybe you can use your raw materials and turn them into something else that is unique, affordable and marketable. What are your other skills and talents? You can probably turn a business out of it. If you have hobbies and you are good at them, you can consider creating a business out of those. See how your other resources and talents can respond to a need in society. Some businesses are born out of necessity, while others are built because of ingenuity, generating new interest from the public.

Look at opportunities for new demand

Feel the pulse of your customers and see what keeps them preoccupied or if there’s anything that can make things easier for them. The best way to pivot is to create new demand for your market. Find gaps in society and evaluate how you will be able to fill that gap. Opportunities usually come in areas where there’s most need, so keep your eyes open for them. Some of them may be unrelated to your current offering. Look beyond what you currently have and view the scenario from the eyes of your current and prospective clientele.

Explore the digital world

Take advantage of modern technology. If you can bring your business to the realm of the digital space, you can probably come up with tons of possibilities to pivot your business. Transactions are done faster online, and with the occurrence of the pandemic, more and more industries are turning to the virtual world to deliver the services they can offer.

Innovate your business model or offerings

Is your business model still working? Are your products and services in demand at this time? If the answer to both questions is “no”, then probably it’s time to rethink your strategies and approach. Brainstorm with your team and assess how you can innovate to pivot your venture. You can bring your products a notch higher by innovating or introducing something novel to your clients.

When your business hits a wall, find ways how you can go over or around it. Look into how businesses that have successfully pivoted did it and learn from their best practices. There are many ways to pivot. Be creative. Consider carefully various alternatives and plan your next steps towards achieving your goal.

An entrepreneur’s daily checklist

The life of an entrepreneur is demanding. It means facing risks, meeting challenges head-on, taking responsibility for lives reliant on you, and dedicating yourself to bring the business forward towards your goals. If you take a look at it, it is not an easy role, but the emotional, financial and social gains of its success are tremendous.

While you keep your eye on the vision, which may be a long-term one, you need to break down your goals into tasks to make them achievable. To do so, a good form of discipline, order and commitment can help you get through your day-to-day undertakings and obligations. Successful entrepreneurs have daily checklists and routines that enable them to manage the tasks on hand while not losing sight of the result.

Here are some of the things that effective business owners do. Of course, you have to tailor-fit your checklist towards your needs and priorities. More importantly, you have to be flexible. You can always adjust your checklist depending on something that suddenly props up or on its relevance to your over-arching goals. But they can be overwhelming sometimes and you may want to get some ideas on what to do daily.

Plan your schedule at least a day ahead

You wake up with a fresh mind if you already have an idea of how to go about your day. The best option is to plan. As they say, “take care of your tomorrow today.” Managing a team or a business effectively starts with managing yourself, which includes your schedules and activities. Visualise how your day will unfold and consider the things which you can control and those you can’t. See if you have any pending or unaccomplished tasks that you have to carry over the next day so that you will be able to tick it off your checklist of to-dos.

Think of what you want to achieve on this day and work around it

What are your top priorities? What do you need to achieve for the day? Is it meeting a sales target, approving new product designs or mentoring your understudy? Whatever big or medium goals you want to accomplish, break them down into doable tasks for the day, such as calling a prospective client or visiting a supplier’s workshop. And think also beyond work. Include your personal goals and those for your family and community.

Reflect and meditate

Always allocate time for reflection or meditation. It may be starting your day with prayer or simply breathing in and out while driving to work. Do something that you find therapeutic. And while you’re at it, reflect about your inner self, on what makes you happy and contented, and of what you want to achieve. 

Nourish yourself and take care of your body

Take good care of yourself so that you can take care of others. As a business owner, you have a team to supervise and lead. Many entrepreneurs are also parents, so they also have to oversee their household’s needs and make sure their family is okay. Be sure that you are physically, mentally and emotionally able. Eat breakfast and don’t skip meals. Exercise or do activities to keep your body fit and healthy. De-stress when you fell burdened or burnt out. Get enough sleep and rest when your body shows signs of tiredness.

Talk to important people in your life

Whether it’s a morning conversation with your loved one, bedtime storytelling with your kids, brief updates from your managers, meeting with your client or one-on-one forum with a fellow EO member, make sure that you allow time to talk with important persons in your lives. They may be family members, colleagues, team members, fellow entrepreneurs, customers or friends who can provide you with valuable insights, inspire you to keep going or encourage you to be the best that you can be.

Clear your inbox

In this digital age, it is also important to keep your gadgets and devices free from clutter. Delete unnecessary files. Make it a habit to clear your inbox regularly. You can either allot a schedule when you can check your emails or set your account to only notify you of urgent messages or from important people.

Clean and arrange your desk

Having a clean environment has a positive effect on one’s mood and mental state. Some people find order amidst the clutter, but it’s still best to have some system and arrangement in place even when your desk may be full of papers and other things. Separate things that need your immediate attention and put them in an area that can easily be seen. During the day, take a few minutes arranging your stuff and throw what needs to be in the wastebasket.

Develop yourself

Listen to a TED talk podcast or read a book. You can enrol yourself in a short class and allot an hour or two for practice or study. Indulge in your hobby or do a creative activity. Always include an item in your to-do list that can contribute to your personal or professional growth and development. It may not be too big or noble. It can be a simple thing that will add value to yourself.

Inspire others

Do something where you can inspire or help others. It may be a simple smile to a person you meet on the street, a tap on your team member’s shoulder, doing a podcast, writing a short sweet note to your life partner or family member, or a pep talk to a community of entrepreneurs. Each one of us can uplift somebody else. Include that in your daily checklist and see how it can do wonders to your day.

There may be days when you may not be able to accomplish a lot of things in your checklist. That is fine. Don’t be too hard on yourself. But if it keeps dragging on, see what causes the slump. Review your list if they are still relevant or if they are truly attainable. And if you need help from people around you, do not hesitate to let them know about it.

10 Biographies to Inspire Your Entrepreneurial Journey

If you’ve got some “me” time or when you’re stuck indoors for some reason, why not spend it by poring yourself on reading materials that will inspire and energise you to keep going in your entrepreneurial journey? A good start is to look into the life stories of business leaders who withstood adversities and exhibited determination and persistence in achieving their dreams.

These individuals have become powerful forces in their respective companies and industries. One may wonder, “how did they do it?” The answer may lie between the pages of those books that journal their lives and business experiences. We have listed 10 biographies that you can start reading and then you can work your way towards finding books that are related to your business or industry.

Shoe Dog by Nike Co-Founder Phil Knight

The book chronicles the early days of Nike in the eyes of its co-founder, Phil Knight. He also narrates his youth and how he faced the risks and challenges in getting close to his dreams. Did you know that this global footwear giant started being sold from the trunk of Knight’s car? But look where it is now. Get behind the story of the iconic swoosh and pick up the lessons you can apply in your enterprise.

Miracles Happen by Mary Kay Cosmetics Founder Mary Kay Ash

Mary Kay Ash started her company at the age of 45. Yet, it was not without some heartbreaks in her personal and professional life. However, she held on to her principles that were her beacon of light in her journey. She established her company not only to make her dreams become a reality but also to help women attain their dreams, too, by believing that miracles happen.

I Love Capitalism by Home Depot Co-founder Ken Langone

Regarding himself as the epitome of the American Dream, Ken Langone shares through his memoir that poverty did not impede his ambition of making it big. He worked his way to get an education, build a career and establish businesses. The book is a peek to his life and a testament on how capitalism has helped him achieve the success he now enjoys.

By Invitation Only: How We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shop by Gilt Co-founders Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson

Changing the way millions of people shop was something that Alexis Maybank, Alexandra Wilkis Wilson and their co-founders in Gilt never imagined they would achieve by putting up their online store. But the recession, the shopping culture of the market and conflicting needs of their suppliers were hurdles they had to surpass to save the company from impending death.

The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and The Age of Amazon by Brad Stone

American journalist Brad Stone interviewed several Amazon executives, including former employees, to tell the story of Amazon to his readers. Although the Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, declined an interview, he allowed Stone access to people around him to document how this modest online bookseller grew to become what it is now, offering many items beyond books and topping the online selling space.

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg

In this book, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who is also one of the Most Powerful Women in Business by Fortune magazine, puts the spotlight on women. Backed by research and based on her personal experience, Sandberg touches on the challenges on women with the realities they face at work, in the community and at home. She also provided some practical tips and useful advice for women on how to build their careers and empower themselves.

Bloomberg by Bloomberg by Michael Bloomberg

Bloomberg Co-founder Michael Bloomberg fuses his personal stories, business insights and management lessons in this book that he penned himself. Readers get an overview of his struggles during his youth and onto his career and how he bested industry giants. He also shared his foray into public service and philanthropy.

Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built by Duncan Clark

Being an early advisor to Alibaba, investor Duncan Clark has a first-hand view of how Alibaba has grown and how its founder, Jack Ma, has accomplished massive success. From being a teacher to becoming a worldwide business phenomenon, Ma has shown that nothing is impossible. Regardless of background and location, he has managed to grow his business and pit it out against industry titans.

Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography by Walter Isaacson

Writer-historian Walter Isaacson has written the biographies of Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin. He added another feather on his cap by writing the biography of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Jobs had granted Isaacson various exclusive interviews, sharing his thoughts and experiences to the author. Isaacson also spoke to the countless people surrounding Jobs to present his story coming from all angles. From Jobs’ childhood to his youth and career life, Isaacson presented the inspiring story of Steve Jobs, including his character, values and lessons.

Grinding It Out by Ray Kroc of McDonald’s

As the first partner of the McDonald brothers, Ray Kroc revolutionised the fast-food industry through franchising, automation, training and advertising that helped shape McDonald’s as a global leader in its business space. In his autobiography, Kroc shares his journey from being a salesman and how he became a huge success. It was a steep climb and full of twists and turns, producing many valuable lessons and insights that will inspire his readers.

Skydiving your way to the entrepreneurial path

Skydiving is an activity that may not be for everyone. People with a fear of heights may be averse to jump from a high altitude into the unknown. It takes knowledge, presence of mind and courage for one to do so. This is what many business owners stand out as they are ready to take the risk just to achieve the goal they have in mind.

If you love the thrill, curious about how it feels or want to tick an item off in your bucket list, then you may want to try what it’s like to skydive. It takes commitment, adherence to safety measures and a form of discipline to make the entire experience a success. And while you’re at it, learn to apply some lessons from this activity into running your business.

Calculate the risks and face them bravely

Going up thousands of feet from the ground and hurling yourself off the plane is something that should not be taken lightly. You have to prepare yourself mentally, emotionally and physically before doing your first jump from the air. Experts take note of the weather, wind velocity, height and other essential factors that can make the skydive a successful one.

Putting your efforts, time and resources in building and running a business mean you have to be prepared with the right tools and measures to make sure they don’t go to waste. It is crucial to know your capabilities, learn your environment, and surround yourself with the right people to have a better foothold when you hurl yourself to the entrepreneurial space. Data, experience and your gut-fell will help determine the decisions you have to take.

Listen to your instructor and trust your team

If you are doing it for the first time, you should pay attention to what the instructor says and observe it diligently. Review the guidelines and follow directions to avoid mishaps. There will also be a team that will support you, from the pilot to people on the ground. Trust them and establish a strong connection with them so you can better communicate during the entire process.

Having a mentor and like-minded individuals can assist you as you dip your feet on the water. Once you have established your business continue to upgrade yourself, seek the counsel of experts and join groups like EO. Hire people that fit your corporate culture and requirements and look after their professional development. Skydiving like entrepreneurship may seem to be a solo activity but there are many people behind the scene that ensure the success of the endeavour.

Wear the proper gear and always prepare for an emergency

Safety first. That is a primary principle in most industries. The same goes for skydiving and entrepreneurship. You don’t do these things blindly. You create a plan and several back-up plans when things go wrong. There will always be unexpected circumstances, such as calamities, economic crises, armed conflicts and pandemics.

Whether the investment you put in your business is your life savings or financial contribution from an angel investor, you have to ensure that it will multiply rather than a negative yield. Have your business insured, consult with financial and legal experts, create a short, middle and long-term plan, including an exit strategy. Make sure not only have two parachutes but extra ones when you dive into business because unlike skydiving, more people are dependent on you as a business owner.

Feel the moment and enjoy the experience

People who skydive want to experience the thrill of the activity. Entrepreneurs get into business because of their passion and vision. Never let go of that desire for success. Keep your eyes on the prize and the destination ahead. There may be times when it gets scary, frustrating, difficult or impossible, but your fervour and determination will keep you going. Enjoy the experience while you can because the joy of achieving your goal will be far more immense than the struggles you’ve been through.