Nicholas Bate

The A to Z of Things To Watch: J is for Journey

These are troubled times indeed for many. For some very troubled times. Such times can bring boughts of wishing and hoping and looking forward to 'better times'. It's understandable. We all do it. But it can be a shame: if you started back in 2008 when this all blew up that's a lot of time to be wishin' and hopin' will pass quickly. Enjoy may be too strong a word for some but at least be on that journey. Get from it what you can. It makes better, easier times even better. And even easier.

The A to Z of Things to Watch: I for Indicator of Recovery

Just as with sailors who had been at sea for far too long and began to see land whenever they raised a telescope to an eye, from this point on we will begin to see indicators of recovery. The thing to watch is how real they are for you and to be prepared to capitalise upon them. Sure there will undoubtedly be false alarms, but definitely don't miss them for your business with your product/s in your target market. So: what are you looking for?

The A to Z of Things to Watch: H for Hope.

Bottom-line, I define great leadership as the provision of apparent sustainable hope. It's clear in Churchill, Ghandi and JFK. It explains how Hitler got as far as he did. It'll decide the current presidential election. It's given PM Brown of the UK a much-needed second wind.
And in very tough times it's what your people need from you:
HOPE: a belief that it's all going to be OK. You can get them out of this mess and restore their lives to some semblance of normality.
SUSTAINABLE: no quick blips, please. We want the real thing.
APPARENT: here's the catch. We won't know until you have been doing it for a while.
Here's hoping.

The A to Z of Things To Watch: G is GTD

In the quest to get things done or GTD, ensure you are getting the right things done.

The A to Z of Things to Watch: F is Fear

Watch out! Fear of recession. A valid thing to keep an eye on, a valid thing to prepare for. But stay bold. Don't necessarily slash your prices, maybe increase a few. See it as an opportunity to get more focused. To really show how you are better than your competitors.

Take 10 minutes out with the team: remind them, this is something to watch.

The A to Z of Things to Watch: E is Entrepreneur

2008 will be the year when once again Small is Beautiful. Whatever you do, think and act as an entrepreneur e.g.

-what's my personal brand? OR when I am out of the room what do people say about me?
-am I a cost or profit centre? OR how could I turn my 10-people HR cost centre into something which makes money?
-am I providing purpose and experience? OR how can I get all of my team to feel really connected to our vision and what we are trying to do?
-how can I ensure responsiveness: to market, to customer? OR how do I create an organisation with the wisdom of 25 years but the agility of 25 days?

Think Small is Beautiful. Lean is Mean. Value not Cost. Action not Delay. Here's why, not here's why not.

Do you feel a tingle down your spine? Excellent. Or do you notice a bead of perspiration dropping onto your Blackberry?

The A to Z of Things to Watch: D is Debt

The exciting world of business tends-naturally-to concentrate on the big stories of money gained and money lost. The sums are often so staggering that someones injects into a business or loses on collapse that it becomes difficult for us to comprehend and we perhaps also lose a sense of reality as far as business debt is concerned.

But, there is no doubt about it, if your debt is not managed and contained it will bring your start-up down. Here are ten tips:

1.Have brilliant record-keeping from the begining of money coming in and money going out. If you are not good at that, outsource the task.
2.Realise that there are various kinds of money and future money eg.. revenue coming in in two months will not help with this month's overdraft.
3.Price correctly. Are you so busy you can't make money?
4.Learn negotiation.Every point of discount saved will help your business grow.
5. Chase money owed. It is usualy paid first to those who chase first. Sad but true.
6. Start early when you win business from a large organisation; it typically takes months to get you 'on the system'.
7. Talk to the bank.
8. Document prices and T&C.
9. Get a GOOD accountant.
10.And if it does all go wrong. Learn and start again.

Did you miss A to C? they are here.

The A to Z of Things To Watch

The A to Z of Things to Watch: C is for Crisps/Chips

Watching the world of crisps (chips for our American friends) is a microcosom of the marketing world. Once upon a time in the Old World of Work you could have any crips you liked so long as they were in a small bag, plain potato and you added your own salt. Breakthroughs came at a slow rate. Ready-salted crips (gasp!). Cheese and onion, salt and vinegar.....bigger bags...enormous bags...multi bags...weird flavours. But the interesting thing? As always, Pareto holds. Plain crisps are by far the bulk of all sales. As is vanilla ice-cream despite the delights of Ben & Jerry's. As is the grande latte at Starbucks. You see we want to know there is choice, but only a few of us actually exercise it that much...

Lessons for us as marketeers? Learn rapidly what the Pareto contributors are in your business and do them brilliantly. By all means support that with plenty of options, but do remember that every extra choice is a strain on our logistics and a potential distraction as we try and get it to work. Is there an easy answer? Of course not; that'd be no fun would it?

You missed letter A? That's here.
And letter B? Here.

The A to Z of Things to Watch: B is for Blog

In a mind-bogglingly fast world, how on Earth do we stay up-to-date with the lastest thinking, the latest ideas and new management practices?

Easy: read the blogs. Start slowly with the following: they will lead you to others. Eventually you will have a cool portfolio of fellow thinkers who inspire, cajole, teach and outrage you. Start here:

Michael Wade: fantastic thinking in manageable format. Great links. And a new nice photo, too!
Garr Reynolds: life beyond PowerPoint!
ZenHabits: a vast portfolio of check-lists and more..
Penelope Trunk: they love her, they hate her and very little in between: how about you?

You missed letter A? That's here.

The A to Z of Things to Watch: A is for Asia

For those of us in Europe, in the US we hear a lot about 'Asia'. The business threats, the different economic models. We hear about off-shoring, about jobs being done for ridiculously low salaries. How much is for real? How much is hear-say and hyperbole? Decide to find out. Take 10 minutes a day and discover more. Start with geography: who or what constitutes 'Asia'? Then get some data from wikipedia. Then consider how it will affect you. Get ahead of the crowd.

Something to watch: Asia.