How businesses evolve

It’s useful to understand how over the recent years, big businesses have reinvented themselves. I was reading an article recently on the departing Ericsson CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg, which gave an insightful account of the issues facing Ericsson after the dot-com bubble had burst. His model solely focused around consolidation, whilst others in their market either spread themselves extremely thin in looking for new markets to expand into (see Marconi) or acquired rivals to try and quickly expand (see Alcatel-Lucent). What Carl-Henric Svanberg did with Ericsson was to really consolidate, concentrate on their core business of building networks and inevitably cut costs. This worked, and he now leaves Ericsson today in the healthy position of having 40% of all mobile calls made on their network. I think a lot of companies get excited by the profits and market share available to them when they look outside of their domain. 2 large enterprises who are having mixed results are Google and Cisco. Although Google is still king of search, it’s increasingly more lucrative and more prestigious projects such as Google Books are starting to sap resources from it’s search empire. This has had the effect on competitors like Bing taking more market share.

It was also interesting to see how emerging technologies helped to spur growth in the ailing company. Although a large proportion of their spending is still attributed to legacy networks, opportunities increasingly present themselves to expand into so-called next generation networks. 3G networks are fast becoming their bread and butter, with customers such as Three (3) and T-Mobile in the UK having Ericsson infrastructure to power their data networks. Moving forward, with the advance of M2M, Carl-Henric Svanberg thinks that there is the potential for roughly   sim cards to be embedded into devices as seemingly mundane as fridges, microwaves and washing machines. This is where he envisages Ericsson’s next market shift. There’s no doubting the strength of the mobile data market. Whether it hits a natural saturation period or whether advance such as LTE will help it break through it’s glass ceiling are anyone’s guess. However one thing is certain. Due to the requirement for people to be connected on the move, this is definitely a market that will be key for a long time.

The shift in working practices

This is a guest post by one of my colleagues Max Stoner.

The rigid 9-5 structure that underpins Britain’s working week is something we’ve probably all questioned from time to time. In truth for most of us this has manifested itself in more of a meek whine or lament than an outright challenge to it, but even  louder and more boisterous voices of  discontent have often been undermined by a lack of belief; not necessarily in their our own powers to change, but in the working week’s capacity for significant change.

Until now that is…As currently the very structure and philosophy of our working week is under greater threat than at any other point in recent times. And if for a second you’re thinking of some recalcitrant movement; all dreadlocks and rotests and other musty wafts of non –conformity, then think again..

Because the role of agent provocateur in this attack on the working week, is in fact fulfilled by government backed initiative WorkWise UK. The organisation comes armed with fairly aggressive rhetoric about “consigning the working week to a thing of the past” and bringing about “change similar to the industrial revolution”. This no doubt conveys a pretty radical impression; although one somewhat tempered by closer inspection of their aims and principles.

In brief their raison d’être Is simply “to encourage the widespread adoption of smarter working practices”, which in actuality would equate to a shift towards more flexible working practices, such as an increase in remote working and greater flexibility over working hours. Their cumulative and ultimate goal; to “have 50% of the UK population working mainly in their own home, or in different places using home as a base within 5 years”

In many respects then their intention is not so much to dismantle the structures of our working week but rather to alleviate the undesirable rigidity that has plagued it for so long. Sort of like administering a very old, arthritic man with a super strength, and potentially destabilising shot of cod liver oil.

But why do we need change in the first place? Well to begin with let’s look at the way many of us begin our working day, with that poor excuse for travel we call the ‘commute’.

I accept that these vary in their nature, for many of us they take place in the squashed, cramped, antisocial and sweaty confines of our nation’s fine trains, tubes or buses. For others perhaps within the comfort of their own vehicle: albeit one stalled along a stretch of polluting, noisy and congested motorway that pulsates with palpable tension and collective raised blood pressure.

As well as being about as conducive to relaxation as holidaying in Baghdad, the commute also places stress on our roads and public transport infrastructure, and contributes significantly to environmental damage, because “a car travelling at crawling speed generates over 500g/km of carbon dioxide as opposed to 175g/km it would generate at 100 kph a hour”.

Furthermore recent sociological research seems to indicate that our work-life balance is out of kilter. The majority of people questioned in the 2008 Work and Family Life Report claimed “work dominated their lives, and family life suffered as a result”. The report also concluded that “working long hours led to increased levels of stress, resulting in irritability, exhaustion and depression”.

And if you’re not one for sentiment in respect to the social side effects of British working life, then take note that last year the CBI calculated over £5 billion was lost as a result of mental health and stress related illnesses. And the ramifications this has on our health and welfare sectors, one can only assume to be detrimental.

Workwise UK seeks to paint a picture of our traditional working week as archaic; a moribund relic, ill-suited to the demands of a complex and diverse 21c, wheezing and coughing it’s last polluting breaths of life towards it’s death bed.

Whether we agree with this diagnosis or not, clearly ways and means for us to function in a smarter more adaptable manner, and help reduce the ill effects of work on our nation’s society, health, economy and environment is not just desirable, but commonsensical.

Of course that’s not to say that a shift towards flexible working comes without it’s own caveats. Logistical and practical pitfalls are a plenty and in my own humble opinion success will rely on changing working culture and psychology as much as any legislative measures. But with government schemes like Work Wise, with the proliferation of flexible working over the last decade*, and with government legislation passed earlier this month; giving employees with children under the age of 16 legal  right to request flexible working; what we should expect is for flexible working to start to emerge as more of a concrete fixture across Britain’s working landscape.

While Workwise and other government initiatives are hoping to engineer this change, the principle catalyst in flexible working becoming viable, is technology, as Workwise chief exec Phil Flaxton acknowledges “technology is the enabler here”.

And if technology enables then technology companies are set to profit. The company I work for Fluidata; provides businesses with the internet, and opportunity in this sector is plentiful.

For any employee to work from home or ‘hotdesk’ a working internet connection is almost a prerequisite these days, and while in some cases existing home user connections can be harnessed for these purposes, the increase in demand of the connection will call for,  in others, something more reliable and business orientated. Remote workers also have a causative effect on the wider connectivity requirements of businesses. For example secure communication between sites will need to be achieved via some kind of wide area network, while head office sites will likely require more robust and reliable connections to cope with the influxes of incoming traffic.

Another potential benefactor of smarter working practices, and of a more general shift towards green friendly business practices, is video conference technology. With the ability to transmit real-time and life size video, this technology reduces work related travel, and as consequence saves on time, money and carbon emissions. Although this technology can be deployed over ISDN channels, in many cases the favoured method of deployment is over the internet. Once more, consideration of what kind of internet connection is required here, with low contented, symmetrical and reliable solutions most suited for the technologies usage requirements and mission critical nature.

With such developments likely to force buyers to pay greater diligence towards the finer points of contention, uptime guarantees and resilience, it’s probable that ISP’s who not only provide such solutions, but who also sell on delivery and reliability over headline speeds, will prove to be the more successful.

Flexible, innovative services, and crucially ones tailored towards flexible working should be particularly popular with disgruntled IT managers wanting to ease logistical headaches.

Discussing the contents of this article with my own boss (Fluidata MD, Piers Daniell) was rather illuminating. While not enamored by my cheeky suggestions of 3 pm Friday finishes, and appalled by office murmurings of ‘duvet days’ he clearly sees not only the business opportunities in such schemes but also the need for innovation and adaptation in our current working climate.

“There is no reason that the way we currently work is the right way, businesses can no longer assume that old fixed corporate practices and methods will be successful. Change and disruption can invoke fear, but in times that are fast looking unprecedented in an economic, political and social sense, more than ever companies need to not only ride with change, but to consciously provoke change and disruption through new technologies, practices and methods of working”

Can we take lessons from the Apprentice?

I’ve missed a lot of this series of the Apprentice, however last night I finally sat down to watch what many deem to be the hardest task of each series – the interview. The militant nature of the interviews reminded me of some of the worse ones I’ve had to endure. Having an interviewer tell me that at the age of 25, I had achieved nothing with my life hurt. However, my dad alwyas used to say to me that a man is not defined by the setbacks he experiences, but how he deals with them.

The one quality that all the candidates seem to share is that they are all extremely self confident about their abilities. And this needs to be the case in any interview. If you are going to sell yourself to a potential employer you need to be completely confident in the skills that you can bring to the table. There is absolutely no point in being modest about yourself. No employer wants an average employee. However, in my experience, you should never gloss over your flaws. If someone is highlighting a mistake, admit it. Don’t try and blag. I remember when I was younger having an interview with an a company who sold double glazing. I was so desperate for the job that I told them I had sold windows previously. I got the job, but was very quickly found out and promptly humiliated. The same happened to Yasmina, who completely fell apart once her business acumen was exposed.  In my experience, a candidate or even just a human being, who is able to admit to their flaws, learn to overcome them and then rise above them, presents themselves as a stronger and more rounded individual than someone who seems to be the perfect candidate. This is because you know what to expect with the ‘warts and all’ character, whilst you are always waiting for the veil to slip with the perfect character.

It was also quite admirable how none of the candidates lost their bottle in any of the interviews. Although this was the final series and you’d expect candidates of this quality to give polished interviews, they were really tested. In that environment, it is hard not to take some of the critiscim personally. For me, that quality, combined with the propensity to learn from an experience can really shape a person.

Lastly, who do I think is going to win? It’s got to be Kate. Who did I hope to win? Debra. I think Sir Alan didn’t pick her purely because he realised he had met his match!

The year of the experts

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I’m not going to beat around the bush. I may call myself an IT consultant, but really I’m a sales person. ALL consultants are sales people. In whatever guise they wrap up their advice, they are essentially selling their clients their opinion. And the most effective consultants are the ones who are the best sales people. However, this is not a bad thing. Too many times I hear friends, family and colleagues whine about being sold too on the phone, via TV adverts and over the internet. That’s the mark of a bad sales person. If your client knows he’s being sold too, you’re no longer a consultant.

So what’s the difference between a sales person and a consultant? In my humble opinion, the clue is in the title. Consultants consult with their clients. They find out what problems they’re having. They understand how that is effecting their business. Then on the back of this, they recommend a solution, either theirs or someone else’s, that they are confident will resolve the issue at hand.

This is all common knowledge. However, one thing that distinguishes good consultants from great consultants is the fact that some pursue clients, while others attract them. And the reason? Because the latter are perceived to be experts within their field of knowledge. Think about it. When was the last time you received unsolicited communication from a lawyer or solicitor? Usually, lawyers and solicitors position themselves as experts within their field of knowledge to attract the bulk of their clientele. I’m not saying they don’t advertise, but I’m sure in your day to day life you will see more adverts for second hand cars and double glazing than you will see for law firms.

So how do we position ourselves as an expert within our field? First off, here comes the mandatory disclaimer! I’m no expert and am always on the lookout for people who have techniques that I can try. However, I have already learnt a lot about self marketing and positioning to have picked up a few tips that stand me in good stead.

1) You will very rarely find an expert who is anything but wholly confident about the information they are giving. Whether it is derived from their own research, or from learned colleagues/mentors, the majority of experts exude confidence when they communicate with others. So I guess my tip would be BE CONFIDENT when talking to potential clients. Whether this means learning back to front the technical aspects of what you are talking about, or whether through various visualisation techniques and self empowerment methods you become more self confident as a person. The end results will be your clientele will have more respect and assurance  in you and your opinions.

2) Once you are confident in your self and your offering, network. Network like mad! Pick up the phone, go to trade shows, participate in online discussions, go to relevant seminars. The more visibility you give yourselves, the more people will start to recognise you. And if you are constantly doing the rounds  at various shows, the more expertise they assume you have taken in. If you know how to network (and to be honest, I’m still learning…) then this skill is invaluable, as the more influential people you can attract into your mastermind group, the better. This will give you the benefit of having a rich source of knowledge to tap into when you need it most. In some circumstances, this can also act as an accreditation for some clients to validate you by.

3) Never ever stop learning. EVER. It’s all well and good going out to lunch with big executives, but if you do not know what policies have recently been implemented within your industry, or do no know the recent movers and shakers within your vertical, then you will only look out of your depth. This is NOT a good look. Confidence and networking can only take you so far. If you don’t know about the bigger picture, then you need to learn and QUICKLY. And if you’re one of those big executives who think they’ve learned everything there is to learn within their sector, as Jay Abraham so eloquently puts it, “you’re probably losing business and don’t even know it!” In a nutshell, if you think you’ve learnt everything about your product, learn everything about your clients. Or learn everything about your industry. Or learn everything about your competitors. Or learn everything about your governing body. Or learn everything about successful consultants. I cannot stress this point enough.

There are many many more ways in which you can become an expert within your field. I have only highlighted the 3 main ways in that I have used in my industry. Is it working? Only time will tell! However, one thing that I am sure about is that in this downturn, many more consumers will be nervous about parting with their money. If you are able to offer them unbiased, qualified advice, they will be a lot more susceptible to following you and your opinions.

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• The entrepreneurial spirit
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• I am not a “Salesman”

Why it is important to vet everyone you deal with

If there is one thing that this economic crisis has taught me, it is that it is VITALLY important to conduct a thorough process of due diligence on any company you plan on doing business with. Professionally every client we consult with goes through an extensive credit check before we agree to deal with them. Once this process is conducted, we make sure they agree to our terms of 30 days with NO EXCEPTIONS. This may put some big corporations‘ noses out of joint, but if the likes of Lehman Brothers can disappear, then no one is safe.

However, it is personally where I have been left surprised, and consequently learnt the biggest lessons. There are two companies in paticular that I have been looking at dealing with for two individual reasons.

1) I have always had more than a passing intrigue into the property market, and have been looking at differing ways to make a passive income through land and property. One method of which interested me was making money on the purchase by buying below value, mainly through off-plan purchases, and one comapny who specialised in these purchases was Inside Track. Inside Track claimed to be a multi-national organisation with the financial muscle and expertise to be able to negotiate big discounts from major property groups worldwide. These discounts they then passed on to their clients. All sounded good. The fact that their adverts were literally everywhere made me think that there was no harm in attending a free seminar. I did, and I’m glad I did. They rolled out what I now realise to be the standard slick knowledgeable senior salesman, who answered all questions thrown at him like a politician with a dark secret. But he had people convinced to part with their money there and then. I was not one of them, and decided to look around a bit more, but subscribe to their newsletter to understand more. I also kept in touch with a few people that I met at the seminar, who bought into the promise to become wealthy through property investment. To cut a long story short, as we know, Inside Track are no more, and these people have lost thousands, and are still waiting for their money back from the administrators.

2) The second company that I came across was New Star Asset Management, a newly created ’stellar’ fund management company. Their adverts claimed that they had the best performing retail fund managers within the industry and despite their various disclaimers and risk warnings, their website displayed an air of confidence on their ability to obtain a return on your investment. Now I must stress here that my due diligence witih New Star essentially consisted of talking to a few people I know who invested money with New Star in various retail funds. Just as a status update, New star are currently suspending trading on their much lauded Heart of Africa fund, whilst struggling to keep their vastly under performing ’stars’ from walking out on them.

The main point of this is not to rant against the mis-fortune of two major companies within their respective sectors, but to highlight a common theme between them. The main reason how I came across both companies was through adverts. Both companies posted big billboards on motorways, took out flashy ads in the FT and various money magazines and basically plastered their brand on most surfaces guaranteed to be looked upon by people like me who have little knowledge of their respective industries. I have learnt that the more a company advertises, the less credible it becomes.  If I want to do business with someone, I want to do business with an expert in their field. If someone is advertising everywhere, it screams desperation. With hindsight, both Inside Track and New Star had business models which seemed to consist of building a list to make a decent return. Unfortunately the downturn in the economy found both these companies wanting. In my next blog, I will talk a little about positioning yourself as an expert, as then and only then can you really start to attract clients, as opposed to chasing them and consequently seeming desperate.

I hope you have a great Christmas!

How to survive a recession…

I came across a very useful article by the team at Mashable on how to market yourself during an economic downturn.

It delves into the usefulness of using self development to empower yourself, making you look more attractvie to your client base. This I feel is a key attribute, as many buyers will not only be focused on cost, but also value. Everyone wants more for less, and, as Eben Pagan says, if you can move the ‘free line’ and add exponential value to your offering, you will immediately make yourself seem a more attractive proposition within your industry.