Author: Bal Bansal

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Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday…with James Caan

Firstly my apologies. I know I usually publish a ‘Throwback Thursday’ on the first Thursday of every month.

However, recently, you may have noticed if you follow me on social media – I’ve been traveling a lot (and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon!)

That’s right, last week I was in Berlin, and didn’t have the opportunity to prepare, write and publish my blog post for my monthly Throwback Thursday.

However, I did want to ensure I published one for the month of July!

So, here we go… Throwback Thursday to a time when I met up with James Caan….

James Caan is a successful business man. He’s worth over £100m and he’s appeared on TV shows such as Dragons Den and many others…

When I met up with James, the important thing I wanted to hear from him was how he started… what did he do, to become so successful!

Well… believe it or not, his family business was leather jackets and garments. They were successful and the natural route for James was to go into the family business.

BUT… he didn’t. He wanted to do something different. So he started a recruitment company. The interesting thing here is, it was all about the address. Location… yes, we’ve seen the TV show…. Location, Location, Location.

But it really matters!

So, in Pall Mall… he found a small location. It wasn’t big at all.. James told me, it was so small…. you wouldn’t believe but the great thing was the address. So when he was talking to clients and customers, and he was providing the address – it’d set a precedent. To be in this location, you’d have to be worth something…

James is a great guy. During our chat (which was a few years ago now…) there were some great hints and tips I picked up…

1. Don’t follow the crowd – Now, you may have seen or heard this before, but for me, it’s so important. James natural progression was the family business, it was all there for him… but no.

2. Be strong – be confident – When in business, you have to be careful you don’t come across arrogant. But at the same time, you have to be strong and confident. And I took this away from James. He was polite… but also strong-minded.

3. Hard Work pays off –  He told me a story, of how he takes time out to relax and enjoy life. Now admittely not everyone can go off on their own yacht or take a holiday to the Caribbean but you can, if you work hard… put the hours in and then reap the benefits.

These are the 3 of the many things I took away from our conversation…. There was so much James shared… maybe I’ll dedicate a blog post to some further insights and maybe more about how he started up… and the struggles he had.

You may see all the glitz and glamour but it wasn’t always that easy….

Many people will see the big house, big cars, etc…

…but starting in the smallest of rooms, with just enough space for a telephone… and working hard, has paid off.

And that’s what it comes down to… hard work.

 

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Thinking of giving up…. don’t.

This is my 50th Bal’s Friday Thought, many a times I’ve thought of giving up… but for some reason, kept on going.

And now proud to announce, that you can purchase a selection of my Friday Thoughts on canvas! I’ll be providing you further information on which ones, sizes, how, etc… over the next few weeks.

But as a strong believer in ‘Progress over Perfection’, if there’s one you like and you want it… message me, with which one… and I’ll provide you with sizes, prices and payment details.

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

It’s about how you think…

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Children Technology

Carnivorous Garden

It’s truly amazing what is available these days for children.

For example, did you know that there’s an adult controlled and persmissioned based messenger app that’s designed for children?

That’s right- Monster Messenger is an app, that can be downloaded onto tablets and mobile phones, and be used by children – but don’t worry – it’s all permissioned based and they can only talk/call/video people that the parents have approved.

I personally think it’s great. I wouldn’t want them using Whatsapp or another messenger type where they have full control and could be talking to anyone, anywhere… at least this way, it’s controlled. Only those who the parents have granted permission to can they talk to.

And it’s not only in technology. I’m sure those with children would have noticed that there’s so much available to buy that’s orientated for children. Items that help them learn, grow and become more confident individuals.

We also came across small gardens. These days we spend a lot of time telling children to get out, go play in the garden or down the local park… and it’s always a bit difficult when there’s a large TV inside or there’s various gadgets including tablets or phones where they’re connected – I know, i’ve spent half this blog talking about how great a particular messenger is!

But getting them out, and in touch with nature is important.

Today, we came across small gardens. It’s basically a kit, that has everything inside it… like seeds, soil, etc… and what you do is grow your own mini garden!

That’s right! – you get you grow all sorts in your garden. It’s small. It’s for children. But the great thing is, it’s encompasses the same principles that you’d need if you had an actual garden of your own.

You need to water it. You need to attend to it. You need to do, everything you’d do, if you had an actual garden. Now… the good thing here is, that if the child does attend to it and does everything, the results are there. Something will grow.

And it’s these life principles that are important – because in life, you need to work at something and make it grow. Education is essential… they’re the seeds of information, of knowledge… that you plant.. and they will grow – which will help you later in life.

So having the best of both worlds in this blog.. something technology related for the children… and something outdoors related for the children.

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

How quick are you?

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Uncategorized

Bal and Friends at NTU…

Last week was a crazy week! – Firstly, I was in Barcelona for meetings on Monday morning… (thanks to the lovely taxi driver who got me to the office on time!)

Oh… if you’d like to follow my personal journies including lots of travel & food photos, pop over to my instagram account – @mrbalbansal

So that was Monday. Then I came back, and was at the NTU… with a few friends.

That’s right – my friend Shane Matthews (inventor of the Nerf Gun) was over from Atlanta, GA. He was here to give a talk at the Nottingham Trent University… but first, we went to meet the Sheriff of Nottingham.

In the photo above, we have the Sheriff of Nottingham in the middle, Shane and myself, and the Sheriff’s security. We went to Nottingham Castle, had a little look around, posed for some photo’s, gave an interview to Notts TV and Shane signed a few nerf guns.

The main event was Shane talking at the NTU (Nottingham Trent University)… at their Ignite Innovation conference…

They also, kindly let me say a few words…

We also had my friend Leigh, who worked for CIMAGINE, a startup that was sold to SnapChat for $40m…. he shared his views and thoughts on AR…

And then Shane was up… he was brilliant. The audience in the lecture theatre absolutely loved it!

One thing I loved about his talk was the ‘happiness line’. I’ll have to share it with you in another blog post…

So all in all, great event at the NTU. This university is definitely doing the right things for the local community.

And thank you to the love that was shown by folks in the audience..

Then the remainder of the week I was in London, meetings… and a quick attendance for the London Tech Week.

Well, what a busy week… why am I sharing this, because if you have the opportunity to attend local meetings, conferences where they have some interesting people… do so! You can learn so much.

So many folk at the end, were coming up to Shane, asking all sorts of questions… it was great to see that they were motivated and more importantly, had learnt something that they could use in their business or organisation.

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Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation…

Anything is Possible.

Iceland’s Goalkeeper, in the 2018 FIFA World Cup… produced a video.

That’s his day job. To make videos. It just so happens that he’s good at goal keeping too…. and qualifies to play for his nation.

 

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Days…

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Uncategorized

Here’s an idea, cupcake…

I was talking to a colleague, and mentioned to him – need this sooner than you think, I feel we’re losing time and really need to move faster.

His reply… “Bal… you can’t have 9 women to produce a baby in 1 month. It’ll take 1 woman, 9 months… to have a baby”.

Wow! – love it.

It’s true, right? – sometimes we try to rush, do things quicker… all because many of us don’t have patience…. don’t we all want things quicker?

We do.. but there’ll be restrictions. There’ll be ways of doing it. Building a house… we could skip the foundations and start building, but will it be sustainable? – will it stay standing up? For how long?

Things do take time. We all need a little bit of patience.

However, if you can do something and then have iterations in place to improve… then that’s the best scenario.

The key thing is – understand the limitations. Learn the restrictions. And work with them. Plan with them. Cater for them.

This brings me nicely to the project we’re working on… when I was asking for something sooner than it could be built. So I learned and took those dependencies with me…. and developed the plan to incorporate them.

I explained this to a startup i’m working with – things take time, don’t rush them. Like baking a cake… bring it out of the oven too earlier, it’s undercooked and your customer won’t be happy. Leave it in too long… then customer won’t be happy but also… customer might have gone to someone else who’s got it out on time…

Yes. It can be tricky to know when to take the cake out of the oven.

Yes. It can be daunting, as you keep opening the oven door… lose the heat… and have to leave it in loner.

Yes. The competition will also be baking a cake, and may have a better idea of when to take it out.

Yes. The customer will be looking at all bakers. Looking for who’s going to bring out the cake first… and is edible.

Yes. You’ll have a lot of things going on whilst baking the cake….

This is why it’s important to know what to deliver… and when.

Maybe a cupcake might be a good idea… as the first offering. Before you starting working on that 3-tier, wedding cake.

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

It’s not the mountain…