Sometimes we expect too much…
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Tag: business
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The Trillion Dollar Company Club
You must have heard, how recently Apple become a ‘trillion dollar’ company.
Yesterday, Amazon did the same. That’s right, they joined the ‘Trillion Dollar Company Club’. Not bad for a 24 year old company.
When they went public in 1997, their share price was $18. Tuesday, the share price hit $2,050. Valuing the company, just over $1 Trillion.
Wonder if Jeff would’ve ever thought, Amazon would be the second company to enter the ‘Trillion Dollar Company Club’ when he sat in his office, with a hand painted sign on the wall… selling books on-line.
It’s a brilliant success story.
Only 2 companies have achieved this phenomenal success. Only 2 companies in that club. But I’m certain, over the next few years, we’ll see more enter the club.
It comes down to a few reasons why Amazon and Apple have achieved such success – Innovation.
The ability to keep adapting.
The ability to keep growing.
The ability to keep thinking, trying and venturing into new areas.
To keep going… Business as Usual (BAU) – won’t get you into the Trillion Dollar Club. In fact, it probably won’t get you into any club.
But that’s the problem – you have to invest. You have to grow. You have to think differently.
So, Jeff… is one of the richest people in the world… but what’s the real secret? A few years ago, Jeff shared…
Customer first – we all know that.
Invent, Innovate… yep, got that.
Be Patient. Ah…. that’s something we don’t have these days. We don’t have the patience to let things grow, to understand and see how they turn out.
To keep trying… it’s easier to say – park it/bin it/stop it… if it isn’t working.
How much patience have you got to keep going? to keep learning, re-adjusting and figuring it out?
We could relate this to football. How managers of teams are sacked very quickly, if there’s a number of losses and the team performs very badly.
I remember when Alex Ferguson (the Manchester United boss) had a string of bad results and had one match to save his position. Funnily enough… he won that match and went on to be one of the most successful managers, in English Football, of all time.
I know this very well… because it was against Nottingham Forest.
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
The Grass….
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Got an Idea… but not the brains!
Recently, on Twitter… someone was saying, how they want/need more money… so I replied, I’ve got a few ideas, could make them work.
…Don’t have the brains. Fair enough, you may not have the knowledge right now, but to make a business or startup work, you need passion.
That’s where success comes from. Passion.
Brains… well, you can learn as you go along. You can learn on the job. You can learn from others. What the heck… you can even learn from various YouTube videos that are available!!
The ‘I don’t have the brains’ bit… I don’t believe. Not picking on Claire… there could be a whole host of other things that are preventing her from starting her own little business… but I do hear this a lot from other folk.
The usual comment is…
I don’t know how.
Do you think Bill Gates knew everything to get Microsoft going?
Do you think Steve Jobs knew everything to get Apple going?
No. But they learnt. They had a passion to get started and then they learnt. They ‘collaborated’. They worked with others. Microsoft and Apple both had co-founders. You could argue, they were the brains behind the company!
Bal… what happens if you’re not really passionate about anything?
Then find a hobby. Choose something that interests you. Something that’ll keep you occupied. Something that you’ll look forward to. Try different things…. You’ll find something you enjoy, and then you can become passionate about it.
We are living in an ever changing world…. it’s becoming easier to get a start-up going. Easy to talk and collaborate with others… local universities have days/evenings where you can pop along and meet others. There’s also meetup… app/website where you can find other like-minded people, who may be meeting up… and meet up… and talk…. and share ideas… and learn from them.
So there you go… want to earn some more money? Become passionate… Learn and use those skills. Because we all know… skills pay bills.
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
Real is…
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
Generosity & Strategy…
This comes from recent conversations I’ve had with those in the music industry… not that I’m part of a music industry but just sharing business insights that can be applied.
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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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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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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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.