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Tuesday Thoughts…

A thought… for today. What are you spending your time and energy on…

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Monday Motivation

Just the first step…

Some Monday Motivation for you… Big Plans, Small Steps.

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Practise and Perform…

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Start-ups can learn from Rak-Su…

Some of you, may have been viewing the X-Factor 2017 Final… I know I was… in fact, I do most years… it’s good entertainment for a cold Sunday evening.

And i’d like to take a moment to congratulate Rak-Su for winning the competition.

I’ll be honest. I’ve been watching it – from the moment they (Rak-Su) first walked into the audition room, to them performing when they’d won.

There’s been a few things I’ve picked up on… that I think, made them favourites quite early on… to win.

And these attributes, I thought, could be related to business… and especially start-ups. Because… start-ups are in a similar situation when they enter the market – or in X Factor words… ‘the audition room’.

There’s alot of competition. Everybody wants to win. Everyone is ‘new’.. and this is the start-up scene!

Everyone wants to be noticed. Everyone wants their product to stand out. Everyone wants investment.

So, there’s a lot of similarities between the X Factor Audition Room… and the Start-up scene. But what makes a small company, a start-up a success… well, let’s see what Rak-Su did, and if we can learn anything from them.

  1. Rak-Su sang their own song. 
    • Rarely done – especially in the previous years auditions, but in 2017 as a whole, many of the artists up’d their game, and sang their own songs.
    • Points for originality and points for standing out and not singing another Ed Sheeran cover.
    • What can we learn from this  – Well, it’s simple… stand out by making sure you are original. You’ll have a higher probability of being remembered and noticed, if you are doing something new…
  2. Rak-Su had their own style
    • When they performed, there was more rapping, subtle choreographed dance moves, each member had a unique offering, but the group performed very well together.
    • I’ve mentioned before, let’s move away from the Minimum Viable Product… you should be working on the Minimum Loveable Product.
    • What can we learn from this – Well it’s simple… don’t look around and copy.. .bring your own style and flavour to the game. Ensure you have the diversity and the subtle moves that will make you, a ‘MLP’.
  3. Rak-Su stood in a line.. and waited.
    • You got to be in it… to win it!
    • Just like all the other contestants, Rak-Su stood and queued in a line… got their numbers… and then auditioned. They followed the process… 6 chair challenge… live shows… etc… before being named as the winners.
    • What can we learn from this – Well it’s simple… have some patience. Go network, stand in a line and meet some interesting people. Investment, success and customers may not come over night… keep working towards the goal… and importantly… keep growing… keep learning. (By the way, Rak-Su were quickly able to have their songs on iTunes and it was charting quite high up – early on – due to the publicity via the show).

So there you go, a couple of things to think about from Rak-Su… & their journey to winning the competition.

Now… at the start, I did say… some folk may have not watched it… and I know, many folk from around the world – who read this blog – may have not had the opportunity to see Rak-Su.

For you guys.. here’s one of their performances. Enjoy.

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Go do it… don’t talk about it.

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Today’s Thought is very much reflecting on life… as i’ve come to the end of my Sober October.

For those who don’t know, I was Sober for October, and raised some money for Macmillan Cancer Charity, becuase a friend of mine, Reinout… passed away recently.

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Following on from my thought last week… Warren has some great quotes and this one I love to share with younger folk.

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Q & A

Inkquisitive Inspires – Interview Part 1

On this blog, as you may know, I tend to write and share all things to do with Lean, Digital, Innovation… basically, articles to inspire (and air my frustrations when I see opportunities for improvement!). Most of these are centered around Technology…

But from time to time, I like to interview people. People who have become successful. Successful, when they were told they couldn’t do it or were no good. Good to Great is what this person has become… and they’re inspiring others.

So who is this individual?

Well, his name is Amandeep, also known as Inkquisitive. He’s an artist. Had several world tours… in fact, sell-out world tours. He’s a true inspiration and a living example of ‘follow your dreams’.

I was lucky enough to ask him a few questions… (hope you enjoy the audio clips below! – there’ll be a part 2….!!)

 

 

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…