It is 2009. It is time for some review.
I can start by actually not deciding on a topic for my personal blog, because, well, it is a personal blog. More on that later. But probably not.
I have to inshAllah streamline a few things, and then earn a set amount of money to travel to a few places within the year 2010. It sounds exciting. InshAllah, I will make it sound more exciting. Just give me a few days.
This happens to the best of us, and it has happened to the biggest amongst us. From solo freelancers to Small & Medium Enterprises and from Large companies to really, really large companies – everyone is known to make this mistake.
They forget to identify their space.
The price so many have paid of being unable to do that is, sadly, huge. Railroad companies of the 1800’s failed to realize that they were in the transport industry, and not the ‘railroad business’ – had they known their space, they would have been the first ones to invest in air travel.
Had Britannica Encyclopedia realized they were in the ‘information organization’ business, they probably would have either come up with or invested in Google in a big way.
In Pakistan, had PTCL (the behemoth telecom company) known that they were not in ‘phones’ but in the communications landscape, they would have been the first ones to introduce cell phone technology, been the first to introduce ISP’s for access to the Net and would have been the first to figure out ways to battle the VoIP battles of today. Surely, all telecommunication companies around the world are waking up to this practically free way of making a phone call. Had it not been for bad governance, there would have been no ‘law’ that prohibits usage of VoIP to make international phone calls, for example. The industry has already changed, and now the companies are trying, with hook or crook, to stay afloat. They won’t stay afloat for long.
Same is for newspapers. The Internet has changed the game completely. Intelligent companies adjust and adapt and change, therefore they survive.
As an entrepreneur, it may or may not be your space to look into new ideas and start new businesses based on them. If you are not doing that and letting ideas (read: opportunities) go for the sake of ‘managing’ what you have started, you are not being honest with your title. It is your job to find the people, find the businessmen and employees, who would manage and run the business.
When trying to figure out and tweak your definition of the industry you operate in, it is important to realize that in the ever-changing world, it is highly likely that your service or product is constantly getting old. Adjusting your product to the market demands is one thing, coming up with a new product or service to maintain or improve your position in your own industry can immediately throw you on the top of the food chain.
Spending some time on identifying your space can be a good start but I’d suggest that you always be on the lookout to upgrade and update your definition of the space you operate in. Who are you? And why are you doing whatever you are doing? These questions must be asked, especially when there is change in the air. Do read this relevant post by Seth Godin on how to go about adapting to change in one’s industry/space. The ‘why test’ is not excellent to find motivation and focus on one’s life, but also in one’s enterprising activities.
Good luck and God bless,
M.
Space Operator.
Do you know of the 80/20 rule?
There was this Italian scientist (somewhere in the 1800’s)’, Pareto, who noticed that 20 percent of the population of Italy owned 80 percent of the land. Well, nothing scientific about that, surely, but more importantly, the Pareto law states that roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes i.e. only 20 percent or so of a given system producing 80 percent of the output. (For more detailed info on Pareto and his efficiency and laws, check out this Wikiepedia entry)
Well, how is this 80/20 law connected to you and your business? Quite directly in fact.
Let us consdier two extreme examples, both true. First, consider Microsoft. They applied this 80/20 law to figure out that by removing 20 percent of the bugs in any system, they were able to reduce the system crashes by 80 percent. (Well, OK, this is coming off as a bad example 
… scratch that, let’s just jump to the second example.
I noticed, a few months back, that I spent a large amount of time on enterprises that were giving the least amount of returns. Which of course meant, that I was spending very little time focusing on my most profitable enterprises. 20 percent of my efforts were producing 80 percent of my income. By stopping to work on those enterprises, ideas and developments – I immediately had more time than I’ve ever had to do anything I ever wanted which of course was to work on enterprises, ideas and developments – so it was more of a not-so-vicious cycle for me. I was already doing what I really enjoyed (Alhumdulillah ), so the application of the 80/20 principle did not have that dramatic an effect on my lifestyle. But it always helps me get some perspective on my business operations as well. A lot of ‘operations’ that my employees carry out may not be as productive as they first appear (like distributing brochures in areas where we already have reached a certain saturation point or maintaining record of things that really do not need a record)
But the thing is, have you yourself tried it out? On a personal as well as business level? If you already are not attuned to thinking like this, perhaps you can have a bigger difference to report?
If I have had a penny for every time I have been given advice on how to handle ‘friends’ as clients, well, then I’d hardly have a pound, frankly. I have learned the following the hard way i.e. by making embarrassing mistakes.
Always give some sort of a tangible benefit to your friends over ‘normal’ clients. What, you expected me to give you the boring, “it’s business, don’t mix your private life with your business life.” line and say that it is OK to charge your friends the same price? It is not only the decent thing to do, but also can be beneficial for your customer relationship strategy (a fancy way of saying that you will know how to make your customers happier).
Warning, folks: do not overburden yourself by providing them the service or product at a loss, but do remember to give a clear and tangible benefit to your friends. This will usually translate as a discount in the cost. That ’should not’ be a problem.
If you are a small business, then ’showing the love’ for your customer is all the more important for you. I have found that ‘caring for your customer’ comes easier when the customer is someone you already know how to care about. This in turn can give you valuable insights on the customer relationship ‘model’ in your specific industry/sector.Again, this ‘model’ is fancy-talk for knowing what problems can possibly arise and what is the typical complaint a customer may have with your product/service.
If you are really smart, you’ll know already that the relationship between you and your client is far more important than the product or service that you will be providing for your client. Use your ‘friends’ not to earn profits from, but to learn different methods of providing top-notch customer service.
But sorry if you were looking for ways to justify your ‘policy’ to not give discounts to any friends or family member. Remember, you are doing whatever you are doing to improve your quality of life, and trying to make your friends and family members happy has a high tendency of improving your life’s quality.
I recently subscribed to the daily Business Recorder newspaper (a Pakistani national paper), in an attempt to get the latest in business news that help someone like me. I found the newspaper more than dismal as I, being an entrepreneur, and working in the (very) small and medium industry, did not find the newspaper as helpful as I’d hoped. I am not much concerned with the affect of stock markets on the national economy, nor the implications of some legislation on the country-wide situation on the availability of sugar. I wanted something more local and more concrete, something that talks directly to someone who qualifies as an entrepreneur (I found out quite later into the game that I am an entrepreneur actually). I am sure that there are many others out there in Lahore itself. I want my blog to represent this gap, and be a resource for the Pakistani entrepreneur. Of course, entrepreneurship being an attitude (definitions coming soon God willing), many of the subsequent posts on this blog will equally be ‘talking to’ any entrepreneur in any part of the world.
This post is about 4 tools available online that you SHOULD be using. The tools are essentially free (some charge you to go for premium accounts, but you can easily get by with the free versions as long as you are just starting out – and aren’t we all just starting out?)
Also, note, these tools will help you individually, to manage your next entrepreneurial bout with your market. These tools will not only cut costs, but give your an edge and will directly influence your personal work flow (and as you are an entrepreneur, your personal work flow sometimes is your business work flow).
Two things have happened in this week that are well worth mentioning.
Well, OK, three things.
The first thing was that I was finally convinced to have a topic for my blog (this blog that you are reading right now). It does not sound like that big a deal, but for me it is.
I have grappled with the idea of finding a niche for my blog here since, like, ever! From religion to academia, from technology to self-improvement, from society to music, I have seriously considered all. But it took the writing prowess of this new bloggerette (that is NOT a word yet though) that I stumbled across, to finally knock some sense into me.
Penelope Trunk writes about careers on here blog http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/ and she nailed it for me. The whole post was talking directly to me and that hardly happens, as any piece that comes off as written just for you is not easily found. Obviously, that post is highly, highly recommended for any blogger (or bloggerette) out there who wants to take blogging a bit more seriously. A humongous, insanely-large THANK YOU to Ms Penelope Trunk for that.
Second big thing that happened was that I was thumbing through a book by Anthony Robbins, and in that book, while writing under the topic of ‘Keys to Success’, he goes on to mention the necessary step of handling complacency. I did not remember reading this bit when I first read his book (which was oh, I dont know, 10 years ago). Because at that stage, being complacent after being successful was too far fetched an idea for me. But as I have mentioned a few times before, I have seen success Alhumdulillah and now I live in the realm of complacency as if I own it. Pathetic, I know.
So again, a big shout out to Mr. Robbins for writing something so long ago, that still has the potency to change attitudes. God willing. (The book’s titled Unlimited Power – Check it out at Amazon
Third big thing was my birthday. My wife yet again managed to make it the best birthday so far, with friends coming over at 12 midnight to surprise me (felt like college all over again ). And the surprise worked. At 12:30 AM, there were about 15 people, friends and family that made this all the more special. Thank you.
I turned 29, and the sorriest bit is that for the last two years, I have felt like 50. That is why the above two ‘discoveries’ feel so important to me. The first one gives me direction and focus, and the second one gives me direction and focus. I sometimes think it is this very passion that one’s focus gives that can make a 29 yr old feel 50 (if he hadn’t found the passion) and a 50 yr old feel 18.
God Guide Us All. Aameen.
(If you wish to avail this momentous occasion to give me a gift for my birthday, there is a great way for you to do that. The birthday was on the 5th of Nov, but you still have time. Head over to my Wish List and give me a gift right this moment. Remember, chances like these come once every year. Due to popular demand, I am extending the date to receive presents till today. Act now!)
A blog on how to use the resources available to wrap a business around any opportunity that presents itself (or I could have just said, "A blog on how to be a better entrepreneur" - but I want to keep this as clear as possible)
Hello and Salaams,
I am Momekh and I am the guy behind this blog. I live in Lahore, Pakistan... read more
