Wim GE De Vos

Tag: strategy

  • Cash is king. 💵

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    81% of small businesses fail because of cash flow problems. EIGHTY ONE PERCENT (just to be clear).

    So what mechanisms are you building to avoid the cash flow trap?

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  • Who should you fire?

    Integrity is essential
    Feel the Force

    Who should you fire from your company? Even if you let them go easy, who should you let go for sure.

    In order of urgency (and includes a kind suggestion on how to go about).

    Someone who lacks integrity. 

    Integrity is the foundation of everything. Without integrity things break down. They rot. It is misery. So get rid of it. Yesterday.

    To let this person go I suggest you do 2 things.

    Internally, burn 🔥 dishonest people on a stake. So the message is clear. Dishonest = game over. Period.
    Publicly, complete silence 😶. People will smell dishonesty from a mile away. Rotten apples may ask for a recommendation letter on the way out if. Never ever consider this.

    Rotten apples leave stains on the good fruit. So get rid of them and avoid being attached to them in any way possible.

    Possibly they will even join or become your competition. Relaaaaaaax. They can fuck things up there instead.

    Someone who lacks energy. 

    High energy is crucial in a start up. It is about getting things done. It is about moving forward no matter what. It is about not giving up.

    To let this person go I suggest you do 2 things.

    Internally, don´t blame them for not making the cut. Rather praise the team for being high energy. Often it is not the persons fault. It is how they are. Give the person some time to find something new if possible.
    Publicly, help this person to find a spot in a big structured organisation (not necessarily a company). Praise their skills when asked by such an organisation.

    NOTE: Do NOT FIRE someone who merely lacks results

    You should not fire honest high energy people who lack results. Work with them, stand in their shoes, ask yourself and others why. Figure out how to fix it.

    Because honest & high energy is hard to find. And often a tweak or a twitch can make things click.

     

  • Product or customer centric ?

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    Ask yourself the following 2 questions and figure out what type of start-up you are.

    Q1: Are you building products for your customers?

    Q2: Are you looking for customers for the products you have built?

    The answer lets you determine if you are

    • customer-centric or product-centric
    • considering marketing as the start or the end of the process
    • comfortable with individual and changing customer desires or have wet dreams of uniform eternal customer tastes

    The answer may be a mindset or it may be a phase.

    Either way the answer will bring perspective that can help you deal with challenges and opportunities ahead

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    ICE Cinema “sherlock”

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  • Recruit high energy ⚡ optimists

    high energy
    optimist

    Small businesses looking to have a big impact rely greatly on their teams. The people on the bus. They are instrumental to your success.

    And I believe high energy optimists are who you need. Much more than experience, skillsets from a curriculum or realists. Supercharged dreamers.

    Optimists are people who see things that can be. And that is exactly what is always in short supply when building a small business.

    High energy is required to cut through the crap and keep moving forward. To make stuff happen. And even when there are stretches where it feels you are running in the sand they have what it takes to keep going.

    Do not consider anybody else to get on the bus. High energy optimists are the jedis we need.

  • Organise your small business for BIG impact 💥 TEAM

    ✅ Your small business wants BIG impact.

    ✅ The services and stuff you offer are sweeeeeet 🍭🍭🍭 (or so early adopters tell you).

    ✅ You are moving beyond product differentiation and developing a unique business model.

    ✅ The market is buzzing 🚀 and you are ready to get your slice of the cake.

    ☑️ ? So what about your TEAM ?

    The girls and boys who make stuff happen. Who are they and how will the interact. This raises questions and bids for answers.

    • Where do you find the next artist to join your team?
    • How do you convince her?
    • How do you integrate the new potential jedi?
    • What is the mechanism to transmit your culture*?
    • How is the flight formation within your business? Functional, divisional, matrix, always changing,…

    Either you have these points down, or you don´t.

    If you do – get better at them. Reinforce each point every day.

    If you don´t – stop reading now and get to work.
    No time to waste as your TEAM is a pillar in any successful business. Today and every today after that.

    *Culture can trump (pun intended) strategy… so do not underestimate its Force. Really spend time on this one if you want to scale.