The Impact of COVID-19 on the Environment
Ever since COVID-19 emerged we’ve seen it make not only an impact on everyday life, but also on the environment, including a growth in renewable energy usage and cleaner air all over the world. What kind of impact has the pandemic had and will it last once life returns to normal?
Air Pollution
In an attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19, billions of people all over the world have been advised to stay home. This has seen a massive decrease in the need to travel by car, train and plane which are all contributors to global warming through greenhouse gas emissions. Cities all over the world have seen a significant drop in air pollution levels including New Delhi, one of the most polluted major cities in the world. Delhi’s air quality index usually reads a severe 200 on a good day (anything above 20 being deemed unhealthy) but since the nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 24, the meter has regularly dropped below 20 which is the freshest air Delhi has seen in decades. The following image shows just how much air quality has improved in cities all over the world since going into lockdown.
Energy Consumption
There has been an incredibly large drop in demand for almost all major fossil fuels with only renewables holding up. In the US, renewable energy generated more electricity than coal every single day in April. To put it in perspective, the decline is the equivalent of losing the entire energy demand as India which is the world’s third largest energy consumer. Renewable energy is said to be the only energy source that will grow in 2020. As a result of this, global energy-related CO2 emissions are set to fall by almost 8% in 2020, reaching their lowest level since 2010.
In Australia, the decrease in energy demand hasn’t been as significant as other countries. Although we are using less energy commercially or commuting, we are using more residential energy to power our computers/home offices.
The commercial energy demand has dropped whilst the residential energy demand has skyrocketed, particularly for the first three days of the week.
Will the positive effects last?
Obviously once life returns to normal, people will fall back into their old habits and the positive impact COVID19 has had on the environment will likely be reversed. People will be back in cars, trains and planes. This year, 196 countries were intending to implement plans that would meet the emission reduction goals established under the 2015 Paris Agreement. On April 1st, it was announced that the annual summit would be postponed until sometime in 2021. This puts a major hold on the efforts to address climate change.
The federal environmental agency in Brazil announced it would be cutting back on it’s enforcement duties which includes protecting the Amazon from accelerated deforestation which could lead to massive amounts of greenhouse gases being released.
There have been many more delays on climate action all over the world such as China extending deadlines for companies to meet environmental standards, Poland calling for a carbon trading program to be put on hold and the Unites States announcing a rollback on car emission rules. These delays have some fearing the rebound after COVID-19 could be even worse.
There’s no way to be certain of how we and the Earth will come out of this pandemic but once we do there are small changes you can make to old habits that will have a positive effect on the environment.
What can you do?
I feel that the best trend to come out of COVID-19 regarding energy is that has given us the opportunity to assess what we do as individuals and as businesses. It has given us the chance to operate as lean as possible, so perhaps it will teach us how to be less wasteful in the future.
As an individual you can lower waste by riding a bike, walking or even carpooling where possible and invest in reusables rather than single use items. Save electricity by purchasing energy efficient lightbulbs and ensure all electrical appliances are turned off when not in use. Save water by cutting down shower time and turning the faucet off when brushing your teeth.
As a business, you can do your part as well. At The Cluster, we purchase GreenPower accredited electricity to ensure that our coworking space is powered wholly by renewable energy sources. Also, The Cluster has been the first coworking space in Australia to look at the impact offices have on the environment. With that, The Cluster used green energy from day one (back in 2010) and became carbon neutral in 2015, with the help of Cluster members Point Advisory. The Cluster continues to research ways to do more and is grateful that something positive has come out of the Covid-19.
As meetings have moved from the physical to virtual space, it seems one company is being trusted above all others to keep us connected. Zoom has been a saving grace for many in the quarantine era, as it’s allowed us all to host business meetings, Webinars, trivia/games nights, or just catch up with friends and family! It’s certainly been a help for us here at the Cluster as a means of staying connected to our team/clients. Although as with any technology, it has it’s faults, but the convenience of Zoom cannot be denied.
Their rapid growth in the market comes with the new wave of “stay at home” stocks that have become “bright spots” in a currently volatile market. Others riding this wave (according to JP Morgan analysts) are companies like Netflix, Amazon and Facebook, all of who’s share prices and revenue estimates have been rising during the pandemic.
Keen investors have also been trying to ride this wave along with ZOOM. Although it seems many have failed to read the fine print as they blindly invested in the OTC:ZOOM ticker, despite it belonging to a company that has had no reported earnings since 2011!
The ticker belongs to, ZOOM TECHNOLOGIES (not Zoom Video Communications which is OTC:ZM), and because of this mistaken identity shares in the company went up +52% as reported on Feb 27th,and a further +72% as recently as March 20th! Its market summary is quite dramatic to look at.
Shortly after that 72% spike, trading in ZOOM TECHNOLOGIES was suspended till the 8th of April by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. They addressed the decision in the following statement:
“The Commission temporarily suspended trading in the securities of ZOOM because of concerns about the adequacy and accuracy of publicly available information concerning ZOOM, including its financial condition and its operations, if any,in light of the absence of any public disclosure by the company since 2015…
“The Commission cautions broker-dealers, shareholders and prospective purchasers that they should carefully consider the foregoing information along with all other currently available information and any information subsequently issued by the company.”
The freeze happened, the fog of confusion cleared, and it seems ZOOM TECH has returned to the obscurity from whence it came. This has left plenty of room for ZOOM VIDEO stocks to grow and grow, although another hurdle has caused its celebration party to come plummeting down. This time the party pooper is Zuckerberg and the Facebook empire, as they announced recently they’ll be launching, Messenger Rooms, which will allow as many as 50 people onto a call (along with many other features)! The “Rooms” are more focused on the social aspects of video calls and aim to feel less corporate than what is currently on the market. However, the announcement has sent ZOOM VIDEO stocks falling.
I wouldn’t feel too sorry for them though, as ZOOM (video) still has an evaluation of $44 Billion dollars. Although, will this be enough to take on the behemoth, Facebook? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!
We all know COVID – 19 has left devastation in its wake. Thanks to a lot of great initiatives from the private and public sectors, that wake’s effects have been lessened, but the ripples are still pulsating through the world economy. To better understand the repercussions of these waves, we spoke with Dean Fergie from Cyan Investment.
Back in January, when the world was still open, I was sitting behind the front desk of the Cluster reception reading about some virus that has taken over regions of China. It was tragic, but foreign and therefore not something I put much credence in. Although it was a comment from Dean (aka Fergie) that made me realize that this wasn’t just China’s issue, it was soon becoming everyone’s.
The comment wasn’t anything too dire, just a simple, “corona is making things hard at the moment” to a typical, “how’s it going for you?”. It was the first time I had heard anyone in the office mention the virus directly effecting their business. When I relayed this to Fergie he was a little surprised to hear he was the first, but then mentioned that because he’s an investment manager, any changes to the stock market they feel immediately. He then mused that the stock market is like a “proactive forward-looking machine”, a way of economically predicting the future. I couldn’t help but imagine the field day Nostradamus would have had if he were a stockbroker!
It was thanks to this machine’s foresight, that when the signs came from China’s faltering supply chain, he knew things weren’t going to get better anytime soon. This was before the COVID infection even reached western shores. Although when you think about how much the world relies on Chinese products – I can list three things I’m currently wearing that were made there – it’s easy to comprehend the county’s economic effect on the world.
That was January though, and a lot has changed in a few months! No one expected the spread to be this fast or vast (guess the machine can only see so much) and big sections of commerce have fallen. Tourism and hospitality are obviously taking the biggest beatings, but as all the isolated go online, so does the stock market. Things like e-commerce and retailers are stronger than before, “If you go on JB-Hifi’s website, everything to do with home working or entertainment is sold out!” Fergie mentions and is something I can attest to having recently tried to purchase a Playstation from them. Cashconverters came through in the end, don’t worry!
Online education is also growing rapidly in this climate, many are using this time to better themselves and learn new skills, or at least pay for a course that promises as much and then never actually view it. Either way, money in the pocket of the creators!
I asked Fergie if there were any sectors he’d recommend investing in, to which he replied, “online educational businesses and Telecommunications are interesting”. Book a consultation to find out more!
Although what will the consultation look like? Probably a zoom call, like most everything these days. “The business community was unaware how well zoom works,” and when this pandemic is just pages in history books “face to face meetings will come back, but not the same way”. Fergie explains that because telecommunications have proven themselves cost effective and efficient, more international business will rely on them. No longer will lounges of airports be full with suits on laptops prepping for far flung meetings, they’ll instead beat home prepping with button upped shirts tucked into sweatpants! This “virtual regime has improved the game” he says and then elaborates, “it’s given the opportunity for a high quantity of meetings” which for a company like Cyan, means being able to explore many more investment opportunities and meet with more potential clients.
What about the quality though, can you really get a full sense of a person through pixels on a screen? Fergie admits, he’ll definitely miss the more subtle cues things like body behaviour can reveal, but for him that’s only about 10% of the equation.
I forgot to ask him if all these predictions were his own or coming from the machine? I took them as his own.
How does the machine work? The stock market is famously volatile and changes its mind week by week. Fergie explains it has, “the wisdom of crowds” and offered the analogy of a Country Fair with one of those “guess how many jellybeans are in the jar” type competitions. Individually, guesses may vary drastically, but when averaged out they usually fall very close to the truth.
That average now shows that the economy will rebound, but perhaps not as bright as before. A few key factors are still in flux, the biggest being if the world relapses into a second wave of infection and quarantine lasts longer. It happened in Singapore when they jumped the gun on reopening the city, it can happen elsewhere. Fergie didn’t seem too concerned though, “society is resilient, and the Government is doing a sensible job, but it can’t do it forever”. It may take up to two years to reach the heights we were at before the pandemic, a lot of that depending on when tourism reopens.
“I may be wrong” Fergie stipulates at the end, with a modesty not found in many fortunetellers.
I was surprised though when he reflected on this being a “good pause for the world”, a chance for us to slow down and humble ourselves from unnecessary excess and consumerism. “Take a breather for a week or two” he chuckles, “maybe you don’t need to keep buying those items from ASOS!” I find myself agreeing to an extent, when you look at how this pause has allowed the environment to heal from all the jumbo jets cutting through its atmosphere, how homely activities like gardening and elaborate cooking are on the rise, it’s not hard to imagine the world being a little more wholesome on the other end of this.
Who really knows though? For all of Fergie or the machine’s predictions, only time will truly tell what the global landscape will look like on the other side of isolation. Hopefully, a brave new world to explore!
We’re all online. In one form or another you have a presence in the digital world (I mean, unless you’re a monk living in the Paro Taktsang Monastery… then how are you seeing this?!). In the quarantine era it’ll be through your online presence that customers come to your business, so now more than ever it’s important to maximize conversion rates to your website.
With this in mind, we spoke with Clusterian and CRO specialist, Stuart Heggie of Wunderman Thompson, to get his thoughts on what practices and tips can help improve conversion rates. When asked what’s the biggest mistake most make is, without hesitation he responded…
SPEED
The speed at which your website loads is key to whether someone will engage with it or not. No one wants to wait around for a page to load like its 1999!
Many things can affect this, but according to Stuart, one of the most common is simply file size. Especially when it comes to photos. Most people will get a photo or design file from whomever created it, and chuck that up without paying much attention. This rush can lead some to unknowingly upload high resolution images over 12mb. When you think that the average webpage is roughly 4MB, you can understand how drastic that could be!
So, keep it simple with small JPEG or PNG files that will keep the quality of the image,but won’t leave clients with the spinning colour wheel of death! A handy onlineresource for this is https://tinypng.com/ which can optimise PNG & JPG images for web (try to keep images under 500kb)
Another factor that can slow you down depends on which plug-ins you’re using on your site. Unnecessary plugins on some websites often come bundled with extra JavaScript files adding to your page load times. To keep an eye on this, Heggie recommends building a test website (if you can) and test those plugins make sure that everything is working smoothly before making anything live to clients
LOW HANGING FRUIT
The trend in ecommerce is 60 – 70% of online traffic comes from mobile devices, a ratio that is likely to be similar for most websites.
“Ensuring that your web-app works well on a mobile has to be the number one priority. More broadly, ensuring that mobile users can digest your content easily, or find relevant content easily is vital,” Heggie explains. He offers up the following points to keep in mind when building/assessing your site:
· Reduce competing messaging
· Have one goal per page
· Prioritise important content above the fold (what’s first seen on your device)
· Optimise your site speed: Ensure images are web-friendly, remove old and unused plugins (wordpress)
· Clear navigation (Mega Menu/Hamburger Menus/Breadcrumbs etc)
MANAGE EXPECTATIONS
In the current climate, a lot of companies won’t be able to supply what they normally can. Especially true for sectors like Ecommerce who rely on products made overseas.If you can’t provide a service or product at the same speed as usual, let your client know early! If you manage their expectations sooner rather than later,you can avoid the passive aggressive emails you’d inevitably get when the that pair of sunglasses someone bought arrives in 4 weeks rather than 2. We’re all going though the same crisis at the moment, so understanding and compassion are at an all-time high!
NEED MORE HELP?
If you’ve read all of the above and still feel the need to know more, or perhaps you want advice more tailored for your company, then Stuart and a whole gaggle of CRO specialists have set up a great resource for you! It’s under the label, #COVIDCRAP, and they are pledging an hour of their time each week to any business who could use FREE CRO advice to improve their conversions. No obligations, sales pitches or hidden agendas, just a bunch of willing and able specialists who are wanting to help!
To take advantage of this amazing offer, check out the website: https://covidcrap.org/ or search for #COVIDCRAP on Linkedin or Twitter.
RESOURCES
You can also get a better picture of your website traffic and how visitors are digesting your content with the tools below:
Google Analytics – Free Tracking tool, measure goals & conversions
Google Tag Manager – Free Tool , add tracking tags & custom code
Google Optimize – Free AB Testing & Personalisation tool
FullStory Session Replay – Free trials available
HotJar Session Replay – Free trials available
BrowserStack: Free trial available for testing your web app across multiple devices
The following browser plugins are commonly used by CRO specialists to help with debugging and developing:
Tampermonkey: Direct javascript editor
BrowserStack: Browser and device tester
DataSlayer: Datalayer and events display
Google Tag assistant: Tag-checker
EditThisCookie: Cookiemanager and editor
Screencastify: Screenrecording for bugs or new interactions
SEO META 1 click: Metadata inspector
3whitehats: Structured data testing tool
Thanks again to Stuart Heggie for sharing his wisdom with us, as well as his home work station!
As the economy is left in a state of flux from the wake of COVID-19, many businesses will be relying on Government Grants to help see them through this pandemic. However, with so many grants being offered and each with numerous applicants, how can you make sure that you’re applying for the best one and that you get it?
Clusterian, Ben Cusack of Bulletpoint, is a specialist in Government Grants and has been helping small businesses secure them for years. We asked him what advice he would give to those seeking government aid and he offered up the following 5 tips!
1. GET YOUR KEY INFORMATION TOGETHER
Most grants only have a four to six-week application window, meaning a lot of the time you’ll only find out about a grant within a few weeks before its deadline hits. This coupled with the fact that it’ll take up to 40 hours to write a great application, it’s good practice to have your key information already written up. Which information is that? Well Ben recommends having the following ready:
• COMPANY HISTORY – Where did the business start and what have been some major milestones along the way?
• PRODUCTS/CUSTOMERS – What do you sell and who buys from you?
• 3 YEAR FINANCIAL SUMMARY – Is the business growing and profitable?
• KEY STAFF BIO – Who are the main drivers of the business success?
• TRACK RECORD – Highlight some previous successful projects.
• PROJECT BUDGET – Put together a summary of key project costs
2. ELIGIBLE AND COMPETITIVE
Perhaps the biggest mistake people will make, is going for a grant simply because they are eligible. When looking at the guidelines of a grant, many are written in a way that’ll portray most companies as worthy contenders. What you won’t be told is that only a few of those will actually be competitive. This can lead to businesses wasting time applying for grants that they were never going to get in the first place.
With the virus leaving many in dire straits and reaching for anything resembling a lifeline, it’s perhaps more important than ever to properly consider what you are applying for. Don’t try and make your company fit the criteria, as you’ll always lose to the ones that actually do. Take your time to research which grant will not only help you survive, but thrive!
Key thing to focus on is this criteria “able to demonstrate how the grant will help support your business or non-profit organisation in response to the impact of COVID-19.”
Most people read it
“I have been impacted by Covid-19”
Rather than:
“this grant will help me better respond to Covid-19”
3. LOOK LIKE YOU DON’T NEED A GRANT
Despite the perception that most Government Grants are aimed towards start-ups, many successful applications belong to companies that have already established themselves with strong revenue, net profit, employed staff and existing customers. Meaning, like most things in life, the most deserving will not be the most successful. You need to be seen as a low risk investment!
We’ve all seen shows like Dragon’s Den or Shark Tank. The entrepreneurs that are credible and viable (they know how to run a business and have proven they can) are the ones who walk away with the investments they hoped for!
4. LESS IS MORE
When applying for a grant, be sure to be succinct and clear. The reader shouldn’t have to slog through boundless paragraphs to understand your business and why you are a good candidate for a grant, it should be self-evident.
To quote Ben, “The aim is convey the main points to a grant assessor within a few seconds. As they read further they will know what to expect and look for supporting evidence.”
He recommends considering the following steps:
• LOW WORD COUNT – Minimize the amount of text when describing the main points of your grant application
• LOTS OF HEADINGS – Allow the reader to be able to skim the page to get the main points within a few seconds
• LOTS OF DOT POINTS – Keep each statement brief and follow up with a bit more detail
• INCLUDE IMAGES – Where possible, include some photos or graphs to break up the text
• SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS – You can always put additional information in an attachment
Ben offers up the following examples to help better understand this:
“Quick Example
Here is a quick example of a successful grant project summary (not written by me).
“There are 20 million showers taken each day in Australia alone. If every shower had our technology fitted we would save in excess of 200 ML of fresh drinking water per day. This saving also eliminates the need to treat the same volume as grey water and is additional to any savings made by flow restricting showerheads.” (57 words)
Do you have any idea what the product does? What does it look like? What is the benefit to the individual?
I don’t……
It was good enough to get a grant, but this is how I would convey it better.
– Our technology diverts cold water at the start of a shower to a storage tank.
– It saves 20L of water per shower.
– Each unit costs $100, is easily fitted and would save households $50 per year (36 words)
Is it better?
I like to think it tells the reader more about what the product is and what is does.
And for the keen eyed mathematicians,
• I did it in 37% less words
• And I used dot points!
And I just started that last sentence with a conjunction. No wonder my English teacher didn’t like me!”
5. MORE IS MORE
Finally, once all the main grant sections are complete, assessors will be evaluating additional information that you provide. Here’s where you can throw brevity out the window! They’ll be looking for the following:
• FINANCIAL MODELS
• IMPLEMENTATION PLANS
• PROJECT GOVERNANCE
• RISK ASSESSMENTS
• LETTERS OF SUPPORT
Although these have less sway in terms of assessment, they are judged on robustness. Would you rather see a Risk Management Plan that is only a single line, or one that is five pages long and details methodology and assessment matrix with sections on financial risk, timing risk, personal risk etc.?
Thanks so much to Ben and Bulletpoint for sharing their insight, and if you would interested in further tips to writing grant applications, than Ben has offered this link to a book he wrote last year:
“Top 10 tips to write grant applications”
We also recommend checking out Bulletpoint’s website for more articles and information on what Grants are on offer and finding the best one to suit your business!
https://www.bulletpoint.com.au/
Stay safe and well!
I was asked the other day, how do you start a software company with no money. It’s something that happens a lot more than people might imagine, and I’ve done it a few times already.
The way to go about this is a process called “bootstrapping” which literally means picking yourself up by your bootstraps. When you’re first starting out investors are just out of the question. You’ve got no track record, no experience, no rich relatives and no money of your own. So what to do?
Having done this several times already, here are my suggestions:
You need to find people that are willing to work for free or for very little up-front money. There are many people looking for opportunities in the workplace for different reasons. Sometimes they have very little experience but lots of talent, and they just need a foot in the door. Other times, they’re looking at a career change and want to gain valuable experience in a different industry or role. You won’t know who’s available until you start to look, and you will likely be quite surprised at what’s out there.
The kind of arrangements you can have with your low cost, or volunteer team includes:
1. People
• Hiring on a casual basis so that you’re not paying salaries when the company has no income. In this way you only pay out money, when the new company has work. If there’s no work, you pay nothing. This is probably the easiest and safest way to start if you’re completely starting from zero.
• You can give them a share of profits from each contract or sales of the product. This can be a risky idea because you cannot guarantee that there will be any profits, and this might cause problems between you and the team, should things turn bad. Make sure you’ve got some good contracts in place to protect you here. You need to be careful in Australia, as in many cases, the person whom you thought you had a profit share agreement with, might come back and claim they were an employee and you would be liable for their salary expenses. You need to make sure that your paperwork is correct and that you’re following the right procedures (which is beyond the scope of this article). The truth is that most people aren’t happy to take business risks, no matter what the longer term rewards might be. This is your role as the entrepreneur. Indeed, there are people that will and if you can find them then great, but if they don’t have much business experience, this might backfire on you as the realities of running a business and making a profit hit-home. If people are relying on profits to make up their salaries and they don’t materialize you’re going to get into trouble quickly.
• The most obvious solution might be to give people a share of the business. In this way they’re not relying on any one product or project to make up their salary, but rather the overall growth of the business from year to year. The problem is that your company is a highly risky venture, and people know this. It’s a fairly good strategy of course if you have no resources and people believe in you and the company’s future. Personally, I would argue against giving away any equity (of significant value). The reasons are beyond the scope of this article, but owning and controlling your own company is very important.
2. Money
Unless you’re independently wealthy, have some very wealthy friends or relatives, then you’re going to have to get money in some very creative ways.
Believe it or not, the easiest way to get money is to work for it! Well that sounds kind of stupid right, that’s obvious, but when you start a company it’s no different. The company is a legal entity in its own right, and it now has to go out into the world and earn it’s living. It’s as simple as that, and it can start straight away!
Raising money is extremely hard, takes ages and the likelihood of success for someone starting from scratch is pretty close to zero. So, where does this income come from?
You need to think laterally. There are literally thousands of things your new company can do to generate revenue. They’re not things you might like to do, or want to do initially, but they get you started and that’s how you bootstrap your business, collect quality people to work with you, pay competitive salaries, keep good people, increase your capacity in terms of your work resources, environments and tools and so on.
Really, you want to take as much work as you can wherever you find it, but some work is better than others. For example, your new company has a vision, and end goal, and some work moves you closer towards that end goal, and some work moves you away. So, even though you have very little option when you’re starting out, as time goes on you’re going to be wanting to take on the work that’s moving you towards the objectives that you’ve set for yourself.
A lot of these jobs can be tedious, boring, time consuming and pay very little money, but over time it all adds up. You’re moving towards your end goal, you’re re-structuring, learning, getting stronger, and running the business better. If you keep plugging away and never give up you will eventually reach your goals. You only fail when you stop in business, and that’s not really failure but more of a learning experience in my opinion. Maybe you just had the wrong goals from the start. In any case, you now have a business with resources and money. You’ve successfully bootstrapped your company.
The other thing to consider is government money. There’s a lot of money that you can get from the governments in Australia. The more successful your company becomes, the more access to grants you will have. Because of this, you need to just keep your company moving forwards no matter what. You need to keep taking those leaps of faith, you don’t know what opportunities are there until you start moving forwards.
When you’re staring out you’re going to have to do all these things simultaneously. Your margins are going to be much tighter in the beginning. You’re going to be doing more work than you can handle. You’re going to be doing more jobs than one person should have to do, but that’s to be expected. That’s how it’s done.
3. Resources
When you first come up with an idea, or you’re looking to start a company, many people first try to solve the problem of getting money. There are many other things of equal importance however. Things that you can negotiate or get for free for example are just as valuable as putting money into your business account.
So why not
• Negotiate with suppliers such as accountants, lawyers and other business professionals who are willing to give start-ups a go and work for free or for very low fees.
• Share an office with someone who wants to help you out. Work from home or use a coworking or serviced office space with reasonable terms.
• Barter for services and goods. Look for bargains everywhere. Every dollar you save, is money you’re pumping into your business.
• Trade your expertise in return for something you need or want.
4. Business Development
Business is about sales. You need a very talented and tenacious business development person to bring in the work or to make the necessary contacts in order to make the sales. Ideally this person will be you, but that’s not the only way. You need to ask yourself if this is something you enjoy doing, whether you can build the skills required, basically whether or not you’re the right person to do this crucial role. Without business development, you don’t have a business. You need someone who understands your industry intimately, you can’t just go out and find a business development person and plug him or her in, and it doesn’t work. You need someone who enjoys doing this work, who already has skill at doing it or who finds it easy, and most importantly someone that you can trust who has a vested interest in the future of your business or you could be training up a competitor. Obviously it’s better if you’re this person or can become this person, but it’s not critical.
By definition delegation is the, ‘assignment of authority and responsibility to another person (normally from a manager to a subordinate) to carry out specific activities.’ Important to note is that the person who delegates the work remains accountable for the outcome. It is for this reason that people and entrepreneurs in particular, shy away from delegation. Is the chance of having the task done poorly or even not at all worth the risk of delegation?
Many traits synonymous with a successful entrepreneur naturally hinder delegation. Their independence, ‘get it done’ attitude, impatience and ego often prevent them from passing on even the most minor tasks to other people. Catherine Eibner, serial entrepreneur and most recently Developer Evangelist for Microsoft Australia, admits that she once too held the strange belief that she had to do everything. ‘From scrubbing the floors to hooking up computers to the internet,’ she continuously found herself distracted from what she should have really been doing – growing her business!
Eibner, recalls the exact moment when she realised that these mundane day-to-day tasks were actually making her and her business inefficient and unsuccessful. A friend suggested she hire ‘a sociable, eager and hard-working’ person he knew with no formal training to look after her accounting and bookkeeping. Outraged that her friend would suggest someone with no qualifications she immediately dismissed the idea, before suddenly realising that the person her friend was describing was actually no different from her.
So often, entrepreneurs find themself acting as the office manager, book keeper, marketing director, accountant and ultimately jack of all trades regardless of the fact that they may not be qualified for any of these roles. Unfortunately whilst they may in fact be very capable of all of these things, it can become very easy to lose sight of the end goal.
After being thrown what she describes as ‘the greatest small business lesson [she] ever learnt,’ Eibner quickly became very fond of outsourcing. She realised that if she spent for example, ’10 hours a week chasing new clients and netted $1,000, one hour of her time could then be valued at $100.’ By outsourcing small tasks for $25-$50 per hour to a book keeper or virtual receptionist she was actually saving a lot of money!
Greek mogul, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou of the ‘easy’ empire (easyJet, easyHotels and easyCar – just to name a few!) believes that aside from this it is still extremely important for entrepreneurs to make their own mistakes. Not to say that he is unwilling to also hand over the reins, but he believes it is extremely important for an entrepreneur to prove first that his/her business model is sound. Paying attention to the smallest of details and ensuring that any mistakes that arise are solved properly he says will allow you to build a successful venture that you can trust someone else to manage.
In the meantime, some carefully planned and clear delegation may be the next best step for entrepreneurs. Donna Robinson, a business consultant with the University of West Georgia in the United States of America, believes there are three keys to successful delegation. (Robinson, D. Can Entrepreneurs Delegate? Business Sense, Georgia)
1) ‘Careful planning of what is to be done and who is best suited to do it.’
By getting to know your staff and becoming familiar with their skills and passions you will be able to appropriately delegate tasks. This also acts as a way to offer your employees the opportunity to further showcase their skills and grow within the company.
2) ‘Clear communication of why the task is important, and what is expected, including outcomes, reporting and timeframes.’
You cannot expect someone else to complete a set task exactly the way you would. Their individual mindset, training and experiences will influence how they set about carrying out a task. It is important to outline clearly what is expected and of course by when, but it is also crucial that you allow your staff the freedom to explore possible solutions.
3) ‘Feedback mechanisms in place for ascertaining what worked and what did not work and rewarding good or correcting bad performance.’
It is expected that the ‘delegator’ monitors the performance of the people he/she delegates tasks to. By providing constructive feedback and rewarding great performances, delegation will become a lot easier – for everyone involved.
Whilst, it is hard for an entrepreneur to ignore the fact that they will be held ultimately responsible for the outcome of a delegated task, he/she cannot deny that the possible benefits are far greater. By carefully delegating tasks to capable and motivated employees, an entrepreneur can free up valuable time that can be spent on growing their business. Put aside that ego, and give a little – you may find you in fact gain a lot!
It is often assumed that you are either born an entrepreneur or you’re not. That you either have that risky, quick-thinking, innovative nature or you don’t. That you will either succeed in business or you won’t. However, the truth is anyone with a bit of determination and a great idea can be an entrepreneur!
Almost all references that attempt to educate one on how to become an entrepreneur start with the step, ‘think of a great idea.’ For some this can be the hardest part. It is important to remember that an idea does not necessarily need to be entirely original or a one of a kind invention. Instead, it may be a service – a way to do something better or a product that is more efficient than its predecessors.
Entrepreneurs relish the opportunity to take an idea no matter how brilliant or underwhelming and develop them into successful business ventures. More often than not, at first entrepreneurial ideas either seem too unrealistic or just plain terrible. When Perrier first contemplated the idea of bottled water, there is no doubt that it would have been dismissed as ludicrous.
One of the most unique and powerful characteristics of an entrepreneur is his/her ability to turn an unrealistic idea into a profitable business venture. Above all else, entrepreneurs themselves rate passion and self-belief as one of the most important things to possess when setting up a business. It does not matter if you don’t have accounting skills or any marketing knowledge – these are all skills that can be purchased or borrowed from other people. What is most important is that you believe enough in your idea to stand by it and put in the hard yards.
Hard work comes with the territory of an entrepreneur. Aside from driving the idea and planning for a new business, you will often find yourself working in a myriad of different and challenging roles to keep the business afloat. In the beginning these jobs may include, pitching your business to investors, drafting marketing plans, and importantly predicting and evaluating the profitability of your business. However, as your business grows you may find yourself as the ‘jack of all trades’ doing anything from wining and dining your new clientele to unpacking stock.
To ensure that any hiccups or obstacles that are bound to come your way do not disrupt the entirety of your business you must plan. Passion and belief may be enough to drive your idea but it is intelligent planning that will ensure it grows. A really in-depth and well researched business plan is key to this. Many universities and TAFE’s offer short business planning courses that will go through this step by step. They are also a way to learn from people who have done it all before. Alternatively, there are endless examples on the internet that will point you in the right direction.
A business plan should include a clear mission statement that guides and determines everything else you plan to do in or for your business. In addition to this, a business description/overview, marketing strategy and a financial plan are extremely important in the early stages of your business.
Whilst your path and in the end your business will change time and time again, a business plan provides a focus, and helps to eliminate unforseen problems from arising in the future. The more research and time you put into planning for your business, the easier establishing yourself and producing an initial cash flow will be.
Good luck in your future entrepreneur endeavours!
Relishing a reputation as courageous, risk-taking eccentrics; vast differences have often been drawn between entrepreneurs and traditional managers. ‘Rock stars’ with a level of freedom most business people could only dream of, entrepreneurs are often perceived as being far removed from the standard corporate life. It seems however, that the parallels between these innovative individuals and conventional managers are much greater than often assumed. Using similar leadership characteristics and business disciplines to turn their ideas into successful and thriving companies, entrepreneurs’ balanced behaviour is much more like the traditional managers’ than once thought.
Ernst & Young’s recent report, ‘Nature or nurture? Decoding the DNA of the Entrepreneur’ begins to break down the behaviour and typical traits of entrepreneurs; comparing and contrasting them to traditional managers and employees. From their survey of 635 of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs, Ernst & Young, concluded that entrepreneurs are in fact made, not born and that external factors such as; business experience, cultural background and their environments influence their success just as much as innate personality traits. In particular, most surveyed entrepreneurs stated that higher education and previous employment had been key to their success.
Regardless of this fact, vision, passion and drive were still rated by surveyed entrepreneurs as the most important qualities to have. Ernst & Young’s research showed that most entrepreneurs have an, ‘internal locus of control’ – an ability to intelligently assess risk combined with a willingness to take them. It is an entrepreneur’s locus of control that allows them to see opportunity where others may only see disruptions, their drive and tenacity is what ensures that these ideas become successful business ventures.
The one downside of being an entrepreneur is something Harvard Business School Professor Noam Wasserman calls the ‘rich-versus-king’ choice. Whilst it doesn’t sound too terrible; choosing between being king and being rich? It is something Professor Wasserman says it is the downfall of many entrepreneurs and their businesses. He says, ‘if the desire for wealth (being rich) drives the entrepreneurial leader, he or she should accept outside capital, give up the reins and enjoy a piece of a bigger pie. [However,] if the desire to run a successful business (being king) is a stronger motivator, the choice should be to rely on debt financing or self-funding, continue to control the company, and accept that growth may be constrained.’ It is entrepreneurs who insist on being both rich and king that struggle to succeed, making inconsistent decisions because they are unclear what it is their truly value.
Like anyone, entrepreneurs face obstacles in life. Whether these are attributed to their business ventures or not, their opportunistic outlook and great levels of persistence are what ensure they overcome them. The idealistic notion that entrepreneurs are born with a ‘success gene’ is greatly inaccurate. Ernst & Young’s report presents an intelligent insight into the real reasons behind an entrepreneur’s success, concluding, that it is in fact a combination of often different personal characteristics and behaviours as well as external factors and past experience.
he Cluster serviced offices Melbourne and virtual offices Melbourne started life as a computer game company called REDTRIBE (referring to the office itself of course). Founded in August 2003, REDTRIBE went on to become one of Australia’s largest independent game development studios. Today, REDTRIBE still works with publishing companies in the US, but has shifted its strategy from development work to production work with more of the development work now done overseas. You can still rub shoulders with the entrepreneurial founders of REDTRIBE at The Cluster Melbourne and there’s many a good business story to tell at one of The Cluster’s many social gatherings.
Today there are over 45+ creative companies located within The Cluster Melbourne Serviced Offices which is a hive of Entrepreneurial activity and creativity (including REDTRIBE). Additionally, there is access to a great deal of computer equipment and software if required by members.
REDTRIBE has worked with some of the world’s largest movie companies including Warner Brothers, Universal Studios and Fox Studios. REDTRIBE’s most recent games include Looney Tunes Acme Arsenal and Space Chimps. We hope to see you at The Cluster Melbourne sometime. Contact us.