I’m talking literally and metaphorically here.
Speaking literally, have you seen the latest research by the Chamber of Commerce? It suggests that Chamber members believe the economy will struggle during the first half of 2012, but we’re not in for a double-dip recession. Well, thank goodness for that at least! During a piece on BBC Breakfast, a Chamber spokesman said that in the longer term, it would be those who exported – especially outside the EU – who would stand the best chance of success. The presenter asked, in that case, what of those businesses which couldn’t export? He came back with an explanation as to how to get into overseas markets – by using the Chamber (of course!) and UKTI (UK Trade and Investment) etc.
Now, I’ve used UKTI myself – very successfully. I was lucky enough to be part of a trade mission to the US in 2007 in which they were involved. So I’m all for them getting a plug – but I don’t think that was actually what the interviewer was asking. My guess (and I may be wrong here) is that she was in fact trying to find out what the prognosis might be for a business whose products or services just didn’t travel.
That got me thinking: how many of those are there? My first thought was that I’m running one of them – or rather, that where our products and services might travel to (other English-speaking countries – like America) wouldn’t help us much in terms of growth, because they’re at least as far along Sheisser Strasse as we are in the UK!
Then I thought again … Australia! They speak English, they have a thriving business population, they’re close to growing Asian markets – and they haven’t seen a recession – and I happen to have connections already working there!
So I’m off to Oz in the morning – BYE!!!
No, just kidding –I’ve got to sit down and plan our strategy etc before I can even start thinking about a visit.
That brings me on to the metaphorical part of my question. Business coaches are always telling us we need to set goals; we need to know where we’re going; but realized last year that the most important question when it comes to objectives of any kind isn’t ‘What?’ but ‘How?’
During last week’s radio show, I threw that around with Vicky Kelly of Butterfly Effect Coaching. We talked about ‘the pain train’ – or at least, the pain station and trying to get away from it. It was 4th January, so it was a fair bet that some listeners had already broken at least one new year’s resolution. So how, I wanted to know, could they salvage that situation – rather than beating themselves up about it for the rest of the year?
Vicky’s answer was: ‘Celebrity magazines’.
No, ok, that’s not quite true. Her real answer was: incentives. ‘When we’re at the pain station,’ she said, ‘we can’t wait to get away from it – so we work like crazy to move. Once we’ve covered some distance, we’re far enough away from the pain for it not to hurt any more – but we’re still a long way from the pleasure station’ (no, that’s not a dodgy club in London – although maybe it’s a business opportunity for someone …!).
The answer is to break the journey down into smaller sections, with incentives scattered along the way. No, the celeb magazines aren’t my idea of an incentive either – but they work for Vicky (as guilty pleasures so often do).
I’m still working on my own equivalent guilty pleasure … possibly playing with lego …
So now I need to plan my strategic route to Australia … how can I work lego into that I wonder …?
Where are you heading this year (or over the next few years), physically or metaphorically, how are you planning to get there – and how will you keep yourself motivated along the way? If you don’t already export, could you – and if so, where to?
One key part of our export strategy will obviously have to be branding. Back on 1st December, I had our new brand checked over by the Brand Doctor (AKA Ivan Newman of Living Inside the Brand). Ivan is back at 3PM this Thursday. The patient we had booked in has had to postpone, so instead we’re looking generally at ‘Brand strength and wellness’.
Catch the show at 3PM on 97.8 FM in Basildon and East Thurrock, or everywhere at Gateway978.com.
If you have any ideas for the Enterprise Gateway, please, get in touch.