Category: Business admin

Why everything matters

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Here’s a list of things which actually do matter:

 

Our diction and vernacular

Our personal presentation & dress code (Doesn’t mean a suit, but to wear what we wear well, have a sense of style)

The way we engage people and treat them

Our smile and attitude

How neat  and organized our workspace is

Being on time

Our posture

Knowing our next steps every day

Making sure our technology is in working order

 

All these things and others, matter all the time. Not just the day you have to do it right, have the big VC presentation or the day you’re meeting your biggest customer. 

 

And here’s why – they’ll become habit. Good habits. And when things are habit, they’re performed much the same way – time and time again.

 

If we do them well when it doesn’t matter, we’ll do them well when it does.

Great Quote

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

“Being busy is a form of laziness – lazy thinking and indiscriminate action.”

 

Timothy Ferriss

 

Startup blog agrees, and adds – if we blame our employers for the above, there’s no locks on the door…. and we’re still being lazy.

Pop quiz

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Two people went to work on their startup business.

 

Joseph got up early started at 8am and worked until midnight, he finished all the tasks on his to do list.

 

Mary slept in, was tired, got up mid morning flicked through the newspaper, had a few good solid hours in the afternoon and goofed off after 5.30pm. She did not complete all the tasks on her to do list.

 

Question: Which entrepreneur achieved the most in said day?

 

A)    Joseph

B)    Mary

C)    Cannot tell.

 

Answer: C

 

As entrepreneurs the most crucial mistake we can make is confusing activity with progress. The entrepreneur who achieved most is the one who made the most progress towards their end goal.

 

We should not confuse time spent with value created.

Business plans

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

For those of us not raising Angle or Venture Capital, our business plans should be directly proportional to the size of our business.

 

No revenue = no plan.

(ok – a small mud map that focuses on the very basic business model which will lead to revenue.)

 

<$1 million revenue  = 1 page.

 

The law of diminishing returns sets in at around about 10 pages, regardless of the size of the business. 

Compound Effort

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Albert Einstein said compound interest is the greatest discovery of all time. There is no question about it’s power. Don’t believe me? $10K invested in the all ordinaries index in Australia in 1970, would today be worth $808K 

The tough thing that entrepreneurs face is life without a wage. Money makes life better. A wage can buy nice things. Shirts, shoes, dinners at fancy restaurants, weekend trips away and mortgages in gentrified suburbs. Yes, these are nice. The interesting thing about ‘compounding, is that it is not limited to financial instruments. It also applies to effort.    

                               COMPOUND EFFORT

       Definition: The ability to generate significant & tangible returns through long term continuous effort via the use of human capital. 

It applies to all things. Start ups, even exercise regimes. If you stay the course, the rewards are there. 

(If you’ve read this post before – you’ve consumed over 50,000 words on this blog! Thought it was worth a re-post) 

Reliability

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

4.17pm – Get email from friend advising of a small bug on rentoid.com

 

4.17pm – I email my main guy from my tech team to ask him to check it out  

4.21pm –  I receive email from my tech guy saying – bug fixed please check it!   

4.23pm – I email my friend advising that it’s all fixed saying – ‘my guy is quick.’ 

4.25pm – Friend emails me back saying “..Wow… that’s amazing.” Blog worthy!! 

As above.

Never underestimate the power strong relationships within supply chains. Strong relationships build efficient supply chains – not the other way around.

Cool brands

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Cool brands are put simply, just like cool people. It’s not so hard to believe when we consider that brands (well known ones) have personalities. Brands have values, share ideas and represent something.

Brands are just like people, the personification of things or services.

So what makes a cool brand? The same stuff that makes a cool person.

Cool people:

·        Cut new ground

·        Dress how they want

·        Don’t care about being popular, which is why they ‘become’ popular

·        Do stuff they like, not what others like

·        Have strong opinions and values, don’t care what others think

·        Don’t try and impress – so they do

·        Are confident and relaxed

·        Aren’t selfish, mean or vindictive

·        Are often compassionate and kind

·        Are easy to get along with (easy to use?)

·        Take a while to be understood

·        Get discovered eventually as being – thought leaders

·        Cool in a crisis

             fonzie.jpg 

Hey, there’s plenty more personifications where these came from – so be

like Arthur Fonzerelli and add them to the comments.