There was OpEx (operational expenditure) which was perfect for funding your consulting and Cloud Computing services.  This was great as it is far easy to get than CapEx (capital expenditure).

 

Sadly, OpEx and CapEx have come under the axe. Budgets are being slashed based on the uncertainty of the future. 'Cut harder and deeper than you feel is necessary' is the mantra, "so you do it just once".

 

But thrive rather than just survive should be the thinking.  In a recession there are always going to be winners. Question is, are you going to be one of them? 

 

That depends on how you support your clients, manage costs ( yeah, yeah, yawn 8-O ), but also how you invest (now it gets interesting...)

 

But how can you invest with budgets being cut away from underneath you.  That's where a new budget category is emerging.  StratEx.   Strategic Expenditure. So no matter what else happens, these budgets are protected because they are ring-fenced for strategic investments. There are the projects which will secure your continued existence, and your dominance in the post-recessionary world.

 

As my Chairman told me recently - "Ian, you need to have a short term plan to deliver your long term vision".  trite but true.

 

So what are your StratEx projects?

 

If you are selling to corporates, how do you get your project into their StratEx bugdets?  How do you make yourself urgent and important?

 

 

 

 

Most people feel they need to attend business networking events, but are scared, hang onto the wall, talk to a few inappropriate people and come away horribly disappointed. 

 

Here are 12 pointers to help you improve radically:

 

1. Know why your there.  Is it for the social side, to develop sales or to raise your profile.  Then ask the question "Can I achieve that here?"

2. Set low expectations – aim to get NO MORE THAN 2 business cards or useful / relevant contacts

3. Treat every interaction as a "Conversation of Possibilities". Go with an open mind, not  a targeted sales pitch.

 

4. Check seating plan – Sod’s Law of Networking. If there a dinner, you are likely to be sitting next to the person you spend time talking to prior to the dinner, wasting an opportunity.

 

5. Leave residual energy  - give more than you take.  good Karma as @guykawasaki would say

 

6. Be interested in them, ask open questions

7. Badge on right lapel - so when you shake hands that is where their eyes go

 

8. Getting rid of someone; Introduce to someone else, or say “I need to move on”

 

9. If know nobody in the room; Take your time and look around, look at groups for opening, join but don’t stop the conversation, introduce your self ina FEW SHORT WORDS - make an impression

10. If you want them to take your card, ask for theirs

 

11. Take a pen to write notes on the back of their card

 

12. Follow-up .. do what you said you would.  SO FEW PEOPLE DO.  This one simple act wil make you stand out.

 

Enjoy the experience, don't focus on the results.  Finally - you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find the princes.

 

There are so many business networks currently being set up, if you only count the face to face ones.  Considerably more if you count on-line; custom web-site drven, social-networking powered, and online groups-based ones.

 

So thinking about the face to face events, what is the most effective approach.  So before you answer that question you need to consider the motivation behind the delegate (which may not be the same as the organiser's reasons).

 

Why?

 

1. Is it to meet likeminded people?  This could be for social reasons - they don't have a job anymore (retired or redundant).

 

2. For business development? They want to find new clients, partners, or a new job.

 

3. For help. They have a problem which they want to share and get collective answers.

 

So there area a variety of formats which are floating around.  I've been to virtually every combination. Some work well, others tank badly.   The grratest variable is the number and quality / compatibility of the people attending.  Think successful party or dinner party.  The best ones are where the groups is selected based on th others attending. 

 

A previous blog drew parallels with Singles Dating Parties

 

What are the different formats?

 

1. Lunch/dinner, tables of 6-8, no agenda, no structure. 

2. Lunch/dinner, tables of 6-8 with chairman and a formal discussion topic

3. Lunch/dinner, tables of 6-8 with chairman and a specific problem each person wants to have solved

4. Lunch/dinner, table of up to 30 with after-dinner speaker

5. Stand around, up to 200 with after-dinner speaker

6. Stand around, up to 200 with no speaker

 

What works best for you?

 

Next up: working a room.

 

 

The buzz word for 2008 was Cloud Computing.  It is seen as a way of cutting costs in a recession. But there is far more to it that simply switching off your internal systems and cutting over to the new Cloud Computing servic.

 

Sadly the Cloud Computing service providers make it sound oh so simple.  And it is form their end.  You are just another client.  at your end you have a new systems implementation project.

 

So, before you start, what are the questions you should be asking yourself? 

 

 

Talking to Nick Daniels, the MD of DanielsReeve, who has run recruitment agencies through 2 previous recessionary periods (1990's and 2000 dot come crash), he remarked on how similar the Recruitment Cycle was.

 

There is little to suspect the principles will be the different. However there are a couple of marked differences. 

 

So firstly the sequence of the 4 step cycle and then the 3 ways this is different from before.