I’ve never written a blog before so this is another first in what has turned out to be a year of firsts for me.
My first blog, first Champions League win for my team Liverpool Football Club (obviously that’s nonsense, but it’s been so long is feels like a first), and the launching of my own business which has brought all kinds of firsts.
Setting up my own business after years of being a cog in someone else’s machine is a big deal and a bit daunting. It’s been weird suddenly finding myself involved in everything. No popping over to marketing and sales and asking their advice and help, no getting the digital guys to knock-up a web page or social media content. That’s something you’ve got think about and do yourself (or not.... read on) along with setting up my own office space and sorting out all the paperwork that comes with running your own business. A lot of new stuff.
Glad to say, so far, it’s a been a great experience and I’ve learnt a huge amount, about business and myself, most importantly the value of relationships.
Which brings me back to Liverpool FC, or more precisely, manager Jürgen Klopp.
He’s constantly held up as an example of a great ‘man manager’, someone who understands the people he’s working with, what makes them tick, and creates working relationships that gets the best out of everyone. I’ve got a great working relationships, and I’m also gradually building relationships with a network of small to medium-sized businesses who can benefit from what I do.
I’m not saying I’m Jürgen Klopp, by the way, just that I think there’s a lot to learn from the way he operates.
Six months in, I’m absolutely convinced there are many small/medium sized companies’ out there who could benefit hugely from the help of reasonably priced, short-term support to help understand their data and make it work for them.
Back to the always quotable Mr Klopp, who before coming to England had success in the German Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund against the might and money of Bayern Munich: “We have a bow and arrow and if we aim well, we can hit the target. The problem is that Bayern has a bazooka”.
Klopp proved you don’t need a bazooka, a bow and arrow can work just fine if well-aimed. A few weeks input from someone who knows how to get the best out of the systems, making them really work for your business can help your business punch above its weight.
I know when you’re a smaller business, it’s difficult to justify permanent or full-time data and business intelligence support. But that shouldn’t mean that once you’ve bought a system you accept what it does ‘out of the box’ and never push it beyond that.
What you may be able to justify is some short-term support from someone who really knows what they’re doing and what the systems can do. The cost is short-term, the benefits permanent.
It’s a lesson I’ve had to learn myself. I may run my own business, but that doesn’t mean I can do every aspect of running it myself. I did it by necessity when I was getting things off the ground, but pretty soon realised that I’ve got neither the time – or, let’s face it, the skills – to be drumming up sales leads. Put me in front of a customer and I’m away, but without a bit of short-term, part-time support from someone who really knows sales I’d never get in front of them in the first place.
Being Jack of all trades takes you only so far. There comes the point when you need an expert in to move things on, and that’s what I’m offering with BB Analytics.
Whatever your needs, I would be happy to discuss how I may be able to help you. Be it creating that export that your customer requires, to creating a full data warehouse that you can report from. I can ensure that you get more out of your software.
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