A place for my thoughts on business, e-commerce, technology, design and life.
Employee Cliques Are Bad For Business
Companies should pay very close attention to cliques forming amongst employees - this is a sure indication that there is something very wrong with company dynamic and managers (if present).
The stronger the clique, the less likely employees outside of it will be willing to interact with those inside it.
Employees might even go as far as to feel the need to quit their jobs - this goes way back to schoolyard days feeling like the odd one out.
Cliques are infectious, even the most highly respected people fall prey to it. You may find yourself gossiping about a certain employee via IM or email unexpectedly - just stop it.
The outcasted employees will feel resentment towards the company, not the clique - this is a sure fire way of killing productivity and ultimately the company.
Think about it.
12 August 2010 · Comments
No Space for Complacency
adii:
One thing that I’ve learned over and over again of late is that there is absolutely no space for compromise & complacency when dealing with customers. These are the people that makes your business a success and they ensure that you are able to pay the bills; so never - ever - stop short of pulling out all the stops to please your customers!
13 April 2010 · Comments
11 Steps to Launching a Successful Website
Launching a website can be as complicated or as easy as you make it out to be. Here is a list that might help you along the way.
- Create a product that’s usable and adds value - it does not have to be perfect.
- Ensure you have a marketing strategy ready to go (including submission strategy to sites like digg.com, dzone.com, cssmania.com and all the other link lists that are applicable).
- Make sure you have your domain name registered and a reliable web host like texo.co.za or slicehost.com.
- Launch early in the day or late at night to avoid high traffic while you iron out the glitches.
- Make sure you’ve turned off all debugging code.
- Ensure that you’ve set up all the correct email addresses.
- Make sure you’ve tested your site well, including web forms and integration points.
- Be accessible to your users and engage the community actively.
- Don’t get your marketing message mixed up. Consolidate the message across all the platforms (Twitter, Facebook etc).
- Remember content is King. Your content needs to be unique and updated regularly.
- Most importantly, have fun & listen to your users.
Additional Resources:
- How to create a successful website
- Basic steps to creating a successful website
- Simple and successful SEO strategies
What are your thoughts?
8 March 2010 · Comments
A Message to Startup Founders
Starting and running a business is hard work - you already know this though. Here’s a list I would like to share with you and hopefully you might find inspiration in someone else’s words.
- Don’t ever give up - keep innovating
- Sleep more
- Keep things exciting
- Ask for help when you need it
- Put your pride in your pocket
- Shamelessly promote yourself
- Hire the right people
- Be actively involved in your business - physically and mentally
- External funding is evil, try go without it as far as you can
- Show your employees that they are valuable to you and your business
- Create tangible value in your products or services
- Give back to the community where ever you can
- Don’t be afraid to lead
- Don’t be afraid of criticism
- Don’t be afraid failure
- Keep pushing boundaries like a child pushing buttons
- Don’t subscribe to the cliques - they’re short lived
- Make sure you build a business that can pass the sleep test
- Stop being ordinary
- Release early and release often
- Stay humble
- Communicate, communicate, communicate
2 March 2010 · Comments
Multi-Tasking is the Death of Creativity
Successful people don’t multi-task, they delegate.
If you are an average working individual, you know exactly what I mean by this post.
Multi-tasking is a modern day man-made requirement, but it happens to be really bad for creativity.
You tend to go into a one-dimensional rut where your brain doesn’t get enough time to fully think things through and you end up making tactical mistakes.
When you have more than one task to do, write them down in order of priority and work you way through the list one at a time - this is the simplest and most effective way to handle it.
Creativity comes from a free, happy and unhindered mind. You get the gist of it, keep it that way.
25 February 2010 · Comments
