Monthly Archives: September 2012

MADE festival – business leaders can learn from entrepreneurs

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MADE festival entrepreneursLast week I spent two days at the MADE festival for entrepreneurs, which promised a lot and managed to exceed that promise.  And by a large margin.

You could tell that even the leading politicians who spoke, Vince Cable and Michael Fallon, were quite taken aback by the energy of the event.  And they go to a lot of events.   The Duke of York also gave a ringing endorsement and much encouragement as well.

So in my mission to understand what works and what is not effective, I have reflected on what happened and why so many people left the event fired up and so excited to have been there.  There were numerous tweest on the day after of people complaining of withdrawl symptoms!

This comment from Michael Hayman brings it home how good it was.

I walked out onto stage to open the festival, and I have never felt such an overwhelming sense of positive energy and palpable hope. It made me think that entrepreneurs are a tribe. It’s about mindset,

First the promise from MADE was big

What can you do in 48 hours? Come to MADE: The Entrepreneur Festival – a two-day masterclass in building a Great British business. From panel discussions and exhibitions to fringe events and quick-fire speaker slots, MADE is the country’s biggest and most inspiring festival of entrepreneurship.

“If you’re not at MADE, you’re never going to be MADE. You need to be there.” Dragons’ Den star Peter Jones CBE

Described as “the Davos for entrepreneurs”, the festival brings together 3,000 guests with 35 high-profile speakers in venues across the city of Sheffield.

Be inspired by Britain’s top entrepreneurs. Network with your peers. Discover how to turn your vision into a world beater. Share insider tips on cracking global markets. Learn how to super-charge growth.

This video conjures up the mood and the pace.  The music was used as a signature throughout the event and had a powerful effect.

Pretty bold stuff  Why did it work so well?

There a number of features of the format that helped Continue reading →

Global Peace Day 21st September

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Peace One DayToday is the Annual Day of Peace – Global Peace Day. It is recognised by every member state of the United Nations. I have been supporting this cause because I believe in the benefit of a securing a huge reduction in violence on one day.  This helps relief agencies move practical medical support and supplies to populations in war stricken areas

This post suggest ways you can support this

Continue reading →

MADE festival – The “Davos” for Entrepreneurs

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I am going to this entrepreneurs and business growth event tomorrow.   Described as The Davos for Entrepreneurs, it makes a bold promise.  But there is a great line up of speakers.

Business growth event MADE festival

I am hopeful it will attract alot of real people who doing real stuff rather than just advisors and pundits.  It is always great to meet more business people who are working on practical ways to grow their business and come up with new ideas.

Also it does not cost £700 or £1200 like some of the talking shop conferences.  It costs £50. Continue reading →

Being more effective is not at the expense of people

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I just had an exchange on Google+ with Penny Power which reminded me that being effective does not have to be at the expense of people.  In fact if you “think smart”, then effectiveness works to help people not put them out of work.

Digital Youth AcademyBack in June I had the good fortune to meet Penny who I discovered has had a great idea and is turning it into reality.  She has launched the Digital Youth Academy which is creating apprenticeship opportunities Continue reading →

Why are your colleagues not convinced about your plan for growth?

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Whilst your brands and products have been growing steadily you know this is not good enough to accomplish the business long term goals. So you are looking for new ideas to step up and accelerate your growth. As a result, you have spotted an opportunity for your brand or business to get more growth.

It becomes obvious to you that the business should pursue this opportunity. If you don’t, you know the business could get left behind. So you come up with a plan to capitalise on it.
You do your research and planning and may even hire some great agencies or others to help you. Together you come up with growth initiatives that will work. You have done your homework; you have great numbers to support the plan. But when you pitch it to the business, some colleagues are not convinced. They seem a little sceptical. Some seem enthusiastic but don’t really get behind it.

Then even after you have convinced the board, you find you struggle to get the product development or the operations or the sales teams fired up to deliver it.  Why does this happen, Continue reading →