PB Congress 2019
Held at the
London White Eagle Club in Balham
on 14th November 2019
A Delegates view
This was my first attendance at such a Congress organised by PBLink and was very impressed by organization, venue and number of attendees.
Event started by opening address by Michael Dembicki who is Chair of Polish Business Chamber in Poland and gave the format of the congress and also introduced members of the panel who would be talking about their experiences with regard to questions set by him.
An address was also given by His Excellency the Polish Ambassador.
Panel insights were given by those who started their businesses and issues they had and how they overcame them.
One of the panel whose interests are more closely aligned to mine was Sanjiv as also worked as a Business Coach and gave some very useful advice including having a helicopter view of area of where you operate and thereby get a bigger picture.
He emphasized the concept of being good at your chosen area of expertise and developing this for the benefit of others.
He pointed out that Germany spends 100% more on external consultancy than Poland does, one of the reasons quoted for this is that Poland tends to be more insular in its approach and relies on own nationals providing know how!
Ania Frankowska who works as a Finance Consultant and one of her major points was to seek advice if you have no experience in a given area. Consultants add value to your business by helping you to highlight issues that need addressing and thereby helping you save money in the long term.
Choose your consultants with care (by recommendation is best), work they do for you must be cost effective!
Magdalena added that customers always on the lookout for niche products so be aware to that kind of strategy and if you are in that sector (retail) be willing to experiment and see how this works for you.
Sanjiv also mentioned that you can sell your business from a strategic point of view and mentioned that Chinese buyers are always on the lookout for new opportunities. He also mentioned quality of revenue and returning clients- a good sign that your product/service is doing well!
Gareth another of the speakers spoke about the whole range of values which drive your business and give it value!
He underlined that you need to have a long-term perspective of what you believe is the value of your business and the value of its assets and how they contribute to the final bottom line of the valuation.
In the next part of the morning session delegates were split into three defined groups and asked by Nick Howe (from NatWest) to discuss three distinct aspects of business life and how they can affect businesses, feedback was eventually written onto a flip chart after round table discussions and summarised by a designated delegate!
Which for our table was me!
Our tables (1-3) had to discuss Financial implications, key points were: -
· Spending on necessary items.
· Collaboration processes to promote business.
· Operational processes
· Costs of promotion/marketing.
· Exposure to existing clients and new ones too!
·
Diversity select market Find one for your product/service.
· Find right assembly and support.
· B2B orders
· Knowing profitability of your business
· KPI Dashboard – updated regularly.
· Closeness to numbers.
· Reliable customers.
Tables 4-6 discussed Operational matters, here were the key points: -
· Educate yourself, your team and plan it into your budget as this will reflect your correct attitude.
· Have diversity in your business and that includes having more women in lead roles.
· Structure of responsibilities for staff is very important.
· IT tools software and applications in use at present and for future!
· Cloud accountancy is implanted in your systems!
· Training for employees.
· Plan in advance.
· Business workflow (get feedback).
· Business automation.
· Backup.
· People adapt best practises.
· Improve motivation.
· Ask for opinions.
· Include employees in decision making processes.
· Attitude of staff, this is very important in any aspect of work as any failures could have a knock-on effect on other team members!
Tables 7&8 discussed Marketing, here are the principle points to consider!
· Know your competition – Stand out!
· Social value- how is this reflected in your strategy?
· Campaigns, * how are you going to do them via Social Media Marketing?
· Recommendation.
· Quality of services – this must be high!
· High content (whose quality must be useful)!
· eBook
· SEO *Chatbox
· Value your author.
· Videology
· Support
· Influencers
· Cross selling and upselling
* Which SMM channel are you going to use and why?
My input on all aspects of round table discussions!
Who is your competition?
How big are they?
Regarding your Social Media Marketing, who is going to do it?
What is your USP?
Which SEO are you going to use?
Is your website also working for you?
How fast does it load?
Do you use Google, and have you also got a link to your email from it?
How has the customer journey been for them?
Any glitches?
KPI measure these especially in view of automated processes.
Feedback to plans outlined in any discussions held and the reality that employees are part of the team so need to be involved and to feel that way too. Including them in decision making also gives them a sense of ownership and makes them feel valued. Using video messages to promote cross selling and not just focusing on basic ones you are promoting. Use of Trustpilot to get clients to give opinions on your services.
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10 Ways to increase value Sanjiv Dodhia
Sanjiv is Action Coach and Value builder and came to talk to us on various issues relating to businesses. This includes taking your operations to the next level.
He spoke about the Owners trap and the need to have effective succession built into your operations.
During absences
Sales
Quality of Service Owner dependant.
When things go wrong!
Business owners need to be working on the business and not for it!
i.e. They need to lead and innovate and tweak operational systems! Teamwork is essential if business is to grow!
They need to reflect and see whether time is good to sell as going concern once start up work has been done!
Here are the Value drivers for your businesses!
1. Financial Performance and Transparency
2. Cash generation, does it provide enough £$, ROI, profitability, customer retention, annuity revenue!
3. Recurring revenues – income streams which are automatic e.g. sales of warranties, repeat orders, software development fees, consultancy fees etc.
4. Growth potential? What is your share of the market? Is it a Niche one? What is outstanding about it (USP)? Is your product scalable? Can Social Media be used to market it further? Are you producing too many products but not have got enough clients to buy them?
5. Monopoly control, can you product/service solve a specific problem?
6. Customer satisfaction – building this up and also getting rave reviews on it via media (LinkedIn)!
7. Being non dependant on one individual and being able to diversify interests onto other platforms.
8. Hub – Space – structure
sales
Marketing Business to scale of operations
Finance
HR
9. Incorporate Value Metrics into your workplace.
10. No planning – long term
planning – goal evaluation.
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Selling your business
Valid take out points were: -
· Exit timing
· Discussions with Accountants and lawyers also business advisors.
· You need to be thinking about this 4-5 year before intended departure, so planning is essential.
· Need valuation – realistic expectation of it!
· Due diligence.
· Ownership of IP’s and all paperwork is up to date!
· All debts are paid.
· Tax considerations.
How to increase your business value using Social Media (SM) presented by David Patrykowski from Birmingham.
He discussed two methods
Method # 1
Talking about your product 1:1 with your clients.
Brand Awareness – which is recognisable and can be used to promote your business, great PR can also be useful to promote your product/service.
Method #2
Leads to sales via Facebook.
You need to demonstrate value of buying your product rather than that of competitor, it about you and not them!
You need to use the right message to promote your goods/services and use your website to show this to maximum effect.
You need to see what emotions you use to trigger response for your product and that includes messaging on SM
He also suggested a Step by Step process to enable this to happen: -
· What is your target audience?
· Identify right social media – LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, Instagram
· Plan and strategy – could utilise LinkedIn selling here.
· A to B Testing. Is this the best campaign
· Measure results ROI
· Repeat continuously.
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The value of Employee Engagement – Kate Boguslawska
Kate underlined the importance of employers having a good working relationship with their staff as treating them well is crucial if it’s going to lead to a win-win situation and that they are going to be very productive in achieving goals set for them and hence increasing productivity of institution. She also highlighted how the culture of the management will play a role in ongoing empathy with the staff.
Other issues mentioned were: -
· Having a core value system.
· Mission statement.
· Vision
Culture is a vision thing which employees see and feel in terms of how they are treated!
She also mentioned the UK Corporate Governance Code and its underlying principles.
She also spoke about How to attract the best Talent and having a great enhancing Job Description, other issues mentioned were: -
· Contract
· Handbook for staff Your necessary tools.
· Policies and Procedures
Kate also spoke about –
1. Sources of problems.
2. Lack of training.
3. Unfair treatment
4. Unclear Job descriptions.
5. Communication crisis
6. Balance of work conditions and stress that evolve from it.
7. Harassment and victimisation.
8. Unresolved past problems
9. Increased workloads.
10. Unpaid salary.
How to solve problems!
Told delegates about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and how this applies in the workplace and how staff are more likely to be more productive if those needs are complied with.
In my experience some line managers had no idea of this and how it relates in the workplace and the reason why some voted with their feet by heading for the exit door. Some of the reasons were lack of job satisfaction, stress and lack of recognition for work done in excess of what role required and why my former department lost 10 highly qualified staff in 2014!
Kate also pointed out that Millennials and Gen Z had different perceptions of jobs and roles than those who did them in the past, I concur with that view as its down to their perceptions and sense of entitlement which they feel they have from society.
Use of robots and Artificial Intelligence will also play a great part in future work situations. Finally, Kate said to treat your staff as you would your best customers.
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Womenomics a presentation by Dorota Monica Iwankiewicz
This was both inspiring and motivating talk about how women are making a significant effect in the business world and has been very visible over the last 20 years and most notably in 10 leading economies.
Dorota spoke about Return on Equity (ROE) by having talented females in key corporate roles and how that can affect your ROIC which can rise significantly (>84%).
Some organizations have got this right – JP Morgan by thinking differently and valuing their female staff as they do their male counterparts and giving them opportunities to compete for higher executive roles.
Dorota also mentioned Storytelling as a way to convey their message on how they rose through the ranks and climber the corporate ladder!
She gave marketing tips and mentioned those women who made risen to the top of their organizations especially those that were perceived to be male dominated and showed that it can be done!
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Andy Kowalski MRSC MIScT FCMI
3rd January 2020