Man, it has been busy.
So not a lot of time to post here, but a lot of developments.
1. Risk
A supplier that controls about 90% of my market is a risk for me. The rise of marketplaces is a risk for everyone in ecom.
The corona virus is a risk if China is your only source of goods.
And if your only income comes from your site. That's a risk too.
I am about to conclude the scaling up program that ends in a strategic plan for this year as well as the next five.
But I am actively looking at opportunities outside of my current business. Preferably in another market and with another economic cycle.
If you don't regularly look at the risks you run, now is a good time to evaluate your business.
B. Strategy
Reading is an important way for me to develop myself, broaden and sharpen my views.
And strategy has been a focal point for me.
If there is one book I can recommend, it's the following: Certain to win - Chet Rchards.
It's a book that applies the military strategy of John Boyd to business. You'll learn about OODA loops, strategy and how to actually apply it to business.
C. Kenya
It's hard to find good people. Especially when you are in a small village and good people already have a job. The economy is doing well, which makes the labour market a tough one for businesses.
We are taking employer branding more seriously, to make sure we can attract people. Despite not being a well known name.
At the same time, we are looking to structure more and more in a way that allows us to outsource work.
In that quest, we have learned that there are skilled people available in Kenya. Working for $3 an hour with very good to excellent English.
We have succesfully found a shop manager and content writers.
Here's where we found them: www.kaziwork.com You can get 2 months of access for something like $50 and post as many jobs as you want, where you get direct access to the candidates.
Hopes this helps guys. Until the next one!
Great tips, @pekadis.
May I ask you how you decide which book to read next?
For the best books I've read lately I got recommendation by simply asking people that I know who read a lot of books whats they favourite book of all time.
And regarding you last point ... Kenya, wow. I wouldn’t think of outsourcing content writing to Kenya.
Will definitely give it a try.
Thanks!
@timotej
I never used to check out the footnotes, but now I do and that sometimes leads to other interesting finds.
In this case - Sources of power by Gary Klein. But I have only read the first 35 pages. It's about how people make decisions, so has potential.
I often have a few open at the same time and after a while, I'll dig into the one that gives me the most value.
The others I am reading now:
The Machine - A radical approach to the design of the sales function - Justin Roff-Marsh (applies the theory of constraints to the sales function)
The brand gap - Marty Neumeier - Interesting book about branding which "explains how to bridge the distance between business startegy and design"
Hope this gives you some inspiration.
Awesome, thanks! I've added all three in cart on my bookdepo account.
Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator by Ryan Holiday
Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can
If you did not read these two books yet, I can't recommend them enough. They are amazing!
I can recommend a book: Good strategy, bad strategy. we affiliates are often lack of strategies, just keep convert traffic to profit. A good strategy is a huge advantage to the others.