Starting from the end!

The biggest personal challenge and what I suspect most people endure in start-up business is creating an idea and surviving through establishment stages to enjoy the rewards and spoils.

Personally, my first 10 years included many failed starts for a variety of reasons, especially with my earlier ventures within the entertainment industry filled with speculation alongside fast paced music and fashion changes, the combination proving to be a deadly cocktail. Without fast turn around and an influential network to collaborate and execute, the chances of a successful outcome was largely reduced. The difficulty would multiply from the early 2000’s with the rise of piracy and free digital downloading. Much of the industry and personal friends of mine would endure huge financial losses leading to highly publicised job losses and company closures, including many well-known international brands.  Some of us at an indie level were left pondering what viable future if any existed in a declining industry.

Regular informal meetings with lateral operators such as Carl Gardiner (former head of Mushroom Marketing), Tony Polzella at JPR Business Group and a few others inspired my train of thinking to evolve. 

The simple questions:

What is my product or service, detail creation to sale flowchart and analyse viabilities?

Who is my clientele and have I taken the time to really appreciate their general habits for my business to communicate and engage?

What are my weaknesses and strengths and those of my environment who collaborate with my business?

What is my clear point of difference amongst my competitors?

In essence the initial answers provide an outcome but they also provide answers to researching intended market, capital raising, resources, operations, marketing, promotions, networking, projections, affiliations and strategy required to evolve and detail your business plan from a successful outcome to its raw beginnings.

This exercise in most cases uncovers flaws in your desires, provides factual risk assessment and encourages further research and brainstorming before commencing or abandoning a business, project or campaign.

In essence, “Starting from the end!”.

My Final Thought!

Self-evaluation can be both productive and humbling at the same time, carried out with honesty can be much more rewarding to your work and home environment. In my case, my lack of willingness to not progress my business model was creating a “me 2” and “me 3” outcome. The mere fact that I loved writing and recording from an early age with modest results, didn’t necessarily justify a viable future.  Reading published books by Richard Branson  only confirmed my weakness; my passion and my business path were not evolving in tandem.

The progress and evolution of your environment will not cease,  but it’s you who can provide an exciting path to be the evolution for your environment to consume.

Marcus Knight
Director - Generation Entertainment Group Pty Ltd
Director - Generation PR
Co-Director - Dinomedia Pty Ltd

The Social Media Movement.

A business environment containing leaders, employees, suppliers, critics and consumers collectively have an ability to create a movement via social media through social platform functions including sharing, retweets, hashtags, tagging and URL pasting in posts.

Historically, the characteristics of a movement can be applied to the digital and social media world.

The desire to constantly create, change, challenge, debate, innovate and being progressive in your quest will raise greater awareness than a recycled product, service or thought process.
Lateral thinking is required and can be achieved by collaborating and exchanging ideas within a diverse environment. Brainstorming within your everyday work environment only preaches the same thought process as opposed to various professions, qualifications and personalities willing to contribute a thought process.
By attending the monthly JPR business discussion group, I have been able to challenge my own personal business plan and wider industry model I’m associated with to investigate a new world of exciting possibilities, best summed up by LEAP’s Alan Rodway, “The game changer!”

Staff buy-in!
Defining your objective and providing a flow chart to the desired outcome will create clarity for your staff, essentially the front line to any business.
Enable your staff an opportunity to understand how they can participate by learning how to use fundamental tools and functionality to assist with the momentum of your movement.
Ongoing discussions through training sessions and information sharing through memos will maintain a consistency, focus and unity in the business message to the world amongst your staff.

My final thought!

As far back to the civil rights movement and beyond, strong leadership, focus and general consistency in the message ensured vital qualities of loyalty, trust and commitment, as you would desire to your own social movement.

Marcus Knight 
Director.
Generation Entertainment Group (Talent Management/Agency)
Co-Director.
Dinomedia Pty Ltd (Web Development / Hosting)
Director.
Generation PR (Social Media / Online Promotion Strategies)