Shheeeshh !!!
I've only just got used to Twitter, well and truly sorted with LinkedIn (I think!), battling on with learning how to use Flikr and my new Facebook Page's just about to go live and then those boffins at Google decide to luanch yet another social network site....the catchily titled GOOGLE+
Having started to play with Google+ I think this is going to be another internet biggie and a pretty cool, mega-opportunity for SMEntreprenuers around the globe.
On first use, Google+ feels like an a la carte version of Google fried up with a less geeky version of Twitter and a not-so-businessy LinkedIn. You invite, friends, colleagues, peers and interesting people into your Circles and you can listen, learn, read & takepart in very specific conversations.....and with multiple Circles on stream you can be involved in as many or as few conversations as you want.Love that Circles idea Nice one GoogleGeeks! This is cool bespoke networking. Keeps people in when you want them in and out when you don't and what a brilliant way of meeting up, collaborating and info swapping with like-minded business-types
So, how will it help SME's?
I get invites everyday to BNI breakfasts, Chamber of Commerce lunches, FSB meetings, and a plethora of Business Club dinners and awards. All very nice but somewhat time-consuming. Google+ can to an extent replace these events from a networking point of view. With G+ (yikes sorry about the abbreviation), you limit the networking to people you want to, you start chatting with who you want to and you don't have to eat another calorie-filled traingular sarnie, a deep fried prawn or some flattened chicken -on a stick kebaby thing !
Google+ either lets you share your stuff with everyone or with those only in your select Circles. For example, you go to a conference and meet a bunch of purple squirrel importers and you'd like to understand thier sector in more detail, you group them into one of your Circles and you chat, share, collaborate only with them, without the world and his dog reading it and sticking thier oars in. However, if you want to grow your connections and want to encourage people to stick thier oar in and understand & measure reaction to your purple squirrel importing aspirations market then you stay public !
Simples ! (or the squirrel alternative)
So what makes it different from Facebook, Linkedin etc?? Quite simply, its open to the world. Facebook and LinkedIn are "closed networks" that rely on exclusive invites, "likes" and specific requests to hook-up. Being linked to the Great God Google and its global domination of the search engine world, means that our presence in G+ is now well and truly open for all.....is that a good thing or a bad thing...time will tell.
Google+ is in Beta mode for the time being....but not for long so I strongly reccommend you get into bed now with this remarkable and perfectly sensible online tool. Get in early, start sharing, makeing new connections because it won't be long till the whole world goes Google+ Ga Ga!
Register yourself today at https://plus.google.com and lets chat soon !!
Saturday, 24 September 2011
Saturday, 20 August 2011
Probably the Best Building in London!!
Had an amazing opportunity to go inside the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games Aquatics Centre on the Olympic Park and to be honest, words fail me !
Check out these amazing photos I took instead
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markkass/sets/72157627231595643/
I've been a fan of this from Day One and it never fails to impress !!!!
Check out these amazing photos I took instead
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markkass/sets/72157627231595643/
I've been a fan of this from Day One and it never fails to impress !!!!
Olympic Test Events: Testing The Ultimate Business Start-up !!
At school I was one of the three fat guys who came last in the cross county, was never picked for the football and even asked not to cut up the oranges at half-time..................in case I ate them all ! As a result, I ended up hating sport. Watching it, reading about it, participating in it. When friends came over for dinner and the men went in the lounge to watch Match of the Day, I tended to stay in the kitchen with the Yummie Mummies......somebody's got to keep an eye on them ....and the food!!
Weirdly, this all seems to have changed since I started to get behind London's Bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and over the last week has culminated in me going to not one but three Olympic Test Events: The Beach Volleyball, The Basketball and The BMX (thats a lot of B's !) (photos coming soon !!!)
Not one for sport (I'm bulit for comfort, not speed!), I have to confess a sudden realisation that this sports buisness is a good thing; it crosses borders and boundaries, it encourages healthier lifestyles and in the case of the London Games, it becomes a huge catalyst for physical AND for social change.
The most amazing, iconic sporting venues have sprung up in what was until 6 years ago, a largely forgotten part of London and the creation of the most incredible construction site to date, has helped create thousand of job opportunities, enabled many SME's to win some great contracts....big and small and spurred on many people to thing about starting up new businesses or taking up new careers.
But this is just the beginning of the London 2012 business plan. As all entrepreneurs should know, you need to test the product on the market place before going global. You need to iron out the glitches, hiccups, creases. Three simple words apply
And so far what I've witnessed this week covers the first two. Reflecting on whats gone well, what hasn't etc is critical to the success. These test events aren't just about showing off and getting some column-inches in the press. They about finding out where the people, the products, the process and ultimately the proceeds will need to be fine tuned.
Heads will be put together from the thinkers and doers and hopefully the punters will be asked for feedback.
And the punters MUST feature heavily in this. Why was the sound so poor at the basketball?. What was the response to the poor weather at the Beach Volleyball? Did we need a more dynamic presenter at the Beach Volleyball? Where we the ambassadors & volunteers? How simple and easy was the security? What about the vegetarian food options in the kiosks?
Listening & learning from the end users is just as important as a talk with the boffins so you MUST make sure they get a say in the Test Event feedback......its like stopping a family in the street to test out that new smoothie you've devised or giving people access to a test website before you press the "go-live" button
And don't forget.....there's no such thing as negative feedback!
Weirdly, this all seems to have changed since I started to get behind London's Bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and over the last week has culminated in me going to not one but three Olympic Test Events: The Beach Volleyball, The Basketball and The BMX (thats a lot of B's !) (photos coming soon !!!)
Not one for sport (I'm bulit for comfort, not speed!), I have to confess a sudden realisation that this sports buisness is a good thing; it crosses borders and boundaries, it encourages healthier lifestyles and in the case of the London Games, it becomes a huge catalyst for physical AND for social change.
The most amazing, iconic sporting venues have sprung up in what was until 6 years ago, a largely forgotten part of London and the creation of the most incredible construction site to date, has helped create thousand of job opportunities, enabled many SME's to win some great contracts....big and small and spurred on many people to thing about starting up new businesses or taking up new careers.
But this is just the beginning of the London 2012 business plan. As all entrepreneurs should know, you need to test the product on the market place before going global. You need to iron out the glitches, hiccups, creases. Three simple words apply
PLAN -DO - REVIEW
And so far what I've witnessed this week covers the first two. Reflecting on whats gone well, what hasn't etc is critical to the success. These test events aren't just about showing off and getting some column-inches in the press. They about finding out where the people, the products, the process and ultimately the proceeds will need to be fine tuned.
Heads will be put together from the thinkers and doers and hopefully the punters will be asked for feedback.
And the punters MUST feature heavily in this. Why was the sound so poor at the basketball?. What was the response to the poor weather at the Beach Volleyball? Did we need a more dynamic presenter at the Beach Volleyball? Where we the ambassadors & volunteers? How simple and easy was the security? What about the vegetarian food options in the kiosks?
Listening & learning from the end users is just as important as a talk with the boffins so you MUST make sure they get a say in the Test Event feedback......its like stopping a family in the street to test out that new smoothie you've devised or giving people access to a test website before you press the "go-live" button
And don't forget.....there's no such thing as negative feedback!
Sunday, 24 April 2011
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Student Debt or Self Employment?
I love my kids!
Twins. One boy, One Girl.
But its getting expensive. At 17+ they're both learning to drive. Car insurance is criminal. I could fund a coup in a small country for what that's costing us. Food lasts as long as it takes to unpack from Morrisons and cash has a whislestop in my wallet en route into thiers.
But we've got to make a serious decision now.
Just about to sit down to do our Census form ( a real family bonding moment!) and Number One Son suggests that if my two are about to decide thier futures at university, they will be paying for this for the rest of thier lives as they rack up student debt into obscene, 5 figure sums.
So we do the maths.
Wow ! Could this be invested elsewhere? Could the kids leave school now, borrow this amount and start-up a new business?
If they were to become entrepreneurs now, in three years time they could have a solid income stream instead of the prospect of no jobs or jobs with rubbish salaries in an industry they don't want to be in.
They could though, be adding to the economy by paying tax pounds into the Revenue, employing tax paying staff, skilling-up staff to make thier business and UKplc more competitive. They could realistically pay back thier loan.
Its a huge dilemma and one that provokes interesting debate. We'd support thier decision to do what they want to do and we definitely won't deny them that life-changing experience of going to Uni ..............but I think I know what I would do.
Twins. One boy, One Girl.
But its getting expensive. At 17+ they're both learning to drive. Car insurance is criminal. I could fund a coup in a small country for what that's costing us. Food lasts as long as it takes to unpack from Morrisons and cash has a whislestop in my wallet en route into thiers.
But we've got to make a serious decision now.
Just about to sit down to do our Census form ( a real family bonding moment!) and Number One Son suggests that if my two are about to decide thier futures at university, they will be paying for this for the rest of thier lives as they rack up student debt into obscene, 5 figure sums.
So we do the maths.
Assumptions:
Daughter - 3 year Psychology Degree
Son- 7 Year Medical Degree
Total Studying Years = 10 years
Me & Mrs K - Joint Income (TBA)
Current Fees : £9000 per annum
Excludes Subsistence (Accommodation, Food, other stuff so assume (each) - £4k per annum
TOTAL COST TO KASS HOUSE PER ANNUM = £13000
10 YEARS @£13000
= £130,000 !!!!!
Wow ! Could this be invested elsewhere? Could the kids leave school now, borrow this amount and start-up a new business?
If they were to become entrepreneurs now, in three years time they could have a solid income stream instead of the prospect of no jobs or jobs with rubbish salaries in an industry they don't want to be in.
They could though, be adding to the economy by paying tax pounds into the Revenue, employing tax paying staff, skilling-up staff to make thier business and UKplc more competitive. They could realistically pay back thier loan.
Its a huge dilemma and one that provokes interesting debate. We'd support thier decision to do what they want to do and we definitely won't deny them that life-changing experience of going to Uni ..............but I think I know what I would do.
Monday, 14 March 2011
Entrepreneurial Designs are a Bright Idea
Taken from my London2012 BLog - 3rd December 2010 - http://www.london2012.com/
Your basic light fitting is quite boring… it probably hangs from the ceiling, has a bulb or two, some twiddly wires and very often, a switch in the wall. But not on the Olympic Park!
While visiting the Handball Arena, memories of kids' TV programmes that used toilet rolls, washing up liquid bottles, tin foil and 'sticky backed plastic' to make stuff came flooding back. I was amazed to see the boffins on the 2012 Design team (clearly fans of the same TV programmes) have come up with a completely brilliant, dead cheap and totally green approach to lighting the venue... the natural solar daylight tube!
Eighty-eight of these pierce the roof of this amazingly simple but totally flexible new sports space. With each solar tube consisting of a small dome of Perspex on the roof, some highly polished aluminium tubes, frosted plastic and some gravity defying ceiling fixings, they light the Arena perfectly… it is really amazing as raw untouched British sunlight just before dusk illuminates this vast space!
The Handball Arena will revert into an incredible community legacy venue after the Games with opportunities for everyone to use it. Provision has been made for music, school, sports and other entertainment uses, making this probably one of the most entrepreneurial spaces on the Park.
If you need an extra couple of thousand seats, then look behind the wall panels and wheel them out! If you want the place to look full without filling the place, check out the multicoloured seating that gives the impression of more 'bums on seats', if you need it as a movie theatre, a conference hall or a massive wedding, then this space will accommodate it! No stone has gone unturned in making this place something really special.
The handball Arena is a big box building that's 90x40m and is clad in copper plate. The copper won't go green like on other buildings, but will retain their shine and their elegance well into legacy, creating yet another iconic building for 2012... and beyond.
Too me, this is one of the best legacy examples on the Park and it's been designed to have a life of over 25 years without damaging the environment. This is the way businesses need to think and work when considering the Games and the benefits they may bring.
So, how can your business use the Games to help your business grow? Well, there are still the contract opportunities available on competefor.com and the market intelligence that brings. Use this as a great source to find out 'who's-contracting what' and try and get involved.
And don't forget, from mid-2012 (not long now!), the world's journalists and news gurus will start descending on London and will be looking for those stories that will be make the papers before the athletes take to the tracks.
The media will be looking for quirky local news that will tell the story of London, cool shops and people with interesting stories. Start upping your game in delivering incredible customer service and start investing some time and perhaps some money in your shops, offices and websites to make them look slick and inviting, to attract new and retain old customers!
Typically, small businesses think for the short term but if you act like the boffins on the Handball Arena and start thinking outside the box, you too can do some amazing things now that will help your business last for a long, long time.
It's now or never when it comes to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, so... on your marks, get set, go!
Your basic light fitting is quite boring… it probably hangs from the ceiling, has a bulb or two, some twiddly wires and very often, a switch in the wall. But not on the Olympic Park!
While visiting the Handball Arena, memories of kids' TV programmes that used toilet rolls, washing up liquid bottles, tin foil and 'sticky backed plastic' to make stuff came flooding back. I was amazed to see the boffins on the 2012 Design team (clearly fans of the same TV programmes) have come up with a completely brilliant, dead cheap and totally green approach to lighting the venue... the natural solar daylight tube!
The Handball Arena will revert into an incredible community legacy venue after the Games with opportunities for everyone to use it. Provision has been made for music, school, sports and other entertainment uses, making this probably one of the most entrepreneurial spaces on the Park.
If you need an extra couple of thousand seats, then look behind the wall panels and wheel them out! If you want the place to look full without filling the place, check out the multicoloured seating that gives the impression of more 'bums on seats', if you need it as a movie theatre, a conference hall or a massive wedding, then this space will accommodate it! No stone has gone unturned in making this place something really special.
The handball Arena is a big box building that's 90x40m and is clad in copper plate. The copper won't go green like on other buildings, but will retain their shine and their elegance well into legacy, creating yet another iconic building for 2012... and beyond.
Too me, this is one of the best legacy examples on the Park and it's been designed to have a life of over 25 years without damaging the environment. This is the way businesses need to think and work when considering the Games and the benefits they may bring.
So, how can your business use the Games to help your business grow? Well, there are still the contract opportunities available on competefor.com and the market intelligence that brings. Use this as a great source to find out 'who's-contracting what' and try and get involved.
And don't forget, from mid-2012 (not long now!), the world's journalists and news gurus will start descending on London and will be looking for those stories that will be make the papers before the athletes take to the tracks.
The media will be looking for quirky local news that will tell the story of London, cool shops and people with interesting stories. Start upping your game in delivering incredible customer service and start investing some time and perhaps some money in your shops, offices and websites to make them look slick and inviting, to attract new and retain old customers!
Typically, small businesses think for the short term but if you act like the boffins on the Handball Arena and start thinking outside the box, you too can do some amazing things now that will help your business last for a long, long time.
It's now or never when it comes to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, so... on your marks, get set, go!
OPEN for business... 2012 and beyond
From my London 2012 Blog - 27 Mar 2009- http://www.london2012.com/
I recently visited a small factory owner in Hackney Wick. He’s been there for years and does what most of us do. Drives into work, puts the kettle on, answers some emails, shuffles some papers, puts the kettle on again, talks about what was on telly last night and then picks up with the job in hand from where he left off yesterday.
He asked me to pop down and have a chat about how he can get involved in this 'London 2012 thing' as he’s heard there might be some opportunities for his firm to get involved with. We talked about coping with the credit crunch, how he needs to make sure he stays on top of his cashflow so we had a look at CompeteFor (the chosen website for the publication of London 2012-related contract opportunities), the relative simplicity of getting a presence on it and how it’s likely this will flag up some of the opportunities he’s looking for. After a quick tour of his factory, I asked 'what’s through that door?' 'That’s the back door and its been about a year since I went out there,' he said.
I’ve never seen someone’s jaw actually drop open like I did that day! When he opened the rusty door, much to his astonishment, he discovered he was just a few metres away from the Olympic Stadium site. We were both stunned by this majestic building virtually within touching distance and literally just a stones throw across the River Lea. 'Wow, I had no idea I was THAT close to the London 2012 Games, he said 'and now I feel I’m part of it and that the Games are only three years away, I’ve really got to get involved!'
Later that week, as part of the Olympic Park Engagement Network (OPEN), I joined about 50 local residents, school teachers, sports volunteers and business owners on our second meeting in six months for an incredible tour of the Stadium.
From the outside, even if it's only a few feet away across a river, you don’t appreciate the sheer size of the Stadium. Eighty thousand seats is a lot of bodies and almost all the space has been given up to accommodate the spectators. Two things immediately stuck:
1. There are a lot of toilets going into this building!
2. There are huge number of cranes on site (including a really fantastic mega-crane that lifts the roof supports in place).
When I asked how long it takes to fit one of these huge, white tubular steel supports in place, we were told it only takes a couple of hours. Last week it took me two hours to put a bookcase together... and I’ve still got bits left over... I suppose that’s why I’m not in the construction business!
We then had the honour of standing the middle of the Stadium site by what’s going to be the finishing line of the 100m track. This is probably the only time in my life I’ll ever cross a sprint line but I did feel inspired to get a bit fitter and have now started another diet!
It’s really clever the way the Stadium has been designed. Long-term proposals for the Stadium are that 70 per cent of the seats will be removed to leave a smaller facility in place, and when we spoke to some of the construction managers, one of them got quite saddened by this... 'I like to build stuff', she said 'and it pains me to think about taking it all apart again after all this hard work'.
Looking up from the track, I did feel a bit like Russell Crowe in Gladiator (but without the tigers); the thought of 80,000 people screaming for their favourite athletes, the fantastic Opening and Closing Ceremonies and the unique opportunities to see Olympians and Paralympians virtually on my front doorstep competing in the bowl of this amphitheatre-style Stadium really got the goose-pimples up and, I have to admit, a lump to my throat. I want my kids to see this... I’m convinced it WILL inspire them!
Discussions later that evening focused on the long-term legacy proposals for the Park. Tom Russell, Director of What-Happens-Afterwards left everyone in no doubt that this is a world-class urban regeneration programme that will not only work for the existing and the new communities in the area but for the whole of east London and the fringes around it.
From a small business perspective, it is clear that we’ve got to 'watch this space'. To some, CompeteFor has been a bit premature. Business owners have been fired up and enthused by the prospect of the opportunities that would come out of the project... but quite frankly, the ball hasn’t really started to roll yet.
Most of the big stuff’s already procured and most of that seemingly construction-related; only now are we starting to see the roll-out of the business opportunities that smaller businesses can get involved with from LOCOG - the London 2012 Organising Committee, the privately funded company responsible for staging the Games.
The factory owner at Hackney Wick is now really gearing up! He’s passionate about making sure he’s got it right and that the support mechanisms out there help keep him on track. He’s changing the way he works, keeping a close watch on his core business needs and doing his best to ensure he and his business have the skills, the capacity and the capability to do business between now and 2012... and beyond.
All I needed to do was to open his eyes to what was literally going in his own back yard and to help him understand that he needs to be getting himself ready now to ensure he’s well and truly 'open for business' in the future.
Find out more about London 2012 business opportunities via the London 2012 Business Network http://www.londonbusinessnetwork.co.uk/
I recently visited a small factory owner in Hackney Wick. He’s been there for years and does what most of us do. Drives into work, puts the kettle on, answers some emails, shuffles some papers, puts the kettle on again, talks about what was on telly last night and then picks up with the job in hand from where he left off yesterday.
He asked me to pop down and have a chat about how he can get involved in this 'London 2012 thing' as he’s heard there might be some opportunities for his firm to get involved with. We talked about coping with the credit crunch, how he needs to make sure he stays on top of his cashflow so we had a look at CompeteFor (the chosen website for the publication of London 2012-related contract opportunities), the relative simplicity of getting a presence on it and how it’s likely this will flag up some of the opportunities he’s looking for. After a quick tour of his factory, I asked 'what’s through that door?' 'That’s the back door and its been about a year since I went out there,' he said.
I’ve never seen someone’s jaw actually drop open like I did that day! When he opened the rusty door, much to his astonishment, he discovered he was just a few metres away from the Olympic Stadium site. We were both stunned by this majestic building virtually within touching distance and literally just a stones throw across the River Lea. 'Wow, I had no idea I was THAT close to the London 2012 Games, he said 'and now I feel I’m part of it and that the Games are only three years away, I’ve really got to get involved!'
Later that week, as part of the Olympic Park Engagement Network (OPEN), I joined about 50 local residents, school teachers, sports volunteers and business owners on our second meeting in six months for an incredible tour of the Stadium.
From the outside, even if it's only a few feet away across a river, you don’t appreciate the sheer size of the Stadium. Eighty thousand seats is a lot of bodies and almost all the space has been given up to accommodate the spectators. Two things immediately stuck:
1. There are a lot of toilets going into this building!
2. There are huge number of cranes on site (including a really fantastic mega-crane that lifts the roof supports in place).
When I asked how long it takes to fit one of these huge, white tubular steel supports in place, we were told it only takes a couple of hours. Last week it took me two hours to put a bookcase together... and I’ve still got bits left over... I suppose that’s why I’m not in the construction business!
We then had the honour of standing the middle of the Stadium site by what’s going to be the finishing line of the 100m track. This is probably the only time in my life I’ll ever cross a sprint line but I did feel inspired to get a bit fitter and have now started another diet!
It’s really clever the way the Stadium has been designed. Long-term proposals for the Stadium are that 70 per cent of the seats will be removed to leave a smaller facility in place, and when we spoke to some of the construction managers, one of them got quite saddened by this... 'I like to build stuff', she said 'and it pains me to think about taking it all apart again after all this hard work'.
Looking up from the track, I did feel a bit like Russell Crowe in Gladiator (but without the tigers); the thought of 80,000 people screaming for their favourite athletes, the fantastic Opening and Closing Ceremonies and the unique opportunities to see Olympians and Paralympians virtually on my front doorstep competing in the bowl of this amphitheatre-style Stadium really got the goose-pimples up and, I have to admit, a lump to my throat. I want my kids to see this... I’m convinced it WILL inspire them!
Discussions later that evening focused on the long-term legacy proposals for the Park. Tom Russell, Director of What-Happens-Afterwards left everyone in no doubt that this is a world-class urban regeneration programme that will not only work for the existing and the new communities in the area but for the whole of east London and the fringes around it.
From a small business perspective, it is clear that we’ve got to 'watch this space'. To some, CompeteFor has been a bit premature. Business owners have been fired up and enthused by the prospect of the opportunities that would come out of the project... but quite frankly, the ball hasn’t really started to roll yet.
Most of the big stuff’s already procured and most of that seemingly construction-related; only now are we starting to see the roll-out of the business opportunities that smaller businesses can get involved with from LOCOG - the London 2012 Organising Committee, the privately funded company responsible for staging the Games.
The factory owner at Hackney Wick is now really gearing up! He’s passionate about making sure he’s got it right and that the support mechanisms out there help keep him on track. He’s changing the way he works, keeping a close watch on his core business needs and doing his best to ensure he and his business have the skills, the capacity and the capability to do business between now and 2012... and beyond.
All I needed to do was to open his eyes to what was literally going in his own back yard and to help him understand that he needs to be getting himself ready now to ensure he’s well and truly 'open for business' in the future.
Find out more about London 2012 business opportunities via the London 2012 Business Network http://www.londonbusinessnetwork.co.uk/
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