So earlier in the month I went to Your Money eZine Business Summit 2011. It was a a great summit – provocative ideas, an enthusiastic audience and a nice venue. I was particularly impressed by the great job done by Garrick Communications and National Outdoor Advertising. My only real qualm was that it began over an hour late. Not a good look. However, the organisers were very apologetic.
You know what I am realising? I go to a few great forums, but don’t get to post about them due to the pressures on my time. So instead of a full review, I am just going to drop a few key ideas which the panelists, Pan Caribbean’s Donovan Perkins (DP) and Sandals’ Adam Stewart (AS), shared with those in attendance. Quotes are indicated. The bold text are just messages that really struck me.
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Leadership and Management
DP: No one person is going to have all the skills to run a business. Mentors are very important. I learned different things from different mentors.
AS: ‘Leadership is a heck of thing. You have to keep your team motivated.’
DP: ‘Keep your eyes on the competition. They are keeping their eyes on you.’
AS: Sandals cooks 40 million meals a year.
Doing Business in Tough Times
AS: We tightened up backend of the businesses. This took a huge cost out of the businesses. The challenge is how to do it, without affecting quality of service. For instance, we got a broker to consolidate how fruits and vegetables are bought.
DP: ‘There are three paths you can pursue – growth, stability or retrenchment. Our entrepreneurs have become more introverted. Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and hope that things will get better.’
DP: Uncertainty is not as rare as we think.
Social Media
AS: Sandals launched an app that lets people who have bought a vacation share the news with their friends.
AS: ‘Consumers will go online and tell the world you are a sham. You are really as good as the customer says you are.’
AS: What defines great companies is when it goes wrong how you deal with it.
DP: ‘A Brand really is a promise. That promise and those expectations have to mesh.’
Entrepreneurship
DP: Many people come to me with ideas for a business. What I look for are: Passion, deeply committed to the business. Do they have a plan?
DP: ‘ I love telling stories.’ (I can empirically verify this!)
About Astley Henry
Astley leverages his research expertise to help both public and private sector organisations better understand the people they wish to serve. He is especially interested in policy evaluation and market research. Connect with me on Google+
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