Posted by kboon on September 1, 2010 under Business Building Strategies, General | 
I’m excited to announce my first workshop for solo entrepreneurs and small business owners.
This workshop came about as an idea back in the spring of 2010 when I began networking with some of the small business groups where I live (Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge & Guelph, Ontario). Originally I was planning to start my own consulting business and provide services for medium to large fortune 500 companies.
But as I talked to entrepreneurs, something inspired me. I was blown away by their stories. Small business owners tend to have a larger purpose and vision for their life. They see having their own business as a way to create more freedom and live a much fuller and richer life. They usually have a great deal of passion and love for what they do. Over the past 8 or 9 months I have been so impressed with the stories that I wanted to find a way to help.
As I asked more questions I learned about the challenges faced by entrepreneurs. How do I find more customers is a big one. When I brought up social media, most would have interest, but they knew very little about how to make it work successfully for their business.
The other challenge facing business owners is time. Time to be able to commit resources to explore new technologies, learn new business building skills, new networking approaches and use social media effectively.
Hence the workshop.
IS YOUR BUSINESS FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS?
A workshop for solo entrepreneurs and small business owners…
Owning a small business can be challenging at the best of times. Often we have great skills with our service or product offering, but we may lack technical knowledge or business or marketing experience. Social Media has added a whole new dimension to the skill set required to run a successful business.
Today millions of people are adapting technology and social media strategies to reach customers directly. Firing on all Cylinders is a workshop designed to help solo entrepreneurs and small business owners navigate the waters of technology, sales, marketing and social media.
In this workshop you will learn how to…
- Establish your image and learn how to create a successful web presence.
- Evaluate social media technologies like Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter and learn how to successfully create relationships and build community.
- Network more effectively, both online and in-person.
- Overcome your own personal fears and obstacles that hinder your success.
- Manage time more effectively and leverage technology for maximum impact.
- Develop an outline to move your business towards future growth.
Date: Sunday September 19th 2010
Location: Whispering Willows – 76 Regina Street North, Waterloo, Ontario
Time: 10am to 2pm (Lunch will be provided)
Cost: $80.00 (Pre-Registration Required)
Cash or Cheque Payments or Questions please contact:
Email: kevin@kevinboon.ca or call 519-569-9281
I’m looking forward to working with this first group and also will have a Facebook page soon.
Posted by kboon on April 6, 2010 under General |
This is part 2 of some insights from Kevin O’Leary’s (Dragons Den on CBC) talk back in March in Waterloo Ontario.
Part 1 is here.
Someone asked Kevin, what are the common characteristics or traits you see in successful businesses? He listed several ideas. First, being able to tell your story (or idea) in 90 seconds or less. The second, was confidence and a persons ability to sell. The third response intrigued me. He said successful businesses have what he described as “an aura” about them. He said he couldn’t explain it. You feel it when you are in the room with them. He didn’t know if it was good karma from a past life, but what he did know, it was intuition or a feeling he had. There is a confidence. You want to do business with them. In his case you want to give them money.
I’m paraphasing here because I can’t recall word-for-word his exact response.
His response was at the heart of what I feel is the challenge that many businesses face.
What is an Aura?
So what is this aura that O’Leary refers to? I’ll have to admit that I have spent most of my adult life trying to figure this out. What does it take to create a successful business or a better career?
Some people seem to create success so effortlessly, while others struggle and sometimes never get there? We’ve all met that business entrepreneur, sales person, author or musician who seems to start with the same level of knowledge as you or I, but when it comes down to their craft, they’re a natural. They have a special talent. Money flows to them. People want to be around them. Business opportunities come to them.
Is this the aura that O’Leary describes?
Is aura something that comes naturally or can it be learned?
My feeling is both can happen. Some people truly have the gift. For others it takes effort and time to learn. I’ve seen this phenomenon on Twitter where a person builds their website, their profile and their network. They work very hard over a period of time and then there is a point where something kicks in. Opportunities start flowing to them, their business starts to grow. The work over time seems effortless and I’m sure that people looking from the outside think that its easy for them.
Being aware of my own aura has been critical for me in starting my business.
For me it comes down to understanding 4 factors:
- Having a clear vision of my goals and where I want to be with my business. (Both short & long term)
- Becoming aware of my own patterns of thought or limiting beliefs. Are their any judgements I hold about others or about myself that limit my success?
- Letting go of resistant thoughts or beliefs that might be holding me back.
- Focusing once again on my vision, goals and where I am going.
For example, if I’m looking for new clients or opportunities and constantly seem to come up against people saying no, then what I’ve learned there is something off in my aura. There is something about my beliefs or some resistance thought I’m putting out there. This aligns with the ideas around the law of attraction or the Secret.
In my experience, your thoughts do create your reality.
When you change the thought, your aura lifts slightly and opportunities begin to show up.
This is a topic I want to explore in more detail because I feel it is critical for entrepreneurs or small business owners to understand the underlying “aura” or image that they present to customers.
Would love to hear your experiences.
Posted by kboon on April 5, 2010 under General |
Recently I had the opportunity to see Kevin O’Leary. Kevin is a venture capitalist and one of stars of the CBC show the Dragons Den. He also is a star of a new show in the US called Shark Tank.
O’Leary gave the audience a snapshot of his world view, based on his experience in the world of venture capital investing, his global travels and his personal perspective of life.
His predictions for North America and Europe were pretty bleak.
Is our Purpose in Life to Work 18 Hours a Day?
He told the story of an Engineer, living in Cairo who works 18 hours a day, sleeps by his desk and earns $32,000 per year. He said workers in the developing world (like this engineer) are hungry for change and are willing to go to great lengths to create wealth and improve their lives.
He described the staggering economic growth rates and small debt loads in countries like China and India, comparing them to the mediocre growth rates and soaring debt loads of the US, Canada and Europe. He said, the most recent recession that devastated most of the developed world, was just a small blip on China’s radar.
Globalization is the New Reality
His message was not really news. We all know that globalization has taken hold. The developing world is taking off. Developed economies (especially the US) are burdened by heavy debt and are losing their power and influence. Competion, on a global scale is intense. Over the coming decades, the dynamics of our global economy will play out in such a way that the share of power will shift.
Most of O’Leary’s observations are ideas that I agree with.
Can we Really Compete by Working Harder?
What I disagree with are some of his proposed solutions and his thoughts on financial capital being the main mantra of business. He said we need to work harder than ever before and take a competitive mindset. He told the audience that if you are an entrepreneur and not prepared to sacrifice everything (and for O’Leary that includes friends and family) then be prepared to fail. Although he had a lot of fans cheering his message, you could feel a relative silence from the audience; a general feeling of apprehension. His message to me felt cold and out of touch.
He went on to predict the decline of the middle classes in Canada and throughout the developed world over the coming decades.
My question:
Does Kevin O’Leary have a real handle on todays business reality?
Is it true, our world is in decline?
Could it be there is something else emerging?
Financial Capital versus Human Capital?
O’Leary says, capital always pursues the highest return with the lowest risk. If you look at the realities of the corporate world this true. Corporations have moved manufacturing and services facilities to the developing world to find greater efficiency and improve profitablity. Hence we are seeing the challenges of plant closures and downsizing that has plagued North America.
The primary focus for corporations is on financial capital. This philosophy goes all the way back to the industrial revolution where the needs of money and profit are placed above people and the human element.
Small Business and the Importance of Human Capital
As a small business owner I see something else emerging. There is becoming a greater focus on human capital. A growing number of people are taking the entrepreneurial leap, realizing that corporate profit taking and cost cutting does not have their best interests in mind.
You can’t plan your future or a retirement plan when your job is at risk.
There is an empowerment taking place where entrepreneurs and small business owners are harnessing technology, and looking for ways to provide a better lifestyle and greater financial security.
Most traditional businesses are focused entirely on profits and have the competitive pressures to keep costs low. However there are a growing number of companies who have set an equal priority on the human element, building organizations that provide empowering job opportunities for employees. This is an important shift for companies and I predict that more will want to make this change over the coming decades.
The reason being, if you want to keep jobs in your country and compete with China and India, then competition on price no longer works. The focus for a business needs to be about something else.
How important is human capital in your business or career?
Posted by kboon on February 11, 2010 under General |
The main theme of my website is to explore wealth creation. I am interested in how we create money, both individually and collectively through our businesses and organizations. Technology and our ability to connect, I believe have changed the playing field for creating wealth. There are more opportunities today than ever before.
Although my main focus is around businesses and entrepreneurs, I have a passion for asking how can we improve the quality of life for the most impoverished people around the world.
A couple of weeks ago I posted some initial thoughts on how make longer term change in Haiti and in other developing nations. It prompted response and a number of people asked that I go into more detail.
Here goes…
The Short-Term View
The aid pouring into Haiti is astounding and people (I believe) have good hearts. The majority want to see good things happen in Haiti. In the short-term aid helps to re-build a society and provide the necessities of the life for the people affected. Aid organizations, construction companies, doctors and thousands of volunteers give their time to help. I have a great respect for what these people do.
Unfortunately much of this work is like a band-aid. It helps heal a wound but often the underlining cause of the illness is not treated. While our efforts are genuine, our society is conditioned to think short-term. Our government leaders hold power for 4 to 8 years and their goal is to get re-elected. A new government comes into power and they change everything the previous government created to fit their political view.
Yet countries that prosper and move forward have political leaders that create a vision that will live beyond their political term in office.
The Long-Term View
The crisis in Haiti, Africa and all of the countries of the developing world will never really find solutions until (as a global community) we start thinking long-term. The UN says (and I quoted in my last post) over a billion people live on less than $1 a day, and 2.7 billion live on less than $2 a day.
So Haiti is not the only problem area.
The way you begin long-term thinking is to have a vision, find partners, set goals and in our technology world, build a community. For the long-term you think beyond 1 year, a business cycle or a typical politicians 8 years in office. You must think 20, 50 or 100 years ahead to make real change. This means thinking beyond our own ego or personal goals, and look at the bigger picture.
If we want to create a better world, there is no one person who is going to make it happen. It takes millions, if not billions to affect real change.
Technology, online communities and our ability to communicate have greatly enhanced our ability to get the job done.
Create a Vision, Partnerships, Goals & Accountability
The challenge with short-term aid, is it’s difficult to create a long-term outlook. An aid organization (or construction company) goes in, does their work, might stay for while, but eventually they either leave or have to put resources into another disaster. Don’t get me wrong the work of these organizations is critical and makes a big difference.
But what if we could give it a boost!
What about a long-term strategy where a country from the developed world (the G8 or G20) partners with a poor country.
Let me give you an example.
Let’s say Canada partnered with Haiti. They create a 50 year agreement (from 2010 to 2060) whereby in that time both countries agree to the following:
- Free trade pact between both countries
- Canadian help, guidance and funding to help Haiti build a stable government, financial system, legal system, healthcare and education.
- Educational Exchange where the brightest minds from Haiti can attend Canadian colleges and universities
- Cultural Exchange where Haitians and Canadians can connect
- Canadian Investment and Support on Haitian economic infrastructure
- Automony for Haiti to have guidance, but ultimately make their own decisions
When you think about it a lot of factors would need to be aligned.
First the government of Haiti (and it’s people) would have to decide if they wanted this partnership. Would it be something they could commit to?
Canadians would have to decide what’s the benefit for them?
How would cultural aspects be addressed?
The system would not work well if Haitian leaders didn’t have the best interests of their people in mind. I’m talking about the dictators of the world and government leaders who milk money out of their citizens, buy villas in Switzerland and who don’t give a rat’s ass about the people. This approach would require a different type of leader (or even better yet) a community of citizens committed to making their country better.
From the Canadian side it would take political leaders who looked beyond the short-term and their ability to get re-elected. But the commitment would really come from the people of Canada to take and active interest, give their time and resources and be involved.
Someone made the comment on my last post that you can’t get governments to commit to these kind of projects. I agree. But I believe in our socially connected world it’s not the governments job. As communities we can create the interest, create the demand and then bring the brightest minds together for the execution of the project.
Has it been done successfully before? Yes.
Hong Kong – 1898 to 1997 – The 99-year lease
The world was a much different place back then. Britain (at the height of the British Empire) took Hong Kong as a colony. And for 99 years Britain ruled the colony helping to create legal structures and and build an economic system that thrives to this day. One often wonders where China learned to build their own economy? Hong Kong was a great teacher for them.
The idea is similar in the 21st century, but I believe we can do this without colonization, war or a desire to control another country.
So what’s stopping us today?
More ideas to come and I am always interested in your comments.
Posted by kboon on January 28, 2010 under General |
From 7-year a old Charlie Simpson, (who raised over $160K); Lance Armstrong and other celebrities using Twitter & Facebook to raise millions; the fundraising efforts for Haiti demonstrate our desire as human beings to make a difference.
People have big hearts and they genuinely want to give. Social media is now a tool that allows money to flow more freely.
The part we (collectively as a global community) are still trying to figure out:
How do we permanently change realities on the ground for the impoverished nations of the world?
Rebuilding Haiti – 2 Stages
Think of Haiti’s challenge. The first stage is to find survivors, bury the dead (up to 300,000 estimated now) and then re-build whatever infrastructure was destoyed. This will take up most of the donations given. The second stage (much more expensive but necessary for sustained growth) is to invest and build a thriving economy. The action for this effort will take more determination than a viral wave that might last for a few months.
In the 20th century we struggled with this problem and were never able to find real solutions. Even today, according to the UN, over 1 billion people live on less than $1 per day and 2.7 billion live on less than $2 per day.
That’s almost half of the population of the world.
Implementing Global Change Takes Vision to See into the Future
As the 21st century evolves we have an opportunity to harness technology, our skills, communities and collective knowledge to make real change. If you look at developing economies like China and India, you see that the seeds of their prosperity did not come overnight. They started over 25 years before with leaders that had a vision (and a plan) for where they wanted to take their people. The same forward kind of thinking has to take place today.
My personal belief is that stage 2 growth for countries will get better as we progress in this century. There are so many brilliant minds involved and good things happening. My question, how can we speed up the change?
One Idea – Sponsor a Developing Country
What if one country to could sponsor another?
Say for example, Haiti and Canada. Within the sponsorship agreement you create a free trade zone for certain period of time (25-50 years). (This is similar to Britain’s 100 year lease arrangement with Hong Kong that was returned to China in 1997)
Within the free-trade zone, Canada would open up opportunities for Haitians to study in Canada, develop their skills in business, finance, medicine, law, and so on. Cultural exchanges would be encouraged. Trade would be encouraged. Canadian companies would have the opportunity to go into Haiti to build infrastructure, running water, schools, homes, roads, etc. This would be like a partnering or mentoring program.
You could build a global model with countries from the G8 & G20 being sponsor nations. The USA, for example might have a dozen sponsor countries, Canada 4 or 5.
That’s one idea for today. Now back to work.
Posted by kboon on January 21, 2010 under General |
In the late 90s, companies saw the Internet as a powerful communications tool, but many found earning money (direct cash) illusive. By the time of the “dot-com boom” the common thought was, “build a website and they will come”.
We soon learned as the “dot-com meltdown” taught us, it wasn’t that simple.
Over the past 10 years companies and entrerpreneurs have become smarter. We are realizing that success on the web comes from a variety of factors, one of which is a good website. Communities do not grow on their own. Establishing two-way communication, building relationships, developing trust and finding ways to be found (SEO), are essential to being success.
I’ll talk more about all of these topics in futures posts.
Google’s biggest achievement, I believe (besides search & rankings) has been to find a creative way of connecting Advertisers with producers of web content. Their AdWords and AdSense programs have brought the Internet together connecting buyers and sellers. The majority of Google’s revenue comes from ads. Millions of companies use AdWords, which provides inexpensive, targeted advertising based on the search terms that you and I enter into Google.
AdSense on the other hand, has been used by producers of web content from blogs, and websites as a means of to provide income. For every click on your website, you get paid a few pennies. PlentyofFish.com used this method to earn millions of dollars, however not all web producers are lucky enough to have that volume of web traffic.
From what I hear most Adsense subscribers don’t see much revenue. Many prefer affiliate programs or some means of paid sponsorship on their site.
My question is:
What are your thoughts on Google ads?
Have you used the Adwords program for your business?
Do you use Google Ads (Adsense) on your website?
Do you feel this business model is sustainable for Google? How should they innovate?
Feel free to comment or connect with me on Twitter with any thoughts or ideas.
Posted by kboon on January 13, 2010 under General |
I’m proud to announce the official launch of my new website and consulting business called Profound Insight Media.
This site has taken several months for the concept to evolve, writing the content and creating the design and layout.
I want to personally thank a few people who have helped me to get this site and the concept off the ground.
Pat Inglis, a friend for many years helped with the technical design and knows all the hosting, HTML and PHP stuff. He can be found here.
Debra Gehrke from Mandela Life Media, has helped me over the last several months gain clarity on my goals and create a business that is true to my passions and interests. Debra and her husband Mark provide social media marketing & consulting services and are based out of Appleton, Wisconsin.
And finally my wife, Karen who has supported me with patience and has been my proof reader. Most importantly she has helped me to stay grounded and true to my goals.
This business is a vision I have had for several years. Often getting to the launching stage requires overcoming obstacles, many times self imposed. My goal is to tell the stories of how people and companies create wealth and fortunes in our new Web 2.0 world.
Check out some of the following pages to learn more about me.
About
My Philosophy
Work with Me
I look forward to creating a conversation, building a community, connecting with those who have stories to tell and learning from the best and the brightest minds.
If you have questions you can connect with me on Twitter or Linkedin or connect with me directly.
This workshop came about as an idea back in the spring of 2010 when I began networking with some of the small business groups where I live (Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge & Guelph, Ontario). Originally I was planning to start my own consulting business and provide services for medium to large fortune 500 companies.
