Operational Strategies

All right. 0:00 So, moving on, I need to take a look at what are [SOUND] some of the important 0:01 activities I need to undertake so that my business model is a success. 0:04 Right? 0:08 We talked about this. 0:09 This is a good exercise to undertake because it unearths some activities that 0:10 provide lots of secondary benefits, but we don't really see it at first. 0:14 The core activities I need to undertake are web design and 0:19 development since that's my main value proposition. 0:22 I also need to keep the business running, so bookkeeping is important. 0:25 Direct marketing is also a core activity as it keeps the leads coming in. 0:30 The reason I say direct marketing is because we can have 0:35 indirect marketing activities too. 0:38 Now, other than my core activities, 0:41 I have secondary activities that indirectly help our business. 0:43 Education is an important one. 0:47 I need to stay up-to-date so 0:49 I can always be ahead of my competition in terms of technology and solutions offered. 0:50 I also need to stay up-to-date with current trends so 0:56 that my designs look decent. 0:59 Another key activity is establishing myself as a thought leader. 1:01 This leads to great word-of-mouth marketing and increased opportunities. 1:06 So I'm going to make blogging and speaking at conferences a priority. 1:10 Another activity that I need to carve out time for is networking. 1:15 Finally, getting my legal stuff in order is a crucial component of succeeding in 1:19 this space. 1:24 I need to have my business set up to protect myself and all the paperwork, 1:25 like contracts and proposal docs, templated and ready to hand to my clients. 1:29 Now, the reason that I'm listing all these activities even though it 1:35 may seem slightly silly to list blogging in my business plan 1:38 is because I need to carve out resources for it, time and money. 1:42 Now, in doing so, 1:47 I get a better picture of what I'm getting into with my business plan. 1:48 [SOUND] Once I know my key activities, I can put together the resources I need. 1:51 My core activities are web design and development, so 1:57 I need hardware and all sorts of software. 2:00 I should list out all the relevant subscriptions and 2:03 services that I am going to pay for. 2:06 Things like Basecamp, and Adobe Creative Cloud, and Typekit, and so on. 2:08 This will help me assess my costs later on. 2:12 I'm also going to need software to keep my books in order and for 2:15 my different marketing activities. 2:18 Now, I'm not listing out resources for some of the activities like legal stuff 2:21 because I'm going to form key partnerships in those areas. 2:25 It's a lot easier for me to pay someone else to do it. 2:28 Key partnerships in my situation are going to be legal and possibly financial if I 2:32 decide that I'd rather have a CPA handle my books rather than use software. 2:37 [BLANK_AUDIO] 2:41