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Operational Strategies

2:46 with Pasan Premaratne

Understanding activities, resources and partnerships completes my business model and allows us to form a coherent strategy around how we're going to execute on our business. We will use the information from these sections to further flesh out our business plans.

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    All right.

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    So, moving on, I need to take a look at what are [SOUND] some of the important

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    activities I need to undertake so that my business model is a success.

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    Right?

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    We talked about this.

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    This is a good exercise to undertake because it unearths some activities that

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    provide lots of secondary benefits, but we don't really see it at first.

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    The core activities I need to undertake are web design and

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    development since that's my main value proposition.

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    I also need to keep the business running, so bookkeeping is important.

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    Direct marketing is also a core activity as it keeps the leads coming in.

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    The reason I say direct marketing is because we can have

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    indirect marketing activities too.

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    Now, other than my core activities,

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    I have secondary activities that indirectly help our business.

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    Education is an important one.

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    I need to stay up-to-date so

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    I can always be ahead of my competition in terms of technology and solutions offered.

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    I also need to stay up-to-date with current trends so

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    that my designs look decent.

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    Another key activity is establishing myself as a thought leader.

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    This leads to great word-of-mouth marketing and increased opportunities.

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    So I'm going to make blogging and speaking at conferences a priority.

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    Another activity that I need to carve out time for is networking.

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    Finally, getting my legal stuff in order is a crucial component of succeeding in

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    this space.

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    I need to have my business set up to protect myself and all the paperwork,

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    like contracts and proposal docs, templated and ready to hand to my clients.

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    Now, the reason that I'm listing all these activities even though it

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    may seem slightly silly to list blogging in my business plan

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    is because I need to carve out resources for it, time and money.

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    Now, in doing so,

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    I get a better picture of what I'm getting into with my business plan.

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    [SOUND] Once I know my key activities, I can put together the resources I need.

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    My core activities are web design and development, so

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    I need hardware and all sorts of software.

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    I should list out all the relevant subscriptions and

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    services that I am going to pay for.

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    Things like Basecamp, and Adobe Creative Cloud, and Typekit, and so on.

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    This will help me assess my costs later on.

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    I'm also going to need software to keep my books in order and for

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    my different marketing activities.

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    Now, I'm not listing out resources for some of the activities like legal stuff

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    because I'm going to form key partnerships in those areas.

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    It's a lot easier for me to pay someone else to do it.

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    Key partnerships in my situation are going to be legal and possibly financial if I

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    decide that I'd rather have a CPA handle my books rather than use software.

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    [BLANK_AUDIO]

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