The Lessons & Opportunity For Us All From This Year
When you support those around you, be it customers or part of the wider community you represent, everyone can thrive.
Here are some of the lessons I have taken on board from 2020, I hope there is something there that strikes a chord with you.
You can’t be swayed by negativity
An independent cheese shop opened on the high street, in Southbourne, in the run-up to Christmas last year.
It consisted of fantastic artisan cheeses from small and medium producers. With such a huge variety of choices, you can talk to staff and you can taste.
Local naysayers were suggesting six months before people went back to the supermarket for the run of the mill cheddar.
I am glad to say, a year on, they are flourishing with queues running outside, which isn’t just because of Covid. Over the lockdowns they sold more produce, turning into a small deli to serve the local community, which included getting yeast and flour when the supermarkets were out of stock. Even more, loyalty was gained.
Negative feedback can be useful, it helps us plan and realign.
Negativity for negativity’s sake can just be ignored.
Find the right people to hang out and also work with
Our decision to move the main arm of the business to the Dorset Innovation Park proved to be the right one, far beyond our own expectations.
We knew being a tenant on the Park would bring us in contact with new tenants that would be working in the security sector.
An increase in enquiries and potential new clients requiring hosting and connectivity was just what we needed, to make up for the investment costs of relocating.
When the Army announced their intention to build a BattleLab there, as well as Dorset Council winning funding for 5G trials, it took things to a whole new level for Datacenta Hosting.
If you said 12 months ago that this was going to happen and that very senior personnel in the military would be having meetings in our just-decorated-in-time meeting room, I would not have imagined it.
We connected on a professional level, know what we are about and they want to work with us. Having a separate division in the business that works in National Security and Law Enforcement sectors, certainly helped.
Choose carefully where you want to hang out as time is precious, this can be rewarded.
You have to step outside what is comfortable
Having lived and worked in Bournemouth since 1996, it was a leap of faith to open up a new location 50 minutes away from me, which can turn into 60 to 90 minutes on the way back. Doing business in rural Dorset was new to me.
According to Economy Topic Data from Dorset Council, the data highlights things are not as rosy as that in BCP territory. However, that shouldn’t matter if you want to make a difference and our reasons to move where we did, in the end, were two-fold. We wanted to take advantage of the Enterprise Zone and what that would bring, but also to be part of that local economy whilst bringing new and high-tech jobs to people that live nearby.
It was only after moving out of the old office, after 20 years, how that change was like a breath of fresh air. No amount of paint would have changed the old building which had become a dull atmosphere for the business.
It pays to be present
Some people choose to embrace social media, maybe way too much, some people blog or vlog, tweet, or Instagram their daily lives. Some will say they only lurk and never post. Some say what’s the point or denigrate you by telling you no one is interested.
The first rule of SEO Club, the dark arts of Search Engine Optimisation, is that if the content isn’t up there with the right words, it will never be found.
Yes, I write blogs, tweet, post on Instagram about the things I get up to in my local area. If people think it is pointless, I am ok with that.
We made an effort to head into our local micropub, the Wight Bear, to see the new owners. From just chatting and getting to know why they like the place so much to make a quick decision to leave London and make a new life down on the South coast, they told me they saw my blog about the area as a foodie destination. They told me they used it as part of their business plan they presented to the bank.
In 2019, I presented to over 100 people at the Shelley Theatre and in one segment I lamented about not putting the effort in, right at the beginning of social media. In the early days of Google SEO, my blog did funnily rank high for many things in the area, mostly restaurants. Oh, how I could have been an “influencer”.
After the talk, someone came up to me, interrupting a conversation I was having as they needed to leave, and told me that although I don’t see myself as an influencer, he moved to Southbourne because of the posts I made. Even now, more people tell me they are moving to Southbourne.
Be part of where you are. It all adds up.
Find others doing good work and champion them
At the start of December, Ric Exley spoke at You Are The Media Online for a few minutes about what he was doing to raising funds for charity. Ric had been made redundant from a Managing Director role and decided to use the time that became available to do something good.
This was through selling The Legends boxes, a pack full of foodie treats, many donated by suppliers, and the money paid would go to The Trussell Trust.
People bought boxes and started sharing. I normally cobble together something for the staff. This year I could combine that with giving to a good cause by buying each staff member one of these boxes. I obviously added an Espresso Martini into the box and another beer or Gin and Tonic too.
It costs nothing to share on social media.
Ric Exley set out a humble goal, quietly proceeded, quietly spread the work, others amplified it, others bought into it — literally, and he sold out in the end.
It was a huge win to the power of four, for Ric, the charity, the recipients and the buyer.
Digital is not just PPC, VR, SEO or AI
I hear and read the phrase Dorset Digital at lot. I am one of those that use it too in my musings.
Whilst for many it will remain synonymous with “web”, it should mean so much more.
It should be held on a level to engineering, to problem-solving and service creation. The pathway doesn’t need to be from one web company to the next, to a full-service agency and to a bigger one at the end.
Let us not just help big brands sell more and make that our badge of honour, our award of awards.
What are the societal services that could bring more good? How can that Dorset become an area that builds upon and pools those digital skills and technologies, to create products and services that go beyond the simple website? One where outsiders will see and maybe get attracted to?
Initiatives like the BCP Council Smart Place is one step. We need more. It’s one thing to do it, it’s another to be “known” for it.
We have all had to fight this year like never before. As well as the chaos there is potential. There is a lot to be grateful for and to build on for 2021. There is a genuine opportunity when people come together.
