Sunday 11 Jul 2010 by Jay Strickland |
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This week I was talking with one of our staff members in our vertical markets division. She’s been with us now for more than a year and has her name on the sales leader board 12 of the last 13 months. By all accounts she’s very good at her role in the company which is sales in our vertical markets division. In the time that she’s been at WingSwept she’s seen a lot of people come and go in our sales division. When I asked her why she thought that turnover was so high she said that she’s put a lot of thought into the subject. In her words what it comes down to is whether the folks committed themselves to the job from the start.
Too many people have taken the job in order to “have a job” while they looked for something else or waited for the economy to recover. The job has a base that’s less than some, but a very steep commission system that most good sales people can hit if they’re putting themselves into the task at hand. She’s making more than most of the folks who have come and gone because they needed to make more money. It all boils down to whether or not you’re willing to commit yourself and make things happen!
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Last week I got to spend time in Dallas, Texas for our quarterly HTG peer group meetings. This particular meeting was the annual HTG Summit where all of the partners (approximately 240 companies) get together. In our separate HTG groups (of approximately 10-12 companies) we share financials, what’s working, what’s not working and overall best practices regarding their businesses. This is a great way to fine tune your business and make better decisions by leveraging the experience, wisdom, successes, and most importantly the mistakes of other technology business owners.
I got to attend a number of breakout sessions and listen to speakers with varied expertise in the information technology field. One of the key take aways that I brought home is that the economy for IT solution providers is starting to show signs of recovery across the nation. Small businesses are once again making investments in technology for their businesses. The decisions aren’t be made the way that they were a in the past though. Having survived the recession business owners are less concerned with getting “something cool” and now want to get something that’s going to make their business stable and will have a specific lifespan and provide a return on investment. We’ve always felt that way so we’re in good shape!
There is also a move for some businesses to adopt cloud models where they offload portions (or all) of their core infrastructure to application service providers over the Internet. While it’s a virtual certainty that many businesses will eventually do business this way, it’s not clear how fast the transition will take. At WingSwept we are advising our clients on the pros and cons of cloud based models for their specific technology needs. In some cases it may be the right time and in others it may never be advisable. Each situation is difference and business owners shouldn’t just jump on the latest “fad” in technology without a full understanding of the underlying risk and rewards.
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Saturday 24 Apr 2010 by Jay Strickland |
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We recently listed a position at WingSwept for a customer service representative in our Vertical Markets division. In a 30 day period we received nearly 700 applications. As part of the process of applying on-line candidates were asked to acknowledge that they understood that they would get an email that would provide information on taking an on-line assessment test. In order to submit the application they had to indicate that they understood that completion of the test was a requirement for further consideration. Approximately HALF of the nearly 700 applicants failed to take the on-line test. I can only guess that the individuals who didn’t even bother to take the test probably aren’t that concerned with finding a job. We did have some really great folks apply though and have already hired one of them for the position.
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Saturday 24 Apr 2010 by Jay Strickland |
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WingSwept’s 2nd Annual Technology Spring Clean was a huge success with approximately 150 individuals and businesses dropping off equipment totaling up to over 22,000 lbs. If you missed the event and would like to drop off items you can contact www.trianglerecycling.com, our partner for the event. They can provide you with options to either drop off the equipment or their services for picking up equipment.
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Sunday 11 Apr 2010 by Jay Strickland |
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This coming Saturday WingSwept will hold our second annual Technology Spring Clean. The event is a community service event where businesses and individuals can drop off computer and other technology equipment to be recycled. For more details please check out http://www.wingswept.com/recycle/
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Friday 26 Mar 2010 by Jay Strickland |
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Video: Canadian Police Chase
Watch the video. It’s funny, but are you doing something equally as stupid in your business?
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Saturday 27 Feb 2010 by Jay Strickland |
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DVDBundles.com,
Fireproof,
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Last year we gave out copies of the movie Fireproof to all of the married staff members at WingSwept. I’m not sure if it helped anyone, but that wasn’t the point. We wanted to do what we could to make sure that our staff have stability both at work and at home. If we improved even one marriage in the process then it was worth the cost. This year we’ll be doing the same thing as we’ve added a number of staff members since last year. In searching for ways to find the most cost effective way to purchase the movies we found www.dvdbundles.com which sells movies in bulk.
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Tuesday 29 Dec 2009 by Jay Strickland |
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“The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.”
– John Maxwell
The Triangle Business Journal is doing a poll right now to capture readers thoughts on “Will 2010 be a better year for you financially than 2009 was?”. I took the survey last night and got the informal (incomplete) results as they existed at that time. Exactly 600 people had responded at that time.
- It will be much better: 18%
- It will be a little better: 30%
- It will be about the same: 18%
- It will be a little worse: 9%
- It will be much worse: 6%
- Not sure: 20%
It’s great to see that roughly half (48% as of yesterday evening when I took the survey) believe that 2010 is going to be a better year for them. My question for those that are in the other 52% is what do you intend to do about it? Do you have the resources to “hunker down” for another year? Even if you do, make sure that’s the best use of those resources. Are you getting to the point of giving up? Did you already make the adjustments in your business that are needed to weather another down year?
At WingSwept we started adjusting the sails in late 2008 for we could feel at that time was going to be a rough economic turn. It’s proved every bit of that and more, but I’m happy to report that we’ll emerge from 2009 very much still above water and sailing towards prosperity for 2010. We’ve managed to hire throughout 2009 and have not been forced to make any cuts to our staff due to the economy.
I’m very proud of our staff for their efforts and most importantly their results for 2009. This year certainly won’t go in the record books for “most profitable”, but it’s certainly the year that I’m “most proud” of our performance! Thank you God!
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Saturday 19 Dec 2009 by Jay Strickland |
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“Smooth seas do not make a skillful sailor.”
– African proverb
I believe that this year will make a lot of business owners better for the experience. In order for that to occur you have to have your eyes and mind open to learn the lessons that are before us this year. At WingSweptwe’ve been fortune this year though the economic recession. Through the support of great clients, who manage their own businesses very well, and a dedicated staff we’ve managed to hire through the recession to allow us to develop skills and competencies in areas that we’ll need as the overall economy improves. As we prepare for 2010 we’re already looking to refine our plans for success. Are you doing the same for your business?
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Friday 11 Dec 2009 by Jay Strickland |
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“There are those who work all day. Those who dream all day. And those who spend an hour dreaming before setting to work to fulfill those dreams. Go into the third category because there’s virtually no competition.” — Steven J Ross
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