"The Positive Economist" Financial – Economics – Fintech & Entrepreneurship Articles

Best Practises for Presenting to Teenagers

Thu, 08 Jan 2026 14:19:20 GMT

I must have been asked a thousand times “what advice do you have if I’m speaking to a group of teenagers?”

Let me translate some questions on their mind.

1️⃣”What’s you favorite part of your job?”…
Really means “what do you like in your job and might I like it too?”

2️⃣ “What’s a typical day like?”
Really means “what do you actually do any day?”

3️⃣”Will you do this forever?”
Really means “how do you decide whether to stay or go?”

4️⃣ “What subjects do I need to study to do your job?”
Really means “what can I do right now, within my own influence, to pursue your path?”

5️⃣ “What’s the hardest part of your job?
Really means “how do you manage the hard parts and could I do it too?”

Now, for a start, I notice many very well-meaning people walk straight into making an ineffective impression by talking about their role from their own perspective and expecting young people to be interested.

From ten years of running Savvy Teens , I assure you that you can do so much better!!

Meet them where they’re at and “play on their pitch”.

For example, bring them through the “Hedgehog” model where they zone in on the Venn diagram between:

��what do I like to do?
�� what am I good at?
�� what employable skills do you have?

A tech tool to help is Mentimeter and a non-tech tool is paper and pen. Talk through their answers if the environment is conducive and certainly, talk through your own.

Another idea is to speak to their fears and how you’ve faced them. For example:

�� what if I work really hard to get somewhere and then I don’t like it?
⚖️ how do I get work/life balance?
��what if I don’t have enough…?

You can enthrall them with stories of your pivots and the decisions you made with big changes.

They can be intrigued with any international dimensions to your job (and there be more than you think!).

You can really strike a chord with young people in a short period of time. Go for it.

IMBF Conference Dublin 2025

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 14:40:34 GMT

Here is a summary of insights from the Brokers Ireland hosting of the global #IMBF25 conference in Dublin today at which I was kindly asked to MC and present a global economic outlook:

�� $3.5 trillion will change hands between hands in Europe by the end of the decade and 36% for millennials are factoring in an inheritance in thier future finances (which I discussed with Warwick Bloore on hashtag

#TakingStock last week).

�� Rachel McGovern (Doyle) pointed out that 50% of mortgages are done through the intermediary channel in Ireland today and many people turn to social media for their advice so brokers need to be trained to meet them there.

�� Leigh Hodgetts highlighted that you can use some of your pension money to get started on the property ladder in New Zealand.

⏰ Carla Giles, MBA, CAE explained that amortisation periods (the maximum time you can pay your mortgage over) are falling in Canada and that lending rules need to shift to a changing world of more self-employment and gig economy workers.

��‍�� Peter J White AM in an industry where 72% of people are men and 28% are women, it needs to get onboard with video meetings to make it more gender agnostic.

�� Stacy Penn explained that 97% of mortgages are advised in the UK and 85% are sourced through a broker.

�� Tony Moroney posited that AI can assess credit risk, predict the likelihood of loan approval or automatically verify documents. What part of a new AI experience do you want to build your business around?

�� Simon Bednar recommends that we have repeatable, secure ecosystems and plan our execution not around today but what we can see on the horizon.

�� Dustan Woodhouse says that “people don’t buy a house, they buy a payment”. The business is out there, but are you out there? What matters most is your calendar, headspace and conversations with the simple equation of:

Effort x Connections = Results

�� George Obeid emphasized the importance of digitisation, diversification and consolidation. Specifically, he showed that employment is growing in non-routine cognitive tasks.

�� Paul Alexander gave a clear plan for how to improve customer service through listening to what people want and how they want to interact rather than what you might think they way. He showed how they examined processes including the speed of new business processing, responses to queries, speed of solving problems and cross training in teams.

Thank you so much to Brigitte Tyack , Diarmuid Kelly and all of the team for giving me this opportunity today.

Every best wish to you all for the rest of the week!

Venture Capital Conference with InterTradeIreland

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 16:02:23 GMT

After my fourth year hosting the action-packed hashtag#VCC25 Venture Capital Conference with InterTradeIreland , here is a summary of the takeaways.

Marina Gorey says that “there’s nothing more strategic than culture”. As you think about what you’re striving for, ask yourself why you want it to uncover your real motivation. Understand what you will give up to get it and give opportunities 120% after that. You need to solve for today with the foresight of what this means for your longer term objectives. Don’t hire until you’re ready to let go of the dopamine of doing the world and use job specs as a powerful team tool.

The panel discussion with Niamh Sterling , Denise McQuaid , Andrea Sinclair and Naomi McGregor revealed that angels are wondering whether a potential investee’s sector and problem-to-be-solved are something they’re interested in and can help. Investees need to think abut “both angels wings” i.e. their capital and their knowledge capital. If you’re going to raise money in different jurisdictions, you need to have the legals to back it up. Talk to angels early and bring them on the journey with you. You need to be on top of your numbers including pricing, customer acquisition, TAM (total addressable market), users, customers, revenue, costs and cash burn. Go for grants and non-dilutive money first and then when you approaching angels, commit to making it work.

DC Cahalane , Sure Valley Ventures describes AI as the “industrialisation of the knowledge economy”. He says that “living without AI will be like living with out the internet”. If you’re interested in investing in an AI startup, then look for data advantage, real talent and action and agility bias. Cultivate intellectual honesty in your business, use AI to extrapolate future scenarios and founder burnout should be on the risk register.

Jimmy Martin , AMCS Group one of Ireland’s unicorns, stressed the importance of finding high value problems and finding ways to solve them quickly, effectively and efficiently. He has built a discipline of “unit economics” from his US investors. He noted that sales is more of a science than we think and Ireland needs to build its capability in its execution. He sought more specialised investors as the business got bigger. Find a customer to bring you into a new market, he says and rather than focus on the solution the customer wants, ask them about the problem they have first. Keep your focus on the business when you’re raising money as it’s easier when you’ve got a good business to invest in.

A huge thank you to Drew O'Sullivan , Gary Stokes , Jane Watson and all of the team who gave me the opportunity to be part of the experience this year.

Society of Actuaries In Ireland Webinar for 5th and 6th-year

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 14:31:38 GMT

In our recent Society of Actuaries In Ireland webinar for 5th and 6th-year students, Susan HayesCulleton CFA, "The Positive Economist" facilitated an insightful Q&A session with Rebecca O'Mahoney and Mairead Grant where they shared their experiences and insights from their journeys and careers in the field.

“What is the most valuable skill you use, on a daily basis, to help you succeed as an hashtag #actuary ?”

“Are there any other subjects (apart from maths) that were particularly helpful in school?”

“What are the highs and lows of being an actuary?”

“How does one determine if it’s (actuary) is for them?”

“Is there any other way to get into actuary apart from a courses with very high points and relatively few places?”

“Is AI going to take away some, or even all, parts of the job?”

“How important is internships and work experiences including the Transition Year programme?”

“Do you have the opportunities to, and do you take them, to travel?”

In our recent Society of Actuaries In Ireland webinar for 5th and 6th-year students, Susan HayesCulleton CFA, "The Positive Economist" facilitated an insightful Q&A session with Rebecca O'Mahoney and Mairead Grant where they shared their experiences and insights from their journeys and careers in the field.

If you, or somebody you know, is interested in learning more about life as an actuary, check out the full conversation including:

1️⃣ a whistestop tour of the daily working life of an actuary

2️⃣ an active learning session where you work on a series of actuarial thinking tasks

3️⃣ the full Q&A including the queries our live audience submitted.

Here is the link to the full webinar: https://lnkd.in/e5jZc3Bf

Thank you Sinéad Clarke , Catherine McBride and Aisling Breathnach for the opportunity to work with you on this.

Future of Talent 2024

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 12:57:45 GMT

It’s always intriguing to hear from those who are the forefront of shaping the “People” functions in their organisations whether they’re HR Directors, recruiters or other specialists. Today, I was MC for the “Future of Talent 2024” conference with FRS Recruitment and I summarise my key takeaways in this video:

1.If everybody thinks the same way, you’re losing out on opportunities and by documenting what you’re doing today within Diversity and Inclusion, you can compare how you’ve grown over time.

2. Rather than assume we know what retains people, talk to them about what they want and need at this stage in their journey.

3. You may not have to report under CSRD right away, but you could be supplying a customer who does so become aware of your ESG metrics to help you help them when the time comes.

4. An inclusive workplace needs a strong culture, high engagement and phsychological safety.

5. The puzzle of HR may be more complicated, but the rules of engagement are still the same.

6. Consider shaping your job opportunities in terms of BISFACTS - Belonging, Inclusion, (Sense of) Self, Fairness, Autonomy, Certainty, Transcendance and Safety.

7. The scenario planning gamification (for all sorts of reasons).

8. Champion AI and automation.

9. Feed forward as well as feedback.

10. Critique your culture’s strengths and weaknesses.

11. Informal power structures can have a big impact and need to be called out.

12. In “Tipping Point” language, fix your broken windows.

13. Balance the intensity of reactive leadership with proactive leadership. Remember, the most valuable thing that anybody can give you is their time. Show your people how their work is important.

14. In terms of Learning & Development, have a strategy to know where you want to strive towards. Clarify roles and responsibilities and its important to highlight that the role of personal development also lies firmly with the employee as well as HR and leadership.

15. A “stay interview” prevents an “exit interview”.

16. Consistency is the predicative indicator towards success.

17. Do what you do for its own sake and not just the result. (The video gives you the full Olympian context for this!).

18. Focus is the greatest efficiency of all.

A sincere thank you to Lynne McCormack , Anne-marie Tierney-Le Roux , Laura O'Donovan (She/Her) , JulieAnn McCann , Solat (A) Chaudhry , Imelda Rey , Renee Lewis , Bertie Tonks (FCIPD) , John Counihan and Deirdre Ennis as well as Daire Lynch for your insights today.

Further, thank you sincerely to Colin Donnery , Lynne McCormack , Aoife Grant , Joe Lord , Laura Guiney and JulieAnn McCann for giving me the opportunity to work with you all again this year. It’s a genuine joy.

Financial Wellbeing

caroline@hayesculleton.com (Caroline Positive Economist) — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 14:09:54 GMT

I spoke at a Financial Wellbeing conference today hosted by JA Malta Foundation about the connection between financial education and the economy.

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I asked the audience what “good” looks like and asked them what the outcomes would be if we really get financial education right. As expected, there wasn’t a single negative answer and thus, it’s clear that there isn’t a downside to this!

So what happens if nations don’t show leadership in this space?

… Wealth inequality (and the Journal of Political Economy points out that 30-40% of the wealth gap at retirement could be closed by better stock market education to pursue bettter returns).

… Social media (and Qualtrics notes that 52% of gen Z turn to TikTok for financial advice)

… Regulation (as after introducing auto-enrolments 20 years ago in Australia, it now has superannuation funds worth 130% of the economy).

It’s a very important time to get this right because:

1. Vanguard estimates that by 2030, $18.3 trillion will have transferred between generations around the world.

2. House prices have increased by 62% in Malta over the past 15 years and there is a shortage of both housing to buy and rent. (We recognise this trend in Ireland too!)

3. People are (gratefully) living longer. The World Healh Organistion estimates that life expectancy (at birth) in Malta has increased by 4 years since 2000.

However, if we know how important financial education is to an economy, where is it going wrong?

I think there are two reasons.

Financial literacy isn’t enough on its own. If somebody knows what inflation is, it doesn’t mean they can budget. If they know what an interest rate is, that’s not to say they can gain from the power of compounding. Financial literacy needs to be woven together with digital literacy and a personal growth mindset.

We need to speak to people in a language that means something for them. Why focus on saving for the rainy day whenn we can talk about having money to take the opportunities of a sunny day. (The money is there for the rainy day then, by default!)

While an economy is measured in GDP and other objective metrics, we need to empower people to take care of themselves by empathising with them about what money means including the impact it has on relationships (that speedily finds its effect back on the economy again), the intergenerational effect we can see separate to inheritance, how the narrative around money needs to move from extracting joy to adding it, to the power structures that money changes and the autonomy that comes with choice.

Thank you Petra Ellul Mercer for the opportunity to speak at this event, to Mairead McGuinness for organising the hashtag

#MoneyMatters conference in April in Brussels that enabled us to meet and as always to CFA Society Ireland for giving the opportunity to bring hashtag

#MoneyMatters to life in every school in Ireland since 2021.

Marie Gaffney, CFA Noel Friel Eoin Diffley Niall McDonnell, CFA Aisling Boland, CFA, CIFD Eoin Fitzpatrick, CFA

Tesla Earnings

caitlin@hayesculleton.com (Caitlin Maher) — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 13:23:40 GMT

I listened to the recent Tesla Earnings Call and it was interesting to look into their vision of the future while casting a critical eye over the numbers. Here is a summary of insights into the future of electric vehicles, powering AI and new business models.

⚡ “the world is headed for a fully electrified transport, not just the cars, but also aircraft and boats." Elon Musk

�� Competitors have discounted their EVs which has been a challenge for Tesla. They see it as a short term issue. I think the second-hand market is going to be an interesting component of this.

�� "We pride ourselves to be the company with the most American-made cars and are continuing our journey to further localize our supply chain, not just in the U.S., but in Europe and China as well." The influence of tarrifs and the international order influences that.

�� The energy business, this is growing faster than anything else. Battery storage changes the economics and engineering of green energy profoundly.

�� "anyone who doesn't believe that Tesla would solve vehicle autonomy should not hold Tesla stock. They should sell their Tesla stock. If you believe Tesla will solve autonomy, you should buy Tesla stock." Elon Musk

�� Robotaxi is set to combine Uber and AirBnB models.

�� The key performance indicator is (the increase in) miles between intervention. This is the one to watch.

�� They're using AI to enable "better cost control, more scale, quicker time to market, and a superior product".

�� They're increasing the range and expanding the supercharging network to combat range anxiety.

�� They expect the year to be over $10 billion in capex. We reverted to positive free cash flow of $1.3 billion in Q2 and they ended the quarter with over $30 billion of cash and investments. The collective investment in innovation in the US poses a challenge to European productivity.

�� "Alone in Q2, over two-thirds of our sales were to -- deliveries were to people who had never owned a Tesla before." Tesla is pursuing market share from incumbents.

8️⃣ "I think the long-term value of Optimus will exceed that of everything else that Tesla combined. There are 8 billion people on earth. So it's 8 billion right there." Elon Musk. I'm very very cynical about this number quantifying realistic retail demand.

Source: https://lnkd.in/e7mHmpQM

Intuit earnings call LinkedIn

caitlin@hayesculleton.com (Caitlin Maher) — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 01:52:46 GMT

In the most recent Intuit earnings call, an audience member said " Sasan , you still remain the best predictor of small business. You've got the best read." This is why I find this earnings release so useful. It's a global review of small business right across the world. Here are some insights from the session:

1️⃣ They articulate their strategy in one line "to be the global AI-driven expert platform powering prosperity for consumers and small businesses .... growing the core, connect the ecosystem, and expand globally". What is your strategy in one line?

2️⃣Their third quarter revenue grew 12% with the small business and self-employed group revenue growing by 18%.

3️⃣ TurboTax Live, is their "largest durable growth opportunity" in a "manual, disaggregated, and high-priced assisted category". What is your growth opportunity?

4️⃣ They do a super job of explaining the value their features bring rather than just what they do. For example "across the QuickBooks platform, we have capabilities available to nearly 30,000-ish customers... (which is) really about turning unstructured data into money and personalized feed”.

5️⃣ They're making five big bets (and I outline them in the video). What are your big bets? How are you investing in them? What's informing those bets?

6️⃣ They talk about "taking a hard look at what we can stop doing and where we can reallocate investments". What do you and your team need to stop doing? We've been working on that in our business extensively for the past ten weeks.

7️⃣ They’re in "the middle of a business model shift, moving all of our desktop customers to subscription". I see this trend right across listed companies. What are you doing to make your revenue model more recurring and sustainable?

8️⃣ They "repurchased $584 million of stock during the third quarter. Depending on market conditions and other factors, our aim is to be in the market each quarter". This commitment sends a signal to the market that they see value in their stock and want to increase earnings per share.

9️⃣ They have a approved a quarterly dividend that represents a 15% increase versus last year.

�� They're growing profit faster than revenue and their own prior guidance.

1️⃣1️⃣ They’re focused on "great technical and leadership talent across the company to accelerate our progress". How are you cultivating your own talent?

1️⃣2️⃣, There are customers they don't want. Specifically, "the customers that are just really looking for a free tax software and are bouncing between platforms, and we are not interested in those customers". What business do you not want?

1️⃣3️⃣ They "constructively dissatisfied (with) two very basic things that did not work well this year." I elaborated on one in the video - what are you constructively dissatisfied with and what are you doing about it?

Source: https://lnkd.in/e9kci8CB

Interactive Brokers LinkedIn

caitlin@hayesculleton.com (Caitlin Maher) — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 01:44:21 GMT

In the recent Interactive Brokers earnings call, there was a range of interesting trends that emerged about stock market dynamics and global economic trends

1️⃣ They summarised their business strategy as “Automating as much of the … business as possible, continuously improving and expanding what we offer while minimizing what we charge.”

2️⃣ People want to invest at home, but also get exposure to the US stock market that has been leading the way for decades by now.

3️⃣ The hashtag

#MagnificentSeven have contributed nearly all of the S&P500 gain in the past quarter with Apple and Nvidia delivering three quarters of it.

4️⃣ Asian and Europeans are driving account open growth with 178,000 new accounts this quarter.

5️⃣ Investors are preferring larger, high-quality names rather than lower-priced stocks.

6️⃣ Sone people want to share their activity, information or privileges with family and friend. This echoes the real-time cloud based updates we’ve seen other businesses offer but only in the confines of secure cyber environments.

7️⃣ They talk about “Auto FX” and how they charge people (or not for FX transactions). The lesson in this is root out your hidden costs and do something about them.

8️⃣ Their options volume rose 35% over the prior-year quarter, well above industry growth, and reached a new record high for IBKR and specifically the zero day to expiration options. This highlights that as options grow in popularity, investors are seeking to gain exposure to price change and volatility rather than time value.

9️⃣ They have a USP in offering high interest rates on cash balances, but read the small print on this if you’re investing from Europe.

�� They’ve developed a new product called “ForecastEx”. This is a Forecast Contract enabling investors to identify opportunities, hedge and speculate on outcomes of published economic data along with global climate values.
This is a new concept bringing together ESG and derivatives. It’s one to watch…

Source: https://lnkd.in/etWGTXpu

Money Matters: How to use the financial literacy textbook in the classroom with Matthew Taylor

caitlin@hayesculleton.com (Caitlin Maher) — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 14:39:45 GMT

We have created a new series in which Susan interviews teachers who are using the "Money Matters" textbook.

This is to help us understand exactly what is happening in our classrooms across Ireland and the impact the book is making. Additionally, it allows other teachers to learn from the people we interview, ultimately enhancing financial literacy in classrooms nationwide by listening to those who work directly with our young people. Today's interview is with Matthew Taylor from Sutton Park School.

1. How do you use Money Matters in your classroom?

"So we've been using Money Matters now in the school. We primarily use it in the Transition Year programme. I know myself, I use about seven or eight of the first units, and another teacher uses the later units in the book for kind of an accounting and investment stock market series that she does as part of the enrichment modules. I suppose for me, it's about trying to teach the students financial literacy from a nice angle, instead of kind of telling someone, 'Oh look, you always have to balance your checkbook,' or any of the older ways of doing things. So I find the book provides practical application of the theories that we need to teach students. Some of the activities are fantastic, they can be really engaging for the students. I know there's one about going onto Canva and they draw their experience of money is or what they want their future, and it's amazing what they can come back with. And it really is a collage of where they go forward. And I suppose then when I think about it, there's a real importance for students to understand financial literacy, and I think it's one of those areas that the education system can definitely provide for."

2.What activities do you think are the most suitable or engaging, based on your past experience?

"Yeah, there's another one—it's about their college budget, and it's amazing. Probably the primary support is the parents in terms of finances, and they don't really understand the expenses that are involved sometimes in kind of looking after oneself. And, I suppose, it opens their eyes up too because we're primarily in transition here. It opens their eyes up to, in two years' time, this is actually going to be me. I'm going to have to be doing a budget. I might be living abroad, going to college, or I could be from Dublin, I could be going to UL or I could be going to Galway, I could be going anywhere, and I probably have to stick to a budget. So I think for me, the ones that are really practical to the students that really resonate with them are the ones that kind of stand out for me. And I do find the unit 'How to Buy a House Without Buying a House' being one of the most fascinating. I put it up on the board when we go in, and students look at me, going, 'She can't buy a house without buying a house, Mr. Taylor,' and I'll kind of say to them, 'Well look, let's have a look into this, how could we do it.?' And then especially the idea of looking at REITs and looking at, can we actually invest. Because I suppose it's the old adage here in Ireland, what do you do with your money? You invest it in bricks and mortar. But now, things have changed. Now there are so many opportunities and there are so many places for students and for ourselves and for anybody to invest their money. And I suppose having that little bit of knowledge that I have to buy a house at 21, but I could maybe invest into a REIT and I might be able to get money out of it, then that could help me buy my house in the future or save for my deposit for a house. And again, then also that understanding of what's involved in buying a house, kind of the chapter before, very much breaks it down. What do I need to save? How much is it going to cost me to buy a house? And it's easy enough for students to say, 'Oh, I'm going to live here, I'm going to live there.' When you break it down for them and they see how much they have to earn on a yearly basis or how much they have to save on a yearly basis, they get shocked, really. And I always really find the pieces that shock students into kind of the light bulb, nearly moment above their head, I think, are sometimes the biggest learning and the deepest learning for students."

3. Do you like bringing technology into the classroom or prefer a non-tech environment? What has led you to that conclusion?

"Only in the last number of years, we have become a device-led school, and I think the very nature of education is changing. The landscape is changing. I think, you—I don't want to go back to the days of teaching classes through my computer screen, but I think it really gave the education system a kickstart into realizing the benefits of technology. As I said, we've gone solely device-led here in the school. So again, one of the things that I felt with Money Matters was a lot of the activities that were there lent themselves to technology but also lent themselves to group work. It allowed me to plug in using—I tend to use a lot of OneNote within Microsoft School in terms of Teams. So I would use the collaboration spaces in OneNote for students to work together, but also, I think technology plays such a role in everybody's life, whether it be in the classroom or outside of the classroom, that it would be wrong of us here in the school not to adopt some level of technology. And I think as time goes on, it's going to become more important and the people, other teachers watching this, there's nothing like a Kahoot to help out with a revision section of anything. I always call it the head fake, they're learning without really realizing that they're learning, and sometimes that can be a benefit in the classroom for anybody."

4. What life skills do you think teenagers learn from content like this?

"I think one of the biggest learnings for students has to be that money doesn't grow on trees. I know it's something that we hear a lot, money is a very precious resource. I do a thing with first years, I try to explain to them that if you multiply out the years of going to work by 12 paychecks, it doesn't look a lot. You only have a short window when you can actually earn in your lifetime. And it's about trying to be as frugal as you possibly can with that money to support yourself for the future, to support your families. And I think also the idea of just that literacy part, understanding how to open a bank account, understanding what a debit and a credit is on your bank account, especially for young women in the workplace, it helps with closing the gap in terms of pay structures. I just think a better understanding of financial literacy for everybody in the education system, every student coming through, is never going to work against them. It's going to give them the tools to move forward."

5. What are you planning to do next year?

"So, as I pointed out—or as you said at the start—I'm one of, I'm the Transition Year coordinator here in the school, and I actually run the Financial (we call it Financial Health) module here in the school. We're in tentative, brief discussions that it's going to become every student is going to have to take part in it. We're looking at developing another couple of enrichments to go alongside it, so we're looking at a cryptocurrency module, we're looking at an AI and education module, and then there's another module as well that we're trying to develop so that students will rotate around, and they'll all get an opportunity and they will all, have a level of financial literacy. Because it’s too easy to say, 'Oh, look, you have an option to go and study financial literacy.' Sometimes for students—and I know this from an educational point of view—it's asking turkeys to vote for Christmas; they're going, 'I don't want to go and I don't want to learn about, A or I don't want to learn about B.' They want to learn about cryptocurrency and they want to learn about, how much money can I make off investing in Bitcoin, and this is what they're getting, what they see in the media, and that's what—but the very basics, the very understanding of investments, the very understandings of the taxation system, the very understanding of savings and investments and pensions for the future is the basis of what that module does. And it's kind of—it's what I'm planning for the next year, is that all of my TY students should go through some level of financial literacy next year."

6. What advice do you give to teachers planning to teach this next year for the first time?

"When we got a hold of the book the first time, we actually sat as a department in the Business Department, we would have obviously financial literacy to give to the students: accounting, business, and economics. And we looked at where could we use the book to support our teaching in any way. I think it's the first page or where the contents page and it's linked to different Leaving Cert subjects, it's linked to learning outcomes, it actually makes that job really easy for us. We sat down and it was nearly a scramble over who was getting what, you ended up with, 'Alright, I'll do the financial literacy piece,' and the accounting teacher was like, 'Great, I'll do the stocks and investing because they always love that.' I just think for any teacher, if you're looking to develop some sort of—we call them enrichment modules here in the school, in your Transition Year program, take out the book, have a look. Nobody's saying you have to go from chapter one to chapter—I think 15 or 16—but there's so much in there and there's so much, good learning. And it's stuff that's really going to help the student, maybe not today but as they get into the future in their future careers. There's no harm in looking at it and trying to find and build a course around it. And it's definitely—it has been a massive resource to us here in the Business Department of Sutton Park School."

7. How have you tailored the module to different learning style or learning difficulties?

"I suppose the book allows for it as well. It's a very hands-on approach to financial literacy. I've taken some of the activities and I've changed them to be maybe kinesthetic works. I know there's a fishbone model at one stage when we're trying to think about marketing, and I actually have it on the page. They've got the markers, and we've got different learners—every student is a different learner; some are visual, some are verbal, some want to write, some want to use their laptop, some want you to get a hold of stuff. So, I think using the different activities in the book helps with that. Obviously, a lot of us teachers would talk about Junior Cycle reform and the need and how we have brought on kind of group work. And again, a lot of the activities and a lot of the stuff here in Money Matters allows for group work, and I think that's one of those kind of very level the playing field for any sort of learning style in the classroom.

8. What do you think is misunderstood about young people?

"I think the perception of young people nowadays is that they're disinterested or they're disengaged. I hear social media is ruining them, they don't know how to communicate, they live on their phones. But I think it's actually a case of, this is who they are, this is where they natively hang out. Whereas I played 'tip the can' on the side of the streets, they play 'Call of Duty' online, and this is who they are. I remember saying to a student, 'How do you sit and watch someone play computer games?' and they say, 'How do you sit and watch someone play football for 90 minutes?' It's just a change in society, and that's kind of—I have to be, I know as an educator I have to be—I kind of got caught in my tracks, and I said, 'Well, you have a point,' when this young man said it to me. And I think it's a case that they're misunderstood. I don't—I think it's a case that they're not disinterested, they're not disengaged, they just deal with the media in a different way. They operate differently than the way we do; they're very savvy, they're very technically savvy. And that's who they are, it's changed. They're passionate. I see passion in them around social justice, around climate change. I see them engaging in global issues. But they use technology as a tool to connect, to learn, and essentially to advocate for their causes that they care about. And I think that whereas we might have gone on 'Prime Time' or we might have read 'The Independent' on the weekend, that's there, but they're doing it through X or they're doing it through TikTok, and they're advocating themselves rather than looking for the content, if you understand what I mean, Susan."

9. Finally, when you hear "they should teach that in schools", what is your reaction?

"Believe it or not, the education system isn't bad here in this country. I think in Transition Year, we had our Transition Year graduation the other day, and you wouldn't believe some of the things that students do throughout the year in Transition Year. And I'm only focusing on that warning. I actually think there's not enough of an understanding of what goes on behind the closed door in the classroom and how much education is there. While I'm a business teacher or an economics teacher, there is real-life kind of discussions going on. We were only discussing the other day about pension problems here in the country, in the economics class, and it comes down to, well, would you be willing to pay more tax or would you... Just, there's different conversations that go on all the time in the education system. And I think there's definitely a role for industry to come in and definitely be more part of the education system. I think there's a massive opportunity, especially in the STEM areas. I know that it has gotten so much better over the last number of years. I've seen more students entering Scifests and BT Young Scientists. I know my group this year, we've entered the last three years, the Young Economist of the Year Awards, and I think when education comes around and we embrace technology and when leaders from outside of education come in and try and work with education, I think that the idea of 'they should teach that in schools' will disappear. And I think that it'll be, they're teaching that in school at the moment, don't you? And I think that's where we need to get to, is where people are saying, 'should they teach that in school?'"

Revenue, Cashflow and Profit

caitlin@hayesculleton.com (Caitlin Maher) — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 14:23:20 GMT

Here is a summary of a topic I spoke about today for Carlow County Council . I delved into five different metric categories that I hope may be of help to you too so that you can identify the milestones that matter on your business journey.

�� are your sales growing month-over-month (in a non-seasonal business) or year-over-year (in a seasonal business)?

�� there are two good measures of cash flow - the amount of money in the bank and your receiveables (ie the money owed to you).

�� invoice promptly (or else your client can’t pay you!!)

��‍♀️ a soft way to follow up on credit terms is “what is the status of this invoice?”

�� calculate your profit margin per product (and customer group). You might be surprised how this is different than how you started out.

�� pay great attention ti your conversion ratio (ie the number of sales you’re generating from leads).

�� if a potential customer doesn’t avail of your services, ask why. There is remarkable intel in this.

�� if you’re converting every lead, then maybe you need to charge a higher price.

�� evaluate your customer satisfaction with metrics that make sense to you. (We’ve built a custom report on Intuit QuickBooks to help us observe this very closely in realtime).

��‍�� make the most of your tech stack to improve your “resource intensity”. We watch the webinars of our providers and use their support to make the most of what we have. (Lots of companies don’t do this and have total suboptimal spend on digital tools).

✅ develop your sustainability metrics (and you can use the hashtag

#GreenForBusiness support or Enterprise Europe Network - Ireland hashtag

#UpCirc support to help.

�� remember that your personal sustainability comes from having the right “me and my business” metrics. Take good care of those too.

�� what gets measured, gets managed!

Thank you Melissa Doyle , Sarah Byrne and Kieran Comerford at Carlow County Council for having me today.

hashtag

#PowerHouse

Northern Ireland Economic and Markets Update

caitlin@hayesculleton.com (Caitlin Maher) — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 14:10:15 GMT

Thank you to Danske Bank UK for inviting me to host a panel with Conor Lambe , John Paul Coleman, CFA, MCSI and Shane O'Hanlon today at Canal Court Hotel & Spa in Newry.

Here is a summary of insights:

�� The UK has returned to 0.6% growth and is flat month-over-month while inflation is getting closer to 2% driven by a decline in energy prices.

�� Wage growth is at 6% in the UK amid a tight labour market.

�� US economic growth has been higher than expected and markets had gotten ahead of themselves with interest rate cut expectations.

�� It’s always a good time to be innovative and InterTradeIreland enables you to risk share with the government.

�� Businesses use AI to make things more efficient and do what it couldn’t before. In our case, we use it to transcribe meetings, write summaries of projects, prompt ideas for critical thinking and analyse datasets. I watch the webinars of our technology suppliers to build my “AI literacy”.

��‍�� Unemployment in Northern Ireland is at 2.2% and that’s half the level of the UK, but economic inactivity is 27% (in comparison to 22% in the UK).

✂️ Watch out for the UK inflation level tomorrow to see how it influences the MPC decision to cut UK interest rates.

�� The markets are expecting a slightly weaker pound against the euro and flat against the dollar in the coming months.

��‍♀️ Women in full time positions earn more than men in NI, but 35% of employed women work part time (in comparison to 9% of men).

�� Cross border trade has grown from £2 billion to more than £12 billion during InterTradeIreland ’s tenure to date.

4️⃣ The Northern Irish Executive has four objectives including productivity, jobs, regional balance and reduced carbon emissions.

�� The markets are watching out for the first budget in the UK after the election, trade wars and geopolitics in the Middle East.

�� Businesses need to embrace technology, be agile and operationally efficient, look after their staff, cultivate measured risk taking, learn continuously and have honest conversations with customers.

✅ The green economy has to potential to create 13,000 jobs and Project Harlander in Belfast Harbour is set to be one of the first self-driving vehicles in the UK next year while Catogen are seeking to decarbonise the air and Translink already use hydrogen to power their buses.

Thank you sincerely to Oonagh Murtagh and Clare Megarry to work with you this morning. It was truly insightful covering a lot of ground.

Lessons from working with teenagers

caitlin@hayesculleton.com (Caitlin Maher) — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 13:59:47 GMT

I’m in “Piazza della Scienza” in hashtag #Milan and thought it to be the ideal place to share 12 insights I’ve learned about tomorrow’s talent from working with thousands of Savvy Teens .

1️⃣ 1 in 4 is worried about “what if I don’t like what I study to become?”. The answer is understanding how to transfer skills, articulate it and be excited that you can have many jobs even with the same employer (as Damien Joyce and MacDara Howley CPA from Medtronic always tell our teenagers).

2️⃣ Many worry about hashtag

#LeavingCert Central Applications Office points. It’s important to note that 80% of people who apply for a Level 8 get one of their top 3 choices and this number increases to 97% for a diploma or cert.

3️⃣ I find they have a blind spot around the employment opportunities in the green economy and social sustainability sector.

4️⃣ They see the workplace as an environment for them to apply for and be accepted into as distinct to a place they can influence. I see this when I ask them how they want to see the SDGs implemented.

5️⃣ In school, they don’t work in teams, don’t give feedback to each other and don’t “work” like we do in the workplace… therefore we need to teach them how to do all three (and not expect them to know how to do this on their first day).

6️⃣ The phone is where it’s all at - their friends, answers to everything and constant messages. They are embarrassed to say how much they’re on it but also wonder why the adults who complain they are so do the same.

7️⃣ They question if AI will take the jobs they’re working towards but don’t yet know how to work “with it”.

8️⃣ They aren’t proficient with the tools that are available to self-direct their career questions. Qualifax, salary guides and career webinars are all out there (and we give lots of direction on this in the Society of Actuaries In Ireland Senior Cycle webinar).

9️⃣ They really, REALLY want to make their parents proud. That’s probably the Number 1 Career Goal we see in teenagers. Doone O'Doherty and I have discussed this on the PwC Ireland Careers hashtag

#CAO webinar.

�� They would love to travel in their jobs… for a while. Rarely, we hear of a teenager who plans to emigrate to another country completely.

1️⃣1️⃣ There are great life skills being taught in schools today. Teachers who bring hashtag

#MoneyMatters to the classroom tell us all about the hashtag

#financialliteracy initiatives and hashtag

#STEM activities that bring a whole new dimension to academic education.

1️⃣2️⃣ Still they connotate apprenticeships with trades, so there is still some work to be done here.

Thank you Emanuela E. Rinaldi for the opportunity to work with you and your teenagers today as well as to Mairead McGuinness for offering a platform for Ireland and Italy to come together and share best practice.

Belfast Chamber Connectivity Conference

caitlin@hayesculleton.com (Caitlin Maher) — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 04:59:44 GMT

A phenomenal day here at hashtag

#BelFastForward with Clare Guinness CDir and the team at Belfast Chamber . Here is a summary of insights from a very dynamic conference weaving together Belfast’s future, technology, sustainability and physical infrastructure.

“If politics, business and civil society pull together, anything can be achieved”, Joe Kennedy III

✈️ Belfast City Airport has invested in EV chargers, is planning to be net zero before 2050 and is a vital artery in the network of Northern Ireland.

⛽️ Methanol is the fuel of the future and Belfast Harbour is investing in autonomous, hydrogen energy and offshore wind farms.

�� Translink seeks to be carbon positive by 2050 and is leaving the Weaver Cross programme to support 20,000,000 passenger journeys.

�� Equity, diversity and inclusion builds success.

�� Things are becoming sensorised and data is being used to compare behaviour to expectations.

�� Cybersafety needs to be considered earlier in tech development processes.

��‍♀️ Business needs to consider derivatives of cost and environment.

�� Advanced materials, novel propulsion and electrification of aircraft is what’s needed for zero emissions in the skies.

�� Project Harlander will be an autonomous vehicle in Belfast.

⏩ Progress will happen with decarbonisation, autonomous vehicles and business model scale.

✅ Northern Ireland generates 45.8% of electricity from renewables and demand for energy is expected to grow by 50% in the years ahead. It’s set to cost £9.7 billion and create 13,000 jobs in the green economy.

�� Invest Northern Ireland is showcasing regional innovation in Singapore and Malaysia and Northern Ireland has a great supply chain for heat pumps.

�� To get to Net Zero by 2050, we need behavioural, tech, regulation, financial and business model change.

�� Imagine if you could use a super computer to figure out the most carbon efficient way of getting from A to B (that is also most cost efficient, convenient and safe)…

�� Greenshoring could be Belfast’s new USP.

��‍�� AI is being used to optimise lithium use to make advanced manufacturing batteries.

Thank you Katy Best , Michael Robinson , Duncan Mcallister , Mark Price , Scott Fischaber , Cliona O'Boyle , Chris RB Brown , Ben Murray , Russell Smyth , KPMG Ireland , Rachel Sankannawar , Paul Kennedy , Sonya Kerr , Iain Percy , Finbarr McEvoy Spirit AeroSystems , Laura O’Neill , Sam Turner , Mark Gillan , Tony Phipps , Guido Lemeire , Lisa Comerton and John Healy .

Money Matters: How to use the financial literacy textbook in the classroom

caitlin@hayesculleton.com (Caitlin Maher) — Fri, 24 May 2024 14:52:48 GMT

We have created a new series in which Susan interviews teachers who are using the "Money Matters" textbook.

This is to help us understand exactly what is happening in our classrooms across Ireland and the impact the book is making. Additionally, it allows other teachers to learn from the people we interview, ultimately enhancing financial literacy in classrooms nationwide by listening to those who work directly with our young people. Today's interview is with Marian Freeman from Lucan Community College.

1. How do you use Money Matters in your classroom?

I started using it during my transition years. I use it with TY for the Enterprise and Business subject. I have been using different sections of it, such as how to make money, how to save, and how to invest money. We have used many activities from the book, and the students have really enjoyed it.

Following that, I have also started using it with my junior students, particularly the second and third years, when we are covering saving and investing. I have started using it with them because the book includes some very good activities. Additionally, I used it last week with my fifth years for our unit on taxation, which includes excellent activities related to taxation. For example, there was a particularly good example about capital gains tax that provided a new perspective for me, and the students really enjoyed that activity.

2.What activities do you think are the most suitable or engaging,

based on your past experience?

I select activities based on the class. There are many activities at the end of each chapter, and I pick and choose which ones to use depending on the level of the class. For example, with the second years, I might use the easier multiple-choice questions. There are also activities that link to different websites, which they really enjoy, such as those with the CCPC. I consider both the level of the class and their interest. With TY, it depends on whether the students are interested in business or if they were just placed in the class. Some might not have chosen it, while others might be planning to continue business studies for their Leaving Certificate. So, depending on the class’s interest and level, I select the appropriate activities.

3. Do you like bringing technology into the classroom or prefer a

non-tech environment? What has led you to that conclusion?

We’re really lucky in our school to have devices that we can bring from classroom to classroom. Using the activities has been fantastic because you can introduce your topic with a YouTube clip. One of the programs I was directed to is "How to Be Good with Money." I hadn't thought about using it before, but we used it at the start. Then we went on to the CCPC website and used their activities. The students didn't know that they could get different rates of savings at different places, nor did they know how to look them up, so that was a really useful activity.

Another useful activity involved the mortgage calculator. The students had no idea about having to save for a deposit for a house or what percentage they’d need to save before getting a mortgage. Activities like these were a real eye-opener for the students. The sites I was directed to were very good, and the activities were really beneficial.

4. What life skills do you think teenagers learn from content like

This?

They’re gaining a lot more life skills than we would have had 15-20 years ago. Back then, when I was first teaching this, it was all about reading from a book, which they couldn’t relate to. Now, when they can do it themselves, it’s much more relatable. For example, we get them to look up properties on MyHome.ie. They pick a house and we say, "This is your dream house. Now you have to figure out how much deposit you’re going to need and how much you’ll need from the bank. If you’re buying this on your own or with someone else, how will it work?" They are really shocked, but it’s a real eye-opener.

The other teacher, JP Foley, has his class do mini projects on buying a house. They start from saving their money all the way to actually buying the house. It’s a real eye-opener for them and a very good skill to have.

5. How have you tailored the module to different learning style or

learning difficulties?

Well, I suppose a lot of the students we have in TY I might have already taught in junior cycle, so I kind of know their level. A lot of the work we do is in groups. When forming groups, I might pair a stronger student with a not-so-strong student or someone who may not be as interested. Sometimes, we mix up the groups so we don't have four really strong students together; we might split them up to balance the groups.

I find case studies or projects that suit their learning styles. Some students love doing a PowerPoint presentation, while others prefer making a poster. Giving them the choice is a really good approach. We do CBAs in second and third year, and before, I would have said everyone should do a PowerPoint. However, that doesn’t suit everybody. Some students now prefer to do a poster, some like to give a presentation, and some might make a little booklet. It's about giving them the choice and tailoring it to what suits their learning style.

6. What are you planning to do next year?

We have the choice of how we want to tailor the course. Before, I would always do TY mini-companies, but sometimes it’s hard to motivate students to do a mini-company. Some years, we have fantastic mini-companies, and other years it's more challenging. This year, we mixed it up by doing a little bit of enterprise and a little bit of business from your book. I tailored it towards the Leaving Certificate Business course because that’s what I teach. We don’t do economics in our school, but another teacher teaches accounting in TY. We discuss and decide what courses we want to offer for the next year.

Next year, I’m thinking of focusing on business enterprise again because I believe it’s beneficial for the students to have a foundation in subjects like taxation and enterprise before they start their Leaving Certificate studies. These are topics they’ll encounter in their exams. I haven’t completely finalized the course yet, but I’m working on it.

7. What advice do you give to teachers planning to teach this next year

for the first time?

It would depend on the group you have and how you plan to approach it. I would suggest using the book to introduce topics through the introductory parts and fantastic case studies, especially those that are very personal, like a guy going on holiday or a girl setting up her own business. Start with these, but also get the students actively involved by using the activities.

Incorporate other things like mini projects, such as coming up with their dream home. Use the book as a tool while also integrating your own material. I found that there was amazing stuff in it, but some of the content might have been a bit too difficult for my TY students, depending on the group.

I had two groups this year. The first group was more academic, and I was able to use the extra questions at the end of the chapters with them. For the second group, I focused more on the activities and some of the basic questions. I chopped and changed between chapters rather than strictly following the order, adapting based on what we were doing.

Unlike JP, who is an accountant and focuses more on figures, I concentrate on business, marketing, HR, and enterprise. There was plenty in the book for me to use in these areas, helping students navigate and learn along the way.

8. As a school, are you involved in any other financial literacy

Initiatives?

We've got a school bank at the moment, which JP is currently setting up. We've done this in the past and have entered our class into quizzes and similar activities before. We're always open to trying anything new that comes our way. The school bank is probably the main initiative we've undertaken.

All of these activities provide valuable learning experiences. It's interesting to hear about what's happening in schools around the country and to learn about opportunities available from industry, government, and other sources to engage with them along the way.

9. What do you think is misunderstood about young people?

Well, I think sometimes we're always telling students what to do. As a teacher, I realize that we don't always ask them what they want to do. We're often suggesting and directing, but one thing I've noticed, especially this year, is that we tend to focus on the more forthcoming students—the ones who always put up their hands and volunteer. However, over the past couple of years, I've learned that there are students who want to participate but are too shy or nervous to put themselves forward.

Now, I give students the opportunity to get involved by asking them directly if they want to participate in activities. Many won't put up their hands, but they can send me a message on Teams if they want to be involved. For example, I'm involved in promoting a show at the school. When I asked who wanted to help with the promotion, all the usual suspects volunteered, which was great. However, a few hours later, I received messages from at least four or five other students who also wanted to participate. They were eager to be involved but were too shy to speak up initially.

I think sometimes we misunderstand their silence as a lack of interest. I know from personal experience that being shy in school can mean missing out on opportunities because I couldn't bring myself to volunteer. So, I believe we need to give quieter students more chances to participate. This is something I've been working on—encouraging those who wouldn't necessarily put themselves forward to get involved.

10. Finally, when you hear "they should teach that in schools", what is

your reaction?

Well, I have a few thoughts here. I think what you have in your book is so important, especially about how to save. I'm always telling the students, "Look, you've got your reward cards now; open up your little pockets or whatever they are and save two a week. You wouldn't believe how much that's going to add up." Practical advice like that is crucial, as well as warnings about credit cards in college. I tell them not to get a credit card to avoid getting tied up in debt.

They also learn life skills in home economics, like how to turn on a cooker, use a washing machine, and understand how bills work. Additionally, skills like filling out application forms and staying organized in life are vital. I sometimes spend a double class organizing folders, and I always tell students that being organized will make things so much easier. For example, in our Leaving Certificate business course with 31 chapters, each student has a folder with 31 plastic pockets. Everything we do goes into the corresponding pocket. Once they get organized, they find things much easier.

Teaching students to be organized from first year would make a big difference. Some students, both boys and girls, are all over the place. Organization is something I'm passionate about. We could spend a day sorting out lockers and explaining how to organize books into different folders.

Another important area is etiquette—how to greet people, how to treat people, and how to say thank you. We emphasize to our students to thank their teacher when leaving a class. It doesn't cost anything. When we call the roll, it's "Yes, Miss." It's not about making them do it, but starting this in first year instills good habits. It's about creating a positive culture, not forcing it.

I also stress that how they treat others is more memorable than their grades. I might not remember their exact grades, but I will remember what type of person they are. If they are kind and treat people well, that's what stands out.

Cultivating your Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

caitlin@hayesculleton.com (Caitlin Maher) — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 13:54:48 GMT

Do you think about how you cultivate and contribute to your entrepreneurial ecosystem?

Here are a couple of questions to think about:

��Are you availing of the financial supports available to you? At the Local Enterprise Offices they offer the Trading Online Voucher, priming grant, business expansion grant and several others.

✅Have you applied for non-financial grants e.g. a consultant who can work with your business to help it become more lean, minimise it's carbon footprint, put automation in place or have some sessions with a mentor?

��‍♀️How are you getting exposure to new customers? The TAME grant can help you with the costs of exhibiting at a trade show, #EnterpriseEuropeNetwork can help you find companies in other parts of the world to distribute your product and a trade mission can help you explore an export market.

��How are you building connections? Growing your network helps with ideas, facilitating introductions, resolving problems and is enjoyable! What events are you going to? Do you follow up (with substance) on LinkedIn afterwards? Do you share updates and insights on social media along the way? For example, the InterTradeIreland Venture Capital Conference is free to attend on Wednesday 5th March at the Titanic in Belfast (and the link to register is https://lnkd.in/e6u9qpMS ). Check out Network Ireland , your local Chambers Ireland and IIBN - Irish International Business Network for more ideas.

��‍�� How are you connecting with universities? For example, we have an Innovation Partnership with ADAPT Centre . If you're interested in meeting researchers, check out Knowledge Transfer Ireland (KTI) , Ulster University Business School and TU Dublin Enterprise Engagement .

��How can you expand your ecosystem with your other interests? For example, I was in Dubai two weeks ago and attended the CFA Society Emirates Annual Forecasting Dinner, an Irish Business Network Dubai event and delivered an online SavvyTeenAcademy event from Haibu Space at Abu Dhabi Mall. I'm also an AwakenHub Big Sister.

�� Are you aware of how the government is helping you build your ecosystem? The Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland has Embassies and Consulates all over the world (with incredibly helpful people like Peter Ryan ☘ leading them) and Enterprise Ireland has offices dotted all over the globe.

��️How do you let others help you build your knowledge through podcasts and newsletters? I turn to Helen Thompson for geopolitics and Sahil Bloom for productivity and mindset.

��How do you turn to your ecosystem to solve your problems? If you want to raise money, sell your business or figure out how to implement AI in your processes.

⛓️Do you leverage how your supply chain is evolving? Airtable , ClickUp and Slack all form part of our tech stack and our business improves as they do all the time.

Danske Bank Conference

caitlin@hayesculleton.com (Caitlin Maher) — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:52:57 GMT

I hosted a panel discussion featuring Conor Lambe , Stephen Kelly and John Paul Coleman, CFA, MCSI about the Northern Irish economy on behalf of Danske Bank UK in association with Ballymena Chamber of Commerce and Industry .

Check out the full podcast at https://lnkd.in/ey8-wUYW and here is a summary of insights:

�� Inflation is at 4.6% and is putting pressure on both household budgets and businesses.

��‍��Unemployment is at 2.1%, which is lower than the UK and long term average of NI.

�� Growth rate has been modest and is likely to be the same next year.

��The Northern Irish economy has been incredibly resilient and there are lots of businesses that are very busy.

��‍♀️ It’s important to be cautious in thinking the battle with inflation is won. Markets could be expecting interest rate decreases sooner than central banks plan to give them.

�� Check out “Knowledge Transfer Partnerships” with Ulster University , Innovation Boost with InterTradeIreland and Innovation Vouchers with Invest Northern Ireland .

�� Higher wages are keeping demand high and the labour market tight. Fiscal policy is also tight across the UK.

��‍♀️ Imagine if you couldn’t recruit anybody else from this day forward, what would you do? Improve the “stickiness” of your company? Cultivate your employer brand? Invest in automation?

�� Since inflation and thus interest rates are likely higher in the UK, sterling is likely to be stronger than some benchmark currencies too, as we look toward 2024.

�� Do you have your own financial house in order? Your succession plan? Your pension? Your next learning and development adventure?

⚠️ The three risks we face are inflation, political uncertainty and skills shortages.

�� The uncertainties that 2024 pose are volatility, war, geopolitical tensions, (price and wage) inflation and unknown unknowns.

�� As you look towards 2024, think about your decision-making and check out Annie Duke ’s “Thinking in Bets” to help frame your decisions more effectively.

Thank you sincerely to Clare Megarry and Tom WIGGINS for organising a super occasion. It was a joy to work with you all and thank you for giving me the opportunity to do so.

Thinking Breakfast

caitlin@hayesculleton.com (Caitlin Maher) — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 12:43:44 GMT

I often talk about my “thinking breakfasts” and in this video, I explain why I do them, the process I’ve honed, the things I do in them and what happens when I don’t.

In particular, I talk about:

��️ how I started them as my New Years Resolution in 2021.

⏳ how I have “found” the time for them every day

��the discipline I need to have so that I use them for “Deep Work” (a book recommended to me by Deirdre Lyons ) and the “important and not urgent” work on the Eisenhower matrix

✅ the things I think about including sales proposals, presentations, new ideas and conversations (eg a recent one with Maria Cronin about diversity and inclusion initiatives for young people)

�� when I do and don’t use my phone

��‍♀️how I use “ Rocky.ai ” to help me when I don’t have anything or too much to think about

☕️ how I sometimes have them with other people (eg Carol Glynn FCA this morning at Brunch & Cake in hashtag

#Dubai ) and sometimes people ask me to think for them

��️ the deficit that happens when I don’t do this

�� how this is an example of an “Atomic Habit” (a book by James Clear )

�� why I always write on a napkin

I hope this is of use to you too.

The Big Bang Conference

caitlin@hayesculleton.com (Caitlin Maher) — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 12:00:08 GMT

I was a keynote speaker at the hashtag #BigBang23 conference with Galway Executive Skillnet speaking about the microeconomic decisions we take in business and planning for 2024.

As you wind this year down and look to the opportunity ahead, here are some things to consider:

�� think about your tasks in terms of what do you have to do, want to do and are able to do?

Have to and want to, but not able to needs up skilling and support
Want to and able to, but not need to leads to “sugar tasks” and are ripe for procrastination
Able to and have to, but not want to can be unpleasant and needs re-thinking!

��Do this with your team to understand where others are at and how to amend their job.

�� What did you learn this year? What did you expect to happen and what surprised you? Why did it surprise you? What can you learn from that to sharpen the saw?

�� What do you need to let go of in the year ahead? (There were two things in particular for me in 2023).

�� What path will you take in 2024 (and I tell you about my choice in the video)?

- the road that is familiar
- the road less travelled
- the road of your wildest dreams
- the road to safety
- the road of something you’ve always wanted to try
- the road that those you value suggest

�� if you want to empower others, connect them out with the outcomes and don’t shield them from the consequences. Let them feel the kudos of getting this right and the impact of their mistakes.

�� if you want to grow your profit, be aware of your profit margins per product and put your marketing into the ones that are most profitable.

�� if you’re looking for more opportunities for innovation, connect with a university (through Enterprise Ireland’s hashtag

#InnovationPartnership , InterTradeIreland’s hashtag

#InnovationBoost and hashtag

#InnovationVouchers )

�� if you’re looking to improve cashflow, be timely in sending out invoices and follow up promptly with the sentence I mention in the video.

�� a BIG shoutout to Ellen Glynn! I spoke about decision making frameworks in my session and she shared her story of making decisions when her and her cousin’s life depended on it. She is a beacon of resilience, humility and joy. It was a delight to share the stage with her and her Dad in Galway.

Thank you so sincerely to Margaret Cox Val Baynes FCCA and all involved in a day that was truly a “Big Bang”.

Teen Talk Conference

caitlin@hayesculleton.com (Caitlin Maher) — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 10:32:00 GMT

It was a real delight to MC the highly impactful hashtag #TeenTalk conference for teenagers across Cork in association with Cork County Council .

Sheila Naughton , Niamh McDonnell and Karen Weekes spoke at the event and I interviewed Billy Holland .

Here is a summary of the takeaways:

��️ It’s so important to reach out and talk to somebody.

�� Be aware of and spot the signs; whether that’s with yourself or others

�� Find your passion.

��‍♀️Self-discipline comes from motivation.

�� Note what you’re grateful for, the things that you like about yourself, the words that describe how you want to feel and set an intention for each day.

�� If you’re waiting for, or want, an intervention to happen because something is going on in your life that you don’t like, it’s in your power to make decisions.

��‍�� Breathe.

��‍♀️ Exercise.

��‍♀️ You can change and manage your mindset.

�� Look for role models that make you want to emulate some element of their character.

�� Be authentic to everyone as you don’t know who is looking up to you.

�� Not everybody is able to talk about mental health in the same way. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.

�� Instagram stories and question stickers are super for gleaning feedback and insights from teenagers.

Thank you to Niall, Jenny O' Flynn and all involved for making the day a success. Thank you also for the opportunity to work with you on this really important event.

Lessons from STEM TY Challenge

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 14:01:46 GMT

Today, we had our #STEMTYChallenge Showcase! We (at SavvyTeenAcademy and Active Peers AI ) are honoured to lead and deliver this initiative that offers 100 students an opportunity to be matched with a mentor in 11 sponsoring companies to produce a video called “A Day in the Life of STEM”.

If you want to lead wn outreach to young people, here are some elements that can make a real difference:

1. Make it scalable and accessible through a combination of live drop-in sessions and byte-sized self-directed learning.

2. Create a path towards the final outcome with milestones so that everybody can see where they’re at, where they need to be and what they need to do to bridge the gap.

3. Creativity happens when guidelines and parameters are clear so that creative energy can be funnelled in the right direction!

4. Relationships are so important with every single stakeholder and stakeholders group. We used Instagram stories and chat to hear our teenagers’ feedback. We had a dedicated Support form for everybody. We had regular calls with our sponsor companies. We used WhatsApp with teachers. It’s critical to meet people where they’re at and listen to what they want.

5. If you want to make real learning happen, connect your learners to the outcomes of their actions and decisions. Let them feel the benefits of effort and the consequences of otherwise.

6. Learn from every customer interaction and create a process whereby you can incorporate that learning into workflows and future touchpoints.

7. Impact is both quantitative and qualitative. In this case, we had offered this opportunity to 100 students in 10 schools with 24 mentors across 7 drop in sessions, 2 in-person sessions while each team had 3 mentor meetings with 1 site visit! The qualitative impact is the change in our teenagers’ perspectives about careers in STEM, the skills they developed, the people they met and the growth they experienced.

8. Be hungry for feedback several times along the way (rather than wait until it’s over!).

9. Have a clear vision for what you want this outreach to be and ensure your participants know when they have arrived at the destination you want to lead them towards.

10. Responding to queries and feedback is so important. Further, heighten your radar towards non-engagement. Figure it out, root it out, communicate and be excited about turning it around.

8 life lessons learnt from Susan's time in Australia

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 13:45:21 GMT

I've been in Australia for the past three weeks and had some time to think, reflect, read etc and wanted to share 8 life lessons that may be of use to you.

1. Work life balance is something so many of us struggle with but when it comes down to it, it has to be only dependent on what it means to you and those that matter to you. I talk about what it has meant for me and how I've handled it while on this (unique!) experience.

2. A place to me, is all about the people in it.

3. I've been working on the skill focused on decision making this year. Thre books have really helped "The Decision Maker" by Dennis Bakke, "Thinking in Bets" by Annie Duke and "The Decision Book: Fifty models for strategic thinking" by Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tschäppeler .

4. I talk about when I do and don't find time to read (but love when I do!). Other books I've been reading are "Atomic Habits" and the classic "How to Win Friends and Influence People".

5. Exercise is just so useful, pivotal and helpful in Business"

6. Be curious for what others can teach you. For example, one of our Savvy Teens said to me recently "One Day or Day One". It really put me thinking! Diversity can be hard and wonderful all at the same time.

7. Let serendipity do it's thing and plan with the understanding that lots of positive, unexpected things are likely to happen to help you on your way. (Thank you �� Trena Blair, GAICD, CEO, Scaling Businesses into the USA for your insight on this!)

8. It's ok to feel fear ... but do it anyway.

What exactly does an economist do and how does it relate to what I do in school?

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 12:47:17 GMT

Check out the list of ways an economist would use every single chapter in "Positive Economics":

Economics as a Way of Thinking: An economist would look into economic history to solve problems, make decisions, and predict future trends.
Economics Scarcity and Choice: They would help companies make decisions about how to spend their budgets to make the best use of them bearing in mind consumer trends, new technologies and value for money.
Economic, Social and Environmental Sustainability: Economists would assess the impact of economic activities on social and environmental sustainability including the risk of stranded assets and the impact of climate change.
The Market Economy: They would study how supply and demand interact in a market economy to determine prices and quantities of goods, services and college courses!
Elasticity: Economists would calculate price elasticity of demand and supply to understand how changes in price affect quantity demanded or supplied including cigarettes on Budget Day.
Costs: They would analyse the costs of production and how they influence business decisions.
Government Intervention in the Market: Economists would evaluate the effects of government policies and regulations on the market including how to encourage people into the workforce, get out of a poverty trap.
Market Structures: They would examine different market structures such as perfect competition, monopoly, oligopoly, and monopolistic competition. Companies need to find their "unique selling point" when competing against other businesses.
Labour Market: Economists would analyse the dynamics of the labour market including the impact of AI on the work people do, the skills needed for the future as well as how to reskill those who find themselves with less to do in the workplace.
Market Failure: They would identify situations where markets fail and where people aren't incentivised to pay for public goods e.g. public lighting, but also figure out how to use things like street lamps in a way that can help prevent crime, record accidents and predict bus needs.
National Income: Economists would measure national income and its components to understand the economic performance of a country. Also, they can figure out what's driving the economy and how sustainable those drivers are.
Fiscal Policy and the Budget Framework: They would analyse the impact of government spending and taxation on the economy. Also, they would help make decisions about how to put more money back in people's pockets, encourage more people into the workforce and create the environment where people are doing more lifelong learning.
Employment and Unemployment: Economists would study the causes and consequences of employment and unemployment. Further, they would suggest solutions for people who have been in long term unemployment including job opportunities, retraining and confidence.
Monetary Policy and Price Level: They would evaluate the effects of monetary policy on inflation and economic activity. They would look into the nooks and crannies of inflation so that they can understand what is really affecting it so that they can suggest measures that can make a difference.
The Financial Sector: Economists would study the role of banks and other financial institutions in the economy to figure out how to create the right environment for mortgages and housing
Economic Growth and Development: They would analyse the factors that contribute to economic growth and development around the world
Globalisation: Economists would study the effects of globalisation on economies and societies including Irish businesses/
International Trade and Competitiveness: They would examine the benefits and costs of international trade, and assess a Ireland's competitiveness in the global market.

Future of Talent 2023

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 11:14:55 GMT

I was MC on Thursday for FRS Recruitment 's "Future of Talent" conference at Croke Park . It was a super morning, full of insights, and here is a summary:

Ireland is 8x wealthier than 40 years ago.

➡ The future is wealthier, faster, greyer, happier, greener, wetter, slower and .... similar.

�� Ireland has the highest life expectancy in the EU.

�� We could have "renewable energy dominance" in Ireland if we had "the ambition of our grandparents" who built Ardnacrusha.

(Thank you Stephen Kinsella )

��‍�� 77% of organisations have a skills shortage.

�� If we shift away from "job titles and qualifications as a proxy for skills" and towards hiring for skills, talent pools can expand by 10x.

��‍�� Before you integrate new HR tech, fix your structure and become more organised.

�� Look at the impact of the "EU Pay Transparency Directive"

(Thank you Johnny Campbell , Social Talent )

�� 85% of economic company value comes from intangible assets and your people are so crucial.

❓ How do we get out of the way of our people to let them unleash their creativity?

3️⃣ We need strategic thinking, change orientation and the ability to inspire and motivate others in our people.

�� "You said, we did" conversations lead to greater trust.

➿ Fast, tight, effective feedback loops are critical.

�� People want to know why their job is important, to be given autonomy and opportunity for growth and development.

(Thank you Kevin Green )

�� 1/5 people would move for a salary increase of 10%

♎ Performance calibration can be a great assistance to performance appraisal. "Good people want to know where they stand".

��‍�� make it easy for new applicants to apply. Test out the UX and ensure you communicate when they can expect feedback.

�� Employers both want their people to come back into the office while knowing they can be more productive at home. The right balance needs to be struck.

(Thank you Lynne McCormack and Laura Doyle )

�� Diversity and inclusion is going to matter more and more over the years.

�� Reflection on what does it mean to do the job you do? Encourage your staff to do the same.

��‍�� Stakeholder management is important in sport, in business, in work and everywhere!

�� Communicate clearly, in a timely way and empathetic towards your audience.

(Thank you Colin Donnery and Hannah Tyrrell )

Finally, thank you so much to Colin Donnery , Lynne McCormack , Joe Lord and Erin Whittle for giving me the opportunity to work with you again this year.

Preparing for the Future: Strategies for Building a Resilient Toolkit

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 11:11:24 GMT

I was MC today for the #PreparingForTheFuture conference with Waterford Chamber Skillnet , County Tipperary Chamber Skillnet and Carlow Kilkenny Skillnet at Mount Congreve Gardens .

Here is a summary of insights:

Macro:
��‍�� 2/3 of people who work in the State are employed by an SME.

��‍�� 12% of people engage in lifelong learning in Ireland (and that is half the rate in Sweden).

�� 9/10 people want to learn a new skill in the near future.

�� There is a plethora of state funded supports available for businesses and the Supporting SME tool ( https://lnkd.in/ej62FaES ) can help navigate.

Finance
�� Ask yourself where your last ten sales came from and whether your marketing efforts are being invested wisely based on this snapshot.

�� Do you know your profit margins on each of your products and services? Do you need to make changes to pricing, budgets, resources or strategy based on this?

�� What are your financial goals (in relation to revenue, profit, cashflow, marketing budgets, product lines and/or scale)?

Sustainability
�� Sustainability offers the opportunity to be a differentiator in the market with customers, staff, stakeholders and senior management.

��‍��‍�� It's important for intergenerational justice and can set the stage for businesses to become more lean, efficient and environmentally effective.

�� "It's hard to go green when you're in the read" and there must be consideration given that sustainability costs money.

�� Communicate internally and tell your story with your industry, society and the world.

Resilience:

�� A team needs clarity in its communication, trust, integrity and a leader who understands their role.

�� Resilience is about "bounce back ability" as well as the ability to deal with change.

�� People with purpose don't do drama. They remember who they area and why they're there.

�� What is your "mistake culture" and do you give yourself the same leeway?

�� Be open, honest and get stuck in!

��‍♀️ Learn how to breathe properly.

Thank you sincerely to each of our speakers Paul Healy , Ray Goggins , Níall Ó Murchú , Dr. Amanda Greer , Mike Shields and Ann Crowley for sharing their insights with us as well as Denise Whitmore for capturing the moments as the morning unfolded.

A particular shout out to Ashling Ward , Louise Haughney and Tommie Ryan for giving me the opportunity to be part of the occasion today.

Insights from Fair Seas Conference on World Ocean Day

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 03:45:17 GMT

Happy Marine Protected Area Day!

On #WorldOceanDay , I had the delight to MC the Fair Seas conference in Cork. It was an output-focused, diverse, inspiring and realistic set of conversations envisioned expertly by Aoife O' Mahony . Here is a summary of insights (aided by the uber-talented Robyn Deasy ).

�� 97% of life in the world is in the ocean

�� 30% growth of listed companies at Euronext in the blue economy since 2015

�� the market cap of the blue economy in Europe is equivalent to the GDP of Belgium

��‍�� 1.4 million people employed in the sector across Europe

�� We should take a "not everything, not everywhere, not all at once" approach, Ussif Rashid Sumaila

�� The aim is to get Ireland to #30x30 i.e. 30% of Ireland's ocean area would be a Marine Protected Area by 2030.

�� MPAs are less expensive, require less maintenance, and have more positive outcomes than one might expect", Mark Costello

��‍♀️ "It's critical to take care of the people affected by decisions you make including the fishing community, small retailers etc. The price can't be put on the shoulders who can least handle it. The process is as important as the final result", Valerie Hickey

�� "12% of the EU ocean area is MPA protected and that rises to 15% in the US and 24% in Latin America", Brian MacSharry

�� "We need to work towards implementing the legislation beyond its current draft and consider the impact of that in every way including these ten asks https://lnkd.in/eKjHuCqZ ", Donal Griffin

�� "There is both a massive challenge and opportunity now", Sylvia Earle

�� "Political will is a renewable energy resource", Al Gore

��‍�� "Climate justice considers the impact of the actions taken to counteract climate change and we need to bring young people into the conversation", Eimear Manning, M.Sci.

�� "There are lots of international best practise", Joe Richards

�� "The fishing community needs to be listened to like every other stakeholder", Siobhan Vye

�� "MPAs lead to greater fishing stocks", Adrian Gahan

��️‍��️ "Harnessing stakeholder engagement involves bringing people with you, encouraging everybody to share what they want, asking "who is not at the table", uncovering roots of distrust, determining what can be done to catalyse the conversation and following up on actions", Oonagh Duggan , Bernie Connolly , Niall Mac Allister , Kieran Healy and Niall McManus

�� "We need to learn, legislate, measure and protect", Micheal O'Cinneide

Thank you Aoife O' Mahony , Donal Griffin , Jack O'Donovan Trá , Alanagh Tennanty , Margaret O' Regan , Jenny O' Flynn for the absolute joy and pleasure to work with you and giving me the opportunity to be part of this occasion.

Access to Finance Conference Summary

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 14:16:20 GMT

I was MC for the 4th Annual Access to Finance conference at the Guildhall in Derry-Londonderry with British Business Bank, Invest Northern Ireland and InterTradeIreland. They have a superb format to maximise the value of the audience experience. After the speakers, panellists and networking, there is time for each table to have a conversation and identify their key takeaways, actions and introductions.The conference was split between (alternative) debt and equity financing as well as good governance, NEDs and networks.

A summary:

�� You need a “personal survival plan” when taking on debt funding as your own personal stress test.

�� It’s critical to know the narrative behind your numbers i.e. gross and net margins, plans for sales, an understanding of costs, the concentration risk in your business etc.

�� Find a funder who can support you today and as your journey progresses.

�� Alternative debt is when you borrow from a company outside of a traditional bank. Generally, these providers take more risk, may offer unsecured loans, could include asset finance, invoice discounting as well as government agencies or social enterprises.

�� Don’t wait until you need money to look for it. Start building relationships early.

�� Know your TAM (Total Addressable Market). Be realistic about how much of the market you want to pursue and be able to back it up.

�� Be aware of, and curious about, the softer side of equity investment including the network, advice, access to customers and talent etc.

�� If there are skills missing from your senior team or you find yourself always working in, and not on, the business, consider bringing in a Non-Executive Director.

��‍♀️ Build your network by getting out and meeting people.

�� Remember that profitable sales (“bootstrapping”) is a route too! Be well informed about making good financial decisions with your own resources.

�� You don’t have to have it all figured out on your own. There are lots and lots of organisations ready to help you.

�� It can be a good idea to reach out to a broker to find and then help you navigate the right options for you.

⏳ There is a time to turn to friends and other businesses for advice and another to bring in a paid professional.

�� Accountants and solicitors keep up to date with the array of finance opportunities in the market.

��Finance providers need to be upfront about costs. Hidden fees hurt trust.

�� Debt and equity can be tailored for businesses at different stages.

�� If you would like to be an angel investor, the starting off point can be as low as £2,000 with AwakenHub

Thank you to Shane O'Hanlon, Susan McKane, Patrick D., Anna Connor and Susan Nightingale for the opportunity to work with you again. It's a real joy.

Thank you to Ryan Williams, John Metcalfe, Elizabeth McCrory, Mary McKenna, MBE Larissa Feeney FCA, Audrey Osborne, Michael Mc Quillan, Julie Gray, Claudine Owens, Mark Johnston, Rhona Barbour, Sean O'Hare for sharing their insights with us.

Insights about the Northern Irish Economy and Interest Rates

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 12:54:15 GMT

I interviewed Emma Murray , Conor Lambe and John Paul Coleman, CFA, MCSI this morning at an event hosted by Danske Bank UK at PwC UK in Belfast.

(After I give you a tour of this wonderful city), here is a summary of insights shared:

��Belfast is a top ranking city for work life balance, jobs, housing, transport, income distribution and safety.

�� Food inflation is high while energy prices have stabilised. Falling inflation (from its peak at 11%) still means rising prices but just at a slower pace.

��The markets are pricing interest rates in the UK to go to 5.75% but watch the five year swap rate for a longer term average.

�� A more cashless environment leads to money moving faster, a more data and more understanding of “ability to repay debt”.

��‍⚕️There is a lot of competition for the talent in Northern Ireland with some skills mismatches. There is a focus on #EDI , higher wages and multiple careers in one’s life.

�� the NI economy has been more resilient than expected with 2.4% unemployment but it’s a challenging business environment

��Sterling is at a 12 month high against the dollar and euro with an expectation for it to go higher. This is absorbing sone imported inflation.

�� Alternative and traditional methods of finance can work together as one can help the other. They’re often complimentary rather than in competition.

⚙️NI is driven to be resilient, has a tight feedback loop with its universities and offers dual access to UK and EU markets.

�� Consumer sentiment is weak but growing.

�� We have to become more comfortable with volatility and acknowledge we’re dealing with a different economy and financial market than before.

�� AI is in our supply chains now. We need to learn how to both prompt it and tailor it for our purposes.

Thank you to Clare Megarry , Robert McCullough and Simon Boyd for giving me the opportunity to work with you this morning.

Distinguishing News from Noise in the Stock Market

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 11:56:14 GMT

In yesterday's episode of my #SavvyInvestors at VectorVest, Inc show, I had a conversation with Glenn Tompkins about "Distinguishing News from Noise in the Stock Market".

A summary of insights:

✅ Glenn's test for "news" is whether this information affects the earnings AND the long term of the company? He has 60 (!!) tabs open on his screen every day to determine what trends and stories are really making a difference.

�� My news "routine" is the Wall Street Breakfast podcast at Seeking Alpha, "The Real Yield", presented by Katie Greifeld at Bloomberg and live earnings calls at listed companies.

�� Glenn says that sometimes earnings can contain noise if the focus is on how a company missed an expectation by 2c when the real story is the billions it generated in revenue. (I mention Skilsoft here where the stock fell by over 20% the week of its earnings release and is up 27% in the past month).

�� In my opinion, earnings calls are where you get real business, financial and industry analysis insight. Naturally, management is going to paint a positive picture but the analyst Q&As really dig into the data.

��‍�� I asked Glenn which news story he initially perceived as noise, but realised it was real news. He said "AI" and how it seemed to "come out of nowhere". However, it's been there for years and #ChatGPT was the trigger. He is looking at the knock on effects on other industries including supercomputers, data analysis, software etc. He mentioned a range of stocks that he's watching.

�� We talked about the #metaverse in the context of the above and I quoted Jennifer Vessels who says "the metaverse isn't dying. The hype about it is".

�� Glenn likes to find stocks that makes money quarter over quarter, year over year. As VectorVest, Inc calls it, a stock with high "relative safety and relative value".

�� I point out the importance of looking at other markets to get insights about stocks e.g. the bond market (i.e. the cost of borrowing for companies and governments).

�� The stock market is more than a binary place where you make money if stocks go up and lose if stocks go down. Self-awareness is important. Glenn is happy to short stocks (borrow stocks, sell them and buy them back at a (potentially) lower price) whereas I don't. I prefer options where I can get paid to wait to buy the stocks I'm interested in.

�� We discussed the big conversation of the day, namely interest rates! The European Central Bank has raised rates 7 consecutive times now. The Federal Reserve Board has increased rates 10 consecutive times and at the fastest pace in 40 years with optionality built into the last press release. The Bank of England has pushed rates up 12 consecutive times at this point. The Debt Ceiling conversation seems to be coming to an end (until 2025 anyway) in the US while inflation is higher than central bankers want in many parts of the world.

Oakfield Trust Social Enterprise Conference Summary

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Thu, 25 May 2023 14:54:08 GMT

A summary of the insights from the Oakfield Trust #SocialEnterprise conference I MC’d at The Wood Quay Venue in Dublin today:

�� . A social enterprise is often focused on achieving sustainable profit as well as having social impact.

�� . There is a lot that social and traditional enterprise can learn from and teach to each other.

❓ It’s important to ask who isn’t in the room, whose voice isn’t being listened to and what silent barrier is holding back progress when moderating a panel

�� Learn how to tell the stories of impact as their depth can’t be measured with a number.

�� If you were to adopt “curiosity” as a value, what would a curiosity strategy look like?

�� How can you show, graphically and visually, your social (or other) impact?

�� Focus on why you’re doing what you’re doing and the problem you’re solving rather than what you’re doing.

�� There is a lot of social impact potential in your supply chain. Embed it into your procurement process. Check out buysocial.ie for a list of social enterprises.

�� Respect and meet people where they’re at when it comes to the “social” side of this. Don’t impose what you think the solutions are but bring people with you. Some ideas as right but the delivery is wrong. Take care of the extraordinary people on the frontline.

�� Investors are often missing in the social enterprise conversation. There needs to be broader language around return on investment. Look to the long term with hybrid models of finance.

�� Are we only reacting to problems that have been caused by inequality? What are those root causes and how can they be prevented?

��Data is going to be released soon about income and employment levels, the number of social enterprises across Ireland as well as those areas that need light and oxygen.

�� The EU has a target of 10% of GDP to be driven by social enterprises.

��‍�� There is a need for directors who can add value, engage and understand the challenges and opportunities facing the sector so as to develop the space.

⚖ A balance needs to be struck between making that impact as well as measuring and showcasing the impact.

�� New instruments are needed for scaling social enterprises from financing to lifting turnover limits to capacity building.

��️‍��️ The social entrepreneur must also think about an exit strategy, how to reward staff and paying bonuses and pensions as they’re rarely discussed at the start or any part of the journey.

The Circular Flow of Income in the Irish Economy

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Thu, 04 May 2023 08:39:18 GMT

I remember thinking "The Circular Flow of Income" explains so much about how the economy works!

In this Positive Economics webinar, I focused on Alan's story:

Let's get a quick snapshot of the theory:

The circular flow of income refers to the continuous movement of money between households, businesses, and the government. In Ireland, this flow is driven by consumer spending, investment, and government spending. Injections refer to the amount of money that is added to the economy through investment, government spending, and exports. On the other hand, leakages refer to the amount of money that is taken out of the economy through savings, taxes, and imports.

Households are the primary source of consumer spending. They purchase goods and services from businesses, which in turn generate revenue. This revenue is then used to pay wages and salaries to employees, who are also members of households. The cycle continues as these employees use their income to make purchases, creating a continuous flow of money.

Specifically, Alan spends his money by going to the pizzeria, while he earns money from working in the hotel.

Businesses also invest in capital goods, such as machinery and equipment, to increase production and efficiency. This investment creates jobs and generates income for households, further contributing to the circular flow of income.

Specifically, the entrepreneur needs spends his money by going to the pizzeria, while he earns money from working in the hotel. The entrepreneur who set up a pizzeria that Alan goes to would have utilised the four factors of production - land, labour, capital, and entrepreneurship - to establish her business.

Land: The entrepreneur would have needed a physical location to set up her pizzeria.
Labour: The entrepreneur would have hired employees to help run the pizzeria.
Capital: The entrepreneur would have needed funds to buy equipment and supplies, paying rent and utilities, and covering employee salaries. S
Entrepreneurship: The entrepreneur would have used her skills and knowledge to identify a gap in the market and create a different experience.

The government plays a role in the circular flow of income through its spending on public goods and services, such as education and healthcare. This spending creates jobs and income for households, while also providing essential services to the community. It funds this through collecting money through taxes.

We looked at how different governments tax incomes through https://salaryaftertax.com/

We also noted the news shared today that "Income tax receipts of €10.4 billion to the end of April were up 9.4 per cent or €894 million on the first four months of 2022. The Government collected income tax of almost €3.1 billion in April alone, which was up 12.5 per cent or €339 million on the sum recorded for April 2022."

We also examined the government's plans to spend €103.5 billion in 2023.

Financial institutions also play a role. Financial institutions such as banks, credit unions, and investment firms provide loans and other financial services to businesses and individuals. Additionally, they also offer savings accounts and other investment options that allow individuals to earn interest on their money.

Specifically, Alan saves about 20% of his earnings (which is similar to the average saver in Ireland at the end of 2022) and he may want to borrow to go travelling in the US in a few years.

Imports and exports play a crucial role in the circular flow of income. Imports refer to goods and services that are purchased from other countries, while exports refer to goods and services that are sold to other countries. Both imports and exports contribute to the overall flow of goods and services in the economy, but exports are an injection whereas imports are a leakage in the economy.

Ireland has been exporting more goods than it has been importing, as per the below graph from CSO . Specifically, in February 2023, Ireland has exported €17.2 billion while importing €11.9 billion worth of goods.

In the full Positive Economics webinar, we also talked about Marginal Propensity to Consume, transfer payments, differing economic behaviours around the world and shocks to the circular flow!

Check out the full episode on YouTube and join our mailing list to make sure you're automatically updated for the next one!

Instagram - A Case Study of the Four Factors of Production

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 11:35:01 GMT

Instagram offers a great example of the four factors of production. You can find the complete recording on the below YouTube link, and a brief summary in the post that follows.

To get started, here are some interesting details about the most downloaded app worldwide in 2022

Around 3 billion photos are shared on Instagram every day.
Posts with at least one hashtag average 6% more engagement .
More than half of Instagram captions & comments contain Emojis.
Instagram videos get over 2 times more engagement than Instagram photos.
The most popular hashtag on Instagram is #Love.
There were 5 million uploaded videos within the first 24 hours after Instagram announced the video feature in 2013.

In Positive Economics , we explain the four factors of production:

Let's take each one in turn:

Land : Land refers to the natural resources used in the production process. In the case of Instagram, the "land" could be seen as the physical infrastructure, such as the servers and data centres that store and transmit the images and videos posted by users. Instagram's parent company, Facebook, has invested heavily in building and maintaining this infrastructure to ensure that the platform can handle the massive amounts of data it generates every day.

Labour: Labour refers to the human effort and skills involved in the production process. Instagram employs a large number of engineers, designers, product managers, and other professionals who work to maintain and improve the platform. Additionally, there are millions of "independent contractors" or influencers who create content for Instagram, further contributing to the platform's production. As you scroll through your feed, you're providing the attention that's needed for the platform to work with advertisers and influencers.

Capital: Capital refers to the financial resources used in the production process. Instagram's parent company, Facebook, has invested heavily in the platform, spending billions of dollars on acquisitions, research and development, marketing, and other expenses. Instagram's business model also relies on advertising, which generates revenue for the company and allows it to invest in further development and growth.

As per Crunchbase , Instagram raised $57.5 million to build the app and the business before selling it to Facebook for $1 billion in 2012.

Enterprise: The founders saw an opportunity for bringing focusing on images from a smartphone into the world. First, they needed to raise money and build a software to scale. Next, they needed a marketing plan and business model to support that. Over the years, Instagram needed to be very reliable for it's users and innovative with new features at the same time.

Interestingly, in the latest Earnings Call with shareholders , Mark Zuckerberg noted:

Facebook and Instagram are shifting from being organized solely around people and accounts you follow to increasingly showing more relevant content recommended by our AI systems. This covers every content format -- which is something that makes our services unique -- but we're especially focused on short-form video since Reels is growing so quickly. I'm really proud of our progress here. Reels plays across Facebook and Instagram have more than doubled over the last year, while the social component of people resharing Reels has grown even faster and has more than doubled on both apps in just the last 6 months .

For more insights on "Diminishing Marginal Rates of Return", "economies of scale" as well as "long and short run" impacts, check out the full episode at

https://youtu.be/laWPH9mpotk

To be the first to hear about our upcoming webinars, events and articles, join our mailing list today: https://www.thepositiveeconomist.com/newsletter

Insights into BRAVE Leadership Masterclass

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 16:39:04 GMT

I led a very insight rich conversation today with Doug Parkin PFHEA as part of the BRAVE Leadership Masterclass series at Ulster University .

Here is a summary of insights:

��Bold leadership isn’t about being alone and aloof, but getting close to people.

��️Bold leaders say what needs to be said.

��Bold leaders deliver the present while shaping the future.

�� Genuine collaboration happens when people assert a position while genuinely wanting to problem solve together. This avoids the “Groan Zone”.

��‍♀️ Bold leaders show up, are present, tell the truth and let go of outcomes.

�� There needs to be a reasonable connection between who you are and what you do.

�� People are inspired by a dream and not a plan.

��️ An agile framework has a purpose, delivers impact on the short term, excites stakeholders and has a long term objective.

�� Use the “vision of… and vision for” exercise.

��Lead the “why”, manage the “what” and coach and develop the “how”.

�� Reward the brave mistake.

��Conscientious inaction happens if you withhold feedback from others (because of fear around a difficult conversation).

�� A successful “courageous conversation” happens when you say what’s at stake, how you feel and what could be done. End with clarity, commitment and compassion.

��Be accurate, brief, clear descriptive and singular.

��A leader without followers is simply going for a walk. Cultivate courageous followers.

Thank you so much to Doug Parkin PFHEA for sharing such a broad range of insights today as well as Elaine Fugard , Paul McCormack and Michael Shannon for giving me the opportunity to be part of this BRAVE Leadership Masterclass.

Money Mindset & Investing

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Thu, 23 Feb 2023 14:44:18 GMT

Last week, we ( Carol Glynn FCA Conscious Finance Coaching and VectorVest, Inc ) ran a finance retreat in #Dubai focusing on money mindset and investing.

Here are my observations on how people approach money differently in the #UAE , Carol’s great questions to challenge mindset and my own practical steps to think about when investing.

Of the people in our audience, unsurprisingly, nobody grew up in #Dubai . We hd a geographical mix from

�� USA
�� Lebanon
�� UK
�� Ireland
�� India
�� Spain

I was asked “which currency should I invest in?” I invited the audience to think about the currency in which they were earning their money, wanted to have assets in, where their employer was based and where they wanted to live in the future.

While indeed there aren’t income taxes in #Dubai and corporation tax for the moment, there can be very considerable setup costs with licenses etc (as I learned on a trade mission with London Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Enterprise Europe Network - London ).

Of course, if there isn’t a substantial tax base, there is likely to be very significant costs around health and education. Also, their discussion around “financial stability” takes on an entirely different meaning when there isn’t social welfare or state funded pensions.

Carol Glynn FCA asked sone great questions:

❓where have your developed your money mindset?
❓who and what has influenced that?
❓Are those perspectives still relevant?
❓What is a better name for a “rainy day fund”? (She calls it a #CashCushion )
❓How do you progress from a scarcity mindset to a millionaire mindset?
❓What do you tell yourself about wealth?
❓What is your attitude to debt?
❓What are your money blocks?

During my session on investing, I shared these practical steps forward.

��‍♀️ use a low-cost online broker and learn how to buy and sell logistically. It’s SUPER simple.

��‍♀️ the minimum amount you can invest really depends on how much you need to just for costs ie if you’re investing €1,000 and it’s costing you €10, that’s 1% of your capital. Work out your minimum that feels right.

��‍♀️ I asked everybody for a word that comes to mind when they think of investing and the most common ones were “growth”, “risk” and “uncertainty”. If you look over the long term, and I mean really long term, according to McKinsey & Company “since about 1800, stocks have consistently returned an average of 6.5 to 7.0 percent per year (after inflation)”.
Reference: https://lnkd.in/dg7bRAkD

��‍♀️ if you’re starting off and want something broad-based, low cost, diverse and “self-correcting”, then check out Global Exchange Traded Fund.

��‍♀️ if you want to invest in stocks, you need to have a set of criteria e.g. around earnings or dividends. VectorVest, Inc specializes in “value, safety and timing” for example.

��‍♀️ if you’re investing a pool of savings, an inheritance or pension, then use a tool to help with market timing e.g. VectorVest, Inc ’s “Confirmed Calls”.

Key Takeaways from a Leadership Masterclass at Ulster University

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Thu, 23 Feb 2023 14:41:30 GMT

I interviewed Bernadette Collins as part of the “BRAVE” #leadership masterclass at Ulster University . We focused on the “A” of “BRAVE”, namely “Authentic” leadership and I reflected on my key takeaways in this video.

For context, Bernie has been working in a Formula One environment for much of her career and thus, she has often had to make decisions “lap by lap” with seconds in between.

�� You rule yourself out of opportunities by not putting yourself forward.

�� I made a decision to walk away when “I had succeeded enough to park it”.

��‍♀️ The worst thing to do is not making a decision, in a direction, within the time allowed.

�� Go back over decisions and think about what led to the particularly good ones.

1️⃣ Don’t give up at the first answer.

�� Examine the decisions that others make.

➕ “A sum of the parts only works of the parts are a bit different…. If they’re all the same, then you’ve only one part”. #diversity

��Understand why people make the decisions they do (and I give an example of my experience of this in the video)

��Listen back to how you communicated with others and reflect on it.

(FYI Bernadette mentioned this when I interviewed her before for IoD Northern Ireland . It is an incredibly powerful technique. It’s uncomfortable and can really teach you a lot. I use Avoma to help me).

�� Show trust by taking the work that others have done and believe it. You can always review or reverse it afterwards. “What’s the worst that can happen?” can be effective for small and big decisions.

�� A real leader cultivates an environment where if they weren’t there, the team would still succeed.

�� Take the opportunities you’re given and if they’re not given, ask for them.

(This made me consider “what opportunities am I not giving to my team?” and “what opportunities am I not asking for?”)

�� Be curious to see a situation through the eyes of another person in your team. #Empathy

��If you’ve had a bad pit stop, start anew with the next one. Be careful and critical of what you’re carrying into your next decision.

Thank you so much to Paul McCormack , Elaine Fugard , Michael Shannon , Damian McAlister FCIPD and Paul Seawright OBE for giving me the opportunity to lead this masterclass and our next one is coming up soon!

A Case Study of Supply and Demand - How College Places are Distributed in Ireland

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Thu, 23 Feb 2023 11:05:52 GMT

Have you ever wondered how college places are distributed in Ireland?

During the latest Positive Economics webinar, I showcased how the CAO is a prime example of how supply meets demand through a market clearing "price" in Ireland today.

During this session I took our webinar audience through:

the supply of CAO places in Ireland
the demand function
the changes in demand for degree, diploma and cert courses
the fastest growing job categories in Ireland
the three tools in Excel to quickly analyse data
the single resource to find the right information about a job

Key takeaways:

1. v According to the CAO , 78,184 applicants for the next academic year by 1st February 2023. The Irish Times noted "college applications for traditional universities are, on average, down by 5-6 per cent and up by an equivalent proportion for technological universities" and "academics believe the decline is linked to factors like higher rents, travel costs and greater competition from technological universities".

2. In Positive Economics , we talk about the demand function consisting of the price of the good itself, the price of other goods, consumer income, consumers' expectations concerning future prices, consumer tastes of preferences, unplanned factors and government regulations.

3. According to CAO Media Stats , in 2022 57,296 people received an offer in Round One. 4 out of 5 people who applied for Level 8 courses received a Round One offer with one of their top three preferences. 98% of people who applied for Level 7/6 courses received one of their top three preferences.

4. According to CAO, the most significant increases and decreases in demand for Level 8 and Level 7/6 courses are:

5. Grade inflation of Leaving Cert points is particularly evident between 2019 and 2022 points. This is reflective of the "income" of the consumer and thus is naturally going to push up the "price" of getting into courses through higher points requirements.

For example, in 2019 , 1.4% of the 56,071 students scored over 600 points. A little over 1 out of 3 students scored over 400 points and 62.8% of students scored over 300 points.

In contrast, in 2022 , 5.5% of the 58,056 students scored over 600 points, More than 1 in 2 students scored 400 points and 75.1% of students scored over 300 points.

6. Sharon McCooey , Head of LinkedIn Ireland, was quoted in an Irish Times piece saying that "the five fastest growing green jobs between 2016 and 2021 were sustainability managers, wind turbine technicians, solar consultants, ecologists, and environmental health and safety specialists"

Indeed’s Pawel Adrjan says demand for healthcare roles – which was boosted by the pandemic – will persevere in the years ahead. “Since the pandemic we have seen consistent high demand across essential services such as healthcare – at the moment therapy, pharmacy and home care are particularly in demand,” he says. “When trying to predict a prosperous career path, one thing to look at is currently pressing problems or developing areas – environmental issues, socio economic development, digital connectivity – these can be a good predictor of where demand will lie.

7. The "HEAR and DARE" opportunities ensure that people who may not have the same chance to do their Leaving Cert and go through third level due to either economic disadvantage or disability have a better chance of succeeding.

8. Of course, there are always going to be unplanned factors whether that's a pandemic, inflation or other things that we don't expect.

Finally, it's interesting that the above Irish Times piece notes "It is estimated that about 65 per cent of school-leavers progress to higher education, one of the highest levels in Europe" and if you want to check out any course details, the Qualifax website can be a super source.

8 Tips for Financial Freedom

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 15:31:47 GMT

What if you found out that you had an extra €50,000 in your bank account? What would you do? How much of this hypothetical money have you spent already? I call this your "financial thermostat".

10 years ago today, I published "The Savvy Woman's Guide to Financial Freedom". Here are some key lessons from this and other books.

- If you find yourself spending money without really wanting or needing to or saying that "money burns a hole", then you need to turn up your financial thermostat. You can control it's power by being aware of its influence and by noting why holding on to more can serve you better.

- If you're setting money (or any other) goals, how would you know if you achieved them? Lots of people told me that financial freedom was an intangible feeling for them ... and thus they would never know if they had sustainable finances. As you set your goals for 2023, ask yourself if you would know if you achieved them.

- Use tech to get organized. Quick wins can make a big difference. For example Dashlane can securely store usernames and passwords. Airtable is a super database tool with great templates. Competition and Consumer Protection Commission offer handy product comparison tools.

- Talk to the people who influence your money and understand their motivation. The "RACI" stakeholder management model can be very useful for this. Determine who is "Responsible", "Accountable", "Consulted" and "Informed". (I give a case study of this in the video).

- Innovation is a great way to succeed but it's worthwhile knowing where to find it as an individual or a business. In "Innovation - A Very Short Introduction" by Mark Dodgson AO and Professor David Gann CBE explain that it comes from "the push from science, appreciating and responding to demand, better coupling of all contributors to innovation within organisations and collaboration with those outside, and enhanced strategic integration and networking using digital technologies."

- Lots of people talk about saving for a rainy day, but I ask what about the sunny day?! Great opportunities spring on us sometimes - an investment opportunity, a special offer on a cruise, a furniture sale, tickets for the cinema... Save to pursue the positive unexpecteds in life!

- Don't be a slave to sunk costs says Morgan Housel in "The Psychology of Money". If you've already invested time or money into something, don't be a slave to it and hold yourself back from putting new resources into better opportunities. As VectorVest, Inc says figure out what to buy, when to buy and when to sell. The markets look forward and so should you.

- Leave room in your estimates for the unexpected. Morgan Housel counsels "progress happens too slowly to notice but setbacks happen too quickly to ignore".

Thank you to several savvy women including Carol Glynn FCA for your book gift this year, Sheridan Ash MBE for our chats about innovation and Liting Zhou , our Principal Investigator at Dublin City University .

Why should Money Matters be taught in schools?

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 11:46:27 GMT

Money Matters is a new and ready-to-go learning package offering an opportunity for Transition Year Students to learn fundamental life skills related to financial literacy.

“They should teach that in school”…

A common refrain we often hear about money and young people! Last year, we made this happen in Ireland. #MoneyMatters was written, produced and three copies were distributed to every school in Ireland.

By “we”, I mean CFA Society Ireland, The Educational Company of Ireland (Edco) and our team at HayesCulleton Group.

So what happened?

�� it’s now in its third print run.

��It’s intriguing to see what schools have done. For example, Sutton Park School have created a financial literacy module all around it. Larkin Community School are using it to explore enterprise and business ideas with group work and class discussions.

��‍♀️EdCo ran a competition for schools to win a class set and we had 81 schools, repesenting thousands of students across the county, apply for this.

�� We reached out for sponsors for some class sets and want to sincerely thank Eoin Diffley Irish Life Investment Managers, Sinead Wisely Utmost Group, Orla Aherne Mercer Ireland, Ross Allen, CFA, CPA Jupiter Asset Management, Larissa Feeney FCA Accountantonline.ie for their support.

We would LOVE to match more sponsors with these schools if you’re willing to help us build the financial literacy momentum across the country. Simply send me a DM and I will come back to you!

�� we worked with Jill Holtz and the team at Mykidstime Ltd to raise awareness with parents across the country. They also expertly gathered feedback afterwards. Parents told us they liked the “dip in and out” nature of it and that it can be adapted to various ages. Teenagers told us they liked the practical nature of it and how it was broken down so that it’s tailored to their age group.

“Money Matters is a comprehensive and essential textbook for students of all ages. It covers all areas of finance from personal budgets to business and stocks. It is presented in a thorough yet fully understandable manner for everyone”. – Jaclyn Gurulé, mother of 5 children

��at our own SavvyTeenAcademy, we use it with lots and LOTS of our groups. Our companies provide it as part of their work experiences as it acts as a workbook for their activities, showcase different career possibilities (particularly via CFA Institute), enables zero printing and this more environmental sustainability and gives the students a tangible takeaway.

��It’s written as a menu so that the reader/teacher/parent could choose to use the book as they wanted. The book focuses on personal finance, entrepreneurship and investing.

❤️Each chapter highlights a character who is going through a life stage and money is influencing their decisions. Sarah is starting her first job and is wondering if she wants to just enjoy all her “new” money or start a pension. John and Irene want to move in together and are working out their (surprising) budget. Danny and Emer want to start a family and are trying to get a mortgage. The book goes on an emotional roller coaster!

Check out more details at https://www.thepositiveeconomist.com/money-matters

A Deep Dive into Inflation

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 16:00:17 GMT

Our last EdCo Positive Economics Webinar on "A Deep Dive into Inflation" was very popular among our viewers!

According to the Central Statistics Office , “the latest publication for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows that prices for consumer goods and services in October 2022 increased by 9.2% on average compared with October 2021. This is the highest rate of inflation since June 1984 when inflation was 9.7% and follows an increase of 8.2% in the year to September 2022. Prices have been rising on an annual basis since April 2021, with annual inflation of 5.0% or more recorded in each month since October 2021".

During the webinar, the viewers learnt the following about inflation:

Where does inflation come from?
What is the Irish inflation rate at the moment?
What is driving Irish inflation?
How does Ireland compare to the rest of the world?
What are different countries doing about inflation?
What are inflation expectations in the future?

Key Insights from "Collaborative Governance for a Shared Future" at Smart City Expo World Congress

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 10:29:19 GMT

In this blog, I will share key insights I have gained from chairing a session called “Collaborative Governance for a Shared Future” with five people across four continents from �� at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona.

Here are some key insights:

�� the materials used to build the Congress were 95% reusable and not a single “single use” plastic was used.

⚖️ “A piece of paper is equally balanced if held by its four corners” is a Korean proverb shared by Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok

��”The three things needed in future today are long term productivity, talent and the ambition to work with all stakeholders”, Alfredo Bateman Pinedo

��There is a crisis of confidence in institutions. Public ethics isn’t just about not stealing, but creating value. We need endless communication with our citizens”, Claudio Orrego Larraín

��”Every city is doing something well and it’s important to learn from each other. Bundle solutions at a national level to build capacity at the local level”, Ellen Hamilton The World Bank

��”the metaverse will need 1000 times more power and thus quantum physics is the future. Engage with the metaverse now and be a part of its development”, Dr. Christina Yan Zhang The Metaverse Institute

��”if moderating on stage, bring out the diversity of the conversation, prepare well and ask the questions others won’t… sensitively”, Femi Oke

☑️ “the World Economic Forum has built a dynamic tool for cities to test themselves against a benchmark, identify their gaps and learn from specific use cases from other cities who have overcome those very problems”,
Tammy Chellis

�� “we need open data for universities and businesses to test their ideas and in Belfast, we have a campaign to show people how to make the most of their data”, Deborah Colville

�� “some useful datasets go unused. Check out World Resources Institute . Look around the worlds cuties for inspiration for good ideas. London. Chicago. New York. Lots more!” Andrew Collinge Dubai Digital Authority

�� “as a VC, we want investment to lead to collective good. The SDGs are everywhere!” Andrea Rosen

Ten Life Lessons That Can Be Applied to the Workplace

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 10:22:53 GMT

In this blog, I will share ten life lessons that I learned outside the workplace that translate directly into it during an Arabian desert sunset.

I’ve been gathering my thoughts over my holiday in the Middle East and I hope this collection may be useful for you.

⏱ there are five forms of wealth - money, mental health, physical health, social (ie your relationships) and TIME.

�� cycling has taught me that rest and kindness to yourself can sometimes be what you need rather than more grit.

��taking time to think every day gives your brain the chance to let you know what it’s been working on while you’re using the conscious part of it. (My thinking breakfasts have been a game changer and I share a couple of ways I’ve made them work!)

✅ make a “done” as well as a “to do” list at the end of the day to truly switch off and feel the impact of the day.

⚖️ take good care of your struggle/satisfaction balance. Observe it in yourself and look around the world to see what happens when it’s out of kilter.

��I’ve (finally!) found exercise that works for me: cycling (because I can have the chats!) and a subscription to an online dance gym (because I have to focus on the steps).

⛱ before going on holiday, block out some time and spend it with your own staff/team so they’re empowered as much as possible in your absence.

��‍♀️ we always tell young people to take every opportunity and enjoy the journey along the way. We need to take our own advice and live it.

�� don’t assume things will be the same in the future. I thought the longest time I would ever be off a plane was when I broke my foot… but the pandemic taught my differently. Now I enjoy my travel more (and do less) and appreciate it wholeheartedly.

��curiosity will lead you to learning wherever you go - wherever that’s down the road or across the sky.

EMPOWER II Closing Event - 8 Key Takeaways for Female Entrepreneurs

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 08:39:12 GMT

I was MC for the EMPOWER II Closing event with Sandra Divilly Nolan at Salthill Hotel. Read this blog for the key points discussed during the event!

1. Your pitch should include who you are, what you do, who you serve, the benefits you bring them and what makes you unique. Next, practise this in as many situations as possible. Declan Droney

2. Consider when you feel the most in flow or energised to help you reflect on what’s currently working. What achievements do you most want to celebrate and honour? There is intel in these insights Nadine McCarthy posed to the audience.

3. You need to “let it go to let it come”, she said and “slow down to the pace of emergence” during her powerful session.

4. Sketch different solutions to problems for some different perspectives. Ask yourself “who would you like to work with and why?”. Reach out to collaborators and make thing happen. Ailbhe Keane from Izzy Wheels .

5. “It’s important to consider the problem solving nature of people with disabilities when recruiting”, says Isabel K. from Izzy Wheels . She encourages us to ask the simple question “what can we do to support you?” to get a better understanding of how to have a great working relationship. (This reminded me for a statistic Mark Magill shared at a Partnership with Purpose event I attended this week at Ulster University in Belfast. He pointed out that 3/5 people in the hidden workforce in Northern Ireland are those with disabilities.)

6. “Determine your level of risk, establish who has responsibility and make decisions based on the best information you have at the time. Don’t berate yourself based on things you learned after the decision.” Niamh Ryle HomeCheck

7. “Continuously update your customer profile. Be open to opportunity and build a business model that works for you”, Catherine O'Grady Powers Glen Keen Farm & Visitor Centre

8. Rosemary Gallagher from PorterShed Galway with NDRC pointed out the importance of charging appropriately for the sustainability of your business.

6 Key Lessons for New Entrepreneurs

iavjot@hayesculleton.com (Iavjot Kaur) — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 08:28:20 GMT

I shared some lessons on entrepreneurship with students at Munster Technological University on the university lecturer Trudie Murray's kind invitation.

1. I ran an Instagram story on Active Peers AI asking people what were their greatest business or career fear and predominantly, the answer was “failure”. I asked them to consider what their definition of failure really was and that also, success can be scary too because it means change. I told them to ask themselves “What’s the worst that can happen and how could I handle it?” as well as “What’s the best that could happen and how could I handle it?”

2. When thinking about your target market, consider your decision maker, user, budget provider and influencer. In the video, I give a case study from working with Trudie Murray on Positive Economics with The Educational Company of Ireland (Edco) .

3. When outsourcing, think “low-code” when it comes to technology. Since I st arted working with Airtable with the Beyond Conference team, we’ve used it at Active Peers AI in countless ways. Check it out!

4. Information is around every corner and ensure to find consistent ways to listen to your customers, such as Instagram stories, surveys, conversations in tight feedback loops, the queries coming into your websites, etc.

5. Networking is so important and it’s how Trudie Murray brought us all together! For this group, I suggested Local Enterprise Office, Cork City, STEM South Wes, Network Ireland Cork, CFA Society Ireland Chartered Accountants Ireland, Accounting Technicians Ireland, CIMA, CPA Ireland, Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center and Erasmus For Young Entrepreneurs.

6. Know what you want out of the business. The story of the rocks and jars is in the Linkedln video!

How to study economics while studying Netflix and five other effective study tips

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Wed, 12 Oct 2022 23:29:32 GMT

Economics is a subject that lives all around us and therefore the opportunities to get "free" study time exist all over the place (if you know where to look!)

1. Learn how to make it enjoyable. It may be because you're a curious person and want to know why certain things happen. Maybe because you're passionate about effecting positive change. Perhaps you simply find it interesting! No matter what the reason is, the more you enjoy something, the easier it is to work at it.

2. There are a range of Netflix shoes that can help you understand economics better. "Money Explained" points out how interest rates, the psychology of money and market failure all happen. "Rotten" shows what happens when demand and supply change significantly over time. "Start Up" shows what happens when people try to find finance (one of the four factors of production) to fund a business (and how it can make or break the outcome).

3. When studying focus on mastering learning objectives rather than clocking up hours. The thing that will matter most is your understanding of a topic and your ability to answer questions. Therefore, set your goals around becoming familiar with a topic, how well you answer questions and how much you can improve in between times that you revisit the content. That is likely to be far more productive than winding down the clock.

4. Follow economics accounts on social media channels. The CSO often share infographics on their Instagram. Lots of teachers share resources on #LCEconomics on Twitter. As you scroll through these on your feed, you will get used to looking at the numbers and they will be easier to remember when it comes to exam time.

5. Practise your homework and exam questions under timed conditions. As you get used to working under time pressure, you get used to what it's like in an exam. You can be more focused and thus be more productive when studying so you can do other fun stuff in your free time! You can learn how quickly you can answer questions so you can plan exams better and you can improve your writing speed.

Key practical insights from Insurance Explained” with Liberty Insurance

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 17:23:54 GMT

Key practical insights from Insurance Explained” with Liberty Insurance

What springs to mind when you think of “insurance”? For me, it’s something that I have to have but don’t want to ever have to use. Lots of people find it full of jargon, tricky nuance and a stressful experience if they have to claim. For all those reasons, Liberty Insurance , in association with Irish Times Training partnered to create the “Insurance Explained” series and they kindly invited me to interview four super people with the questions that are often on everybody’s mind.

It’s a series of short videos with practical information about insurance. Here are the key points:

First, I spoke to Anne Marie Collins about how exactly to shop around, how to navigate the jargon and the pitfalls people often fall into. She pointed out that:

- there are insurance product supermarkets out there, brokers who can help you make the right decision and customer service staff who can help you make the right decision about a policy.

- lots of jargon busters available on their own site or the CCPC.

- It’s important to update your insurer with accurate information as maybe your circumstances (of those of what you’re insuring) may have changed

- Innovation in the insurer space needs to be grounded in customer feedback and “modularity” is a key trend to watch in the future.

Next, I asked Eoin Lennon all about what’s involved in making a claim.

His advice is:

- Lean on the customer service agent you’re talking to as they know you’re likely to be emotional, panicked, shocked or scared. It’s up to them to tell you about the ins and outs of your policy.

- It’s definitely worthwhile asking your insurer about what you might be entitled to before you might ever need to make a claim. For example, can you get a courtesy car or alternative accommodation if there is a big issue?

- Check out the benefits of your policy and don’t confuse these with claims. You might be able to avail of household benefits or other specific helpful offers that are nowhere near a claim. In fact, you could be missing out on what you’re paying for by not having clarity between these two.

Afterwards, I had a chat with Stuart Trotter about what underpins an insurance policy.

He shared that:

- There is a difference between “need to have” and “want to have”. It’s important to know the difference between the two.

- A premium is calculated based on the “severity and frequency” of risks. Some of those are beyond your control i.e. COVID or medical inflation while others are within your influence (i.e. if you park your driving history)

- In December 2012, European Commission rules on gender discrimination were put in place, meaning insurance rates in the EU must be the same for men and women.

Finally, I interviewed Leona Dooley about house and contents insurance. She recommends that:

- You distinguish between the two as thinking about what would fall out of a house if it was picked up and turned upside down. That’s what “contents” insurance covers.

- You check the value of your house insurance as inflation could mean you’re under-insured

- You specify if you want certain items insured in your contents insurance i.e. an engagement ring or a bike

- You don’t assume that somebody else is insured to drive your car and you check it out before they get behind the wheel

- You talk to your insurer about a clean history if you’re moving to Ireland from abroad or you’ve been insurance on another party’s insurance (i.e. a parent)

- You ask how to protect your no-claims bonus in the event of a claim

Thank you so much to Roseann Regan who has been wonderful as well as Camille and all the team at Irish Times Training.

Funding Growth: Explore your Options Summary by Susan HayesCulleton

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 10:58:39 GMT

I was MC for “Funding Growth : Explore your Options” back in June 2022 at The Junction, Dungannon with British Business Bank , InterTradeIreland and Invest Northern Ireland .

Here are some takeaways:

Equity investing

��‍♀️ go to a finance conference, knowing what you want and make time to follow up.

��‍♀️ both investors and investees research each other. Know what your funder wants before you commit.

��‍♀️investing is a team sport.

��‍♀️you may be concerned about bringing a new person to your business but getting the right investor brings a real asset to your team.

��‍♀️ talk to other companies who have walked that walk.

��‍♀️ start the conversation long before you need the money.

��‍♀️ prepare for the exit before the entry and your new investors can help source the next round of funding and/or a buyer for the business in the future.

Debt fundraising

�� you can get a blended rate by working with multiple providers.

�� different providers offer different amounts, interest rates, speed and other conditions. Know what’s important to you.

�� show them your full “deck of cards”. Bring the excitement of your ambition to the table as well as the problems and challenges you have.

�� be open-minded to creative solutions.

�� communicate early, often and at each stage of the journey.

Non Executive Directors (NED)

�� if you’re going to work with one, make sure they’re experienced in your area

�� the should challenge and support/reinforce you in equal measure

��they can help you have confidence and give you encouragement to take the next step

��they can help you with external perspective and the experience they’ve had that can avoid being introspective and retrospective.

Agencies

Invest Northern Ireland , InterTradeIreland and British Business Bank have an array of funding mechanisms (that can include debt, equity and grant; advisory workshops, business intel, export help, an extensive network, jargon busters anc signposting capabilities). Reach out and talk to them!

Many people today said this conference eroded fear, gave them confidence to move forward, highlighted an abundance of finance opportunities and several ways to overcome procrastination. Several commented that it was great to have this event in a region of Northern Ireland and it was a morning well invested.

Active Peers facilitates an Away Day for Accountingonline.ie around substance, outcomes,high energy, and enabling staff

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 13:16:12 GMT

We at Active Peers AI facilitated an Away Day for Accountantonline.ie recently. I’m finding that lots of people are wondering how to deliver an experience like this with substance, outcomes, high energy, enabling staff who have never met in person to do so in a structured way … and enjoyably!

Larissa Feeney FCA and I sat down and co-created the overall design of the day. Our Active Peers AI team used our algorithm to generate diverse table plans. Our Peer Learning Prompter was used to stimulate experience sharing and offering different perspectives. Our tailored feedback forms brought the tacit knowledge right to the surface.

Further, together we cultivated a sense of “we genuinely want to hear your thoughts”. I interviewed Larissa Feeney FCA and her superb senior leadership team Rose Kervick Nelmari Finlay and Tom Francis with some tough questions to articulate what may have been on people’s minds and we enabled group wide chats too so that everybody could hear the main points from the various teams in the business.

If you are intending to run an Away Day, it’s worthwhile to factor in the principles that Accountantonline.ie brought right into the heart of the session.

��It’s a very good idea to bring your team together to work towards outputs and let ideas surface in the room.

��Structure is important when you want to arrive at an unstructured outcome. Work out what you want and then come backwards.

��In a high growth environment, people may not always know the other people they’re impacting or who are influencing their respective work. Give them a formal way to informally meet.

��Be open to what your staff have to say – listen to them, acknowledge them, turn what they say into action, communicate why things do and don’t happen.

��Changes in culture start with clear messages, positive action from the top and an understanding of why you’re doing what you’re doing.

��Be curious about your customers’ reaction and be hungry to delight the client.

��Allow the energy of your people to drive conversations about ideas, overcoming problems, looking to the future etc.

��Maximise the diversity in your environment to bring ideas to the fore.

Thank you so much to all the team for being a pure delight and I’m very excited to see how the conversations that day are going to turn into ever growing success!

A summary of insights from the HR Forum 2022 in Amsterdam

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Mon, 13 Jun 2022 19:20:02 GMT

A summary of insights from the HR Forum 2022 in Amsterdam

I’m here in Amsterdam because I was speaking at the HR Forum, a two-day conference.

The audience was from all over the world, France, Croatia, Albania, Kosovo, Ireland, Malta, Azerbaijan, Romania and many other countries.

I wanted to share with you some key insights that I got from the event

First of all, my thesis that I was putting forward is that, given that there is so much conversation now around inflation and around talent retention, as well as acquisition.

To me, it makes absolute sense now more than ever to teach your staff how to be more financially literate, as well as financially resilient and where I was coming from with that point of view was that.

1. It helps your staff.

2. It helps everybody handle inflation.

3. It helps your employer brand.

But I really wanted to point out the issue that this is creating because according to an FRS recruitment study that has just been published, 62% of people recruiting now saying that inflation is affecting the recruitment. 39% of people are saying that salary is the biggest issue when it comes to recruiting. Now, of course, I understand salary is all to do with what you're paid to do, what you're paid to do your work. If you give people the ability to make the most of that, well then of course that can add extra value to the money that people are getting in the first place.

I did some research into this, and I particularly want to see how deep these money issues were in different ways. First of all, according to CNBC, 77% of Americans are anxious about their financials, and 56% are concerned about the cost of living. What I did then was, I took a look at this demographic, and 46% of Gen Z heads and 47% of millennials are living from paycheque to paycheque and about 30% are not confident that they would be able to retire with financial corporates and that is a global statistic from Deloitte. Therefore, you can see that this is a really deeply held issue. Naturally, the more that people are concerned about money, and what they're earning, well then of course that affects work. It affects relationships, it affects a variety of other things. In my thesis then is, if you can help people with that issue within the workplace, it adds a lot of value to the opportunities that you're giving people in the first place.

So then what I did was I asked people, what does financial resilience actually mean? The two words that came by more than any others were stability and freedom. That's what people consider is stability and freedom is what underpins financial resilience. So if I have the freedom to choose where I work, and if I have the stability based on what I do have, so that maybe I can handle whatever might come my way or he feels that I can handle that, or know that I'm going to have a job next week or business next week. That is what people felt that resilience actually meant.

What exactly do I think that financial literacy and financial resilience means?

Well, I think when it comes to literacy, that one is a big influencer on the other side and that there's five questions that people should be able to answer:

How can I understand what my options are?

The questions I need to ask and the people that I can talk to?

How do I know what to buy?

When to sell?

When to buy?

And that also relates to having to have a particular savings product or it's an investment product or a pension of course.

How do I reach the market? And it's not just to do with the stock market, but how do I know maybe when to fix in my mortgage?

I'm not saying that people need to know the answer to these, but they need to know how to ask question, why to ask a question or where to vote in order to get some insights on the answer.

Another one:

How do I understand my savings or investing personality?

What do I do when I feel stuck?

Feel scared or feeling ready to take action? I think all of those together that is, in my opinion, what financial literacy actually means when you are able to confidently answer those questions and a lot of those are action oriented, self-awareness oriented insights and information gathering oriented. That is what I believe financial literacy actually is.

Then we had a discussion about how that could be achieved.

And that depends on the size of the company and the number of staff and a variety of other things and we had a discussion about that. But, I just want to tell you the questions that people asked me after I put this forward.

Number one was how would you handle this in different parts of the world? Bear in mind, this was a European conference and focused on Central and Eastern European as well. So my answer to that was, you need to understand what specific issues people are facing if you're in a multinational environment and we've worked in many of them. VectorVest has a variety of products, stock market analysis and other financial literacy point of view that can be tailored to suit that. That'll be the case.

Another questions I got was,

How do you scale and personalized at the same time?

How do you build engagement with this type initiative? That's a particularly a big one.

I was talking to a lady from Azerbaijan. She said they have 900 people in her company.

They have run something like this in the past, but how do you actually build engagement or how do you encourage people to take control of this issue?

Another question I got was, how exactly to implement this on a very practical basis. I did elaborate on it, but haven't time to elaborate in this video.

If you do have any questions on this topic, or if you're doing something like this in the future, please get in touch. I'm more than happy to promote what you're doing as well, and just how you're doing it as a case study because a lot of companies are really struggling with this.

Moving on to HR Topic

Just to give you a sense of the type of challenges that are being heard across HR.

One was Feedback Mechanisms: how do you measure issues from staff are mentioned solutions from staff?

Hybrid working how do you get people back into the office?

Or how do you continue leverage the benefits of being online as well. Particularly when it comes to engagement. For example: L&D - Learning and Development initiatives that have great scale when it can be done online.

How do you find blind spots of talent? There was a big conversation around the need for more leadership at every level.

Also, some people in HR talk about the fact that they have shifting relationships from customers to colleagues. Of course, their customers are the staff themselves that are working in their environment, but they're also colleagues and of course, sometimes tough decisions. Discussions have to be had and they're often at the coalface and then have to be friends with everybody as well there afterwards.

They talked about balancing the needs of financial business targets with the person leads the employees to talk to about the challenges and also the awareness around your employer runs. Followed was the conversations been around tech tools are particularly related to skills mapping and matching of internal demand supply and also how do you enable different generations to work together? So these were the types of conversations that were had at the forum where people were saying.

These are what they wanted to get out of the conversation, and I'm going to be meeting up soon with a very good friend of mine, Caroline Reidy, and I've so much to talk to her about. Caroline is the CEO of HRSuite. So I've lots to talk to her about what I see going on around us, the views that are slightly contrasting and some are similar to what's going on in Ireland and more of Western Europe.

Now, to finally finish on this I also want to share with you some key nuggets that were taken away from the day.

Number one is Employer Brand, create an identity for staff on alignment. We had some great Croatian inspiration, we had two fabulous women Martina and Marina from Croatia at this conference We're talking about having start-stop continue workshops. I use them a lot as well in our business and particularly we like to use like Klaxzoom to do that. A French tool that is super, but I don't see many others using it.

Also, we heard about reverse mentoring, people expect that to be about, you know, younger people sharing ideas about technology with older people, it's more of a process and perspective that can be very, very useful.

Many people said a crisis can present wonderful opportunities to accelerate transformation. For the point it was well made that when the crisis is over the energy needs and to be reciprocated to give back to staff who brought in behind you a lot of people talked about reducing emails and meetings, but increasing communication and that is was arranged case studies about how that can be done.

We use Slack as a communication tool that then reduces email, I think is very important. And also, there's so much you can do to avoid over meeting culture. But that was certainly an issue that came up as well today.

People are sharing ideas about that. Also, it was pointed out at the start a successful coach relationship is for an employee to get in touch with their reality. It's really important to co create the outcome for staff. And also some people said it's important to farm for dissent within your staff. So that is a basic summary of where I'm at. I've taken some time out here this evening in Amsterdam, as I say just to think through all that I've learned and I have lost time whether I choose it follow up on this as well because of course there's no point coming to an occasion like this here. I hit the HR forum and I'm stuck what I'm going what I'm going to do and I'm going to follow up on so we live for doing that. Thank You Amsterdam

Blockchain – A Fintech and Business Model Explainer

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 12:00:28 GMT

Blockchain – A Fintech and Business Model Explainer

During the latest episode of the ESG & Tech Show , I focused on the blockchain. It’s a topic that is gaining more and more traction all the time. It has the potential to disrupt many business models and is often mired in confusion. Therefore, it merited a proper discussion aimed at clarifying how it works, understanding how it could affect businesses and their respective interactions with customers as well as analysing the stocks set to be highly influenced by the blockchain’s growth.

Let’s compare a traditional bank transfer to that of a blockchain transaction to set the scene. If I was to send money to you, then it would move from one bank account to another. The record would be stored on the bank’s system and it would change the balance on my account. If the bank’s data system was hacked, then the hacker could find details of that transaction and unfortunately, there is a range of different ways that financial fraud is committed.

In contrast, if a transaction happens on the blockchain, it’s recorded on “distributed ledger”. That means that it’s publicly available and so, anybody can see the transaction has occurred between two different parties (which implies how transparent it is). Therefore, the data can’t be hacked because it’s publicly available. All these transactions go into a “block” and then this block of transactions is connected together through a digital seal so that when joined together, they make up the “blockchain”. Finally, to change any of these historical transactions, one would also need to change not just the block with that specific transaction but the whole blockchain back to the beginning, which is almost impossible.

Watch the recording of the ESG & Tech webinar Blockchain - A Disruptor below:

Therefore, the blockchain is described as decentralised, immutable and transparent.

7 blockchain business models

In a piece published on “ Business Model Analyst ” , there are seven different business models created out of blockchain technology:

- Token economy

In the episode, I described how people who use Trip Advisor are given social badges based on their feedback. For example, I recently went on “ Dublin Delicious Tours ” and left a review for others to give them some insights into the experience. On the other hand, given that we exhibited at the VFB show in Antwerp, I wanted to read other peoples’ experiences of the city on the same site so that I could get some ideas of what to do before flying home. Rather than incentivise people to engage with genius badges or discounts, the token economy can lead to new cryptocurrencies being offered to people who participate in certain activities. Keep an eye out for “ social tokens ”.

- Blockchain as a service

This refers to when a person or business who wants to create their own blockchain or join another larger digital network. For example, Amazon Managed Blockchain is a “fully managed service that makes it easy to create and manage scalable blockchain networks using the popular open source frameworks”.

- Development platforms

Another way that people in business describe blockchain is as a “track and trace” system. To give you a very specific example, the world’s first blockchain beer was brewed in Northern Ireland which “enables the consumer to find out the provenance of the beer – ingredients, supply chain, methods of production – by scanning the graphic on the label (which looks like a bar code) with a smartphone.” In fact, I interviewed Shane McCarthy himself about how the blockchain records all of the beer’s “transactions” i.e. the inputs and how they progressed through the supply chain to arrive at the product which consumers can drink. Of course, these track and trace systems ultimately have to be designed and built and that is a new business model in itself.

- Blockchain Based

Some software packages include blockchain technologies as part of their overall offering. In fact, businesses who have been able to successfully execute any one of the aforementioned business models are prime acquisition targets for a company who wants to leapfrog their way into this fast-growing area.

- Network Fee Charge

If an end user wants to send money to the originators of music (or other art), they can do so through the blockchain so that there is more connection between the person enjoying the output and the original creator. According to a Charged piece , “Spotify is planning to add blockchain technology and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to its streaming service, as excitement grows over the possibility of NFTs boosting artists earnings” and on 10 ^th May 2022, Instagram announced “Creators are using new technologies like NFTs to take more control over their work, their relationship with their fans, and how they can monetize. At Meta, we're looking at what creators are already doing across our technologies in order to improve the experience, help them create more monetization opportunities, and bring NFTs to a broader audience.”

- Blockchain professional services

This describes the professional services and consultancy offerings that are emerging with the dawn of something new. From change management programmes, strategic reviews on a macro level to very specific initiatives like dApp (distributed app development or considering how blockchain is leading the “ triple entry accounting system ”.

- Peer-to-peer blockchain business model

Imagine if you could send money to another person but without a business (e.g. Revolut) or a bank or a peer to peer currency broker (e.g. TransferMate). If you were to eliminate the bank, the auditor and the regulator with a view to using a transferable system whereby the process was self-regulating and immutable, then you’re imagining exactly what the peer-to-peer blockchain business model could work. If you’re able to envision this in your mind’s eye, then you’re also likely coming up with the big changes there would be in both industries of banking and auditing if this was to happen en masse.

Of course, blockchain has been connotated with negative points too whether it’s the volatility of cryptocurrencies (which shouldn’t be used interchangeably with the technology underlying them), the energy supply a blockchain needs for miners to create the digital seal in between the blocks as well as how there can be tradeoffs between scalability, efficiency and security.

Independent of your own take on blockchain, arguably, it truly has the capacity to be disruptor in many areas of business. Perhaps it could be useful for you to understand how it may be useful for your clients or your may see applications for your own business. Alternatively, maybe it’s worthwhile to be aware of this growing trend out of interest or from a career development point of view. Watch this fintech space!

"Developing Great Teams at the New World of Work” for FRS Recruitment at Croke Park

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Thu, 26 May 2022 11:32:47 GMT

I was MC today for “Developing Great Teams at the New World of Work” for FRS Recruitment at Croke Park and here is a summary of insights:

“37% of people don’t have a clear start and finish to their day. Trust arrives on foot and leaves on horseback. Do companies behave every day as though people are their best asset?” Peter Cosgrove

“Candidates are expecting more jobs to be on offer in the future and to secure employment faster. They’ve taken stock over the past two years and are seeking work life balance, positivity and aligned culture.” Lynne McCormack

“Life sciences, tech and financial services have driven sectoral FDI growth in Ireland (and in that order) recently. Ireland offers a breadth of opportunity and choice of career now in the regions.” Denis Curran

“It’s crucial to understand your audience’s motivators. Think creatively around your persistent problems. 17% of Irish adults live in a different country - the highest percentage of any country in the OECD.” Kathleen Healey

“Confidence is contagious. Success is the greatest source of success. Rather than change the external problem, excite yourself with the challenge of reframing it internally.” Ian Robertson

“Demystify the decision making matrix in your organisation. Amend your managerial mindset to incorporate how work life integrators and segmentors think when communicating goals and objectives. Equip your people to do their job.” Brendan McGinty

“A good team can become a high performing team through personal relationships connecting on a more vulnerable basis. Self-transcendence happens when you know your group-wide “why”. Get the fundamental 90% right before trying to find the 10% incremental improvement.” Shane O Sullivan

“How are you listening to your staff… systematically and over time? You can show you’re listening through acknowledging their points, communicating and taking action. People need a democratic, clear mechanism to share what’s bothering them and ideas in their workplace.” Brian Slattery, Ph.D.

“Choice (of where you work) isn’t linked to performance, but instead to your values. We must always strive to communicate objectives and how they align to the company’s goals. It’s crucial to empower people in teams.” Eoin Lennon

“There are 90,000 Irish people in Australia alone. We canshow those who want to come home that they can make that decision with their heart and their mind. The connection with GAA and GAAGO is about communit and, connection. It really is something special.” Colin Donnery

“We want to work with sponsors who really get what we’re about in the GAA , dovetail in with our 700,000 members and help strengthen the sustainability of our organisation. FRS Recruitment has courage, is relevant in many ways to our audience at home and abroad and they bring creativity to the table.” Peter McKenna

“I can’t put into words that feeling of seeing the green fields of home as that plane touches down… it’s like a warm comfort blanket.” Bríd Stack

#HomeTruths

Three Ways to Handle Inflation in the Stock Market Today

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Fri, 15 Apr 2022 13:14:44 GMT

In the latest ESG & Tech show , I delved right into the theme as it is the conversation of the day, the week and the year! First, it’s important to understand what drives inflation.

Three causes of inflation

“Demand pull” inflation refers to when there is a greater demand than supply and as a result, the suppliers of those goods and services increase prices accordingly.

“Cost push” inflation occurs because the price of the inputs a good or service being provided increases and this is passed on to the buyer.

“Built-in inflation” arises because people expect inflation to happen in the future and it’s woven into wage expectations and negotiations. This leads back to an influence on “demand pull” and “cost push” inflation in an ever-changing loop.

Global Inflation Rates

Inflation rates are making headlines right around the world with references to “multi-decade highs”. For example, according to Trading Economics , the latest inflation rates in various countries include:

United States: 8.5%

United Kingdom: 7%

Portugal: 5.3%

Australia: 3.5%

Brazil: 11.3%

So, as investors, how can we handle this? For a start, it’s important that we do as inflation eats into our purchasing power. The equity and bond market look at this very differently. If I lend money to a government or company through a bond and they repay the money (as expected) in a year’s time, then my $100 or €100 is expected to buy fewer things. Specifically, if I lend $100 to the US government and it repays me $100 in a year’s time, my money will only be able to buy 91.5% of what it did when I lent it to them in the first place (based on the 8.5% inflation rate)! As a result, in period of high inflation, the debt market tends to suffer from an exodus of money. However, the equity market is the place where higher risk is rewarded with higher return over the longer term.

Credit Suisse point out the contrast in the above graph spanning 120 years. The column with the 7.5% inflation is particularly relevant at the moment. That said, the stock market has had a rocky start with the invasion of Ukraine, lower technology company earnings reports than expected as well as soaring inflation that central banks aren’t quite sure how to handle. For example, we saw that the iShares Global 100 ETF had a -5.06% return by 11th April. In the same timeframe, iShares Core S&P 500 ETF had delivered a -7.06% return. If we take a tailored approach, the iShares TIPS Bond ETF (which tracks a range of US Government Treasury Inflation Protected Securities “which are government bonds whose face value rises with inflation”), the return is also negative at -4.77%. To add fuel to this fire, there was a Confirmed Call Down issued for the US market on the 12th April. For all these reasons, the timeliness of this episode was all the more timely!

Three ways to handle inflation

There is an argument that sustainability and ESG investing is inflationary. In “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster” , Bill Gates posits that “Phasing out coal, oil and gas and replacing them with renewable energy will be expensive; rolling out electric vehicles will be expensive; insulating homes and offices will be expensive. So, in short, the greenium is inherently inflationary: we must accept that, in the short term at least, we are going to have to pay more to meet zero-carbon goals, and this will cause prices to rise.”

We can see this reflected in a variety of Clean Energy ETFs and particularly if we examine the performance of theme in the past month.

The second way is to use a secret weapon in the VectorVest system. If we could identify one group of companies that has outsized capability of absorbing inflation (and particularly in the short term), it is those with a high “NPM”. In other words, those businesses with a high net profit margin whereby there is some distance between what it costs to service their customers and how much those customers are paying for their goods and/or services. During the episode, I built a search in seconds whereby I could pick these companies right out of the VectorVest database:

NPM > 2

Recommendation = Buy

Relative Safety > 1

Comfort Index > 1

These set of parameters generated a list of companies with very healthy net profit margins, above average consistency and predictability of financial performance, above-average ability to withstand severe and/or lengthy price declines as well as a buy recommendation. That’s a lot of criteria for a company to meet!

The third way leans on industry rotation. The following graph from Hartford Funds illustrates those areas which tend to react positively to rising prices.

It won’t surprise any view to see that energy and property are high on the agenda here given that they are the very manifestation of inflation in the real economy. Similarly, utilities and consumer staples, as the more defensive sectors, benefit from consumers being more thrifty.

Check out the full episode at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DIFAddMk4E and ensure to subscribe to the channel so you will be automatically updated for our next ESG & Tech episode as well as all other VectorVest live content.

InterTrade Ireland Venture Capital Conference 2022 from Croke Park

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Mon, 21 Mar 2022 14:39:57 GMT

It really was an action-packed afternoon today at InterTradeIreland Venture Capital Conference today at Croke Park .

Watch Susan's Summary of the event below:

We started with Martin McVicar pointing out the opportunity that can accompany adversity.

Next David Bowles discussed seed tech with Paula Newell, Declan Kelly Lucy O'Keeffe Dr. Liz M. Daniel, Izquierdo Hijazi and Carol Rossborough . They talked about the role of pre-seed for product-market fit, mentoring for parent founders and flexibility for staff.

Next, Peter Foley and Alan Merriman talked about the importance of execution that leads to success, how the relationship of the seed investors evolves at different rounds and levering your supppy chain to absorb demand.

Dr. Nora K. discussed how 97% of public health money is invested in curing rather than preventing disease and how Nuritas is keeping its vision very clear while using data and customer conversations to make sequentially logical decisions to get there.

Mary McKenna, MBE led a conversation about agility and growth with Niamh Parker , Conor O'Loughlin, Ann Hunt, Alan Holland, Ben Harris and Alan Foreman . They talked about how customers grant validation in the market, comfort with your financial model and being world class while learning from other business cultures.

Ken Cahill shared the importance of reciprocal trust and insight between the acquirer and target. He encouraged us to remember that “nostalgia is history without the pain”, outlined how to push harder than everyone else and emphasised the journey a founder’s spouse also takes as part of the business.

Áine Denn gave super insights into sales processes, discipline and rigour. She highlighted the long reaching impact of a culture of “keeping your promises” and illuminated how companies may not know there is a strategic disconnect.

Aidan Corbett characterised the US market and shared his key tips for recruiting sales staff. Brendan Noud talked through his content marketing strategy. Niall Twomey showcased how your mentors and customers can become your investors. Rory O'Connor talked through how the business model canvas with market research can point the way forward. Cian Ó Maidín talked about how to have an impossible problem that you’ve no choice but to solve.

Finally Eoghan McCabe talked to me about ambition, the mind-opening effect of seeing how big business is grown around the world, how to obsess about product-market fit and how to really think about the relationship you have with your co-founders. We talked about the Irish ecosystem and why it’s so important to let your goals, hopes and dreams to the surface.

It’s been phenomenal to work with Drew O'Sullivan, Gary Stokes, Jane Watson, Shane O'Hanlon, Kimberley O'Hare and so many more people who’ve poured such effort into making #VCC2022 a success. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be part of this amazing experience.

Day 2: IoD Northern Ireland Women's Leadership Conference 2022 Summary with Susan HayesCulleton

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 22:13:34 GMT

What an amazing afternoon here at the IoD Northern Ireland conference!

The summary video is full of insights and here are a couple of quotes from today to get you started:

First up, Anne Sheehan spoke about the power of partnerships, how important it is to bring your whole self to work and the importance of her “listen, learn and act” approach to diversity. She spoke about her “derailment factors”, working in international teams with different cultures, rooting out the permafrost, building “high trust, high challenging” environments and her “self-regulating button”. Anne says different experiences build difference muscles.

Next, Caoimhe Rooney and Bernadette Collins shared all about their support systems, how to practise going outside your comfort zone and “when opportunities arise, go for them. When they don’t, ask for them.” They taught us the powerful question “what would make the difference for this decision?”. They talked about the pressure to perform and the merit in reviewing it, that opportunities are as much for you as anybody else and how we can sometimes feel like we don’t have enough to offer as role models (but they ABSOLUTELY do!!).

Dr Jane Goodall JANE GOODALL INSTITUTE, GLOBAL #opportunities shared how she feels she’s had a mission to work towards and it’s been a key driver for her throughout her 87 years. She differentiated between being alone and lonely. She encouraged us to tell stories to open minds and the importance of being present to realise your dreams. She has an incredible connection to, and appreciation of, nature and talked a lot about her passion for being a naturalist. She espoused taking your natural gifts and running with them as well as to absorb her mother’s advice to dream unachieveable dreams.

Finally, a massive congratulations to each of the four pitchers today Gabrielle Feenan Jo Warner Sinead Welsh - Informed Minds App - Digital Health Solution and Tina Calder for putting your businesses out there to all our 1100+ strong audience, for having the discipline to do it within 60 seconds and to open yourselves up to great opportunities.

Thank you again and again Kirsty McManus Dip IoD, MBA and Chelsea Brennan for the joy of working with you. It’s an amazing experience each and every time.

Science, Stickness and the Stock Market – Fantastic Female Fridays with Laurie Winkless

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 15:51:01 GMT

Science, Stickness and the Stock Market – Fantastic Female Fridays with Laurie Winkless

I had the unexpected pleasure of seeing Laurie Winkless, an Irish physicist, present on stage in Wellington when I had the delightful opportunity to work with the Irish Embassy in New Zealand for St. Brigid’s Day. This is the national holiday we have in Ireland to celebrate the history and present of Irish women led by our female patron saint St. Brigid. During her highly insightful and entertaining presentation, she took us on a whistlestop tour of female scientists through history that have made their mark on how we live today. I found this intriguing as I hadn’t come across many of the people she talked about and since then, I’ve kept a keen eye on Laurie’s Twitter account as she continues to be highly insightful and entertaining (as well as articulate) there too. She was a natural choice then, for me to invite her to be a guest on Fantastic Female Fridays. Over an 8 a.m. call in Ireland as she was about to go bed in New Zealand, she told me about her recently published book “Sticky”, a publication all about the science of surfaces. The title for our interview came to me quickly

The title for our interview came to me quickly “ The Sticky Trends of the Stock Market "

Science and the Stock Market

You might well wonder what has physics got to do with the stock market? As a trained economist, I know that every aspect of our geopolitical, social, cultural, historical, legal, environmental etc lives eventually leads to having an effect on the economy and thus, I set out to explore the connection. Little did I know that big engineering projects were actually the catalyst for the capital markets themselves. I found the following quote from “The Evolution of Science Based Business: Innovating How We Innovate”, a Harvard Business School paper:

“Advances in the application of mechanical and electrical power to production (and later chemicals) made mass production technically feasible, but again, without access to capital (made possible by the development of more sophisticated capital markets) and creation of administrative structures to co-ordinate the diverse activities of these large scale enterprises, mass production would bot have been economically possible.

Necessity is the mother of innovation and when the Industrial Revolution brought a new slew of production processes, their potential scale was far too much for any small business to handle – both in terms of the capital needed as well as the risk of taking it on. This engineering transformation led to a financial one along with it.

What stocks do investors stick to?

In my research for this interview, I bought “Sticky” and read as much as I could before we went live. It really is an intriguing perspective on the world and I talk more about that in the interview. However, one quote really jumped out to me that applies to physics and the stock market equally “how well a paint bonds to a surface depends just as much on what it’s sticking to as what it’s sticking with”.

As investors, we can researching stocks, try out different parameters on Unisearch and backtest with Autotimer. We can look for stocks with high Relative Safety (i.e. consistency and predictability of earnings and dividends) or a high Comfort Index (i.e. a stock’s ability to withstand severe and/or lengthy price declines). We can truly make a big difference to the returns we make and the risk we take on and in analogous terms, I call this “what we’re sticking with”. It’s also important to understand the inherent volatility in the market and how it reacts to different developments whether that’s interest rate expectations, a company’s CEO making a sudden departure or a pandemic. Following through with my analogy, this is what I refer to as “what we’re sticking to”. We can’t precisely map our projections forward based on the past, but we do need to optimise what is in our control.

Emerging trends

During the interview, I asked Laurie about emerging careers in science. I expected her to tell me about new novel titles and job descriptions. However, instead, she told me that emerging careers are likely to be borne out of “expertise and knowledge in different disciplines”. She gives the example of somebody who might be an engineer and their background is in zoology … and she follows up with such adjectives as “dynamic” and “exciting”. In fact, her point about this highlights all the more why it’s important for me to bring a diverse range of voices and sectors to our Fantastic Female Fridays audience.

As investors, we’re always looking for new trends. They might be the business models that will shape tomorrow or the new stocks that are set to have an ever higher Comfort Index or Relative Safety rating. However, there is a very clear way at VectorVest where you can find short term trends very quickly. I like to build a search with three parameters to find them. It’s centred all around Relative Timing – the parameter that analyses a stock’s trend. Specifically, “RT is computed from an analysis of the direction, magnitude, and dynamics of a stock's price movements day-over-day, week-over-week, quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year. If a trend dissipates, RT will gravitate toward 1.00.”

I look for three things:

- Relative Timing to be higher than 1 today

- Relative Timing to be less than 1 two weeks ago

- Relative Timing to be trending higher over the past week

This type of search can showcase those companies whereby the buyers are gaining momentum over the sellers.

Science and the City

Laurie’s previous book “Science and the City” can be excellently summarised by the acclaimed Dame Jocelyn Bell’s description “It is future-looking also, describing the technology that will change the world we live in. Therefore, I took the opportunity to ask Laurie about how she feels recent trends have affected the future of our cities. For example, in the UK, the ONS has “found the proportion of working adults who did any work from home in 2020 increased to 37% on average from 27% in 2019 with workers living in London the most likely to homework. A similar proportion of businesses (31%) reported that their workforce was working remotely as restrictions eased in April and May 2021.” This seems a likely trend to “stick”. Even more recently, the soaring cost of petrol and diesel is putting another economic pressure on commuters. The F inancial Times reported in March, that “consumer prices in the eurozone have risen faster than the ECB expected for several months, hitting a record annual pace of 5.8 per cent in February. On Thursday, the ECB raised its forecast for inflation this year from 3.2 per cent to 5.1 per cent, citing the “exceptional energy price shocks” stemming from the war in Ukraine.”

Laurie points to three gamechangers that can happen in our cities:

1. Using the glass in our windows to turn the sun’s energy that streams in through them into electricity for other parts of the building. It’s abundantly available and can make much more efficient use of our surfaces.

2. A change in the materials we use to build infrastructure so that it’s much more resistant to flooding. She talks us through the “sponge city concept” that could do so much to alleviate the human and economic suffering that comes with adverse weather events.

3. Much more adoption of mass public transport. “As much of a fan as I am of electric vehicles, a traffic jam of electric vehicles is still a traffic jam”, she says.

As she uttered these words, my thoughts wandered back to the example of how much the Industrial Revolution needed the capital markets to turn mass production into a reality. What new financial models do we need to day to make these greener ideas a practical possibility?

Has business ever buried science as a solution could destruct profit?

There are lots of ways we’ve seen science developments come to pass but then either slowed down due to regulation, politics, or the legal system. Often, this has been for very good reason! Laurie talks about self-driving cars have been operating for a long time, but we must remember that a car can’t make eye contact with somebody, it can’t recognise if somebody has a disability and can’t make moral decisions. We talked about the themes that have been at the centre of previous ESG & Tech shows like how 3D printing could completely change, disrupt even, retail and supply chains. That said, Laurie is absolutely clear about one example when business has ignored or buried science for its own benefit. She points out that the evidence for climate change has been available for decades and now we have so much more to do than if we had taken much greater action, with much greater magnitude earlier on.

As investors, how can we look at the world through a scientific lens?

Laurie’s passion for her subject shines through. You can see that in her tweets, in her books and in the interview. I ask her about what underpins that and I find we have a shared passion - she’s keen to enable people to look at the world through a different perspective. She wants people to see the wonder of science and I love the “glasses” we can teach people to put on through enabling them to understand a company’s potential to grow.

For example, at VectorVest, in one click, you can find out a company's “one to three year forecasted earnings growth rate in percent per year”. All you need to do is go to Stock Viewer, put your stock into the search bar and then scroll to the right to find the number. For example, on 10th March 2022 Peugot Invest and Serge Ferrari, both listed in Paris have a GRT of 43%.

Also, we can show in another click on that Stock Viewer, how much investors today are willing to pay for those earnings. This is called the PE (Price Earnings) ratio and it refers to how many euros or dollars or sterling required to buy one dollar of euros or dollars or sterling of profit. You can find this in VectorVest SDF.DE has a P/E of 16.27. The average P/E of all the stocks in the VectorVest database is 43.19.

We can point out if companies are willing to share some of the profit directly with their investors through a dividend. Further, VectorVest can point out how likely it is that this will remain the case through “Dividend Safety.”

To give you some examples, the five stocks that have the safest dividends in the VectorVest Europe database on 10 ^th March 2022 are Verbio in Germany, St. Microelectns in Italy, Reply SPA in Italy, Apple listed in Germany and Kingspan in Ireland.

In summary, Laurie Winkless has been a superb guest at Fantastic Female Fridays. She’s given us lots to think about, truly encouraged our audience to look at the world from a sparkling new perspective, offered concrete examples that we can relate to and posed a variety of ways that science can be tangential to the world of financial markets.

Check out the full episode of our conversation here and please feel free to comment on YouTube with your thoughts.

Day 1: IoD Northern Ireland Women's Leadership Conference 2022 Summary with Susan HayesCulleton

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 12:21:35 GMT

What a fabulous Day 1 here at IoD Northern Ireland Women’s Leadership Conference.

The summary video is brimful of insights and here are a couple of quotes from today to get you started:

“Learn to love your shadow. Diversity is important so that others can connect with people like them. Know your red lines. Let your personal values and mission drive your career..”, Paula Hilman

“Lead and leave loudly. Strategy should be shaped both top down and bottom up. Experience gives you empathy, judgement and the ability to help people get the most out of their career. ”, Vicky Davies

“”Legacy, learning and leadership. Leaderyneefs purpose, culture, structure, innovation and values. It’s very important to celebrate with your team. If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.. Breaking points can be defining moments.”, Mairead Mackle MBE

“I have the pen to write the story of my life. Challenges can make life more beautiful as you overcome them. It’s so important to support others in sisterhood - share the light so everybody shines. Have a team to be successful as together we are beautiful. ”, Khalida Popal

“The more senior you get, the more support you have. Don’t give yourself the excuse of why you can’t do it. It’s amazing to feel the satisfaction of collective success. The more senior you get, the further away you are from what’s going on so listening is so critically important. Exposure is key as you build your career..”, Dame Inga Beale

I also reflected on the lessons I learned from some of last year’s speakers:

“Get clarity on the problem rather than jumping into the giant hairball of the solution.” Madam Attorney General, Dame Brenda King

“Run towards the fire”, Dennise Broderick Ph.D.

“Take opportunities and just go for it”, Jayne Brady

Please join us on Friday for Day 2 when I will be interviewing Anne Sheehan , Caoimhe Rooney Bernadette Collins and Dr. Jane Goodall. Register at https://lnkd.in/gEDQaRJR

Gauranteed Irish Start Up Forum 2022

maurice@hayesculleton.com (Maurice Sweeney) — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 19:31:02 GMT

Augmented Reality (AR) - Leaders and Trend Setters

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 12:36:20 GMT

Augmented Reality (AR) -

Leaders and Trend Setters

Over time, we've seen Augmented Reality move from being a futuristic concept to having use cases in education, interior design, planning, museums, and other environments where the virtual and physical worlds overlap. As per recent Statista data, by 2024 there will be an estimated 1.7 billion mobile augmented reality (AR) users worldwide, a rise of 1.5 billion from the 200 million seen in 2015.

In the latest ESG & Tech Show episode , I focused on what’s underpinning this growth, the new business models that are developing along the way and of course, the stocks to analyse. If you’ve ever built a PowerPoint slide, you already have a very good idea of what AR means. You start off with a blank slide and then add layers of text and images. In this case, you’re “augmenting” the reality of that slide. You might then add clickable objects or buttons that can lead to different slides. That is adding a layer of interactivity to that blank canvas. If you’re with me so far, then imagine those very same ideas only being applied to buildings, open spaces and any other physical plane! Virtual reality goes another step by immersing your senses (i.e. sound, vision and perhaps touch) with a headset and joystick so that it really does feel like you’re in another world. Naturally, as soon as we talk about this, we’re going to move into metaverse territory. As a simple explanation of that, the metaverse is the transition of a 2-dimensional web world where you can see everything on a flat screen (i.e. those people tuning into the show could see what I was doing on a square box in front of them) to a 3D digital experience (i.e. where those watching the show would feel like they were sitting opposite me in VectorVest’s super training centre in North Carolina!

According to Statista , the 74% of adults in the US are either joining or considering joining the metaverse for various reasons as of December 2021. Specifically, 41% of adults want to experience things they can’t in a physical reality. Imagine bringing your whole extended family around a table to share a meal together despite them being wherever they live all over the world. FaceBook shared a blog post recently bring Europe into the spotlight quoting “This is an exciting time for European tech. The EU has a number of advantages that make it a great place for tech companies to invest — a large consumer market, first class universities and, crucially, top-quality talent.”

Let’s take a look around the world and look at some use cases of this newer area. Personally, we were choosing the colours for our house last November and we used an AR app called “Dulux Visualiser” to visualise what the rooms would look like with different palettes with a tap on the screen. TechSheCan , an initiative in the UK, showcases “Dress X” as a company that is creating digital looks for people who want to dress differently in their social media photos without actually buying and shipping the clothes. The “BEYOND” conference had panels of people talking about applying augmented reality to help communities’ make decisions large-scale infrastructure projects, museums offering different interactions to different demographics and turning cities into open-air historical experiences. Microsoft’s “Mesh” is endeavouring to make a metaverse for the workplace.

In an insightful ZD piece , Aarron Spinley and Paul Greenberg, distil these changes into seven clear business models:

1. Infrastructure – we need the physical environment to connect our devices together with hardware and the support systems for software.

2. Human interface – the glasses and headsets needed to see augmented and virtual realities.

3. Decentralisation – blockchains and other distributed forms of dispersing data.

4. Spatial computing – the technology needed to look at every aspect of a 3D web.

5. Creator economy – the production of assets to be used and consumed solely within a virtual world.

6. Discovery – the evolvement of search engines and engagement tools for users to connect with the content and experiences they’re seeking

7. Experiences – designing a way that individuals can interact in entirely new ways in education, eCommerce, events, the workplace etc.

These new places are turning places of dreams into genuine experiences and planes for people to interact. In fact, CNBC reported in February that “Metaverse real estate sales top $500 million (in 2021), and are projected to double this year”. Bank of America projects “The global metaverse market could grow to $800 billion by the mid-2020s”.

As we turn to the companies leading the way in these areas, we analysed a range of stocks. In the US, we looked at NVIDIA, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nike, Unity Software and Matterport. Some of these are big names in this area already and others are moving into this area from a very traditional place.

During the episode, I took the audience through three key questions:

- Does the stock have the momentum of buyers behind it or is it being pushed down by sellers?

The Relative Timing indicator is computed from an analysis of the direction, magnitude, and dynamics of a stock's price movements day-over-day, week-over-week, quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year. If a trend dissipates, RT will gravitate toward 1.00. Apple’s RT was 1.18 while Matterport had an RT of 0.06. Clearly, Apple has much more momentum powering it’s short term performance both in comparison to the other stock as well as in general.

- Why do some stocks have a “Sell” recommendation?

VectorVest computes its own proprietary stop loss for every single stock right across the board. This is computed from a 13 week moving average of its closing prices, and is fine-tuned according to the stock's fundamentals. If a stock’s share price falls below this stop loss, then it triggers a Sell recommendation. At the time of the show, Unity and Matterport had “Sell” Recommendations.

- Which stocks have the greatest long term price appreciation potential?

Many of the companies we discussed in the episode are investing in their long term futures as this trend moves from the sidelines into mainstream. Therefore, it’s worthwhile to consider their stock’s valuation respectively into the longer term. Specifically, Relative Value is computed from an analysis of projected price appreciation three years out, AAA Corporate Bond Rates, and risk. Meta was the standout candidate here with it’s Relative Value as high at 1.61 and NVIDIA following closely behind with 1.54.

Join our mailing list for the ESG & Tech show so that you’re always updated about our new episodes and get the resources right afterwards at www.vectorvest.com/fff

"Financial Broker Virtual Week”, “Economics - The Future Consumer” here are the key takeaways:

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 19:51:09 GMT

As part of Brokers Ireland “Financial Broker Virtual Week”, I was invited to speak about “Economics - The Future Consumer” and here are the key takeaways:

1. Enterprise Ireland offers a super mechanism to fund innovation and collaborate with universities. Also Ulster University Business School and lots of other business faculties are open for business in this regard.

2. Low-code development offer ways that businesses can learn what their customers want in real-time. I gave a demo of how I turned a one-minute Airtable survey into a dashboard of insights as quick as the audience was filling it out. Gartner quote that “65% of application development activity will be low code-by 2024”.

3. Mass personalisation requires you to think how you can automate a tailored service for your customer based on what they want, what you have on offer and how they change. I gave a quick demo of how we can match people based on what they know and what they want to learn at Active Peers AI and then how customer feedback tools like Hellonext.co work. A Deloitte study shows “20% of consumers would pay 20% extra for personalized services”.

4. Lots of businesses are focusing on the environmental aspects of their businesses and that’s very welcome. However, many are already helping their customers and communities through the “S” of “ESG”. I showed the audience “Money Matters”, the book I wrote with CFA Society Ireland and The Educational Company of Ireland (Edco) to democratise financial literacy right across the country. Today that book is in every secondary school and is available for general sale at https://lnkd.in/ern3x3mn . If you’re contributing towards sustainability, tell your customers and communities! Also, Larry Fink from BlackRock quoted in his recent letter “During 2020, 81% of a globally representative selection of sustainable indexes outperformed their parent benchmarks”, so this area is all the more important for financial services.

5. The #Metaverse is simply a transition of a 2D web experience to 3D. This could really change the whole meaning of the word “hybrid” when it comes to interactions with consumers. We’re already using AR in many ways (every Powerpoint is an example), so we need to watch out how others are adopting the metaverse into mainstream (eg Microsoft Mesh). Statista quotes that “74% of adults in the US said that they were going to join or were considering joining the metaverse”.

6. Personally, I believe in hiring on attitude and training on skill. Our talent pipeline to serve our customers of tomorrow can benefit hugely from initiatives like Springboard+ which bring together third level institutions, government funding and the relevance of skill demand in industry today.

7. I presented a full episode of my ESG & Tech show with VectorVest, Inc tailored around Robo Advisor. If you’re interested, check it out at https://lnkd.in/ezWcWKXy

Thank you PJ Walker for the opportunity to collaborate.

#SheGenerate Workshop at Awaken Hub:Six personal skills that transfer

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 16:36:02 GMT

In a recent #SheGenerate workshop at AwakenHub , I was (delightfully!) invited to speak about transferring personal skills to business skills, interview Mary McKenna anout the entrepreneurial mindset and run an Active Peers AI session. Here’s what happened:

Six personal skills that transfer:

1. Active listening can be improved by reflecting back to others “what I hear you say is…”

2. Diary your time and energy - while there is the same time between 10 am to 11am on a Wednesday as 10 pm to 11pm on a Friday, your energy will likely be different.

3. Ask effective questions (and check out Caroline Reidy’s “Art of Asking the Right Questions” for that).

4. Bank personal wins (and my breakfast posts here on LinkedIn are examples of those!)

5. Build trust by doing what you say you’re going to do and then point out you’ve done so.

6. Listen to how you’re introduced (as this is your personal brand in action ).

Mary McKenna then shared insights about the sacrifices you need to make when in business, how to show grit and resilience and how to push through those excruciating moments long after your comfort zone was in sight all fuelled by excitement and dynamism.

Next, we ran an Active Peers AI session focusing on the aforementioned skills. Our group noted they wanted answers to specific questions, advice, insights, the voice of experience, confidence, tools, ideas on approaches, other perspectives, concise direction, the opportunity to build relationships and a meaningful opportunity to put themselves out there. We certainly made all those happen and that dovetails right into the ethos that Sinead Crowley Mary Carty Clare McGee Mary McKenna and all the Awaken Hub team cultivate into the network.

I talk in the video about what our audience shared with each other and it’s super important to mention that while we put the tech and process in place to , it was the way people worked with each other that underpinned the success of the session. One participant said “It was easy to understand my sharer, ask questions and share my concerns. I was also given practical insights and references to software tools” and another said “I felt so positive! The question prompts are so useful”.

Thank you kindly to the Awaken Hub team for their kind invite to collaborate. You’re a fabulous team building an accelerating network and it was a joy to work with you and your #SheGenerate members.

Five trends arising from generational differences with ESG & Tech

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 20:56:47 GMT

In the latest episode of the ESG & Tech show, I took the audience through five trends, as I see them, arising from generational differences with ESG & Tech.

People tuned in from all over the world ranging from Western Canada to Australia for the show and here is a summary of what we talked about!

1. Low code platforms

According to a recent Forbes piece , Generation Z want “new-school technology that keeps them as connected, efficient, and productive as possible” and the proliferation of low-code and no-code platforms is truly enabling them to “the power to automate away the most tedious parts of their day”. Personally, I’m a big fan of this type of technology. We use ClickUp to automate workflows. In Airtable, we build a database once and use the interface in many different ways for different customers. Our first iteration of Active Peers AI was built on Bubble! Niall Fitzmaurice from Microsoft noted that 65% of development in 2020 was using low code and Gartner predicts 80% of tech products and services will be built by people who are not technology professionals. Previous generations didn’t have this type of customisable (at scale) technology. Business models focused on buying lifelong licenses i.e. Microsoft’s Windows versus it’s modern Power Platform. Development was expensive, relied on traditional waterfall project management and couldn’t react quickly to user’s beta tests along the way.

2. ESG investing demographic drivers

ESG investing is continuing to gain momentum in the mainstream. Reuters quoted “A record $649 billion poured into ESG-focused funds worldwide through Nov. 30 (2021), up from the $542 billion and $285 billion that flowed into these funds in 2020 and 2019”. However, the real question I had was who are those investors? A “ Thought Lab ” study shed some light:

o 27% of advisors said that clients of all ages and wealth levels are interested in ESG investing

o 32% of baby boomers and 22% of millennials plan to invest in ESG funds over the next two years

Lest one think that baby boomers are more excited about this theme, it’s actually more likely that they’re picking up on the speed millennials have had all along. A Business Wire article in 2019 stated that “Nearly half of Gen Xers and baby boomers say they are interested in having some money in ESG investments, compared with 66% of millennials”. Further, the rationales between the two were different. “baby boomers are more likely than millennials and Gen Xers to say that the reason they want to participate in ESG investing is to encourage companies to be good corporate citizens”.

3. Intergenerational Wealth Transfer and Education

An FT piece pointed out the whole gaping opportunity that still awaits this area by pointing out that “95 per cent of people say they recycle and 59 per cent avoid single-use plastics, yet only 15 per cent note ESG investing as a way they are actively supporting a sustainable society.” As more people become aware of their capability to express their values through investing vehicles and have more confidence in how to do so, this area is set to grow and grow. A further influential factor is the wave of money that is coming to Gen X and millennials as we see a massive intergenerational wealth transfer in the next two decades. According to Cerulli , “nearly 45 million U.S. households will transfer a total of $68.4 trillion in wealth to heirs and charity over the course of the next 25 years”. In the 2020s alone, Euromoney expects the regional figures to reach $3.2 trillion in Europe and $1.9 trillion in Asia. From an income point of view , millennials have put more planning into their retirement, more money into their education and less focus on buying (rather than renting) property. As they move further into their investing lives their investable capital is poised to enhance. The Venn diagram of this money, expansion of data and vehicles with the education factor places ESG investing right at the sweet spot.

4. Social Commerce

During the show, I was asked if people became more aware of ESG due to the pandemic. I answered this with it’s difficult to make a direct correlation here but we can certainly say that we made much more of an effort to shop local at the time. We also spent dramatically more online due to convenience and lockdowns. It’s obvious, but necessary, to point out that in order to get customers online then you need to be visible online and thus, social media presence is very important. While we might associate Instagram and Tik Tok with Gen Z and Gen Alpha, the reality that “Baby Boomers are the biggest spenders in the United States, and Gen X is close behind” according to Epsilon Research . Instagram’s own 2022 trend report states that “in 2022, nearly 1 in 4 are expecting to thrift more online through second-hand websites…. About the same percentage of teens and young adults are expecting to contribute more to clothing sustainability by selling their own goods through an online store or social media in 2022”. This is where the circular economy, online marketplaces, great intent and high levels of engagement come together.

5. Virtual Reality

At the “BEYOND ” conference last October in Belfast, I flew a plane with the Wright Brothers and sat in the cockpit as they wished me luck on my airbound adventure. I then took off my virtual reality glasses and was right back at the exhibition fair in a hotel in Northern Ireland! Virtual reality can take us into another world which can have far reaching implications for education and a variety of other sectors. Google synthesised some findings on this including “more than 71% of centennials (Generation Z) and 58% of millennials are interested in virtual reality … 28% of representatives of Generation Z are ready to buy VR glasses , and only 19% are of Generation Y.” Those who grew up as digital natives are more likely to be interested by tech toys and as the costs of their respective production go down and their integration into other traditional spheres of use increase, let’s watch closely what happens to this industry.

What is holding you back from financial freedom with special guest Carol Glynn

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 14:41:57 GMT

In the latest episode of Fantastic Female Fridays , I interviewed Carol Glynn of Conscious Finance Coaching . It’s a company based in Dubai that Carol spearheads with a view to helping her clients (who are primarily women) overcome challenges to achieve their financial dreams. She calls the work that she does “financial nakedness” as when you’re working with a money coach, they see everything!

Here are some things we can all learn from Carol:

Clarity Sheets

Carol says that she doesn’t refer to budgets in the way we might traditionally call them but instead as “clarity sheets”. Their purpose is to highlight what people spend, in comparison to what they earn, but not with a view to squeezing out the enjoyment of their money but to see if that spreadsheet is representative of their value.

A Fear of Investing is a Fear of the Unknown

Carol talked about how we view savings versus investing. Saving is secure, stable and constant. We know the result. However, in the case of investing, we don’t know what’s going to happen nor when. Of course, investors are rewarded through higher returns for taking that risk but that doesn’t mean that new investors may be wary. Specifically, when she is dealing with this, Carol walks through why somebody might want to invest, their risk appetite, demystifies the jargon, helps them find out the cost and then make a decision.

Everybody thinks Others are Born with the Playbook

Carol mentioned that lots of people come to her finance coaching business riddled with negative emotions. They might be shame, guilt, intimidation, overwhelm and others. Lots of people assume that others know exactly what they’re doing. However the reality is that financial literacy isn’t genetically inherited! Everybody needs to learn from the beginning and has different reasons for doing so.

What is Your Willpower Telling You?

Willpower is an interesting idea. Many connotate it with grit and the ability to stick “it” out, whereby the “it” refers to something difficult with a view to arriving at a virtuous outcome. It’s worthwhile thinking about why that might be. Carol gives us great ways to optimise your willpower by being kind to yourself. Think back to why you really want what you’re working towards so that you can power through. Remove the “should” and “should nots” from your lexicon so that there is only room for the why you genuinely want what you’re striving towards. Celebrate the milestones with rewards.

Get Started with Five Practical Steps

1. Get clarity on what you owe and what you own.

2. Observe what you’re spending.

3. Make sure that your financial activity links to your values.

4. Track your progress

5. Understand your risk profile and take action accordingly.

For more insights from this conversation, check out the full episode on our channel on YouTube!

As a promise to myself, I’ve started 2022 with the best habit I developed last year - thinking for an hour over breakfast.

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 22:17:24 GMT

As I promised (to myself!) , I’ve started 2022 with the best habit I developed last year - thinking for an hour over breakfast every working day. I write my ideas, thoughts and hypotheses on serviettes and then decide what's going to be discussed with other members of the team or that I will look into further with testing or share with a client.

I can't tell you the day that I actually started doing using serviettes as as I can't remember - it may have been some time that I didn't have a notebook to hand I would say. However, the reason I've kept it up is that it's a trigger now for my body to start thinking (as distinct to anything else at all). Also, there is something transient about a napkin. I find that anything that goes into a notebook needs to be implemented and ticked off. A napkin creates a different canvas for thinking - it can be discarded afterwards right away. It's easier to think freely if you don't have to commit to doing what's on the napkin. As my editor told me at Penguin, don't write and edit at the same time - there's time for both.

Here are my results:

Week 1:

Monday: Consider the full, comprehensive rewrite of the Active Peers AI home page. It's ready to go live this week.

Tuesday: Write 8 complete rigorous case studies for Active Peers AI . They're now on the site.

Wednesday: Discover a feedback feature request, roadmap, and changelog app (that we’ve now used with over 50 users).

Thursday: Read a research article from the British Educational Research Association (BERA) to get other angles for understanding our clients’ problems.

Friday: Think through the new L&D Solutions page for Active Peers AI with Thursday’s article. It will be planned to go on the site in the next week.

Week 2:

Monday: Muse over a new Instagram Live idea for SavvyTeenAcademy that we have tested and implemented since then.

Tuesday: Think through the new Solutions page for our Active Peers AI Event Facilitators. It's now on the site.

Wednesday: Review the entire process fully for our Active Peers AI group that we facilitated later that day and is now on a cloud doc so that everybody can access it. This is a working document that is now very helpful for both the operational staff and the technical team.

Thursday: Appraise the best way that we could support a potential customer by designing interactions between their members to learn from each other and build robust business relationships from a different perspective. We submitted that to them by the end of the day.

Friday: Crawl through the feedback received from our Active Peers AI group on Wednesday in anticipation of meeting our next group in Hong Kong. We implemented those changes by the end of the day.

Week 3:

In the second fortnight in January, I had ten more "thinking breakfasts" and here is what they had in store:

Monday: refine my thinking for a tailored ThePositiveEconomist Blue Monday session we delivered to an organisation's staff focusing on the reasons why people don't achieve their goals and how to overcome them.

Tuesday: Think back over every nuance of an Active Peers AI session we ran in Hong Kong and what we can learn from it. We've since built and tested one key change they suggested and are meeting the client next week to show them the difference.

Wednesday: trace five user journeys through Active Peers AI from a CRM perspective and put them to our provider for simplification and implementation.

Thursday: finalise the list of questions for Carol Glynn , my latest guest for "Fantastic Female Fridays" at VectorVest, Inc . The full episode is available at https://lnkd.in/gr3CNp_W .

Friday: consider how we could build a customised Peer Learning Prompter at Active Peers AI . We're testing a prototype of that this week.

Week 4:

Monday: muse over how Active Peers AI could help both a new Women's Network in an Irish company (i.e. establish an authentic forum for ideas sharing) and a conference bringing together sports clubs all over America (structure an optimal way that tacit knowledge would be exchanged and overcome silos). Both proposals are sitting on our respective contacts' desks.

Tuesday: problem-solve a way to get a workflow where Active Peers AI could work natively in Zoom without ever leaving the platform. We tested this multiple times and had it optimised by Friday.

Wednesday: explore the hypothesis that the various generations are treating ESG investments and technology differently for my latest episode of the ESG & Tech show with VectorVest, Inc . The full show is available at https://lnkd.in/gD-gN-Mh

Thursday: contemplate every aspect of ThePositiveEconomist session with Clare McGee Innovate NI , Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council and Invest Northern Ireland before an action-packed delivery!

Friday: build a new feedback interface for Active Peers AI using Airtable Interfaces to iterate on what we have, show Liting Zhou and the Innovation Partnership team what I think could be better, and ask for their critical analysis as to whether it should be put on our technical roadmap.

Let's see what appears over the next two weeks of serviettes at breakfast!

Newstalk Newspaper Roundup with Bobby Kerr

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 15:19:53 GMT

I was delighted to join Bobby Kerr on his Saturday Morning Newstalk Show #BobbyMeansBiz to discuss the National and International stories in the newspapers

Six things to take into 2022

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 15:49:58 GMT

In this video, I share the six things that I did differently in 2021 that I’m definitely taking with me into the year ahead.

1.Spend an hour every day thinking (ideally over a lovely breakfast) and I write my ideas on a serviette.

2. Ask more questions and help our clients and participants understand their challenges and opportunities better.

3. Upgrade our tech to ClickUp and Airtable as integrating our tools so that they “talk to each other”.

4. Embed our proprietary end-to-end peer learning process into every training and relevant conference interactions to reverse engineer successful learning interactions between people so that we can bring tacit knowledge to the fore and make the experience more engaging and enjoyable.

5. Bring together stakeholders with energy, resources and intention but work towards concrete outcomes that can make a really difference to a group of people, as per #SDG17 . We did this with CFA Society Ireland through publishing “ Money Matters ”.

The Money Matters book is available to purchase here

6. Turn four things that resonated with me from “Do Nothing” by Celeste Headlee (she/her) into action including:

- do things for their own sake

- cultivate the power of recharging

- you can achieve as much while recharging more

- beware of the “hedonic treadmill”

- think about end goals rather than means goals.

How to Change the Narrative about Money – an Interview with Jen Hemphill

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 15:53:43 GMT

How to change the narrative about money

In the latest episode of Fantastic Female Fridays, I invited Jen Hemphill as a guest to the show. Personally, I think that Jen has a lot of great wisdom to share (as evidenced in her podcast and like me, she likes action-focused practicality and has a genuine interest in helping women to reach their potential with money, but her principles are applicable in many more aspects of life. However, that’s not all. I feel that it’s particularly important to bring diverse perspectives to the show and Jen is passionate about representing the Latina community, so we were all set for an insightful show and Jen lived right up to the billing!

Simplicity and Consistency

Jen spoke about overwhelm during our conversation and that maximising your money can be a simple process. Small actions can build up to have a very momentous effect, but the catalyst that can really accelerate results is consistency. Committing to those actions and repeating them with intent is the source of the results.

From Jen’s point of view, her “ Daily Dinero Ritual ” is the way that people can advance their financial situation in a simple, consistent way. From a VectorVest point of view, I shared ideas of how to apply simple indicators from the VectorVest system consistently to achieve impressive, repeatable returns.

Changing the narrative

During our conversation, Jen identified three key reasons that our narrative around money can be plain wrong including:

Some financial aspects of our life are taboo

A lot of debt, lack of understanding around jargon and guilt relating to spending can be very difficult to talk about. It leads to people focusing only on the bad and locking these fears in rather than speaking out about them (and thus dealing with them).

Can’t teach money in the same way to everybody

People have different approaches to everything in life and money is the same. Men and women look at money differently . Some people are creative (right-brained) and others are logical (left-brained). Jen points out that it’s all about how we connect with the theme. The reason one person might feel under-confident with investing is that they’ve interacted with people who didn’t connect with them at their level.

Our money story can lead us to recreate unhealthy habits subconsciously

If you grew up in a house where there was a pervasive narrative of “money is the root of all evil” or a constant feeling of financial sacrifice, it’s understandable if you might have a challenging relationship with money even if you’re in an entirely different money scenario. If you grew up with a certain status quo, you may be repeating certain behaviours without even knowing.

The Latina Community and the Wealth Gap

Jen quoted a shocking statistic that the average net worth of the Hispanic family is close to $21,000 which stands in incredible contrast to that of a white family which is $171,000. This study is from 2016 in the paper “ Disrupting the Racial Wealth Gap ”. I had to ask Jen if I had heard her correctly as those numbers are astounding and that piece elaborates with how that gap manifests itself as well as “Four policy ideas have robust promise to reduce the racial wealth gap”.

That said, I was interested to hear Jen’s opinion on this. She pointed out how some may not understand the system to build resources. Many women pause their career to take care of family, as this is a rooted value in the Latina community. Also, money may not be discussed openly and thus myths can’t be easily busted and finally, she spoke about the common refrain “If God wants” which may gingerly hold people back from taking more action than in other environments.

Barriers to Investing

Jen helped us understand what holds people back from progressing towards their investing goals. She highlighted three areas:

Delayed mentality

People may think “I will invest when I have lots of money” or other nebulous, futuristic situations. Instead, investing can be possible much sooner with much smaller amount of money than you might think.

Investing is hard

This is a perception that can be very corrosive. You don’t have to know what the CEO has for breakfast, how to read a Profit & Loss statement and an intricate understanding of every sector. In fact, the VectorVest system prides itself on the possibility of analysing a stock in under 30 seconds using proprietary indicators .

A better job needs to be done with education

If the industry uses lots of jargon, wraps customers up in knots with fees and makes every concept complex, then of course, people are likely to be apprehensive in their approach. We really try to bring, as Jen says, simplicity and consistency to all that we do. My recent book “ Money Matters ” was particularly aimed at simplifying lots of key tangible techniques in personal finance, investing and entrepreneurship. This publication came about from a partnership with CFA Society Ireland with the very intent of democratising financial literacy among young people.

Three Key Takeaways

As the episode moved to a close, Jen shared three key takeaways:

1. Take some time to reflect on your money story and ask yourself if it’s repeating itself

What are the words that come to mind when you think of money? What do you remember about attitudes to money when you were growing up? What unexplained thoughts, worries, dreams or opinions do you have about money … and do they stem from your childhood. You have the power to turn these ideas around in your head either by being aware of their power and taking action or getting some coaching.

2. Trust yourself.

You can manage your money better. You can learn to invest more effectively. Look at all the things that you’ve done, all the accomplishments you’ve had and problems you’ve overcome. Of course, you can handle notes, coins, balances and stocks!

3. Stay present.

Keep your focus on what’s important . What would make a difference to you now? What is important to you, not what you think should be important, but is actually important to you? Keep your focus on that and appreciate yourself more.

There you have it! It was a delight to have Jen Hemphill on the show and we hope that you will tune in for our next episode early in 2022.

Five ESG & Tech Trends that Shaped 2021

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 20:35:29 GMT

In the final episode of the ESG & Tech show this yea r , the focus was on the five key trends that defined 2021.

Here is a snapshot of what we discussed:

1. Climate fintech

I think 2020 was the year that truly wanted to “shop local”. There was sense of community, wanting to help small businesses through a difficult year and our relationship with space changed dramatically during lockdown. However, with COP26 and a plethora of other things, 2021 could well see the embryonic trend of “climate fintech”. This concept is centred around using our everyday spending to help the environment. For example, in August, first event sustainability-focused consumer financial services provider in the public markets happened when, Aspiration announced plans to go public through a special purpose acquisition company ( SPAC ) merger that valued it at $2.3 billion. In the company’s latest press release, it noted that it’s year to date September 2021 Revenue of $62.1 Million Compared to $9.3 Million for the First Three Quarters of 2020. This represents a 570% Year-Over-Year Increase. There is such a big business opportunity for companies who can align an environmental objective with people’s everyday life. At Sustain Social last week, Randeep Somal quoted “Bloomberg New Energy Foundation (BNEF) highlights that between $92 trillion - $173 trillion required in spending to reach net zero. The UK alone is £1.5 trillion.” They are phenomenal numbers!

2. Robo Advisor

In a previous episode , I explained at length how Robo Advisor works. In essence, you fill out a questionnaire and then an algorithm puts forward a portfolio based on the insights you share about yourself. It generally populates the portfolio with ETFs, but the whole idea is that the algorithm does the stock/fund picking for you. In 2021, we’ve seen some Robo Advisors incorporate an ESG angle into them and even seen some to focus solely on the theme. For example, Earthfolio is a sustainability Robo-Advisor. Personal Capital is a US-only RoboAdvisor that chooses ESG stocks. Ellevest specialises in companies owned by women and under-represented communities. For me, this represents two key points. The first is that it is clear response to consumer demand. The second one is that when you put your Robo Advisor in the driving seat of making decisions for you, it will continue making those decisions until you tell it otherwise. As a result, the more money that is added to these Robo Advisor accounts (which is predicted), the more ESG-based decisions will be made.

3. Demographic Drivers

We often hear about the loud voice of Gen Z when it comes their passion for sustainability. However, when it comes to those who take these considerations into account when making investing decisions, according to a recent CNBC piece “About one-third of millennials often or exclusively use investments that take ESG factors into account, compared with 19% of Gen Z, 16% of Gen X and 2% of baby boomers”. If we stop there for a moment and then question the likelihood that the influence of this age group is going to grow over time. Naturally, with inflation and the growing need for talent, we might say that it’s highly likely that their wages will rise over time, but what about their propensity to invest a greater share of their income? Bloomberg considered this from the point of view of student debt, home ownership and retirement planning. In particular, the piece quotes “48% of 26- to 39-year-olds are homeowners today compared with 52% in 1989,” 86% of millennials have some kind retirement plan, compared with 73% of boomers at their age” and “Millennials have almost twice as much debt as their parents did at their age”. Does this suggest then those millennials are poorer than their parents? Instead, I think it’s worth considering a different angle. Millennials have invested more in their ability to be financially stable and wealthy looking into the longer term. They have been in education longer, have put money into their pension earlier and have rented in areas closer to the higher-paying urban jobs to accelerate career progression. Therefore, when you put this as well as their predilection for ESG investing together, it’s a powerful combination.

4. Data Data Everywhere!

Over the past year, I’ve noticed more and more ESG information available through my fintech apps and websites. If I log into my stockbroking account, I can see the sustainability measures of my portfolio, the exposures of the each companies to non-ESG areas and I can make decisions accordingly. If I look at the iShares website to evaluate my ETF choices, I can also see ESG rating from a variety of perspectives. Companies are now being pushed into being more transparent and there are greater expectations set for this purpose both from a regulatory as well as cultural point of view. One of the key things that stood out a mile from the Sustain Social conference was that some data providers disagree with each other. Some companies say that a certain stock has positive ESG KPIs while others offer a very different analysis. Where is one to turn in this situation? On another note, there is growing cynicism that certain companies aren’t as pure or green as they purport to be but simply want to be seen that way so that they can absorb the money that is looking for this sort of home. The European Union taxonomy is an example of a supra-national effort to harmonise this grey area.

5. Differing costs of capital

Based on all the above, investors (both retail and institutional) have become more discerning. They’re attributing different costs of capital to different assets. For example, the FT points out a 0.05% “greenium” i.e. green bonds are 5 bps cheaper when compared to traditional bonds. However, what happens when it’s more complex than what a single metric can demonstrate? For example, a defense company is likely to be involved in activities that harm human life and naturally, this is “ESG bad”. They might also be working on cutting edge cyber activities to prevent harmful hacks and preserve credibility in the virtual systems that we use progressively more and more… and that’s “ESG good”. The financial markets are a web of intricate interactions and of course, the human mind wants efficiency but when it comes to packing a company’s environmental, social and governance reputation into a number, one would want to do so with care.

2021 certainly had lots of interesting experiences, new developments and innovative technologies that crafted it to be the year that was. With these five trends guiding the ESG & Tech future path, let’s see what 2022 has in store!

Key Lessons in Selling in International Markets

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 16:43:06 GMT

Throughout the year, I’ve been kindly invited to contribute to the Enterprise Ireland Export Compass, spearheaded by Helen Blake and Mary Pasby at FutureCurve

In the latest Roundtable, all panellists were invited to share some key ideas from their expiry experience. Here is a selection of mine and my interpretation of others:

1. “There is no try" - if you put your energy into doing rather than doubting, your energy can be much better invested.

2. It doesn't need to be a lonely road. There are lots of supports from Enterprise Ireland InterTradeIreland EEN_Enterprise Europe Network, Local Enterprise Offices and so many more.

3. Profile your target customer - if you’re clear on what you’re looking for then it’s easier to find. (Futurecurve have some excellent canvases for this.)

4. Use your existing client book - but do so where value is at the heart of your efforts for that client book.

5. People want to communicate in their own language - challenge your own assumptions and go beyond perceptions.

6. What's profitable now versus in the future? This question sits in the Venn diagram of enthusiasm, commercial reality and sustainability.

7. All sales amounts to us demonstrating that the value of your product or service is greater than the money paid to get it. The same principle applies at home and abroad.

8. “Roughly right planning with perfect implementation”. Do what you say you’re going to do. Follow up and commit.

9. Enjoy the culture and the experience. In my opinion, this is where individual sustainability comes from. My hunger to learn, intrigue for cultural curiosity and being present and grateful for all my international experiences are three of the many reasons I love doing business in different parts of the world.

Thank you for the opportunity to work with you Marguerite Bourke, Emmet Dunne, Andrew O'Connell, Jack Murray, Keelin Fagan, Marianthi Roussou, rory Power, Deirdre McPartlin, Marcella Rudden and Alberto Cisterna Viladrich.

Robo Advisor - Past and Future

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 15:41:06 GMT

Robo-Advisor – Past and Future

In my most recent episode of ESG & Tech , I focused on the past and future of Robo Advisor. This is an area that has been of particular interest to me for a while now because Many argue that the traditional models of advising are broken. AUM fees favour larger accounts. Fee-based advice crowds out the smaller investor. Robo-advisor connects algorithms, technology, slick UX apps, and liquid ETFs with a view to offering a credible value proposition to Gen Z and millennials. However, tech doesn’t have empathy in a stock market crash … or does that matter?

How does a Robo-advisor work?

The Banking Hub has a useful graphic that describes the process well:

- A customer fills out a questionnaire with questions relating to investment ambitions, investment horizons, investment asset classes, experience and their financial situation.

- This data is mapped to a “strategic asset allocation” which points towards suitable asset allocations including stocks, bonds etc.

- Next, the algorithm determines which financial instruments are going to be used to implement this theory into practise and ETFs are particularly popular for doing so.

- Finally, the purchases are orchestrated and the portfolio is set up.

In essence, this removes a lot of emotion that can come with investing, is very convenient and thus suitable for busy people and takes away the need to understand the nuances of various companies and other market considerations. It has a lot of benefits to it and Statista expects the assets under management to reach $2.8 trillion by 2025. However, the average AUM in the Robo-Advisor segment is expected to reach just $4,875 this year. One can deduce that people are testing the water with this concept rather than letting an algorithm sit at the helm of their investment journey. I made the point to our viewers that many new game-changing concepts start off like that (ETFs, online broking and many fintech apps) but can go on to balloon in transactions when trust rises and the barriers to entry fall.

Is Robo Advisor the way forward?

While Robo Advisor does take the work out of picking individual securities and indeed, investing in general, it’s unlikely to be for everybody. In fact, many VectorVest subscribers aren’t going to like it at all! The reasons for this are summed up well in a “ Dough Roller ” piece titled outlining that Robo Advisor isn’t a good idea for the following reasons:

1. You like Do-It-Yourself Investing

If you know the type of investor you are (e.g. prudent), the characteristics you like to see (e.g. high dividends), the warning signs on a graph (e.g. declining Relative Timing), then you will want to take things into your own hands and tailor your investments to what suits you.

2. You like a “Human Touch” with your Investing

Perhaps that “human touch” is your own! If you want to bring your own personality to your portfolio then you’re likely to want to drive the bus directly.

3. You’re Hoping to Beat the Market

Robo Advisors make algorithmic, productive use of ETFs. An ETF’s job is to deliver the market return and nothing else. It is tasked with minimising tracking error and efficiently mirroring the performance of the underlying index. If you want to beat the market, then you will need to think differently.

Where can one access a Robo Advisor and how much do they cost?

There are lots of providers in this arena and they offer different services. For example, Vanguard Digital Advisor has a characteristically low-cost offer. At the time of writing, one needs $3,000 to set up an account and the fees are just $2 per $1,000 invested. Their explainer videos point out that this is useful for people who want to minimize the amount of time they put into this and the importance of keeping costs low. Betterment instead focuses on offering tailored tax harvesting and simulations to it’s US based customers, a choice to bring an ESG tilt to a Robo-advised portfolio and a premium package with unlimited calls and e-mails with their own CPA accredited advisors. Of course, we delgithedly have a very diverse audience who comes along each month to the ESG & Tech show so I naturally wanted to check out some other regions. In Europe, there is a service comparison site that points out the availability in Germany, France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Span, Belgium and many, many others.

What is the fundamental issue that could determine Robo-Adviser’s success or demise?

In a very interesting paper called “ Robo Advisors: Exploring and Leveraging the Competition ”, the authors point out that it’s the not-so-obvious point that can make or break this idea. Lots of people talk about “what happens if there is a bear market and the customer wants to talk to somebody about their portfolio?”. However, this paper points out that it’s what customers are not talking about is the problem. The first interaction that somebody has with the Robo Advisor is predicated on them telling the truth (which we can reasonably expect) and being objective (which we reasonably can’t expect). The authors quoted one study where people were asked to list their financial goals in rank order. Afterwards, they were shown a master list of randomly ranked financial goals as articulated by the whole group. If one was very clear about one’s goals, then they shouldn’t be influenced by such a list…right? About 73 per cent of participants substituted at least one of their top three goals with goals from the master list. Therefore, do we really know what we’re aspiring towards or does it really make a big difference when we talk it out with an experienced professional?

Are other tools available to help me automate some elements of my investing?

Yes, of course! VectorVest can help you accelerate or even automate your investing.

Unisearch enables you to choose what you want in a stock and then rank that list by importance of what you decide. For example, in the episode, I “told” it’s Unisearch toold that I wanted stocks with:

- RT > 1 (i.e. I only wanted stocks that were rising),

- DY > 2.0% (i.e. I only wanted stocks that paid me 2% in income, based on current prices)

- EPS > 0 (i.e. I only wanted stocks that were profitable)

Further, I ranked the list in terms of GRT (i.e. I wanted the stocks that were growing their earnings the fastest to appear at the top of my list.

Also, Google Sheets has a great function to pull in live data and I’ve put together a two-minute video to explain how to do that right here.

There you have it! If you consider the reason that Robo Advisor is here (rise of AI and algorithms, proliferation of easy-to-use fintech and wavering trust in the industry), the influential external trends of why its growing (dramatic expansion of ETFs, growing acceptance of interacting with professional services through mobile and more SAAS based business models) and who it does and doesn’t suit, it’s much easier to have a vision of where it’s going in the future.

Top 5 actions you can take to power up for 2022

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 09:35:46 GMT

It’s been an interesting year full of challenges, opportunities, uncertainty and change. 2022 offers a fresh perspective, a new start and a whole new chapter for your business to write.

It's that wonderful time of the year when people typically spend time with a notebook and a coffee, a whiteboard and their team and/or immersed in the thought process of what could yet become in a whole new year. Of course, for others, it can be a daunting experience of trying to figure out how to survive another year or facing an uncomfortable reality that perhaps they need to make a change. Independent of how you're feeling about the business year ahead, here are five key practical things that you can do to make a tangible plan for 2022.

For a start, it's worthwhile to reflect on the best bits of 2021. What are you going to keep doing, start doing and do more of? What do you want to do less of or even stop? I asked this to a group of people at the Dublin City Women in Business Network as I presented this theme to them and here is what they had to say:

Create a Vision Board

It's one of the many new activities we introduced this year to our Corporate Work Experience programmes and our teenagers absolutely love it. This is a simple process of filling a blank canvas (i.e. Google Slides) of pictures of the life you want to have in a certain timeframe. The only rule is that you can only use pictures (using the Explore button as described in the video below) and not put in any text at all. Afterwards, you write what the pictures mean to you in the Speaker Notes. This can be a lovely way to dream about next year using the creative side of your brain. After that, you can progress towards SMART goals , KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and other ways to build quantifiability into your goals.New Paragraph

If this isn't your thing, I have two other alternatives. The first is to journal of life as you would love to have it at the end of 2022 and write it in the present tense. You can be very surprised by what appears on the paper when you start to let your thoughts fully form. Another is to put your focus on what you feel is holding you back from you want and then consider what you could do about those obstacles. Let your plan form with this action-oriented approach. I interviewed Fiona Deehan, Cara Consulting in my podcas t and this was one of her key takeaways.

Listen to your Market

I wrote a whole LISTEN framework for selling a while ago that we use over and over again, but the key premise comes down to keeping your ears very close to the ground. If you put your focus on truly listening to your customers, you will find lots and lots of ways of doing so. Perhaps you can hone some very clear questions, add in questions to the buying area of your site (i.e. where did you hear about us?), take a very close look at how people introduce you in their conversations and e-mails, gamify surveys into interactions you have with them or many other ideas. If you use Instagram for business, there are lots of polls, question stickers and other fun ideas they have for instant interactions with your audience.

Have a marketing strategy and stick consistently with it.

In many cases, I find that people and businesses pour energy into their marketing and are unhappy with their results because of a lack of consistency. As Tess Wick says, "put your energy into a funnel rather than strainer". Decide what you're going to do, keep it and simply and then make sure that you keep doing it. Measure results, test, pivot and learn, but make sure that you maintain consistency. For example, I love to share video summaries of the events that I MC on LinkedIn so I can distill all of the wisdom being shared at the event for my own audience and enable them to find out more if they would like. There is a real discipline involved in this as my summaries all need to be ten minutes long, need to be practical and they reference the people I've worked with so those looking at those videos can follow up if they would like. You can find a range of examples here including a time that I acted as MC for the BEYOND Creative Industries conference , the EMPOWER Explore event focusing on raising money, blockchain and inspiration as well as a Digital Transformation Conference for GMIT.

Keep your clients up to date using ClickUp Docs

We've introduced many new technologies this year into the business as we've worked at maximising technology to achieve better outcomes for our team and our customers for some time now. One of the technologies that used to both streamline our own processes and interface with customers is ClickUp. It's a fantastic project management system, but their ClickUp Docs are very useful indeed. You can structure it as a normal document with lots of rich text features and thus, you can have tables, images, attachments, emojis and lots more. It can be visible to them as a PDF and operates in real time so any time they check in, it will have your latest updates. From your own internal point of view, it can link in with your own tasks (which can be subsequently integrated with your calendar etc). In essence, it simply means that you can reduce the amount of communication work you have to do but empower your client to have access to the latest updates as quickly as you work on them and check in with you without needing to e-mail or call. One last thing - you can set up templates when you have the right process that fits too!

Contact your existing client book meaningfully.

It's much, MUCH easier to sell to an existing client rather than build up a new relationship with one where you're unknown and untrusted (even though we love to do that too!). Therefore, it's so important to invest in your existing relationships all the time. There are so many ways to do this while putting your customer first. Are you going to an event (in-person or online) that might interest them? Could you put them in touch with somebody where there could be mutual benefit? Is there a piece of thought leadership you've just read that could be relevant for them? Tangentally, let me point out some principles that I apply to this. Earlier this year, I published "Money Matters" , a book tailored for young people focused on personal finance, entrepreneurship and investing. Many, many people asked me how it could be relevant for that age group when they don't earn a lot of money and thus, don't need to manage it! Here was how I handled that:

1.Put my focus on their relevance

The reader was my primary focus. By simply focusing on bringing value to them, my energy was naturally directed in that way.

2. Consider, really consider, their stage in life

What are their hopes, dreams, fears and concerns? How could I use the book to help?

3. Lever outside resources

There are so many different tools, interactive quizzes and cool videos for this age group. I incorporated many of these into the book and it's related online experience.

4.Think one step ahead

I knew that my readers were likely to be thinking about future study, the world of work and how to write a C.V. As a result, I embedded thinking and activities around these topics.

5. Facilitate as much diversity as you can

People are different. The learn differently. Some like creativity and others like logic. Some like colourful infographics and others like logical step-by-step guides. Some like to work in a group and others like to remain individually. Therefore, the book stretched to every corner of what might appeal to one's learning style given the topic.

Therefore, when it comes to connecting with your customers meaningfully, I hope these five principles can help you.

Every best wish to you and yours for an amazing 2022!

Money Matters: A book tailored for young people focusing on personal finance, entrepreneurship and investing.

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 23:12:23 GMT

In September 2021, with CFA Society Ireland’s support, I published “Money Matters” a book tailored for young people focusing on personal finance, entrepreneurship and investing.

In this video, I respond to the main comments and questions I got about testing young people about money and a summary of what I include in here is:

Summary of Points:

1. The way I made it relevant for this age group was to centre around money decisions that are, respectively, relevant for this age group.

2. Teenagers can learn to make money early.

3. Set up a portfolio on Yahoo FInance or Google Sheets. Encourage them to look at the stock prices of the companies they use

Incentivise them with a reward.

4. Simulate the reality of real life when it comes to making their own money choices.

5. Rather than worry about them taking on your bad habits, work through them with them and show them you’re open to taking action. That’s much more powerful.

6. Your kids are listening to what you say and do all the time. They see it as status quo. What you do every day matters more than what you do every once in a while.

7. Pocket money is more about the decisions they take and the consequences they have rather than the amount.

8. Kids can handle much more complex topics than you might think.

9. It can helpful to describe the stock market as a big shop where you can buy lots of things (ie pieces of companies), but instead of eating them or wearing them, your intention is to sell them at a profit in the future.

10. The risk profile of a child or teenager can be much higher than is often assumed - one can take a long term view on their money as they’re unlikely to need it due to job loss! Rather than save, consider investing instead and even better, teaching them how to do it for themselves with your guiding supervision.

Thank you to CFA Society Ireland for the opportunity to work together.

Money Matters is available for sale at www.thepositiveeconomist.com/bookshop

BEYOND Conference: The R&D for the Creative Industries - Connection Research - Academia & Business Innovation

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 18:47:26 GMT

I was recently MC for the BEYOND conference in Belfast , focusing on the creative industries in the UK and far beyond.

The BEYOND 2021 Conference took place in Belfast Titanic Centre over two days Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st October 2021

The BEYOND 2021 Conference looked at how the Creative Industries are forming the heart of new vibrant cultural and creative economies.

The conference explored the role of creativity and creative tech in informing and navigating new places. There is a big space opening for the Creative Industries to lead the way with mission-driven research and innovation to reimagine, reinvent and reinvigorate place.

It was planned as a hybrid conference, BEYOND 2021 offered a live and catch-up sessions online or in person, as delegates and speakers were welcomed in Belfast to experience a bespoke programme of activities, with location-based immersive experiences, networking, receptions and more, plus of course lots of fine Northern Irish hospitality.

Here is a summary of insights:

1. Every £1 generated in the creative industries leads to 50p in another sector of the economy.

2. We're going to have lots of jobs that we can't easily label yet i.e. a "digital artist", but this is super exciting and dynamic.

3. A hybrid conference can definitely work and the BEYOND team know how to make that happen very well by treating the two audiences with separate attention, giving them the capability to interact with the other and being creative with time, geography and interaction.

4. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality have got lots and LOTS of use cases today. It's no longer futuristic but very real and accessible for people who work in the creative industries, public engagement, museums and hospitality, education and many more.

5. Many mega-trends are affecting the core of the sector - technology, talent pipeline, sustainability, blockchain, communities, work-from-anywhere and others.

6. Innovation is critical - we need to quantify scope for failure, be more open about what we learn along the way, adopt more agile practises and appreciate that failure in one initiative can be converted into turbo-boosted learning for a new one. Today’s risk is not taking enough risk.

7. Our sense of place is changing - through remote working, digital communities, lockdowns and travel restrictions, new generations, augmented reality, transport and connectivity. Let's think about the places where we build our lifestyles and societies as well as how we want them to adapt to us.

8. Check out the on-demand video series of the conference - it's freely available now and well worth spending time absorbing the content at: https://beyondconference.org/b21/ondemand/

Thank you so much Tara Solesbury , Sam Michel , Eliza Solesbury , Anna Herzberg , Tom Hamilton, Andrew Chitty for the opportunity to work with you and the wonderful and kind Nuala Toman for introducing us.

Empower Explore - Raising Money, Inspiration and Blockchain

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 11:35:37 GMT

During an action-packed online conference in Galway, we learned about raising money from equity and grant sources, how to pursue freedom and flexibility in high growth environments and how blockchain can make a tangible difference to sustainable businesses across the country.

I was MC for the session and in this post, you will find the full recording of the conference as well as some memorable quotes from the guest speakers.

Here is a summary of our guest speakers quotes from the event

"A university seeks not just to educate but to serve a region, work towards a more just society and further technology", Orla Flynn

"Funding is all about perspective, process and performance. The best form of funding is profitably paying customer", Anne Ravanona

"Failure is part of the journey. It's like trying a different recipe next time to get it right", Brenda Romero

"The answer is yes... now what was the question? Values based leadership galvinises a team. There is such importance in having a trusted brand." Mairead Mackle

"Rather than try to figure out how blockchain works, consider how it can benefit you (just like we did when e-mail was new)." Professor Joyce O'Connor

"Blockchain is like track and trace - it helps your business be more transparent" Shane McCarthy

"Blockchain can reduce the cost of money changing hands - particularly to those on benefits" Victoria Thompson

Sincere congrats to Carla Rosenkranz , Collette Mc Gowan and Mary McHugh on their pitches and we wish you every success in the future.

Thank you sincerely Sandra Divilly Nolan for giving me the opportunity to work with you, Michelle Lee and Maria Staunton on this super event.

How to analyse SPACS with an ESG & Technology Lens

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 13:46:10 GMT

SPACs are Special Purpose Acquisition Companies that have become increasingly popular. These “blank cheque” companies list on the market with a view to acquiring in the future. Investors place their money in the hands of savvy private equity investors with a view to attractive profits in the future.

During this episode of the ESG & Tech Show , we discussed:

- what's driving their growth?

- what is different about their structure?

- how to analyse them using VectorVest?

In my preparation for this show, I noted a distinct sense of cynicism that came from two places. The “blank-check” companies in the 90’s is often connotated with penny stocks, lack of regulation and plain, old losses. Secondly, there is meteoric growth of today’s SPACs and could this be a bubble that’s blown up with hot air?

In the episode, I simply brought the facts to our audience about how they work and how VectorVest applies an objective lens to this area (that’s often full of drama in the headlines).

For a start, CB Insights offers a great infographic that describes exactly how the process works. A sponsor of a SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) raises money through an IPO before identifying a target company. After negotiating with them, the (IPO) shareholders vote on whether they’re happy to go along or whether they want to withdraw. The sponsor raises more money (often through a PIPE – Private Investment through Public Equity) and then the target merges with the SPAC to officially trade.

It’s true, there is dramatic growth in the area. If you look at a video that Glenn Tompkins produced in only March of this year ( at exactly this moment ) , you will see how many SPACS were noted on SpacAnalytics.com at various phases. Here are a couple of things that stood out to me:

Therefore, there is a lot going on in this area. Two other points to note are:

- In the year to date 2021, 51% of IPO proceeds came through a SPAC

- In 2020, SPACs accounted for over 50% of newly listed companies in the US.

In a very well written piece in the Harvard Business Review , the source of this growth is due to a confluence of “an excess of available cash, a proliferation of start-ups seeking liquidity or growth capital, and regulatory changes that had standardized SPAC products.” The article goes on to point out what has changed over the years and how some argue that this can sustainably continue and others challenge the assumptions.

Let’s move from the general to the specific. If you want to examine some SPACS, how do you do it? VectorVest has a super useful way to arrive at a list of them within a couple of clicks. Log into the US version of the programme and then:

- Select the Viewers tab

- Choose “Industry Viewer”

- Rank the list in alphabetical order.

- Scroll to “Finance (SPACs)

You will see a full list of 81 SPACs there which you can subsequently rank by Relative Timing, Earnings per Share, Growth etc.

During the episode, we analysed a range of SPACs and here are some observations from the VectorVest data:

1. As you might expect, very few pay out dividends. They generally reinvest their earnings back into the fast-growing pace of the company.

2. Don’t assume profitability. Many business models don’t have short term profits and are relying on hockey stick revenues and cashflows or need to connect with a buyer, investor or partner before scale becomes profitable. Therefore, it’s important to rank this list by EPS to see who has reached that stage and not.

3. Growth can vary hugely and examining the GRT points a spotlight on the capability of the SPAC independent of its current profitability status (as measured through EPS).

4. Most of all, check out the RT. Relative Timing is a technical indicator examining direction, magnitude, and dynamics. SPACs can be very volatile and the RT gives you a way to take the temperature of this investment and relative to what you might be comfortable doing.

Next, we took a look into the future and considered where SPACs are going to be looking for their own respective pipeline. What are those SPACs laden with newly raised money looking for? The answer, as I suspected, was a blend of “ESG & Tech”. The name of the show is no accident!

According to Channele2e , there is a hunger for technology focused businesses, disruptors, AI and cloud collaboration, geographical niches, industrial technology and scalable services. Reuters goes on to quote “ESG make up nearly 15% of all SPAC deals this year”. In the first five months of 2021, there were more SPAC mergers with ESG firms than in all of the previous year. People, consumers, investors, governments, companies and every other stakeholder in society knows the importance of the sustainability agenda and this trend is sustained in its own right now in the investment arena.

If you want to add a layer of ESG analysis to this, you can look at the suggestions that come up in the SPAC search engine “ SPAC Track ”. I found “Aequi Acquisition Corp” there which is currently searching, with its $230 million of funding, to find a “Consumer (Tech-driven, strong ESG)” target. In fact, I found 13 specific SPACs with an ESG mention who have plump wallets.

This is certainly an area to watch and even more so when SPACs sit atop the two megatrends of technology and sustainability.

Top Ten Ways To Use Money Matters

anna@hayesculleton.com (Anna Positive Economist) — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 17:32:28 GMT

Money Matters is written as menu of personal finance, investing and entrepreneurship life skills so that readers can map the learning objectives and activities in it to their interests.

The book is:

- story focused whereby readers can learn about pensions through Sarah who starts her first job and is wondering what “tax relief” means for her or Aleksander who signs up for a store credit card while working abroad for a Summer and pays the price or Mike who wonders how to make his side hustle profitable

- full of relevant modernity including ESG, fintech, online brokers, differentiating between trading and investing as well as using technology for active learning.

- illustrative of the diversity of careers in finance. Each chapter contains a case study of a charterholder and highlights accounting, business, maths and economics can really come to life.

It is available f or sale for €12.50 with free delivery in Ireland

Here are my top ten ways to use the book:

5. Let market research speak volumes

One of the best things an entrepreneur can do, independent of age, is to learn how to listen to the market. An economist has to gather data all the time to discern trends and comment on the changes they see in the world around them. Therefore, building market research skills early is super useful. Activity 15.1 on page 132 explains exactly how to do that.

6. Use the T.V. as your teacher!

Speaking of market research, as we talked to people about what they wanted to find in this book, some told us that they really enjoyed shows like Shark Tank and Dragon's Den. These productions can teach us a lot about what investors want to see in a business, the questions that business people have to answer and how the accounts can make or break a deal. Using Activity 10.1 on page 79 or Activity 12.4 on page 105 can turn you into a passive participant to a critical thinker!

8. Build a paper portfolio

One of the best ways to really learn about the stock market is to put together a paper portfolio and track the share prices on a regular basis. Google Sheets enables you to do this in realtime, for free and using real data. Watch your shares go up and down so that you can truly get a sense of what it's like to put real money into the market.

9. Fan the flames of local pride

People love to talk about where they're from and what makes them proud of where they live.

How Loom can Transform your Business

Fri, 10 Sep 2021 15:07:12 GMT

There are an abundance of ways in which Loom can be used, many of which I am sure we haven't even discovered yet. Here at HayesCulleton, we find it very useful when someone has a complex question they can record a loom of exactly what they are having difficulty with and whoever has the answer can just as quickly record a reply.

There is also a library of looms, so you don’t have to keep recording answers, if you get the same question you can simply send them the previous loom. This also means that the person asking the question can rewatch the response as many times as they need to.

Check out more technology blogs on our website: https://www.hayesculleton.com/hayes-culleton-blog/

*there are a load of embed codes in there, if you can find one that would work for the whole thread that would be great but if not then there are the individual ones for each tweet. I have also linked the thread, but it isn’t the embedded link.

Access to Finance: Ambition to Scale -Day 2 The Fundraising Journey

Fri, 09 Jul 2021 15:28:34 GMT

I MC’d Day 2 of “Ambition to Scale” today and here are a selection of insights shared:

1. “Why solve a small problem when you can solve a big one?” asks Sherry Coutu CBE. She recommends the RACI map, bringing MBA students into your business to focus on specific issues and remembering that the ecosystem wants you to succeed.

2. “Discern the type of investor you want and difference between a return on your money and power. Don’t underestimate the power/knowledge/contacts of being in a bigger company. Bring your team with you and remember you can always get a job in the morning if you “fail”, but you can’t go back and change the answer to “what if”?”. Stuart Harvey Datactics

3. “Ensure there is founder connection and ask other companies if your potential investor really has opened doors and unlocked opportunities. Ask if they know your sector and your problems. Can they solve them? You need to show vision, product market fit, repeatable sales and ability to attract talent”. Kerry Baldwin IQ Capital

4. “Ambition is rarely lacking, but the confidence and tools to follow through can be - that’s where equity investors come in. It can also increase the capability of family businesses to successfully move between generations. ESG factors are becoming more important all the time.” Neil McGowan MML

5. “What do you do? Why is it interesting? What is the problem you’re solving and for who? How big is the market? In answering those questions, see the value in brevity. Don’t fall victim to “I asked him what time it is and he told me how to build a clock”. Work the agencies to lever their networks and equity can help you accelerate progress”. Paul Morris Department for International Trade (DIT)

6. “Spend time building your networks and socially engineer connection possibilities. In tech today, markets are big and costs are low. You need to increase your valuation of 3x between rounds to keep it interesting and get embedded in the industry as it can offer many compounded opportunities.” Hussein Kanji Hoxton Ventures

Thank you so much to Susan Nightingale British Business Bank , Shane O'Hanlon InterTradeIreland and Patrick Dewar Invest Northern Ireland for giving me the opportunity to work with you as well as Rachel Quigg and Corinne Weatherup for being a real dream team.

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Access to Finance: Ambition to Scale - Day 1 Accelerating Your Network

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 14:54:33 GMT

After MCing Day 1 of “Ambition to Scale” conference, here is a summary of insights thus far:

1. “Network well. Communicate succinctly. Turn goodwill into a post-equity contract actions. Give granular thought to your “Total Addresable Market”. Think and listen.” Piers Linney

2. “Who is your customer? What can you do for them? How do they buy your product? How do you make money? Define an MVP.” Stuart Harvey Datactics

3. “If we’re going to move forward, we need to do it together. Give first rather than ask what’s in it for me. Tech Nation have a Slack group for IT founders. Build deep relationships and social capital”. Gary Davidson

4. “A support network is the foundation of business. Take care of your reputational capital. AwakenHub has just welcomed its 1000th woman. Your primary role as an entrepreneur is to fund resources for your company. Northern Ireland is awash with supports for startups”. Mary McKenna

5. “You need to give evidence that there is an opportunity to solve a problem that customers will pay for and show high growth potential. Northern Ireland needs to see the potential and drive the potential - you will attract funding and talent. Catalyst offers exposure to world class input.” Elaine Smyth Catalyst NI

Thank you Susan Nightingale ( British Business Bank ), Shane O'Hanlon ( InterTradeIreland ) and Patrick Dewar ( Invest Northern Ireland ) for putting this highly insightful event together and giving me the opportunity to work with you. A sincere thank you to Corinne Weatherup and Rachel Quigg for their superb management of logistics, execution and admirable planning.

Scaling a Business in a Hybrid Working World, Growing Globally, Working Locally

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 13:37:18 GMT

Scaling a Business in a Hybrid Working World, Growing Globally, Working Locally

What does growing globally or working locally mean, and how can someone know which option is best for their business? How does the new hybrid working world affect managers? Susan HayesCulleton MC'd a conference that addressed these issues and provided insights given by industry experts.

This conference touched on HR and what you really need to scale your business, such as IT, mentality, financing and much more. Dr Chris O’Malley talked about new opportunities hybrid working brings but warned that we have to be mindful of the change that has occurred and the change that is yet to come. It is important to give managers the opportunity to upskill in order to effectively manage a hybrid workforce.

Caroline Reidy from HR suite reviews HR issues across Ireland and noticed that people today don't want micro-management, they want to develop. A piece of advice she gave was: “Hire slowly and thoroughly, fire fast and legally”, which was coupled with: “Hire on attitude, train on skill”. She then spoke about mistakes and how it was important to create a space where mistakes can be made, in order to promote innovation. An issue only arises when mistakes are repeated. Caroline has a book, “The Art of Asking Questions”, which talks about the power of the exit interview and the benefits that managers can get out of them.

After this there was a panel interview in which Louise Foody explained that most of the technology you need to digitally transform you probably already have access to. We were reminded that there is a human at the centre of every transaction and the goal of technology is simply to help make these transactions easier.

Elaine Murphy reiterated the importance of putting a lot of time into hiring, and followed up with ensuring that you set expectations from the output and be transparent about the journey. She also highlighted the importance of networking and explained how it is a secret weapon in Ireland.

Next we heard from David Gildea who started his own business and took us through the journey of scaling it up from a one-man show. He went through all the mechanisms that he used to finance his company, including grants such as the competitive start fund and the high potential start up grant that he applied for through Enterprise Ireland. These not only provided initial capital, they also gave him credibility for future US investors. David stated that: “you dont sell a business, you are bought”, and in order to be attractive to acquirers you need to illustrate that you are a scalable business.

Paul McBride spoke about ensuring you can scale your business model as distinct from scaling your business. Scaling a business can often get mistaken for expanding geographically and it is important that you can make the distinction between them. Paul explained that when scaling a business, “you can test, learn and pivot” but you have to go all in. He also commented on the danger of not exploring whether your business would benefit more from going global or staying local. Not looking into it or choosing the wrong option can have a negative impact on your business, no matter whether you choose to go global or stay local. There is no universal right answer, you need to evaluate your business and pick the best option for it.

Social Enterprises And The Impact They Can Make

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Fri, 11 Jun 2021 11:45:11 GMT

Social Enterprises And The Impact They Can Make

What do social enterprises contribute to society and how do they go about maximizing their resources ? Here are some observations Susan HayesCulleton made during her experience with some social enterprises in Ireland.

Susan emceed a conference focused on enterprise in Ireland, specifically how three organisations in Limerick, Tipperary and Mayo collaborate, share learnings and redesign a model of training for themselves.

Some interesting insights Susan gained were that social enterprise is responsible for 25-33,00 people in employment in over 1,400 social enterprises and accounts for 1.4 billion euro in the economy.

Resources can be scarce so when thinking about how to best utilise them Susan uses the “SCAMPER” technique to give a fresh perspective. This can allow you to maximise your resources by looking at them in a different way. Miro has a template that can be used to help apply this technique to any enterprise.

Each speaker at the conference was asked to give 10 examples of social enterprises in their local area, and the responses covered arts, culture, education, tourism, housing, employment and lots more. These responses illustrated what important work individual organisations are doing in order to make a difference in society within areas of the economy that are not serving them.

The conference then moved onto a panel discussion with The Lismore Heritage Centre , South Meath Social Economy , Rosslare Community and Sports Centre , and White Oak Acorn Project. Each organisation played a different role but it was interesting to see how they all lever the natural resources available to them.

For example, The Lismore Heritage Centre uses futuristic technology to give people a glimpse into the past. South Meath Social Economy is a home and garden maintenance service specifically for elderly and disabled people that aims to enable people to live at home independently for longer.

The Rosslare Community and Sports Centre serves two different markets, the incoming tourism market and their own local community. Finally, The White Oak Acorn Project offers a place that covers nature and has meeting spaces such as a cafe, but also speaks to spiritual needs through activities such as meditation.

Annmarie McHugh spoke about planning for the future and various initiatives her town has run. They make sure that their initiatives are age friendly and use platforms such as instagram to promote their plans. They also completed a community audit across all demographics about how to best plan for the future.

Elaine Donohue discussed how social enterprise can help smaller food companies. The BIA Innovator Campus can help unstick the sticking process for these businesses. They also focus on the importance of rural sustainability and Elaine described their “quadruple helix”. The helix demonstrates their want to meet a public, private, community, and education need.

A summary of the “Co-operating to succeed” conference focusing on #ResilienceRenewal in social enterprises.

1. 1,400 social enterprises in Ireland employ up to 33,000 people generating €1.4 billion.

2. Use the SCAMPER technique to get a fresh perspective

3. West Limerick Resources CLG Norita Clesham Sara Bourke spoke about 30 social enterprises covering the arts, education, housing, tourism, employment and lots more.

4. The Lismore Heritage centre uses Augmented Reality to simulate an older world experience. South Meath Social economy enables the elderly and disabled to stay at home for longer. Maria Gore Community & Sports Centre serves both the inbound tourism market and local community. White Oaks levers it’s natural environment to address the spiritual needs of the community.

5. Randy Salzman explained design thinking as “what is? What if? What wows? What works?”

6. Annmarie McHugh spoke about their town voucher scheme, using walls to portray stories of local celebs and age-friendly initiatives.

7. Elaine Donohue explained their “quadruple helix”, how the BIA Innovator Campus can unstick the sticking points for SMEs and the importance of rural sustainability.

Thank you Caroline Egan/CramdenTECH Shay Riordan and Margaret O' Regan VE Studio Cork for the opportunity to work with you today.

#resiliancerenewal #socialenterprise #sustainability #SusanHayesCulleton

The Future of Tech and Sustainability - #FutureSkillsWeek Ulster University

Mon, 31 May 2021 15:48:23 GMT

The Future of Tech and Sustainability - #FutureSkillsWeek Ulster University

On 28 ^th May, I emceed a conference with Ulster University Business School where we discussed the mega-trends of technology and sustainability, specifically in emerging technologies that could soon enter the mainstream, sustainability initiatives that could shape future careers, emerging skills gaps and job opportunities, funding applications, as well as how companies position themselves for attracting and retaining talent. This event was part of Ulster University's Future Skills Week , which seeks to equip students and graduates with information, advice, and opportunities for jobs and future careers.

My Observations:

To start off the discussion, I summarized key trends that have made a big difference in technology and sustainability in regards to business over the past decade:

The prevalence of cloud computing and real-time data to encourage collaboration
Artificial intelligence and the predictive analytics of the technology we use
Video conferencing and its impact on conducting business
The sustainable development goals becoming mainstream the necessity of aligning your business with these causes
The rise of ESG investing

We also ran a survey with the audience, with surprising results:

83% of our audience felt there will be more employment opportunities in both technology and sustainability.
A majority of the audience are interested in large and small businesses
To a slightly lesser extent, people were also intrigued about self-employment
In terms of careers, people were geared towards academia and social enterprises, especially in having a portfolio career

Panel Discussion

The conference then moved onto a panel discussion with four other speakers, each with their own thoughts and perspectives regarding sustainability and technology and the issues/opportunities that surround these trends.

Simon Bailie from Digital DNA HQ pointed out the rising importance of clean tech, our potential adaptability for sustainability and other such challenges/opportunities, especially the trend of retrofitting multinational companies along the sustainability agenda. He also discussed food technology as a huge importance in feeding the world population and using sustainable means to develop it. He then spoke about the importance of distinguishing blockchain from cryptocurrencies. Finally, he discussed employment opportunities and the advantages of the generation in having more career paths and the divergence away from nine-to-five working hours with lockdown and remote working.

Dr. Shirley Davey from Ulster University Business School talked about the “power of the people”, explaining the opportunities in collaborative technology and other such mechanisms that can enable co-creation and collaboration across the globe. She mentioned the emergence of job opportunities as a result of automation and that its importance in the context of future skills. She then moved on to the topic of balancing between the necessity of mastering new skillsets and the awareness of the rapid development of technology that can quickly render said skills obsolete. As thus, she brought up the necessity of universities to be adaptable in accordance to the industry’s development, equipping students with skills for tomorrow’s opportunities. She also talked about the changing trend of interviews pointing towards gamification, where companies seek to see potential employees’ competency through assigned tasks. Lastly, she stressed the importance of value co-creation in business thinking and models and the duality of technology—both in its ability to link and distance people, and the need to treat this risk as a top priority.

John O’Dea from TechIreland examined the emerging trend of digitalization, particularly in the context of e-commerce and the declination of cash usage. He discussed the need for more female role models in the technology startup industry, stating that “female insight energy talent is yet one of the greatest under-realized sources in our economy and our society”. He also touched upon the job opportunities that results from digitalization, particularly in cybersecurity sector and the current skills gap, encouraging people to develop further in the area. He concludes by mentioning the opportunities in global warming, climate change, and the circular economy.

Rachel Doherty from 4C UR Future examined the expanding definition of the triple bottom line in social entrepreneurship expanding beyond the company, and the redefinition of digital literacy as how different types of tech are used in different sectors. She talked about the importance of “on the job upskilling” to keep up with the word’s rapid development. She also talked about the tendency of the lack of connection that can occur due to tech, stressing the necessity of non-tech connections. Lastly, she mentioned the need to use critical thinking in the age of cancel culture, and finding the balance between sustainability and technology.

It was a superb discussion and thank you to Shauna McCloy and Gillian Armstrong for giving us the opportunity as well as Cathy Moore , Lee-Anne Mc Peake and Maureen Fox for your support online.

Watch the video below for a full summary of the conference.

Save Rural Retail

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Tue, 25 May 2021 17:08:30 GMT

Save Rural Retail

In my discussion with SARURE, we identified five main points to help any business looking to accomplish its sales goals:

1. Build a sales strategy around SMART sales goals

2. Sell your signature dessert

3. LISTEN to your market

4. Take care of those responsible for your sales

5. Participate in Shop Local Ireland

You can watch the full conference video summary below.

I started off the conversation by saying that you must build a strategy around a SMART sales goal before moving forward with any plan.

The SMART framework states that a successful goal should be;

*Specific

*Measurable

*Achievable

*Realistic

*Timely

Secondly, I emphasized the fact that retailers are part of the experience economy. This means that customers purchase goods for the overall interaction, not necessarily the product itself. Experiences are unique and valuable for creating memories, so businesses should identify their “signature dessert” and sell it well.

Equally important is identifying the customer’s experience by capturing market research feedback through the acronym LISTEN. This is crucial to developing relationships with customers and maintaining return rates. The six keys to LISTEN are:

Let your customers have your full attention
Investigate your customer’s world and what their thoughts are
Stay open-minded
Think on your feet
Embrace opportunities

Nurture relationships with your customers.

Whether a customer received a referral or saw an advertisement on LinkedIn, it is important to identify where these sales are coming from and take care of them. You have the opportunity to optimize sales by identifying primary referral sources and creating new ways of bringing customers in through these doors.

Lastly, I emphasized the importance of participating in the #ShopLocal #ShopLocalIreland trend. With searches up 540%, you could be taking advantage of the increase in local interest for marketing purposes. This could be a great way to broaden your customer base and get exposure to new areas.

Rural retail is a valuable asset to the Irish economy and therefore an important sector to focus on when it comes to building brands and increasing sales. If you are looking to grow your business, consider implementing one of the five strategies mentioned. Apply the SMART or LISTEN framework, focus on your customer’s experience and focus on meeting the needs of local consumers.

Learn more about SARURE on their website .

"Positivity Rooted in Practicality"

#retail #smartgoals #shoplocalireland #susanhayesculleton

An Ansoff Matrix of the Irish Economy

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Tue, 25 May 2021 16:04:41 GMT

An Ansoff Matrix of the Irish Economy

At the CPA Ireland Conference, I shared insights into how Ireland can develop an economic strategy. For this purpose, I used the Ansoff Matrix, an economic tool used to plan strategies for growth.

The Ansoff Matrix composes of four quadrants, each focusing on a separate issue:

1. Market penetration: What the country is already doing well in

2. Product development: What new products can businesses sell to existing customers

3. Market development: How can businesses market its existing products to new customers

4. Diversification: Building a new product and selling it to a new market

1. Market Penetration

Ireland must first look at market penetration by identifying what the Irish economy does well and should continuing on developing in. Focusing on what Ireland does well is an essential component to economic success, for those are the key drivers to optimise growth.

I mentioned several sectors in Ireland that are currently excelling: Ireland's agriculture sector is currently doing very well, where the food and drink sector locate 78.6% of its resources from the local industry. In this case, agriculture acts as a huge multiplier within the region, perpetuating the flow of money within the economy. Pharmaceutical exports are also doing economically well—they account for 40 to 50% of all Irish exports, equating to 70 billion euros annually. With the recent attention on vaccines, the percentage is likely to rise.

Foreign direct investment is an extremely important type of investment to Ireland as it continues to grow. 44% of regional investments are now outside Cork and Dublin, moving opportunities around the country. Ireland’s economy is also a great place to start small businesses. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) now account for 99.8% all private business enterprises, employing over 1 million people. These companies are creating a plethora of jobs, an opportunity that Ireland should take account of when strategizing.

Tourism is a sector Ireland has always performed well in. However, in light of recent travel restrictions, the tourism industry could look towards the inherent opportunity of staycations. People in Ireland spend more abroad than travellers to Ireland do, and there is much to offer within the borders of Ireland for local travel-goers. If we modify aspects of the sector to fit with our current limitations, the tourism can continue to flourish.

I believe the first way the Irish economy can grow is to double down on what we do really well and protect that, and even introducing new technologies in light with recent world developments.

2. Product Development

Secondly, Ireland could look at product development, brainstorming innovations that target existing customers to create new opportunities for the economy.

Shopping local is a massive trend in Ireland—the increase of 540% of traffic in Google searches for ‘shop local Ireland’ can attest to that. E-commerce is bourgeoning technology that can drastically improve this trend to further the support of domestic retailers and provide more opportunities for consumers to access local businesses. Other opportunities for product development include the rising impact of social media, and environmental topics that could influence product development and buyer decisions.

A big opportunity in Ireland is reverse innovation—building local products in foreign countries then selling them in the local sectors. By doing so, we can learn from other countries in terms of technologies and mindsets, and adopting them into the local context.

3. Market Development

Ireland can expand its current sectors to draw in new consumers mainly by reinventing rural Ireland. Recent data from myhome.ie shows exponential increases in searches for properties less than 100,000 euros in rural counties such as Cork and Galway, indicating a rising interest in properties. Ireland should take advantage of this rising trend to further develop rural Ireland and exacerbate the growth of the economy in this particular sector.

4. Diversification

Ireland has great potential for diversify, by looking outward in search of further inspiration for growth, particularly in sectors that gaining momentum in bringing billions, if not trillions' worth of investments. I believe we should mainly focus on the United Nation’s roadmap towards digital cooperation—the focus on universal connectivity in making digital goods available. Areas could include AI, building architecture for cooperation, and cybersecurity, all of which Ireland has the potential to become the leading light in.

Another major trend we could look at are the UN’s sustainable development goals, a concept that is increasingly gaining attention and slowly becoming mainstream. Ireland has the possibility to be a leading nation for these goals. Areas could include the social, where we can build our societies around the workplace, and innovation practices.

The Ansoff matrix is a beneficial tool when strategising growth for the economy and one that Ireland would greatly benefit from using moving forward.

To learn more about The Positive Economist, go to: https://www.thepositiveeconomist.com/

"Positivity Rooted in Practicality"

#irisheconomy #ansoffmatrix #susanhayesculleton #marketdevelopment #diversification

Watch the video below for a full summary of the conference:

Trends in a Post Brexit Europe

susan@hayesculleton.com (Susan Hayes Culleton) — Tue, 25 May 2021 15:18:27 GMT

Trends in a Post Brexit Europe

Thank you kindly to the Institute of Banking for inviting me to speak about “Trends in a Post Brexit Europe” whereby I discussed:

ESG trends

Smart beta indices

Financial technologies

Examining all of these in terms of negative interest rates.

- how #ESG investing is different

- PwC posits that “ESG funds could claim a 57% market share by 2025”

- European ETFs closed 2020 by passing the €1 trillion AUM mark

- McKinsey & Company put forward that gender diverse executive teams and boards outperform on profitability

- there are a range of European ETFs passively tracking gender equality including Lyxor Asset Management’s “ELLE” and iShare’s “OPEN”

- “Central Bank Digital Currencies” highlight how #crypto is moving mainstream

- zero-cost brokerage needs education as well as Mifid regulation

- Worldpay reports there has been a 32% reduction in the use of cash since 2019

- negative interest rates has pushed investors up the risk curve

- the rise in venture capital can point to the decline in the number of stock market listings.

You can watch my video summary below from my Positive Economist YouTube Channel .

First, it is important to clarify that ESG is a form of measurement. ESG investing is investing according to these three metrics:

Environmental

Social

Governance

Traditionally, ESG investing is motivated by one's own passions, but typically doesn’t lead to high returns. However, the market has begun to shift. Companies in traditional indexes are also in ESG indexes, with the understanding that in order to reach profit maximization they must be good to the people and the planet.

Younger generations are more inclined to use their income to express themselves and their values, making ESG investing more favorable in their eyes. PwC anticipates ESG investing to outpace traditional investing by 2025, predicting that there will be more money invested into ESG funds rather than traditional funds. Particularly, there is more money being invested in European ESG exchange traded fund’s (ETF) proportionally than the US.

In addition to ESG’s, I also discussed smart beta indices. Smart beta indices is an enhanced strategy to track indexes to outperform a traditional index. Maintaining the theme of ESG, I discussed an ESG ETF, based on gender diversity, that tracks a passive index. I raised the question of if gender diverse companies make more money? I looked at this question from a financial point of view in two ways:

Does gender diversity lead to a healthier bottom line?
Does that translate to the stock price?

First, a variety of studies have proven that gender diverse companies do in fact make more money. McKinsey & Company ran a global study consisting of more than 1000 companies in 15 countries and found that organizations in the top quartile of gender diversity were more likely to outperform on profitability, 25% more likely for gender diverse executive teams, and 28% more likely for gender diverse boards.

I then looked at a graph comparing the SHE ETF with the S&P 500 to compare trends in returns between the two over the years. My comparison showed very little difference between the two, and therefore you are not fundamentally at a loss for investing in an ETF like this instead of a traditional ETF. European ETFs tracking similar themes are ELLE, GENDER, and OPEN.

I closed out the discussion by talking about financial technology. I spent time discussing the trends in cryptocurrencies and their movement to become more mainstream. Secondly, I discussed Wall Street bets and the current events surrounding their dividends and earnings. A ⅓ decline in cash spending since the pandemic has enhanced trackability through digital spending. Lastly, I spoke about the decline in stock market listings and an increase of company buy-backs.

ESG investing is the perfect way to make money on investments that matter to you. If you are a current investor, or looking to start your investment portfolio, ESG companies are a great place to start.

W-Power Panel Discussion: Female Role Models and Peer Networks

Tue, 04 May 2021 15:14:50 GMT

W-Power Panel Discussion: Female Role Models and Peer Networks

What makes a good role model? There is no picture-perfect role model, but there are several common criteria that make them stand out from the crowd.

At an event in WestB IC's W-Power Irish Thematic week, we dived into the topics of role models and peer networks in growing and supporting female entrepreneurs.

Role Models

Our panelists identified many key attributes that they believe a good role model possesses. While a stereotypical role model is identified as the most successful person in the room, as you mature, your perspective shifts with the understanding that a role model has less to do with success and more to do with how they overcome challenges and hardships.

The panelists agreed that an ideal role model is:

Someone who is inspiring
Someone who they can learn from
Someone who sets the standard for you and your values
Someone who has accomplished the goals you wish to accomplish

I then applied these criteria to the context of entrepreneurship, with a particular focus on female entrepreneurship. Companies with at least one female founder outperformed all-male founding teams by 63% over the past 10 years. These statistics indicate not only how important role models are, but how impactful female role models are.

You can't be what you can't see. By taking away the doubt of "if" you can do it, you have more time to focus on "how" you will do it.

Here are some insights our panelists provided:

"If you give role models visibility, leaps of progress can happen quickly.” — Maria Staunton

"Role models show you that's inspiring and who I can learn form.” — Katarina Spik Skum

"A role model is somebody that's inspiring and who I can learn from.” — Satu Koskinen

"Leadership should be strong and gentle.” — Caitriona Watters-Crehan

"Seek out a role model that sets a standard for you and your values.” — Sara Connolly

They also pointed out the importance of whole-person balance in a role model, and the concept of authenticity to not only portray oneself a professional but also one’s full identity so people resonate with the entirety of the role model instead of a mere façade.

A particular issue with role models, however, is the fine line between an inspirational role model, and a role model that brings out feelings of inadequacy in people. The panel addressed this notion with the caveat that nobody is perfect—we should focus on the things our role models inspire in us. They also brought up the interesting point that role models do not purposefully become role models; they sought to improve, told their story afterwards, and we chose them to become our role model. They ended the discussion by providing the advice that we should always have the freedom to choose who our role models are according to who we feel is the best fit as an inspiration.

Peer Networking and Support

We also invited another panel of network leaders to discuss peer networks. There are a plethora of benefits to peer networking such as connectivity, support, and cultivating a sense of community.

Here are some of the key insights our network leaders had surrounding peer networking and support, in why they lead their respective networks, and what a network should entail:

"86% of people in my survey said that peer support was very important, that they preferred working in groups, and that they felt that peer support significantly reduces a sense of loneliness." — Helen Fullen

"A network should offer connectivity, support, and a way to a business between members.” — Caroline Kirrane

Be a peer-to-peer builder and cultivate a spirit of camaraderie.” — Mary McKenna

"Survey your members to find out what they need.” — Oonagh Monahan

Peer-to-peer support can be facilitated in a variety of different ways based on resources and working environments. We spoke about the range of different business models that could underpin networks, including communities, sponsorships, and state funding. Technology tools could also come to the aid for network and support, such as Slack, Zoom, Squarespace, MailChimp, and mainstream social media. Peer networking opportunities can also be provided, including monthly events, roundtables, international conferences, mentoring, and coaching to build the right mindset and values along with your peers.

Peer networking is a continuous effort. Adaptivity is necessary, for the needs of your peers will constantly change. It is amazing to see what we can achieve by becoming proactive in peer networking. Optimize your professional experience by joining a peer network and seeking out a role model. If you already have role models, become one for someone else.

It was a wonderful panel discussion, and thank you to Helena Deane , Alison McGonagle and Teresa O'Hara for giving us the opportunity.

Watch the video below for a full summary of of the event.

Visit the W-Power Website for more information about the event.

Click to listen to the W-Power podcast .

Join the W-power network on LinkedIn .

Follow W-Power on Facebook .

Digital West 2021: Digital Transformational Summary

Thu, 01 Apr 2021 15:12:37 GMT

Digital West 2021: Digital Transformational Summary

COVID-19 has introduced many opportunities for businesses to enhance their growth and efficiency through digital transformation. The Digital West conference supplied insights from some of the top business and institutional leaders on the cultural, technical, and financial factors that have proven key components to success.

Here are some key takeaways from the Digital West conference this morning organised expertly by Noreen Henry , J anine McGinn PhD and Laura Hegarty MSc., B.Eng .

Key Takeaways

With 115,000,000 daily active users on Microsoft Teams as a result of COVID-19, digital technologies are expanding its abilities to become even more user-friendly. Aidan Kilcoyne provided advice on digital marketing strategies which can be summarized as “maximize the reach and minimize the waste” through digital tracking on spending and results. Valerie McTaggart added that digital transformation is about culture, business model, and process. It is important to note that in order to be successful, you must ensure you are optimizing your processes.

“There is a level playing field for innovation and collaboration.” — Orla Flynn

“Maximise your reach and minimise your waste.” — Aidan Kilcoyne

“Digital transformation is about culture, business model and process.” — Valerie McTaggart PhD (c)

It is no surprise that the pandemic had the largest negative impact on small businesses, and store owner Brid Conroy shared her experience navigating these hardships. She highlighted one important note to remember—“every order matters”. The pandemic has highlighted how important customers are to small businesses, which has been proven by the overwhelming number of online searches for local businesses to support in Ireland.

“Every order matters.”— Brid Conroy

Digital transformation is easier for some businesses to develop than others, which is why business supports are available to ease the transition to online platforms. These resources include hard supports such as financial help, as well as soft supports where you can get insights and advice.

“In order to meet the online demand of goodwill, you need to be online.” — Elaine Moyles

Although digital transformation has a lot of positive impacts, there are also drawbacks to working remotely. Ciara Gallagher shared two important plans that Microsoft has to enhance productivity for remote workers. First, Microsoft plans to partner with wellness organizations to restore the fatigue experienced by working remotely. Second is the implementation of Speech-to-Text (STT) to transcribe meetings and highlight the specific calls to action. Through these plans, Microsoft has shown that although they are ahead of the curve when it comes to digital transformation, there are always ways to improve.

“ Microsoft is partnering with wellness companies for improved customer experience.”— Ciara Gallagher, CEH

Brian Hanly concluded the conference by sharing three important takeaways. First, it is important to deliver value early and often. In order to do this, you must first define what your definition of value, early, and often is. Second, in order to set yourself up for success, you need to visualize what exactly needs to be done. Lastly, the only way to know if an idea is going to work is to experiment with it in the market. Don’t be afraid to take risks, for the biggest risks often lead to the greatest reward.

“Deliver value early and often.” — Brian Hanly

It was a fantastic conference conducted by GMIT. Thank you for inviting me to MC a most insightful discussion.

Watch the video below for a full summary of of the conference. To keep up-to-date on new blogs, podcasts and future events s ign up for our newsletter .

Talk to Sharon Boyle and Turlough Rafferty about learning and growth opportunities at GMIT Innovation Hubs .

Check out the full recording of the event at https://digitalwest.biz

"Positivity Rooted in Practicality"

#digitaltransformation #covid19 #susanhayesculleton

For more information on how to build your digital transformation, go to www.gmit.ie/gmit-innovation-hubs

Community Generation - An Economic, Social and Environmental Perspective

Wed, 24 Mar 2021 22:09:19 GMT

Community Generation - An Economic, Social and Environmental Perspective

Global Community Regeneration: Restart+ Communities

There are many stories of community regeneration around the world:

Between 1981 and 1998, the London Docklands underwent urban regeneration and continues to improve to this day with the stylish and busy Canary Wharf at its heart. After the Olympic Games we over in 2012, the park was named the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and according to BBC Bitesize , by 2030, more than 10,000 new homes will have been built there with over 20,000 jobs and £5 billion of economic impact.

The Titanic Quarter, Northern Ireland’s biggest regeneration project, “changed the tourism footprint of Northern Ireland”. According to Maritime Belfast , “alongside its economic impact, which has grown from £38 million on average in its first three years to £60 million per year, it has provided jobs, and raised levels of ambition and confidence in Northern Ireland.”

Puerto Madero added four major bodies of water, totalling 39 hectares and 28 hectares of green space to the city’s park system. It triggered more than $2.5 billion of private investment, with a present value exceeding $6 billion.

Due to the implementation of a “ Five Year Action Plan ”, the Old Town in Portland, Oregon experienced 10% job growth, 28% wage growth and a range of community liveability events including museums, gardens and employment access centres.

The question is: how are these community regeneration efforts triggered?

This was the intention behind Restart+ Communities. Restart+ Communities is an EU Erasmus+ project bringing together project partners and experts from Ireland, Portugal, The United Kingdom, Romania and Northern Ireland. This project aims to increase the knowledge and understanding of small communities alongside giving them access to high quality training on the “how to” of regeneration. The Restart+ Communities also work together to create innovative learning tools and resources which equip leaders of community groups, public authorities and educational institutions with the knowledge and skills needed to adopt a transformative approach to community reactivation.

Reinventing ourselves

If we move from the macro to the micro, how do we regenerate ourselves when we need to breathe new life into our personal brands, our careers and our enthusiasm? During an online exploration event, a range of experienced speakers shared their views about sustainable community development and regeneration.

Here are three key takeaways from the event:

1. Establish what the real problem is and develop a solution from there.

A property owner once had tenants asking him to speed up the lift. He looked into all sorts of expensive solutions to find a way to solve the problem. A friend suggested he put a mirror beside the waiting area and after a couple of days, his tenants thanked him for speeding up the lift. They didn’t actually want a faster mode of vertical transport—they just wanted to be entertained while waiting for it.

Similarly, if you want a new job, a sense of excitement in your life purpose or to feel challenged by a new adventure, then think about the root of that emotion first and figure out what would really answer it.

“Be a problem solver, deliver for founders and bring everybody with you. Present yourselves and make yourselves relevant to the next generation.”

— Martina Earley , Roscommon Leader

“Community wealth needs to take more focus. Acquisition and the right to own assets enables autonomy."

— Charlie Fisher , Development Trusts N I

“We lend to projects where the profit is for the greater good. We want to see a strong team dynamic, an understanding of the problems faced and how they were overcome as well as evidence of social impact."

— Dónal T ra ynor , Community Finance Ireland

2. Articulate your assumptions and put them on a Changeability/Impact graph.

The things in life that we assume are set in stone can often prove to be changeable and surprise us with the impact they can have. Carve out the time to list the assumptions you hold about a situation you want to reinvigorate. Invite your team members (in the case of your organisation) or your loved ones (if it’s personal) to do so with you. You might be surprised with what can emerge from the conversation.

Plot each assumption on a Changeability/Impact Graph (see example below) and reflect the implications of what might change and what impacts it could cause.

“We used the Stanford model of Design Thinking which follows an approach of “empathise, define, ideation, prototype and test with a user group. Show role models and best practice to change mindset."

— Claire Ferris , Work West

3. Lever problems to arrive at better outcomes.

Sometimes the problem we’re facing is the source of the very regeneration that we’re looking for. For example, when our Savvy Teen Academy business faced a fundamental challenge as the COVID lockdown began, it was an extremely worrying time. What could we do if we couldn’t bring teenagers together into dedicated spaces where we had an array of tailored activities for them predicated on interactions between them? However, we often wrestled with the challenges of bringing a tech element to our sessions – devices that run out of battery, data limits and a small mobile screen. Instead, we developed an entirely fresh new approach, driven by our Active Peers methodologies which levered the notion of students tuning in from disparate geographies with the luxury of a wide laptop screen where we could develop our participants tech skills apace!

The question to ask is “imagine if the outcome was better as a result of the problem.”

Benefits of Community Renovation

Although community regeneration is often brought on by disaster, there are many positives impacts that regeneration bring:

“We have had a free trial of remote working and now we can decide if we want it. Regeneration enables families to return, emigration to be counteracted and work life balance to be restored."

— Mícheál Ó D u ibhir , Udarás na Gaelteachta.

“Regional alliances fast track knowledge, pools resources and builds sustainability into opportunities.”

— Padraig Gallagher, Letterkenny Institute of Technology

“2020 has made companies hyper local, increased the importance of tech and agile thinking and soared community spirit. It’s important to make the Sustainable Development Goals connect to local communities.”

— Orla Casey , Momentum Consulting

With the greater good in mind, community regeneration can lead to a better future for everyone.

Check out the website www.restartcommunities.eu for more information.

Watch the video below for a full summary of of the event. To keep up-to-date on new blogs, podcasts and future events s ign u p for our newsletter .

#positiveeconomist #susanhayesculleton

Restart - Generating Communties in 2021

Wed, 24 Mar 2021 16:56:52 GMT

Restart - Generating Communties in 2021

Interested in reinvention of yourself, your team or your community?

During the Restart+ event today, we discussed sustainable community development.

A summary:

1. Use very clear goal-setting, test your assumptions (for changeability and impact) as well questioning how a problem could improve the outcome.

2. Titanic Quarter , Canary Wharf, Puerto Madero and Portland, Oregon offer inspiring examples of big-impact community development.

3. “Regeneration enables families to return, emigration to be counteracted and work life balance to be restored”, Mícheál Ó Duibhir

5. “Show role models and best practice to change mindset”, Claire Ferris

4. “Be a problem solver, deliver for founders and bring everybody with you”, M artina Earley

5. “Regional alliances fast track knowledge, pools resources and builds sustainability into opportunities”, Padraig Gallagher, Letterkenny Institute of Technology

6. “You can access the self-assessment tool at www.restartcommunities.eu ” Maire Gaffney

7. “2020 has made companies hyper local, increased the importance of tech and agile thinking and soared community spirit”, Orla Casey

8. “Community wealth needs to take more focus”, Charlie Fisher

9. “We lend to projects where the profit is for the greater good”, Dónal Traynor MBS LIB QFA

VectorVest Twinterview Conversation with Susan Hayes Culleton

Mon, 22 Mar 2021 15:15:39 GMT

VectorVest Twinterview Conversation with Susan Hayes Culleton

Leadership and The Future of Work

Wed, 16 Sep 2020 17:33:00 GMT

Leadership and The Future of Work

Ulster University Business School in partnership with The Development and Alumni Relations Office last week invited me to deliver a webinar focused on “Leadership & The Future of Work.”

The world of work is changing with rapid technological and socio-economic disruption triggering huge changes to the way we work, communicate and lead. This unique webinar offered me the opportunity to impart some insights and experiences of leadership in the new normal and how individuals can meet the challenges of the new era of work.

You can watch the full recording here

Further, I followed up with some resources on each of the five key themes discussed in the session.

Theme 1: Generation Z

A video and summary article on what teenagers have taught me over the years

I interviewed Heidi Browning, CMO, US National Hockey League last September at a conference. She has developed a plethora of research into this area and here is a podcast of her speaking about this and other areas.

Theme 2: The workplace of the future

One of our Savvy Women Online podcast guests, Jacky Fox, Accenture Ireland Security Lead and Vice-Chair of Cyber Ireland talks about protecting your digital assets.

Gartner produced a useful infographic of the future of work trends including the term I referenced often “greater role of an employer as a social safety net”.

Theme 3: Building Resilience

Our own model, PREFER, is built on six principles . It is available on the link below and double click on the various elements of it to delve deeper into its composition.

I recommend “The Art of Asking the Right Questions”, written by Caroline McEnery . Here is one of our podcast episode where I interviewed her about the themes contained within.

I also mentioned how I needed to change my mindset myself relating to pivoting our Savvy Teen Academy business into an immersive interactive experience. This Harvard Business Review article on brainstorming questions has been very helpful in adapting that more effective questioning approach.

Theme 4: Alternative technologies

Here are the eight key takeaways from the webinar I contributed to regarding maintaining competitiveness including the discussion of low code automation.

We have engaged with DCU in an Innovation Partnership which is a very smart way of business having a bridge with universities to produce risk-shared innovation. Currently, we’re at the feasibility stage of our second one.

I highly recommend reaching out to Ulster University Business school ( engage@ulster.ac.uk ) to talk about the opportunities that could be on offer to your organisation. This type of relationship has been pivotal for us.

Theme 5: Collaboration

I mentioned that I consider our broader team to consist of our core staff, subcontractors, advisors, virtual interns, our Research Assistants through the aforementioned Innovation Partnership, suppliers, clients, referrers, social media audiences and the teams we work on-site with clients. I can point to two key books that have helped me with this mindset with tangible techniques. I’ve reviewed both on my website:

“ The Leadership Pipeline ” by Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter and James Noel

“ STAR Leadership – Leadership Behaviours for Stellar SME Growth” by Will McKee and John McKee

Thank you all kindly again for your participation and I wish you all my sincere best wishes as you craft your own next normal.

#ThePositiveEconomist

The post Leadership and The Future of Work appeared first on "The Positive Economist" Financial - Economics - Fintech & Entrepreneurship Articles .

“How to teach your kids about money” a Twinterview with Susan HayesCulleton

Tue, 01 Sep 2020 13:49:00 GMT

The post “How to teach your kids about money” a Twinterview with Susan HayesCulleton appeared first on "The Positive Economist" Financial - Economics - Fintech & Entrepreneurship Articles .

The Seven Secret Questions that Every New Employer Secretly Ask Themselves (and how to answer them)

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 10:30:00 GMT

The Seven Secret Questions that Every New Employer Secretly Ask Themselves (and how to answer them)

On Tuesday 28th July, I had the opportunity to share some of my early experiences of taking on our first employee at Hayes Culleton. Sometimes, I had to cringe telling stories of the mistakes I made. Other times, I reflected on just how much I had to learn. I had unstated worries, fears and dreams that many new employers had.

Here they are (and what I learned along the way…)

I’ve often felt this. The inbox blowing up, the feeling of never quite catching up, the worry of how to continue delivering exceptional customer service by frantically looking for extra hours in the day. I’ve wondered what I was doing wrong and what changes I need to make in my life to become ever more productive. Thankfully, this phenomenon was not a sign of failure but that of success. My business was growing with more customers and with that, more things to do. This was good! The signs were pointing towards taking on staff to help cohesively increase our capacity to take on new business.

If you want to assess your readiness to take on your first employee, check out the Ambition to Employ Self Assessment tool.

We as employers often think we have lots of work for another person to do, but that can be a mirage borne out of feeling overwhelmed over our own workload. On the other hand, we can also be afraid that we won’t have enough work for another person to do, and worry that we would be using our hard-earned money to pay them to do nothing! In fact, you can swing from one of these worries to the other on the same day! To deal with this, take a step back and look at everything you’re doing. List the things that you could delegate and question if this could free up ongoing capacity for you or build in extra capability. (To solve this problem, I recommend Rory Prendergast's book The Game Changer Formula ).

This is also when you start shaping a job description.

One of the major barriers we can feel about taking on an employee is the feeling of quasi-liability hanging around your neck. There are two things you can do here. First, structure the job in such a way where there is flexibility on both sides. You can pay an hourly rate (subject to a minimum number of hours for the employee), offer a six-month contract with a view to making a more formal offer afterwards or even develop a small network of subcontractors. Second, develop a cashflow projection for your business. This is one of the most anxiety-reducing things that we’ve ever done! Start with your current bank balance. On a spreadsheet, write what you expect to come in and what you expect to go out in order of date. Next, put in the amount that a staff member would cost you and observe how your cashflow would be impacted. Finally, add in incremental benefits that you would expect your employee would add to the business. This way, you will be in a better position to make a sound decision.

Also, check out the Ambition to Employ module “What resources will you need to take on your first employee?”.

If you haven’t done it before, managing people can project you into a whole new world that requires different skills for managing customers, projects and deadlines as a solopreneur. The “Managing Talent” module of the Ambition to Employ resource set is very helpful. You can also practise with some dress rehearsals. For example, take on a virtual intern who could work with you remotely for several weeks. To do this, you could partner with an agency to offer a student some experience with you and benefit from some reverse mentoring, like CAPA or Career Training Internships . You could also enrol in Erasmus for Young Entrepreneur s , an EU-funded initiative aimed at enabling new businesses the opportunity for novel experiences in working with people and expanding their international networks.

Oh, how often has the new manager conjured up this thought! You give a task to an employee with the impression that you’ve done so with crystal clear directions…and end up getting a completely different outcome that requires you to put in the same (or more!!) time than it would have taken for you to do it yourself. Rather than berating yourself, the other person or anybody else in this situation, take a deep breath. Ask your employee their understanding of your instructions, then build a bridge of understanding.

One night, I was at a completely non-business related dinner. I was chatting with a lovely woman who worked as a PA for a well-renowned businesswoman. She was telling me that she often had to translate gibberish into a discernible task by only asking one or two clarifying questions. She said, “my boss thinks so fast and she expects the rest of the world to keep up with her so I’ve had to learn how…” A couple of weeks later, I was doing a 360 with my own staff and my PA practically echoed her words. It’s so important that you take the time to explain what to do, how to do it in the way that you expect. If there was a miscommunication, reflect on where it occurred on either side.

Yes, it is quicker to do it yourself today, but you will continue to be overloaded with work again tomorrow if you don’t make this investment in your staff.

If you’re asking this question, I suggest you think more optimally by asking “where do I find people who can do things better than me?”. Indeed, nobody will do things exactly how you will, and it’s quite likely that your customers will ask for you instead, so it’s possible to feel that if you could just find a clone, life would be easier. However, life and business doesn’t work like that. Think strategically about asking for help . Mull over these three thoughts:

• What do you do super well?

• What do you do just because you have to?

• What don’t you like doing?

I could give you countless examples of own experiences to the latter two questions because that’s exactly what my staff is tasked to take care of. Then I focus my time and energy on answering and following through on the first question.

Things can work out pretty well when your early staff members take work off your plate or add value in their own way. You will be super enthusiastic and will want to take on more very soon after. I suggest that you get used to having the first person well-embedded into the company first. I say this because you will soon move into a world where you need to create a culture, a sense of interdependence between employees and being politically aware of how you manage people together.

If you want to look into this more, check out “The Leadership Pipeline” as this book explains all about the different phases of leading people. Also, the Ambition to Employ resource "Building a team of Two +" spells out what you need to consider and do at this stage.

Doing Business in Hungary

Thu, 23 Jul 2020 16:51:00 GMT

By Susan HayesCulleton

On Wednesday 15th July, I was invited to facilitate an Irish International Business Network and Irish Hungarian Business Circle discussion about doing business with the Central European country of Hungary. The panellists were Ambassador Ronan Gargan, Irish Ambassador to Hungary , Pal Jalsovszky, managing partner at Jalsovszky Law and Matty Ryan, managing director at Vistra .

According to the OECD , Hungary has a population of 9.8 million people, a GDP per capita of US $33,875 and tax on personal income equates to 5.2% of GDP.

If you would like to reach out to any of our speakers, please do so through a personalised LinkedIn message.

We have lots of other summaries of IIBN virtual events including “ Doing Business in New Zealan d”, “ Ireland’s Cybersecurity Challenge ” and “ Olympic Mediallist Cian O’Connor’s take on Determination, Pressure and Success ”.

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VectorVest Effective Financial Goals with Susan HayesCulleton

Mon, 20 Jul 2020 19:19:00 GMT

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Top 8 Takeaways from “Cracking the Competitiveness Code – Long term Survival through Automation”

Fri, 17 Jul 2020 21:27:00 GMT

On Thursday 16 ^th July 2020, I had a riveting interview with Emmet Ryan , Technology Editor at the Sunday Business Post and Niall Fitzmaurice , Microsoft about competitiveness in the new times that we live in.

According to Emmet, “the event addressed the reality of the situation, which is uncertainty. When it comes to low code readiness, a lot of the participants didn’t know how to gauge it but we broke it down in a way to make it easier for them.”

Here are the top 8 takeaways from this webinar, provided by OpenSky Data session:

The breakneck speed that our lives adjusted to working from home in March is no match for how we are reframing our businesses and careers looking forward. Some industries have seen Lenin’s famous quote “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen” play out. I quoted some specific examples in the recent McKinsey piece “ The Great Acceleration ”, including online delivery’s volume increase by the same amount in eight weeks as it had over the entire previous decade, as well as the fact thatTelemedicine experienced a tenfold growth in subscribers in just 15 days.

This pandemic has given momentum to embryonic trends. Deliberate thought and speed to market must happen simultaneously, and with the right balance.

While many of us know the business landscape we once knew will never be the same again. Niall provided some statistics: according to a Gartner study, 98% of businesses are changing the way they do things. This can scare you, or can become an opportunity to revisit fundamental questions, such as how people interact with each other in your organisation, the technology that it uses to support functions, and the marketing channels used to connect with customers.

The workforce’s remote working global experiment has worked in the context of a quick reaction to a global pandemic and collectively, we’ve made it work with the expectation of an expiry date. We’ve all spent countless hours on Teams, Zoom and other such remote working platforms in the past few months. Oftentimes, we use these platforms with people that we had already met or knew in some way.

Together, we have built up the social capital where we could simply migrate to an online discussion when much of the rapport had been built. Lots of people who have taken on new roles spoke about how difficult it was to navigate through the political landscape, find out who’s who and just get to grips with the culture in the absence of social interaction in the physical workplace. I shared my experiences this last year when taking on virtual interns at Hayes Culleton.

Rather than take four months’ experience and extrapolate it into the permanent future, give some thought to how a potentially hybrid, flexible model can work for you.

The norm of going to work in a building with all our other colleagues is no longer the status quo. Many of us consider air travel not just out of bounds, but unthinkable for a series of meetings that can happen via video. Society critically assesses if public spaces are safe before using them. Therefore, we can now use our space much more strategically. To start – with considering the purpose of the space – is brainstorming together in-person, have impromptu meetings over coffee viable a necessity? In that case, having more time in a physically distant-safe office is important. However, if a workplace simply serves as a location different from home to separate life and work and meet with small groups from time to time, then leasing some co-working space in satellite locations could be just the right lower-cost option.

Since so many people are now working from home, they don’t have commute, and with the lack of interruption from working in a building with lots of people in the same building, employees are being more productive. I referred to the findings from a Forbes piece whereby a California-based company deduced that workers had an 47% increase in productivity. Their analysis sprung from 100 million data points across 30,000 users. Business News Daily published another report that stated: “remote employees work 1.4 more days per month than their office-based counterparts, resulting in more than three additional weeks of work per year.”

From a personal point of view, I said that while I has loved travelling the world to build relationships for the business, I've been given back all that time spent in transit during these months. We don’t know what different phases of the future may look like, but it’s important to use any new freed up capacity in the best way for our business now rather than wistfully wait for things to change.

Niall also encouraged us to look at ways to leverage what we do use. He spoke about the wide-ranging technology that Teams offers us through connected APIs and other such functionalities.

Before we commit to a project, we look at the time, resources and expertise needed. What about if you could walk a mile in that initiative’s shoes to get a real feel for its feasibility? That’s where low-code comes in. In simple terms, low code is where anybody can build a piece of technology using intuitive interfaces and templates. For example, I talked about any time we wanted to have a go at bringing an app to market, we used Bubble to test out initial reactions. This approach saved us an absolute fortune and it made us really think through what we wanted, why we wanted it and if it was worthwhile.

Niall shared with us that 65% of development will take place this year with low code so that the “hardcore” projects can be given to specialists. This makes a lot of sense and can enable millions of businesses to be more nimble and more competitive.

If you can document a process that a person can perform over and over again, could a piece of technology do it for you instead? In many cases, the answer is yes...but the question is whether we would want it to. I pointed out that we know the typical answers that people ask us about their Transition Year Savvy Teens programmes and a bot could effectively answer them, but instead we want to actually talk to people with enquiries. However, there are plenty of other things that an automated workflow can really work well in and we've put several of them in place so that we can put more time and attention into customer service.

Niall also said that rather than looking at automation through a “oh cool, look what we could do!” lens (which can be tempting when you look at the tools that are out there!), comb your business processes and question if it could be done better, faster or more efficiently with a view to overall improvement.

In May, I summarised a webin ar related to cybersecurity. One of the central themes was in more dispersed workforce, increased ready access to data and the proliferation of mobile device use means that businesses need to be critically aware of tech hygiene.

Niall followed up with just how much Microsoft pours in to ensure their products and clients' tech experiences are safe. He also pointed out that sometimes the biggest cyber risk you can face is through people, so it’s important to work with suppliers you trust and technology that’s robust.

Find out more about OpenSky’s Low-Code Automation Solutions here . Book your FREE Consultation to assess your low-code readiness here . Alternatively, you can email Emma at ehayes@openskydata.com or OpenSky at info@openskydata.com to arrange your consultation.

3 Beliefs Holding You Back From Financial Freedom – Twinterview with VectorVest

Mon, 06 Jul 2020 19:02:00 GMT

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Virtual Internship

Thu, 25 Jun 2020 11:58:00 GMT

Lots of people are talking about virtual internships at the moment. We had three great people with us last year from UC San Diego and here are some key takeaways from the experience:

1. It’s a highly worthwhile thing to do.

2. As you would manage anybody, find out why the intern is participating and seek out to meet those expectations.

3. Be ready to teach the intern about self-awareness. They’re unlikely to have been in a professional environment before and hence you need to be more curious than they are about their working environment preferences.

4. Enjoy and be open to what they will teach you too. #ReverseMentoring

5. Point out how the individual experiences they’re getting with you could be transferred into a great interview question response. Do this regularly as this will stand then in great stead.

6. Be prepared to take a different approach when building rapport online exclusively. (We’ve all learned about that these past months).

7. Give tasks, feedback loops and genuine opportunities for active learning rather than focus on speakers talking about what they do.

8. Observe your own style and behaviour as this is a great experience for you as you have to adapt to managing a whole new generation.

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Doing Business in New Zealand

Mon, 22 Jun 2020 13:30:00 GMT

I was delighted to be invited to host this session for IIBN as I had the delightful experience of working with the Irish Embassy in New Zealand for St. Brigid’s Day this year. I met a range of people from the Irish Business Network New Zealand (IBNNZ), facilitated the Embassy’s Cruinniu and was introduced to a plethora of experiences in Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch, and Hamilton.

“New Zealand has an easy familiarity”, says Peter Ryan , Irish Ambassador to New Zealand. “I’m going to stay longer the next time I come over here” is generally what he hears people say when they’re leaving the country. As a senior colleague of the Department of Foreign Affairs, part of Peter’s role is to reconnect with the diaspora and build out the business network through connecting with Friends of Ireland. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern talks about a “team of 5 million”, while Peter urges us to think in terms of the Global Irish “team of 70 million”.

Peter Lennox started his career in New Zealand in 2002 after working in both the US and the UK. He shared some sharp insights with us including English is a second language in the country due to the accent (that brought a wry smile to many participants I’m sure!). He went on to comment that despite a similar population to Ireland, New Zealand doesn’t have the safety net of the European Union or the much larger market of the UK. It’s a fallacy that Australia is a hop, skip and a jump away as it’s over three hours of a flight.

During the event, we received the breaking news that Ireland had won the seat on the UN Security Council and it was natural to ask the Ambassador who had served a posting in New York, for this thoughts. “We have unbroken service for 60 years in peacekeeping”, he proudly stated and elaborated to talk about the global impact of our diplomacy and political dialogue. He pointed out the parallels with a very globalised New Zealand as 20% of its population was born overseas. In fact, 1 in 6 Kiwis are of Irish heritage.

Another similarity between our two island nations is the importance of agriculture to our economy. Peter Lennox mused that “New Zealand is able to produce in a way that isn’t subsidised”. Many countries look to their ways of efficiency and production methods for inspiration and direction. Peter quoted Einstein with “shared knowledge is earned knowledge”. In a similar vein of learning by doing, he told us how, as part of his role at New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, he collaborated with key investors to help set up the largest Ag/Bio fund in the southern hemisphere of NZ$200 million. He reached out those with affinity with the country, gleaned ideas of best practise, asked for and reciprocated with connections to networks and throughout all this, found out what gaps existed that the government might fund.

Personally, I’ve seen Peter Ryan offer tangible opportunities to people and business in Hong Kong while being Consul General there, be a driving force in the Asian County Board of the GAA and pioneer the idea of a Youth Council spanning both islands of New Zealand. This doesn’t at all cover the domains where he has cultivated networks for the communities that he serves, so I put it to him what we could all learn from his natural inclination to join the dots. He responded graciously that “the Irish have a platform of goodwill. We don’t have to wait to be given direction and it needs to go both ways”. He went on to give examples of how the universities in both countries could share learnings and how IIBNZ can form part of a global Irish commercial conversation.

It’s almost incumbent on any interviewer today to enquire as to how lockdown has changed the rules of engagement in international business development. Given that New Zealand has been the leading light on this subject, the question was even more pertinent. Peter Lennox observed that many families have spent more time together during the restrictions and have enjoyed doing so. They want more of this and there is an acknowledgement now that the communication network can handle that. Peter Ryan posited that the new Embassy building was due to open in August and is open to considering what exactly it will be used for. Will it be a cultural and community hub? Will people want to return to business networking events? What’s next? However, he emphasized that the country has flown under the radar of the Irish people for a long time and we’ve missed a trick. There has never been a better time given the stock of New Zealand in the world. As the Covid-19 experience has illustrated, it’s a country that can get things done without much of a fuss.

Peter Lennox gave us some insights into the technology sector – New Zealand is a very transparent country and it’s a value that it holds dear. He said that there are technologists coming in from all over the world and given the expanse of the country’s geography, bringing new and niche talent to the table is helpful.

Peter Ryan was effusive that there is “a well-trodden path for companies here”. He said the largest currency firm in Fexco and there are lots of well-known Irish names well established including TaxBack etc. The business environment is flat and finding the right connections can be done speedily. In response to a tourism query, he urged those who wanted to sell into that industry to look at the New Zealand story. There is a big push on now for the population to get out and enjoy their own country (and that clarion call is echoed in Ireland). On that note, there is good connectivity between Tourism Ireland and Tourism New Zealand. There will be a progressively greater emphasis on finding new things to do and developing the tourism product. We can all learn from that and more so, enjoy it!

Both speakers highlighted there is a lot of help available to companies who want to develop either export business into, or set up an operation in, New Zealand including:

Thank you very much to Ailbhe and the team for giving me the opportunity to host the session. I hope that everybody enjoyed and learned from the discussion as much as I did!

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Twinterview with VectorVest “Women and Money”

Fri, 12 Jun 2020 20:39:00 GMT

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Live Q & A with SME Experts

Tue, 09 Jun 2020 10:51:00 GMT

Michelle McKenna was fielding queries from a range of people about getting back to business after the Covid 19 restrictions. Rather than answer them one-by-one, she took the initiative to bring a group together across a number of disciplines to answer SME questions in an hour-long quick fire round. Andrea Linehan is an expert in marketing. Gerry Prizeman had lots to say about people management. Claire Cunningham had plenty of useful insights regarding eCommerce. Claire Flannery shed a lot of light on HR consideration and David Butler spoke about recruiting in the new normal. I was the economics and finance member of the panel.

Here is the summary of the session in tweets!

Naturally, questions came up about how to structure their business from a finance point of view. This is a tailored support to help those Enterprise Ireland clients faced with the challenge (and opportunity).

Andrea made an excellent point here. It’s so important to remain communicative with your customers right throughout the journey.

Claire pointed out that this period has pushed businesses to accelerate progress on their online stores. We need to make sure that we maintain that momentum.

Perhaps conducting interviews, building rapport during induction and making decisions about new hires will be far more video conferencing based in the future rather than the post. If so, David has some advice.

Cashflow is very important at every age and stage of a business I believe.

Claire posited that while our environments may be different at the moment, that doesn’t mean that we need to make unwarranted drastic changes. Put your people at the heart of the business and critically evaluate the needs of the role.

Gerry took us through what working from home means for many … and what managers need to do as we move into this transition period.

Gerry followed up by giving us a window into the near, dynamic future….

I put forward some of the financial and soft supports available for companies and businesses. Some are specific to now and others are available all the time for those who want to grow and develop.

Thank you Michelle for organising the occasion and we hope those in attendance can implement some of the practical direction that we all shared.

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14 Takeaways from the IIBN Virtual Event with Ronan Dunne

Mon, 08 Jun 2020 16:48:00 GMT

“It’s not what you do, it’s what you make happen around you.”

As many of us gathered from all over the world to tune into Ronan Dunne’s lessons of leadership during the latest IIBN virtual event on Thursday, Kieran Hynes from the KMCO Group was preparing to open up the session telling us that his company help telecoms do what they do better, are exhibiting at the Connected Britain 2020 show and is keen to launch the app in America.

Here were my key takeaways from the session:

Ronan shared a seminal moment of his career with us from his days in O2. He was sitting in his office one day about three months into role questioning and second-guessing his ability to do his job. He realised that he was turning his back on 25 years of relevant experience and trying to be somebody that he was not. He decided to go back to being himself and things moved much more smoothly from there.

The reason this resonated with me is that few leaders describe themselves as storytellers. I’ve heard visionaries, managers, influencers, chief bottle washer and unblockers (!), but rarely a storyteller. However, this is a great way of looking at the role and even more so to understand your audience.

During the hour Ronan talked about life (and rugby) in Blackrock College, playing for Kilmacud Crokes, training to be an accountant with Chartered Accountants Ireland, building O2 and moving to New York. Yet when Conall asked him to pinpoint the defining characteristics of his success, he looped back to childhood. While luck plays a part, it really comes down to having a go. He was a curious kid… and maybe part of him still is, but it’s worked for the past 40 years.

This was the one statement that he repeated again and again and again. The audience was left sure that this was a mantra that he held dear. He posited that the impact you can have is infinite while the amount of output that you can produce is finite. If you focus on contributing towards something and empowering those around you, that’s where the magic is.

Ronan told us that he has confidence in his ability, which is important but what is even more crucial is that he is hugely enthusiastic about what he does. This sense of excitement has established a sense of momentum in his own career that can clearly be carried on to his team. All that said, he says. He is also ruthlessly consistent.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a well-worn track for many leaders but many have found a challenge in bringing their staff towards the pinnacle of self-actualisation. Ronan says that’s not just what should happen but it’s the right thing to do and thus makes the leader looks very impressive.

Ronan could see that he was the smartest person on the team at an early part of his career and he duly got promoted. However, he wasn’t sure how to shine at the next level except for work harder. He soon learned that it’s not how hard you work, but how smart you work.

Great leaders develop great, diverse teams. Rather than focus on gender or race or any other voice of this nature, he says that it’s about having the diversity of thought and impact. If everybody thinks a certain way, then they will just do what every other team does. Bringing a unique combination of thinking and impact together means building the capability of doing what no other team can produce.

Leadership should happen at every level of an organisation and then you can offer people the best opportunities. Rather than just letting people be themselves, encourage them and facilitate people to be their whole selves in work. Team building should consist of getting to know each other holistically, particularly in areas of lower comfort, in a safe space to build depth and resonance.

Ronan says that he has been blessed that every job he has done was the best job in the world at that time. He reiterates the point about his unbridled enthusiasm then and says that it’s all about attitude. It was nothing to do with the size of the organisation but with how much of a difference he could make. The impact is why, the strategy is what, and the implementation is how.

As CEO in O2, he dedicated 20% of the time in youth engagement and youth issues. Today, he gives time and energy to IIBN, Digital Irish, HBAN, Enterprise Ireland and the IDA. He seeks to channel what he has learned to those coming after him.

Today, Ronan notices that there is far more “Ready, fire, aim” than “Ready, aim, fire”. If he says it quickly, you might not catch the nuance of his point but his mother has it down to a tee with her version of “more hurry, less speed”. It’s important to take your time and make decisions with the knowledge that you need rather than taking action prematurely.

Ronan is positive about ubiquitous connectivity giving greater choice. Technology should be a tool that serves our purpose. He cautions against the idea that working from home rids leaders of their responsibility for their staff’s wellness. Further, if moving one’s office to their sitting room is what you need and want to do, make sure to put the person at the centre of the ecosystem and not the laptop. The digital divide is wider in the US than in Europe. Collaboration tools are fantastic, but the nature of humankind is that we want human contact. Phyigital or humanising the digital experience, in answer to the remote working question.

The industrial revolution brought about the idea of clocking on and off, an attitude of “time is money” and was the key driver of urbanisation. What will this revolution do and more importantly, what will you be responsible for doing as a leader?

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14 takeaways from “Business Survival Beyond Lockdown”, IIBN Virtual Event

Mon, 18 May 2020 12:06:00 GMT

Written by Susan HayesCulleton

During the latest IIBN webinar, the panel focused on what life will be like after lockdown and spanned the usage of buildings, business relationships, technology, and lots more. Tadgh Enright , Melissa Moyle , Paul Grainger and Brendan Morahan shared a plethora of insights on Zoom and here were my key takeaways:

While the past two months have seen the world shift from almost completely one to almost completely the other. For sure, many have adapted to their new working environment and with a lot of productive results so that it may become more of a permanent fixture in their lifestyle. However, many also miss the office and all the social interaction that it brings with it. We can expect a blend in the future.

In February, some businesses thought they didn’t have enough space and by May, they now think they have too much. As our relationship with space has changed and social distancing is likely to be with us for quite some time, we need to rethink commercial buildings. How much space does a company really need if most staff are equipped to work from home productively? How will they be reconfigured for a one-way system? How often will deep cleans take place and who will do them? Further, who will absorb the costs – the landlord or tenants? While these may be concerns that we need to consider in the short term, there are long term repercussions and we need to start as we mean to go on with this conversation.

While this experience is very real as we live through it and adjust to it in realtime, it is of its time. A very valid point made was “After 9/11, nobody wanted the risk of a lot of people in one spot…. But people forget and move on”. Therefore, this time won’t define our future but will influence it.

The last two months have seen radical change, but minor adjustments have a long-lasting effect. For example, a panellist noted the culture has changed among business owners. He said, “working from home used to be thought of a cop-out, but now, it reflects one’s willingness to embrace the innovation and technology available to them”. Further, the simple inclusion of a breakfast meeting on video conference offers a great sense of camaraderie to the team while working from home. The ubiquitous nature of this communication means we’re having more meaningful conversations, people see each other’s home environment, and it’s more authentic.

“There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” quoted Vladimir Lenin. We can all take our own reading of that in the last few weeks, but the world has accelerated a range of trends that were happening anyway. One panellist pointed out that there was an impending skills crisis in big cities. London was battling for talent while that respective talent was battling with very high costs of living that were pushing them into a longer commute. (In my own mind, I thought you could add Hong Kong and San Francisco to that evolving list). Now, distance from the headquarters or any other physical building is irrelevant! Companies have had to culturally and technically adapt to a change that was coming anyway but at rapid speed.

Companies and organisations are moving beyond a panicky chaotic phase that was a short, sharp shock. We’ve been adopting new technology, dispersing work practises and now it’s time for business plans that look forward to what life realistically looks like. For some, that means to pivot. For others, it means adapting and tweaking with a vision for the coming months and years. For others yet, it may mean that they must begin a whole new chapter in their careers.

As governments have made significant contributions to keep employees on the payroll of a company (e.g. through the Furlough or Wage Subsidy Scheme), underwritten certain industries (e.g. childcare in Ireland) in the short term or mandated the closure of businesses overnight (e.g. hospitality), the way we used to evaluate companies for success has changed utterly. The credit process didn’t always measure where we were at the time of application rather than where we used to be using historical financial statements. (I had to smile to myself as I listened to the panel discuss this as earlier in the week, I came across a new KPI called EBITDAC reported by the Financial Times – Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, Amortisation and the Coronavirus). We need a whole new lens to make equity, debt and grant decisions.

Governments are making huge expenditure decisions to shore up the economy without necessarily having a taxation plan in place to fund it. It’s noteworthy to mention Dan O’Brien’s tweet this week “Household debt at the end of last year was half what it was going into the 2008 crash (relative to disposable income)”.We see massive stimulus plans being agreed on around the world and while we may be facing a recession (i.e. two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth), governments don’t want any depression (i.e. a decline in GDP of over 10%)… as long as they can sustain the firepower of the instruments designed to fend it off.

The main asset of any business is its people. At its core, business is about people, social discourse, and leadership. (In this discussion, leadership was defined as encouraging or persuading people to follow where they wouldn’t have otherwise gone). It’s not just the business that needs to be resilient in these times, but the people who comprise it. From a personal observation, our “Financial and Mental Resilience” session has been one of the most requested by clients since lockdown began, so I found myself nodding profusely to this point.

10 . Resilience is a congruence of purpose.

I put the question to the panel myself how they defined resilience and differentiated it from merely surviving. I wrote a paper for Legal-Island on this very topic some years ago and hence was interested in the panellists’ responses. They said that business has the time to stop and think if they really have a purpose and ask themselves if they are truly congruent with that purpose. Another said that if nothing appears to be going wrong, then it’s not well managed and controlled as things go wrong all the time. People closest to the problem are usually saving the bacon, but it goes unrecorded and unnoticed. If you haven’t practised what the plan is supposed to prevent, you don’t know if you’re being resilient or not. Finally, most plans don’t survive well on the first contact so after the plans are put in place and followed, unexpected developments can happen, so you need to think and act nimbly.

11 . Commercial diplomacy can be of great benefit to a firm

As people leave your business for a new role, there are great opportunities for them to be advocates and ambassadors for the firm (if they left on good terms). The panellists spoke about continuing to cultivate relationships with those who have left a company for fruitful mutual benefit. They coined the term “commercial diplomacy” to describe this.

12 . Younger generations seek a healthier work/life balance than predecessors.

In the past, people may have given up lots of their personal life for their professional life. They were willing to go through an all-encompassing career journey to ascend to partner or other levels of seniority. While the discussion focused on the panellists’ experience, there are numerous studies to back up this claim. For example, the central finding in a paper from the Journal of Human Resources and Labor Studies is that “Millennials say that job advancement is important when considering a job; (but it’s) only work-life balance that makes an impact”. Further, genuine, and culturally encouraging flexible work practises can bring a lot more diverse voices to the table and talent to the company as due to much more inclusive accessibility for people with different background and logistical needs.

13 . Take care of yourself during the COVID restrictions … and always

People reiterate the message again and again and during this panel again to take care of yourself during the lockdown. Caroline McEnery and Elma O’Reilly spoke about the importance of this in the HR Essentials session. Keith Barry and Cian O’Connor both shared ways in which they’re “using the lockdown”. Stuart Lancaster talked about the subtle ways he is staying in the players’ heads to make sure they’re minding their mental health.

14. Recruitment systems need to be more robust.

If companies in the future shift more towards working from home, the recruitment process needs to change. If you need to recruit abroad or induct abroad or manage a remote team from abroad, you need to be ready for this. One panellist told us about their first recruitment experience in Canada that proved very successful. The new employee came over and spent the first week in London. Afterwards, their director went to Toronto and spent the week with them in their own environment. If everything is truly virtual, then the thinking around recruitment needs to change from the status quo. It can be done but it needs to be different and maybe even better than we know it today?

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15 takeaways from Cian O’Connor – Olympic Medalist on Determination, Pressure and Success

Mon, 11 May 2020 11:10:00 GMT

Cian O’Connor is a familiar name to many of us as the Olympic showjumper medallist. He sits in the centre of a three-circle Venn diagram of activity through competing at a high level, coaching different riders, and trading horses. IIBN’s Fiona Craughan interviewed Cian this week and here were my fifteen takeaways.

In the area of sport, there are many more bad days than good. In showjumping, there isn’t any room at all for mistakes– make one and the prize is gone. It’s a very unforgiving sport. Therefore, don’t get too high when things go well and don’t get too low when they don’t.

Vets, grounds people, administration staff are just the start of who contribute to a showjumper’s success. While it looks like a solitary experience, it takes a whole team to work together in unison. (I remember making a similar analogy to writing.ie about being an author .) However, it’s important to trust yourself above all others and have trust in those you’re working with (particularly the horse). It’s important to build and develop trust that allows you to jump all parts of the arena (physical and metaphorical).

Cian juggles a lot of balls. He needs to make sure that he buys the right horses and sells them at the right time. Clients want to reach their own goals. He needs to take care of his fitness and mindset. He travels about 25 weeks per year and is building an arena at home. He must be able to handle a lot of pressure, emotional attachment to the horses and the economics of running a business. He says that it’s important to find any techniques to build your confidence and face your problems. Try and deal with it. Make a list and prioritise. Don’t let things get to you. Be positive. Take the best out of every situation. Don’t lie down. Control the controllable.

I was struck by Cian’s attitude to this period. Other speakers have said they’re not phased by it or didn’t mention it. He spoke about it as a chapter in the business’s journey and how he had a specific objective to achieve using the characteristics of the time.

Cian “missed the cut” in Rio in 2016 and therefore, to him, the change in the Tokyo Olympics date means a wait that takes all the more patience. He spent a lot of time looking for the right horse and now that he has him, he’s very hopeful the games go ahead next year. He also has his sights firmly set on Paris 2024 and will then give more consideration to other parts of the career.

Cian shares the view of other riders that no sport is more important than other people’s health. The sport can’t go straight back to main events and he expects a weak calendar before Christmas. He needs to focus on regional now as planes pose a threat. To keep the horses in shape, he is building the aforementioned arena and that is his long-term plan to bring international standards to Kildare.

Cian runs “pop up shows” where he brings the arenas on the back of a truck. Pippa O’Connor has “pop up shops” and this inspired him to bring the sports tour to a global audience.

You need to be cognizant of how many events do you attend with a horse. The more you do it, the more you take out of them and the shorter they will last. Cian himself didn’t even become a team member for the Global Championships as he wanted to focus his energy on the Olympics. He quotes “If you run around every event without a plan, the big days and titles will elude you”.

It’s not alright to complain that there aren’t enough young people pipelining for the industry, you need to give them a platform. A lot of Irish riders are based abroad and thus together, they can put together the opportunities for rising stars to travel abroad to compete and build experience. (This reminded me of the cybersecurity discussion when the panel alluded to the fact that there is a 1 million specialist shortage). He also clarified that understanding the responsibility for feeding and taking care of a horse is very important for those interested and recommends the Pony Club for young people.

Cian always wants more and to be as good as he can be. He is 41 years old this year. At 21, he just got up and did a show, but now everything is done with the precision of the final outcome he has his eyes firmly fixed on. The international arena he is building at home is a replica of that as he wants to be better prepared than ever.

It’s hard in every industry to find that perfect life balance, says Cian. He is going to keep riding while he can but then he will move on to a new chapter. He predicts his thoughts will be “I’ve done my bit and now somebody else takes over”.

When asked why he has never raced, he smiles wryly as he answers that he was too heavy. He liked the work ethic and the challenge of show jumping. He notes that Ruby Walsh was a few fields away but they both knew what they were good at!

Cian enthusiastically states that “I will be the first person at the horse show. I like to be organised and get my bearings. I write down the type of detail. If the competition is at 3 p.m. and then I write down the full day from 6 a… The day is as organised and structured as I can imagine. If anything goes off track, the plan is there to take it back”. Cian shared one superstition with us. Others ride the horses in the morning in their competing clothes. “I never do that!” he retorts.“I change clothes. I’d like to be as fresh as possible. Maybe it’s because others don’t get up as early as me!”

“The younger you buy the horse, the cheaper it will be … and the more that it’s unknown” muses Cian. As you consider buying a horse, you need to check his record, look at videos of him jumping and then try him out. With a younger horse, there is a long road and more can go wrong, but you also have more time to mould them.

Channel pressure in the right way, don’t let it make you nervous. He told us a story of a horse who always tipped his head towards the crowd to enjoy the adulation before a performance. Like people, horses feed off energy when everybody is behind them. We can all learn from that.

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14 Takeaways from Ireland’s Cyber Security Challenges and Role in Global Arena

Tue, 05 May 2020 14:28:00 GMT

Last Friday, IIBN chose a thematic approach to their latest virtual event, namely cybersecurity. Like everybody in the business, I’ve seen issues over the years where staff clicked on things they shouldn’t, had to ramp up security after discovering somebody had scribbled over our site and had to boil down the ocean of information about GDPR to identify what we really needed to do to protect our and our clients’ data. While sales or people or operations might be top of our business agenda, if something happens regarding our cybersecurity, then that topic jumps right up to the top of the agenda in blinking red lights.

Enda Brady, Sky News Reporter, chaired the session with:

Here were my key takeaways from the session:

Ireland has some fantastic tech companies with talent, knowledge, and budget to handle cybersecurity risks. For example, Microsoft invests over €2 billion in cybersecurity and scans 450 billion emails for malware monthly. However, Irish SMEs may not have a proportionate amount of resources to take care of what they need. Covid 19 has brought out a lot of threats. There is an element in society that capitalise on the fear that people have around the virus e.g. people putting “quack cures” on the internet. Also, there is a dramatic increase in “script kiddies” activity (i.e. a person who uses existing computer scripts or codes to hack into computers, lacking the expertise to write their own) who are extremely tech-literate, lack a moral compass and have excess time.

When the panel was asked about Irish cybersecurity and resilience, each of them reiterated what the other had to say which is that cybersecurity is a worldwide concern. The world is flat and therefore, the Irish situation is highly influenced by other parts of the world. The median age of the global population is 30.9 years and today’s young people are very tech-savvy . They have high standards for their digital safety.

When trying to determine the maturity or resilience of a country or an organisation, one considers how the subject identifies the risks, understands their nature, their action plan for dealing with eventualities and their responsiveness. The National Cyber Security Strategy was launched last December with key targets so that the country’s infrastructure and companies can be held accountable. After this, the strategy will be interrogated to ask what has been achieved and what new tangibles and intangibles need to be in focus. While the speakers acknowledged that cybersecurity is hardly coming up all that often when politicians are knocking at one’s door in the leadup to elections, it’s an issue that matters hugely when it goes wrong. They would love to see the strategy get implemented more quickly and attract more funding into the sector.

Two years of technological change has happened in two months – working from home, a massive scale-up of videoconferencing, new business models etc. While our focus has been on making this happen quickly, we also need to consider if the cybersecurity measures in place are sufficient to protect those changes and the underpinning network. Now is a good time to revisit that.

As many people have been furloughed or laid off around the world, people may reconsider their career prospects. There is a severe shortage of the people with the competence, knowledge, and know-how in this ever-growing industry.50% of cybersecurity events aren’t being investigated because of this. Further, 10 – 12% of people in the industry are female and this represents an even more acute deficit. There are a plethora of STEM wide engagements and company-specific outreach activities to help solve this problem. (I interviewed Jacky Fox back in 2016 on this very subject at #PWNSTEM with 1000 secondary school girls in the audience.)

There are lots of simple cybersecurity things that every business should do. During induction, give clear direction on how to maintain high cybersecurity. Staff need to be aware of the efficient transfer of information, the risks associated with actions (e.g. with Microsoft Outlook) and how to do things right. If you’re working from home, ensure that you have:

Personally, I remember being on a course of this nature about a decade ago and the trainer pointed out how much pain could be avoided if you simply lock your computer screen every time you leave your laptop.

As the panel reflected on our new normal and the future of the world of work, they pointed out how much of it is predicated on the presence of good cybersecurity. For example, if people are going to continue working from home, they need to ensure the transmission of data is safe. If people are going to work in progressively more remote teams, they need to protect their intangible assets from the threats of unsecured networks. If eCommerce is going to be a greater part of retail, consumers need the comfort of a “trusted trader”. If somebody is working for a company, they can’t be forwarding work e-mails to their personal gmail for ease of access.

In the aforementioned strategy document, “Ireland is home, according to some estimates, to over 30% of all EU data”. As of the Q4 2019, Ireland had €997 billion of foreign direct investment stock . Our corporate balance sheet dwarfs other countries. We can have all the fantastic talent, tax incentives and strategic location that we like, but if companies don’t feel they can continue to operate properly and safely within the infrastructure that we have here, we’re compromising our opportunities.

GDPR forced companies to look at how they’re handling data, conducting relationships with third-party organisations and analysing the risk of data leakage. These considerations are very much in tandem with good cybersecurity practices and hence GDPR has been a welcome development by the industry.

Some businesses pay for bespoke insurance against cyberattacks. If they can’t control certain things, they’re transferring the risk of them to the insurer. The knock-on effect of this is higher premiums (for everybody) but also, insurers are setting the bar higher and higher for insureds to take certain preventative action. In fact, they’re sending highly trained personnel out to companies to assess their capabilities in this area. Companies need to be as proactive as possible and not rely on insurance payouts as there are non-monetary (e.g. reputational) consequences also.

The panel didn’t agree on how long cybersecurity training sticks and suggested that it can last from six weeks to three months. However, there was clear agreement that there needs to be constant reinforcement of the message so that it moves into the subconscious of the organisation. They also fervently put forward that both message and actions need to come right from the top. Cybersecurity is a board-level leadership issue. It’s not just a job for IT to take care of because if something happens, it affects an entire business – finance, operations, people, everything. A person or team needs to take critical responsibility and there needs to be a clear internal communications strategy also. Enforcement of rules, consequences for lack of discipline and accountability for actions are advisable.

If a company is very active digitally, they’re likely to be using a lot of data and observing analytics. While there are so many rich insights that can come from that, the last thing that companies may want is a breach and hence, they must manage that risk accordingly.

We need to have constant vigilance. Digital activity is constantly changing – from moving data to the cloud to the explosion of social media to this global remote working experience, we can see technology changes happening apace (accelerated by the Covid19 restrictions), so we have to maintain our focus on keeping ourselves up to date.

The panellists sagely responded to this issue with a similar tone of “we’ve had to deal with this far too often”. The main message was not to pay the ransom in most cases (unless the consequences are people dying (i.e. if a hospital can’t get access to data) or similar). They also highlighted that even if you pay, then it doesn’t mean the problem will go away. Put together an action plan before it happens as you can think differently in the heat of the moment. Have somebody on speed dial to help you through the situation. If you wouldn’t pay a ransom for physical assets in the real world, then don’t do so in an intangible world. Call it out and be part of a global movement to stop this form of online bullying.

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12 Key Takeaways from “HR essentials in and beyond Covid 19” with Caroline McEnery & Elma O’Reilly

Mon, 27 Apr 2020 13:33:00 GMT

On Wednesday 22nd April, IIBN ran its third virtual event featuring Caroline McEnery, HR Suite and Elma O’Reilly, Parallel London focusing on one aspect of business that is the most critical of all, namely people.

I have known Caroline for years and believe that she is the best in the business right across the island of Ireland. I have so often quoted her book “The Art of Asking the Right Questions” and interviewed her about it on our Savvy Women Online podcast.

Elma O Reilly and Caroline McEnery

I saw Elma O’Reilly deliver a three-minute pitch during last year’s IIBN conference in London and her enthusiasm for her subject made her instantly memorable!

Here were my 12 takeaways from the event:

Strategy

Communication

Government supports

https://www.gov.ie/en/service/37c057-wage-subsidy-scheme/

Elma then spoke about the furlough scheme in the UK whereby firms are able to claim for government cash to pay 80% of each employee’s wages up to £2,500 if you can’t maintain your current workforce because your operations have been severely affected by coronavirus. The government has stated that the furlough scheme “was an alternative to redundancy, lay-off or unemployment” and thus, the people in question can’t be working at the same time as in receipt of the payment. That’s a very big difference.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

Both Caroline and Elma pointed out that the information is changing often and it’s important to communicate to your staff that you’re keeping up to date, that the information shared on one day may not be the same as another and that the reason there are frequent updates is that the government bodies are taking real-time feedback into consideration. Both elaborated on the detail of the scheme and were open to taking individual questions from those with queries.

Brand Promise

HR Policy

New Normal

Video

Schedule

Legislation

Emotional intelligence

Loyal Retention

Self-care

Check out all upcoming IIBN virtual event on the web site https://iibn.com/events

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12 Key takeaways from Stuart Lancaster webinar with IIBN

Mon, 20 Apr 2020 17:04:00 GMT

Stuart Lancaster, Senior Coach at Leinster Rugby and previously Head Coach at England Rugby delivered a masterclass in leadership and management this week at IIBN’s second-ever virtual event.

People joined in from the United Kingdom, New York, Dubai, Budapest, Moscow and several counties in Ireland. Afterwards, I recorded a summary video with my key takeaways.

Takeaway 1: Have a plan!

Stuart has always had a plan. However, the plan isn’t just about winning but also for the team to have respect, consistency, culture and identity. I liken this to watching the KPIs of a business while also being aware of the “subconscious” of the company too.

He went on to give us this formula:

Culture -> Identity -> Higher Purpose -> Behaviour and Standards -> Ownership -> Player Led Leadership

Takeaway 2: Win for the here and now while also building for the future.

While you must focus on what’s going on in the minutes, hours and days ahead, it’s also very important to look much further into the future. This reminded me of the dichotomy of leadership well-articulated in the “Good to Great” classic book on leadership. Specifically, Stuart says that you need to manage with a “telescope and microscope”. What an analogy!

Takeaway 3: Understand that culture comes before the performance and not the other way around.

Stuart points out the importance of the leader driving and sustaining the culture. He says the more aligned a team is, the less time it takes to build a culture. He then explained that culture needs to move out in concentric circles to the backroom team and all other stakeholders. Again, we take a lot out of that in terms of business.

(Des, asked,

“How much does it help to understand a country’s culture when playing a country’s rugby team”?

Stuart says it makes all the difference when trying to defeat the team as you can understand why they do certain things. The parallel for us in business is that it can be hugely beneficial to understand a company’s culture while selling to them).

(Karl asked,

“How do you adapt to a culture when you step into one” ?

Stuart answered with “Ask good questions”. He said that he was curious about the homegrown system in Ireland, the history of Ireland, where the players went to university, the relationship they had with their siblings etc. Questions will lead you to, understanding the culture).

Takeaway 4: Build your identity

Stuart was a teacher in the early part of his career. He was puzzled why so many teaching seminars focused on, the how and what, but didn’t focus on why people chose to become teachers. He didn’t make the same mistake! He told us that he reached out to the players’ mothers one time and asked them to write a letter expressing what it meant for them to have an international player as a son. This was presented to the players on a certificate with a view to reminding them of their identity. What a powerful thing to do!

Takeaway 5: Be a good leader

Stuart gave us the following characteristics of a good leader:

(Elma asked,

“How do you get a sense of the mood in the camp?”

Stuart emphatically answered that you must get out from behind the laptop and on to the “factory floor”. That could be the gym, the canteen or the pitch. Further, ensure that you have good communication channels with the other people who spend a lot of time on that factory floor. He said to get ahead of the curve to see around the corner).

Takeaway 6: Develop talent through your leadership

Stuart then elaborated on how to develop leadership talent within your team. He gave guidance on this by suggesting:

(Keith asked,

“During this period when you can’t physically bring everybody together, have you given the team any mental homework?”

Stuart said that it’s important to keep your voice in their heads. He put together a short movie for the players taking them on a journey of their past, present and future. They need to stay inspired and motivated. He is staying in their heads.)

Takeaway 7: Follow management principles (and manage in the correct proportion to leading)

Stuart shares his key tenets of management practises including:

(Ronan asked

“How do you handle the ambiguity of stakeholders? In a team’s management, there may be several people striving to lead and manage?”

Stuart answered, that absolute clarity of roles and responsibilities is key. The private conversations are critical. It must be clear who makes the final call and who communicates it.)

Takeaway 8: Embed accountability into your organisation

Don’t wait for people to grow by accident. Hold yourself accountable . Hold others accountable. Cultivate the environment where they hold each other accountable.

“When all is else is equal, cohesion is king”

Takeaway 9: Change is required for high performance

Stuart gave the analogy of a performance clock. If peak performance is at 12 o’clock, some are at 6 o’clock. Some are at 9 o’clock and you need to get them to 10 o’clock. Some are at 12 o’clock and you must keep them there. If you put everybody together, as you do in a team, how do you move higher and higher and then stay there? The answer is, change. You need to make changes before they’re needed. Make small tweaks that can make big changes in individual and team performance.

Takeaway 10: Use failure as a school for success

If you learn from what goes wrong, it’s a raw form of data to consider what can go right.

Stuart also told us about a powerful piece of blunt advice he got from an Australian colleague regarding moving on to a new opportunity which was:

“Make sure you 100% want to go and that you’re 100% welcome when you get there”

Takeaway 11: Ensure that you can quiet your mind

It’s vital to be able to be very calm in high-pressure situations. There isn’t the space for negative feedback loops, heightened tension and chaos at high performance. You must be able to quiet your mind, find calm in the big moments and be completely on the task.

(Emer asked,

“What do you say to a team at half time if they’re losing the game ?”

Stuart said the first thing to understand that emotions are high at that point. The metaphorical emotional cup is at 100% and you need to reduce that down. Let the emotion simmer down and have a couple of key private conversations. As there is more space of objective logic, align everybody again and share two very clear things that the team can focus on for the second half of the game.

(Manus asked

How do you stay true to your principles when everything is going wrong?

Stuart recommends to-quieten your mind. Stay focused and on task. He reiterates that you need to be calm in the big moments.)

Takeaway 12: You need to juggle three glass balls very well

In life, you have your health, your family and your work. They are three glass balls. Drop one or more and they can shatter. Juggle them with care and with the importance they deserve.

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My 15 key Takeaways from “Mind Magic” Keith Barry

Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:23:00 GMT

IIBN’s first-ever virtual meeting connecting Irish entrepreneurs globally – “Mind Magic” Keith Barry

“Don’t walk around life in a trance”

Last week, I was invited to present the summary remarks at the first-ever IIBN virtual event with the highly regarded Keith Barry. Hundreds of people from right around the globe including Moscow, New York, Budapest, Toronto, UK as well as every county in Ireland tuned in to hear how we could optimise our minds to make the most of what we have.

(For me, Action No 8 and No 10 were my key takeaway out of the list below. I’m a big believer in many of the others and practise them regularly . It was very interesting to see his twist on things)

Personally, I know him, as many people do, for being an entertainer that would make your jaw drop. However, we learned that he has worked in hypnotherapy for as long as he’s been an entertainer. He’s also a graduate of science from NUI Galway.

He pointed out the importance of breaking disruptive patterns and forming new ones at a subconscious level so that we can reach for the stars. Rather than talking in explosively dramatic terms, he told us this comes from moving the needle in the right direction consistently, striving to be in the top 1% of performers and take control of mental processes.

Here are my 15 takeaways from the session and best wishes with your implementation of as many as you can handle!

Action 1: Take stock of where your business is at and do a full self-appraisal.

Every month, he does a re-orientation day in a log cabin (that he has out the back) with a whiteboard, brutal honesty and deep thought.

Action 2: Shrink down the negative voice and magnify the positive voice in your head

He invited us to question if we are mentally strong right now? The world is worried and that’s natural, but which voice is winning in your head right now? We need to focus on the positive and pour more money, effort and time into what matters. He calls this “super activation mode” and shared some examples of how he did this in his own life.

Action 3: Sit and ponder your intent in life.

Is it your family, your career, money? Clarify what it is and take positive actions. It’s key to form neural pathways in the brain and he simplified the concept of neuro-plasticity by explaining that it’s simply another way to say how malleable the brain is.

Action 4: Cut out what is pulling you down

He invited us to reflect on who might be pulling you down. What social media feeds are tugging at your energy levels etc? Cut these things out of your life. He says that it may be neither nor comfortable.

Action 5: Read the books that can shape your brain

He espoused reading and clearly practises what he preaches as his backdrop was a (non-greenscreen!) wall of books. He spontaneously picked up five books that he is currently reading including:

Action 6: Ask yourself what you are doing now to go above and beyond?

Keith is working 18 hours per day right now and he asks us what we’re doing today, to go above and beyond for our clients.

Action 7: Think about what people really regret the most on their deathbed

While Keith agreed that many people don’t regret spending more time in the office when they’re about to leave the world, he did say that what people really regret is not pursuing their hopes and dreams. What’s yours? Are you chasing it?

Action 8: Build your non-verbal communication

The world’s leading hypnotist told us all this week that we can all read minds! He reiterated that his craft is grounded in science and so, we can all educate ourselves to do what he does. It’s a mix of NLP (neuro-linguistic programming), mirroring and other forms of non-verbal communication. He left the question hang in the digital air “why have you not studied it?”

He is careful to differentiate between adapting to other people’s ways and authenticity. It’s critical to be yourself in all aspects of life. In a business meeting (for example), it’s possible to be both authentic and mirror the other person by adjusting your breathing, pitch and tone to build instant rapport. Keith says that most people like themselves and if you’re more like them, they will like that too!

Action 9: Grow with the GROW model

He said to get a good notepad (and he showed us the one that he uses right beside his laptop). Write down your Goal’s. Next, write down your future in a vision board style visualisation and pre-empt your Reality. Now, think about the Obstacles that you’re likely to face and how to get around them. Finally, consider the Willpower that you have to power through to your goal.

(GROW – Goals, Reality, Obstacles, Willpower)

Action 10: Power up your actions with a powerful Visualisation

Find a quiet spot. Dim the lights. Make your body comfortable to bypass the conscious mind. Find your feet in your mind and say “my feet are relaxing”. Repeat this for every part of your body until you get up to your head. Do a full-body scan while you feel and release the tension everywhere. Inhale for six seconds. Exhale for six seconds. Repeat until you’re fully relaxed. Now imagine that you’re in a cinema and you’re completely on your own in there. The screen is huge. Sit there and project your ideal scenario to the screen. It’s full of colour, it’s full of sound and it feels real. Now jump out of that cinema seat and into that screen. Absorb yourself into it.

Action 11: Do a reverse visualisation with anxiety

In that same cinema, sit in the seat and project your fear. Now take the colour out. The picture is black and white. Take the sound out as the cinema falls silent. Reduce the size of the screen… smaller…. and smaller….. and smaller until it’s the size of a postage stamp. Scrunch up that tiny piece of paper and throw it away.

Action 12: Be aware of digital distraction

While phones are a key social bridge to the world, it’s also important to be very aware of the other real things that are around us. The people that we live with. Physical books. Our own thoughts. Don’t let the phone take over.

Action 13: Register for Keith’s free eBook

You can do this at https://keithbarry.com/executive-coaching/

Action 14: Avoid unhealthy habits by putting healthy ones in place

If you’re worried that you’re drinking that extra glass of wine or turning to the phone too much, fill that time with doing other things that can be useful. Check out your competitors and find out what they’re doing to keep your finger on the pulse. Sleep is also great!

Keith works with athletes and business people at the top of their game. He has researched scientific papers into this topic and concludes that if sportspeople don’t get 7 hours sleep per night, they are 20% more prone to injuries. There is a lesson in that for everybody.

He recommends “The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep”, by Carl-Johan Forssén Ehrlin for parents who want to help their kids get to sleep.

Action 15: Use effective affirmations to reprogramme your subconscious.

Don’t say “I will try” to your subconscious. Keith says that “try is a fail word”. You need to say affirmations that you can truly believe. He recommends screaming them in a cold shower!!

He finished the session by telling us “Every goal I’ve ever set for myself, I’ve achieved”.

Susan HayesCulleton

www.thepositiveeconomist.com

The post My 15 key Takeaways from “Mind Magic” Keith Barry appeared first on "The Positive Economist" Financial - Economics - Fintech & Entrepreneurship Articles .

Lessons of Leadership during COVID19

Fri, 03 Apr 2020 13:08:00 GMT

At difficult times, we need good leaders. Many, many people need help in so many ways right now – they also need reassurance and realism.

A month ago, I was MC for IOD Northern Ireland “Leading the Way” conference in Belfast. The speakers were amazing and shared many nuggets of wisdom about leadership. For all the leaders out there of homes, businesses, communities and countries, I talk through these key lessons of leadership in the context of the current situation with quotes from each of the speakers.

– “If you can’t sell a vision, then you can’t take people with you”, Dame Rotha Johnson

– “Find skills within your team”, Jo Aston

– “Always want to be better”, Sara Venning

– “Let go of the past”, June Burgess

– “In order to do the impossible, we need to believe in the possible”, Joanne O’Riordan

– “When you work exceptionally hard, great things happen”, Dame Jocelyn Bell

– “Simplify the customer journey”, Breege O’ Donoghue

– “Public service and commercial funding – do both”, Sinead Rocks

– “Power speaks with a loud voice, but influence has a softer tone”, Anne Anderson

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Positive Economics Webinar – COVID 19, the Gender Pay Gap and Primary Research

Wed, 25 Mar 2020 21:42:00 GMT

One of the key reasons that we decided to run the Positive Economics webinar series (with exports , housing and Brexit so far) is that it’s such a dynamic subject, it can be difficult for students and teachers to keep up with all that’s changing in the world. Therefore, as a practising economist, I can help them out.

If there was ever a period in history where that was the case, it would have been this past month. There have been unthinkable changes to the Irish and global economies made within hours. Naturally, the first topic of discussion this evening then, was why COVID 19 was making such a big impact on the economy, how the government was responding and how this period in our economic story could shape the future.

Next, given that it was the month of International Women’s Day, I took our group through what the Gender Pay Gap really is, how it’s measured, what trends may affect it in the future and proactive strategies that have worked to date. It’s a topic that I’ve been often asked to discuss and most recently, at a seminar at a university in Cambridge. Finally, given that students will soon have to put together a Research Report as part of the Leaving Cert curriculum, I gave a short introduction to primary research and specifically the difference between qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Here is the full recording and the summary article with supplementary resources follows below:

Why has COVID 19 had such a huge impact in such a short period of time in the economy?

The velocity of money has completely slowed down. Let me explain that concept.

Imagine that I’m in Galway and I’m going to say in a hotel as I have a business meeting in the morning. I walk into the hotel and tell the receptionist that I would like to stay that night, but I would like to see the room first. He said, “that’s ok, but I need a €50 deposit first”. I hand over a €50 note and go up to the room. While I’m gone, he runs across to the butcher and says here is the money I owe you for the recent meat order that we gave you. The butcher then goes to the fruit and vegetable shop. She says to the owner “here is the €50 I need to pay you for the ingredients we use for marinades”. The fruit and veg owner then goes to the local restaurant and says “I want to bring my staff out for lunch and here is €50 for the meal that we will have tomorrow”. The restaurant owner walks over to the hotel and says “I want to book my sister in to stay at the weekend. Here is €50 to cover her room”. At that stage, I walk out of the lift and tell the receptionist that I’ve just had an urgent call to go back to Dublin as a client from the UK wants to meet in the morning. He hands me back my €50 and off I go. Even though I got my money back, four other people got paid. An economy isn’t built on how much money people have, but on how fast it moves. That’s the velocity of money. (If you want to read more about the subject, check out my other post on why it makes a lot of economic sense to shop local .

COVID 19 has dramatically slowed down how fast money can move. This has happened for two reasons. In many cases, businesses have been shut down and so one can’t spend their money getting their hair done, going out for a coffee or eating out. The other reason is that with such a high level of unexpected unemployment, people have less money to spend or else they’re worried about having less money if they lose part of their income.

The government has analysed how we earn our money and spend our money . From a spending point of view, it took action on the biggest concern that people have when they find themselves in financial difficulty and so discussed a three-month mortgage payment break with the banks . It has closed childcare facilities (to prevent the spread of the virus) and hence, parents may not be expected to pay for their children to attend such facilities. (The entire industry would then collapse as its demand was eliminated overnight. That’s why the government has negotiated a separate deal with businesses in this area.) Finally, as I mentioned above, lots of other businesses have been temporarily closed to “flatten the curve” and hence, people can’t spend their money in ways they could before on entertainment.

Also, fiscal policy has supplied new social welfare payments for workers who have found themselves unexpectedly unemployed. Further, businesses that are “vulnerable and viable” (i.e. those companies who have seen sales fall by 25%) can apply for help to pay wages of staff so that they can keep employing people while keeping their business going. Also, the government is now trying to recruit many more people in the health service to be able to handle the impact of the virus pandemic as best it can.

Of course, there are many questions after that. What will happen after 12 weeks? What will life be like in the coming months when we’re dealing with a health crisis, an economic crisis and a social crisis all at the one time? Further, lots and lots of people are now working remotely. This is a BIG change to a lot of people who may have spent their entire careers commuting to an office every day. Could this “experiment” of thousands of people working in their kitchens lead to a more permanent change? Could this very month have a big impact on the future of the world of work? What will our new normal be and how can we shape it ? We will have a lot of questions to consider in the coming weeks, months and years.

What is the gender pay gap and how is it measured?

The gender pay gap compares the average rate of pay that men and women receive. However, there are different ways of measuring, what is perceived as a simple calculation. First, let’s examine who brings the most money to the world. While we know that, broadly speaking, the population is split 50/50 between men and women, there is a big difference between who generates the money underpinning the global economy. Women are responsible for 37% of the worlds GDP while men create the rest .

However, let me give you an alternative way of looking at this. The way in which we measure GDP or National Income is C + I +G + NX i.e. consumption + investment + government expenditure + net exports. In other words, what we spend our money on, how much we save and what we pay in tax. Are we missing anything? Let’s have another story!

What about the work that is unpaid? That work is still done, but it’s not counted in GDP. However, if we did count it, then two figures jump out at us. The first is that it would represent 13% of GDP and the second is that women do 75% of the unpaid work in the world, according to a document published by the United Nations . Therefore, is it really the case that women are responsible for only 37% of the world’s GDP, or is that GDP doesn’t encapsulate all of the work done in the world? If GDP did include “H”, for “Home”, then the two graphs in the previous picture would be much more balanced.

What is the difference between what men and women earn?

In the European Union, women, on average, earn 16% less than men. That means that for every €100 that a man makes in the EU, a woman in 2019 made €84. European Equality Pay Day highlights another way to understand this. If a man is to be paid for doing a full year’s work, a woman is paid until the equivalent of European Equal Pay Day. In 2019, this was 4th November . However, again, this isn’t quite the full story.

When do women start earning a lower amount than men?

There isn’t a gender pay gap when graduates start working. There isn’t even a gender pay for quite some time afterwards. However, we can identify the key moment that it happens. It’s when parents bring a bundle of joy into the world. In general, women are the ones who leave the workforce to take care of a child during parental leave and sometimes longer. Of course, if they have more than one child, then this period outside the workforce is repeated or extended. There are three key reasons that this affects their earning potential:

Here is some research from the Economist about what happens to earnings after men and women have children.

What are the follow-on impacts of this and what can be done about it?

As a result, when people return to the workplace, they need to be brought up to speed with an understanding of where they’re coming from and where they want to get to. Merrill Lynch runs a “ Returning Talent ” programme. Vodafone organises a “ Reconnect ” initiative. The Springboard courses offer a very cost-effective way to upskill in a niche area of employment while developing your Job Readiness at the same time. There is a range of them on offer and I’ve lectured on every cohort of the “ Global Capital Markets ” one for Ulster University and Irish Times Training.

What trends are happening that may organically narrow the Gender Pay Gap?

There are some very interesting changes happening in our society that will have an impact on how men and women are treated in the workplace.

For example, Generation Z (i.e. those born between 1995 and 2010), actively want retailers and service suppliers to be “gender blind”. Specifically, in a study published by McKinley .

“48 per cent of Gen Zers—but only 38 per cent of consumers in other generations—said they value brands that don’t classify items as male or female”.

The same organisation suggests that women are less likely to lose their jobs to automation due to the need for emotional intelligence in many of the professions and jobs they personally chose.

Also, many men who are parent are now seeking to make the workplace more accessible for them too in relation to spending more time with their children or for more flexibility be given to those who want to take a more active role in parenting. Specifically, in the “Fathers and the Workplace Inquiry” from the UK Parliament, research shows that “ many fathers do not feel supported in the workplace to care for their children ”. As more men seek greater balance for time with their children throughout their lives, we will see the gender pay gap diminish.

Finally, a trend that is gathering momentum is that social expectation now of companies to publish their own figures. For example, PwC Ireland announced in February 2020 that their Gender Pay Gap had decreased by 1% so that there is now 4.7% of a difference between what men and women get paid on average and outlined the actions they want to take to bring this number lower and lower.

Qualitative vs Quantitative Primary Research

I had a call this morning with a person who is researching for her Masters in Organisational Psychology. She wanted to interview me about what it’s like to be a female entrepreneur, how I manage work/life balance and how my relationship with the business has changed over (almost!) a decade. The questions she was asking led to me to answer with stories, thoughts opinions and feelings. This is the nature of qualitative research. It was primary research because she was asking me these questions directly (rather than the secondary research I discussed during last month’s webinar on Exports ).

In contrast, quantitative research is when you ask questions and expect numbers in response. By investigating how a business might have increased its exports to the US after Brexit or analysing how much people expect rent to rise or fall due to a change in economic growth, you’re conducting primary quantitative research in this case.

Next month’s webinar

It was a great pleasure to speak to well over a hundred people tonight online and I’m already excited about talking to even more of you next month. Wednesday 22nd April at 7 p.m., https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3225076917316404237?source=Susan.

I will take you through a further update on the impact of Covid 19 on our economy, a whistlestop tour of entrepreneurship and the Enterprise factor of production in Ireland as well as a research approach.

Date:

Register for our newsletter today right here so that you get our latest insights, book reviews, podcasts and lots of other resources.

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Five things you can do for your business in these strange times

Thu, 19 Mar 2020 13:54:00 GMT

As we try to make sense of this new world that we’ve all been jolted into, people are struggling in this health, economic and social crisis – I couldn’t speak to you all but I wanted to share five things with those of you in business who are doing your best to hold on.

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Positive Economist FaceBook Live – A Spotlight on Exports

Thu, 27 Feb 2020 16:48:00 GMT

There is a lot of talk these days about exports. For example, you might hear people say that “Ireland is a very open economy” or “the UK is Ireland’s biggest trading partner and that gives rise to a lot of concern regarding Brexit” or “Enterprise Ireland and the Local Enterprise Offices help small and medium companies to export”

All of these statements are true, but as an economist, it’s important to have specific questions to address so that you can find the information that you’re looking for and draw the conclusions that you need from them. If you’re studying Leaving Cert economics, then you will be aware that you will have a Research Project to complete as well as a report to write on it afterwards, so during this month’s video, I took a research approach to exports.

Here are my three key questions:

Are our exports rising or falling?

Before we start to answer these questions, we also need to define what we’re specifically talking about. Exports consist of both goods and services, so our analysis will need to consider both of them separately.

The first question is quite easy to find as these figures are available on the CSO web site both for goods and for services.

Source: CSO Goods Exports and Imports December 2019

Source: 2019 CSO International Trade in Services

Answer to Q1: Have Irish exports gone up, down or not changed at all?

According to these tables, our goods exports grew from €140 billion in 2018 to €152 billion in 2019. This represents an 8.5% increase.

It’s also interesting to note that our imports fell last year by 3% and as a result, our goods surplus (i.e. the amount by which exports are higher than imports) increased by a very significant 30%.

In the case of our international services, our exports grew by €18.24 billion (which equates to 11.2%). Further, it’s noteworthy that our services deficit (which means that our imports are greater than our exports) reduced from €43 billion down to €5.5 billion.

Who are we exporting to around the world?

There are two key questions that we may consider here.

You might often hear the phrase that the UK is our largest trading partner. While that’s true, that doesn’t mean it’s our largest export destination. Our largest trading partner refers to both imports and exports. Check out this interactive guide

Source: Central Statistics Office

Our largest export destination is actually the United States. In 2019, Ireland exported €46 billion to the US and this represented 31% of our entire exports. The European Union, as a currency bloc (and remember that this includes the UK data as it was within 2019), the EU represented the destination of 48% of our total exports and this amount grew last year by 3%.

However, our exports to countries outside of the EU grew by almost €10 billion, accounting for a 14% growth over the year before.

In order to find out the fastest-growing destination, we need to process the data from the table as the information wasn’t on the press release.

Here is what we need to do:

This was the result:

Therefore, the fastest-growing export destination in the EU is Cyprus and the non-EU country is China.

There is a range of bodies who help Irish companies export including Enterprise Ireland , the Local Enterprise Offices , Enterprise Europe Network , Bord Bia , Intertrade Ireland , Tourism Ireland and others.

Answer to Q2: Who are we exporting to and in particular:

The US with €46 billion of goods exports representing 31% of total Irish goods exports.

Our exports to Cyprus grew by 78% albeit off a low base of €23 million and this was the fastest-growing export destination in the EU. Outside, our exports to China grew by 63.19% from €5.4 billion to €8.9 billion.

If we apply the same analysis to International Trade in Services, here is what we find:

Source: Central Statistics Office

Also, our fastest-growing export country, in terms of services, is the Dominican Republic (a country in the Caribbean) with 200% growth. However, as an economist, one would have to recognise that this figure is just €1 million and hence, it’s worthwhile to consider a country that has a more meaningful amount. Therefore, of the countries at the top of the list in 2018, there is one that stands out significantly here. Ireland grew its services exports from €3.8 billion to €5.3 billion.

What are we exporting and how is it changing?

Referring to our Goods press release mentioned above, the answer to this question is clear.

“The largest category of exports was Medical and pharmaceutical products . Exports of these goods accounted for a third (33%) of all exports, or €49,655 million in 2019.”

This makes sense given that every single one of the top ten pharmaceutical companies in the world has a base in Ireland.

However, when we want to find our fastest growing destination, we need to go through the same process with the data.

The fastest-growing segment of our goods exports is “Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances and parts” at 56.77% in 2019. In contrast to the geographical data earlier, this commodity is a of a substantial amount and grew from €5.3 billion to €8.4 billion.

In the case of services, the press release noted that “Computer services exports at €86.2bn remains the largest export category and accounted for 47.9% of total service exports in 2018.”

As we delved into the data, we then found that it was in fact Royalties and Licenses that grew the fastest in 2018, when it came to services exports.

Answer to Q3: What are we exporting and how is that changing?

In the case of goods, the largest segment that we export is pharmaceutical goods. However, the fastest part of the growth is coming from “Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances and parts”.

In the case of experts, the largest segment that we export is computer services.However, the fastest part of the growth is coming from “Royalties and Licenses”.

This process of identifying a question, finding some information related to the topic, cleaning the data and extrapolating conclusions is a highly useful skill and enables us to shed light on some very interesting economic questions.

For updates on the next upcoming interactive FaceBook Live Q&A videos, book reviews, interesting headlines and a variety of other resources, you can like our FaceBook page and we will catch up with you regularly! Our next Positive Economics session will focus on the Gender Pay Gap and we would be delighted if you could join us!

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BECKSearch:bringing together a range of groups from all over the wider Irish community in New Zealand.

Thu, 06 Feb 2020 19:22:00 GMT

The Irish Embassy in New Zealand invited me to facilitate an event bringing together a range of groups from all over the wider Irish community in New Zealand.

Here are some key things that we did together that contributed to the success of the day:

1. Enable the facilitation process to hear as diverse a range of views as possible and give most of the time to enabling the group to speak.

2. Be clear about what you want both in terms of inputs and outputs. Give people complete clarity around what you expect of them and empower facilitators to be optimally effective.

3. Enable people to share insights and findings in a personalised way at every stage of the process. We had table-wide and full-room discussions, a digital tool where people could share thoughts and an illustrator who captured the salient points (which is the background for this video). Specifically, regarding the Irish New Zealand connection:

(a) there are great economic opportunities for export, foreign direct investment and employment.

(b) there are opportunities and challenges in having a dual nature of your identity

(d) the time difference can be an advantage

(e) professional relationships can add value in more than one setting

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The five key things that made the difference in my career (so far)

Thu, 30 Jan 2020 10:29:00 GMT

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Positive Economist FaceBook Live – A Spotlight on Housing

Tue, 21 Jan 2020 23:32:00 GMT

During our Facebook Live video today, I took our viewers on a whistle-stop tour of the Irish housing market.

In 2020, the government expects to spend €2.56 billion on housing and this is more than double the amount spent during the year of our IMF bailout when €1.08 billion was spent in the same area. It’s super easy to find these figures using the “Where your Money Goes ” web site. One can navigate it easily by clicking on the sector where you want detail.

Source: whereyourmoneygoes.gov.ie

The housing issue today is one of the most serious of our time and generates a lot of public conversation. It’s important to consider what the real issues are and what’s driving them. Let’s begin with supply, followed by demand and how the market is interacting via price.

Supply

Many commentators today have been pointing out that this housing crisis is since we simply haven’t been building enough places for people to live and hence, the issue is with supply. According to the 2019 Q4 Daft.ie report, “there were a total of nearly 69,000 properties listed for sale during 2019, up from 52,000 in 2016 and just 33,000 in 2012.” In addition, according to the BPFI Housing Monitor Q3 2019 “Almost 5,700 new dwellings were completed according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO)* in Q3 2019, 22% more than in Q3 2018. Completions in Dublin rose by only 3.1% year-on-year while they fell by 1.1% in Cork. While the other regions reported strong year-on-year growth, the Dublin Commuter region accounted for 432 of the 829 additional housing units completed.”

These two statistics tell us that there are more houses available for sale and that there is more activity in the places where the greater part of the population want to live due to employment etc. However, that doesn’t fully address our point regarding supply. We also need to consider if the housing that is being built is suitable for those who are looking for them.

For this reason, we must also look to the rental market. After all, according to the same report, one in three households in the country live in rented accommodation and hence, it’s a primary use of households.

The daft.ie Rental Report On November 1st 2019, there were 3500 homes available to rent nationwide. This figure is 10% higher than the same date last year. This is the first November in the full decade when supply has increased. This trend is exactly mirrored in Dublin were in August, there were 1,541 properties available to rent which is 10% more than the same date a year previously.

The other key point regarding the supply of housing is not just where they’re located or what they’re used for but also affordability. Further again, affordability is linked to size requirements. If there are an abundance of five-bedroom houses available to rent for a couple, then a mismatch is likely. Two people aren’t going to want (or perhaps be able) to rent a large house when just two people are looking for a new temporary home. Similarly, a family with two parents and four children aren’t going to want to buy a one-bedroom apartment.

The daft.ie rental report illustrates the range of rental prices in our cities and counties while the price report highlights that the average national house price is over a quarter of a million with 70%of new homes sold were in the greater Dublin area.

Therefore, the issues are clear. There is enough suitable housing for people in the areas that they want to live, in an appropriate size at a cost that’s affordable, particularly to rent.

While it takes time to increase the supply of housing, there has been a range of suggestions put forward by a variety of economists over the years including:

However, we must also consider changing the attractiveness of where people live. For example:

Demand

Demand for housing is driven from a variety of sources in the economy.

In November 2019, €980 million was approved for 4,182 mortgages. That is an increase of 7.2% in the value approved in comparison to the same month last year. While this is a noteworthy figure, it’s important to mention that an approval doesn’t equal drawdown. A person or couple or other combination can only draw down the mortgage if they have found and reached agreement on the property. In other words, approval is predicated on the availability of a property in the first place.

Source: Banking & Payments Federation Ireland

2. Regional Employment

The more people there are in an area who are in paid employment, the higher the likelihood that they will need housing in the local area and that they will have more money to pay for it. Therefore, the local job market has a direct effect on the local house price and the rental market too. As per the below image from the Department Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Dublin has the lowest unemployment rate in the country. Conversely, it has the highest employment rate in the country and hence, is likely to have higher demand.

Source: Department Business, Enterprise and Innovation

3. Earnings

As people earn more, they can afford to spend more on their accommodation. The broad lending rule is that a mortgage applicant can apply for 3.5 times their gross salary ( with some other terms and conditions ). Therefore, the more they earn, the more they can borrow and the more they can potentially pay for a house. The same DEBI Dashboard shows the rise of the average wage in Ireland. Since 2001, real (inflation-adjusted) average weekly earnings have been increasing in Ireland (except for 2009 – 2014) and hence this increased demand pushes house prices up further.

Source: Real Average Weekly Earnings: All Industries

Consequences

What are the consequences of the above?

Source: Daft Rental Report Q3 2019

Price:

daft.ie House Price Report: Q4 2019 – An infographic by the team at daft.ie

Homelessness

While there are a range of supports available for people who find it difficult to repay their mortgage, there are many people in Irish society today for whom it’s just too much and they find themselves homeless. In November, as per the below table, there were 6696 adults who sought managed emergency accommodation with most of those aged between 25 – 44.

Source: Department of Housing, Planning & Local Government –
Homelessness Report November 2019

In summary, it’s important for people interested in economics to truly understand where the real issues lie in one of the most serious issues facing the country today. It’s going to be debated at length during the upcoming general election, will influence government expenditure for years to come and is one of the most fundamental needs of our current and future generations.

Join us on Wednesday 19th February 2020 for our next FaceBook Live at 7pm.
“Positive Economics – Spotlight on International Trade”

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Reflections on Deep Work

Mon, 13 Jan 2020 17:30:00 GMT

I had a client meeting in # Barbados this month and decided to extend my trip, take an AirBnB for five days on my own and focus on the “ Deep Work ” (Cal Newport style) that would really matter to the business in the months and years ahead.

If you decide to do the same, here are a few do’s and don’ts…

– Do have super discipline to focus only on the really big, chunky parts of what you need to do.

– Do recognise that your normal motivators and quick wins won’t be available. Restore your daily motivation in other ways

– Do be honest enough with yourself in solitude to find and unravel your limiting beliefs (I explain one technique that worked for me in the video)

– Don’t plan anything rigidly apart from what’s super necessary and even then, take a “Deep Work” approach

– Don’t think (or act) like you’re on holiday. It’s an investment in the future of your business that totally depends on you

– Do break your day up (and particularly with some form of physical activity)

Notable information About Barbados

– Under 300,000 population
– 843,200 cruise ship passengers arrived into Bridgetown port last year which was a 3% increase on the year before
– No visa needed
– 8 hours flight from (a very well served) London
– Music is in the Barbadians’ bones!

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Key opportunities and issues facing Irish business – the international view.

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 20:04:00 GMT

In November 2019, I was invited by Irish International Business Network to present the closing remarks at their annual conference in London.

While reflecting on the insights shared on the Eurostar to Belgium the next morning, I recorded this whistle-stop tour of the discussion points spanning Brexit, social issues, AI, sectoral changes and global superpowers.

Here is the video and the summary are detailed underneath.

The UK will heal economically from Brexit, but the social and cultural differences are going to take much longer, Paul Drechsler, former President of the Confederation of British Industry.

Today, people want an experience when they go into a retail store – hair salons, restaurants etc, Paul Costello (and I discussed this in detail in our post regarding the future of retail earlier in the year).

“There is a difference between real diversity and the diversity business”, Bonnie Greer, Chancellor of Kingston University.

The crash decimated low skilled jobs and the recovery brought high skilled jobs. Turbulence isn’t going away with the artificial intelligence revolution in the medium term, Professor Louise Richardson, Oxford university

“We need to protect the peace process and common travel area, prevent economic isolation in Northern Ireland and physical infrastructure at the border as well as be conscious of rising tensions”, Peter Sheridan, Chief Executive of Co-Operation Northern Ireland.

“The biggest challenge that returning entrepreneurs is the lack of a network”, Paula Fitzsimons, Back for Business .

“We could be facing a hung parliament in the UK elections and let’s remember the European Parliament is no longer made up of two main parties”, Lucinda Creighton, C.E.O. Vulcan Consulting.

“Website isn’t the future for good quality content, but through a distribution network”, Niall McGarry, www.joe.ie

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Positive Economics FaceBook Live – A Brexit update, super productive economic resources and time management in exams

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 22:32:00 GMT

Tonight, I hosted our very first Positive Economics FaceBook Live!

At the launch of our new book last year, we promised to give teachers and students a regular, dynamic update on what’s going on in the national and international economy through social media where they could get up-to-the-moment insights to prepare them for their upcoming and Leaving Cert exams.

In essence, the session was designed to

– Show you how to save time by pointing out the sites with lots of useful data to increase your marks
– Give you a summary of where things are at with Brexit
– Share my top three study tips to improve your time management in the exam
– Answer lots of questions live so that you could get the answers that you need quickly

The full video is available right here and you can register for the next one focusing on housing.

During the session, I mentioned a range of resources that could be of help for students and teachers right around the country including:

Highly useful and efficient data sources

Every month, the government publishes a twelve page document filled with exactly what an economics student in Ireland needs including the latest national income data, employment details, earnings from tourism and a snapshot of government finances.

The Department of Business Enterprise and Innovation produce a superb dashboard of 60 economic indicators that have interactive features, offer more detail in the areas that you might be interested in and issues a great monthly newsletter so that you can automatically receive updates along the way.

If you put the code for two currencies together into a Google search bar, you will get a screen that produces the current exchange rate. For example, these links will get you the euro-sterling rate and the euro-dollar rate in a second!

The latest on Brexit

This infographic from the BBC shows clearly the key developments that could happen after the UK voting population takes to the ballot box next week. The main parties across the country have different positions on their preferred avenue and the Guardian are keeping a close eye on the polls to track which option England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are leaning towards.

Menu of possibilities following the UK December 2019 election

In a post I wrote for Positive Economics readers in September, I referred to the likely effect of Irish exports being more expensive in the UK, how inflation is imported into the UK household and the resulting change in tourist figures from our nearest international neighbours.

If we want a sense of how Irish people feel about their own prospects and if they intend to spend more in the future than currently, we would examine a consumer sentiment index. If the value is over 50, then people in Ireland feel that they would spend more. On the other hand, if the value is below 50, it means that people in Ireland expect to contract their spending. The Irish Times posted an interesting report on how the KBC Bank Ireland/ESRI consumer sentiment index jumped off a six-month low of 69.5 right up to 77.1 following October’s crunch talks that averted a crash-out Brexit. This indicator is worth observing as a way to “take the pulse” of the Irish consumer, both in the context of Brexit and otherwise.

While of course, Brexit is a very big deal, there are a huge number of other issues going on across the economic bloc. For example, as I point out on the video, Ursula von der Leyen is the new Commission President (and notably the first female to take the role). She has just signed off on the next five-year vision budget which clearly outline the key areas the institution will focus on. The six priorities include climate change, social fairness and prosperity, digital innovation, equal opportunity, global leadership and strengthened democracy. I’ve been watching the European Union develop in a wide range of areas over the past few years and its important that we, as economists, do so as many areas of our lives are affected by these changes and the euro-area is our largest trading partner in terms of currency.

Exam time management techniques

I really hope that you enjoyed and benefitted from tonight’s session. For updates on the next upcoming interactive FaceBook Live Q&A videos, book reviews, interesting headlines and a variety of other resources, you can like our FaceBook page and we will catch up with you regularly!

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If you put your money where your values are, what happens the value of your money?

Fri, 23 Aug 2019 13:44:00 GMT

If you put your money where your values are, what happens the value of your money?

In July 2019, the first ESG ETF in Europe surpassed €1 billion AUM (assets under management). That was a big deal.

It is the UBS ETF MSCI World Socially Responsible UCITS ETF with a ticker code of “WSRUSA” and it trades in Swiss Francs.

Perhaps you’re wondering what ESG stands for (and why it matters)? ESG is an acronym for “environmental, social and governance”. An ESG ETF is a passive fund that invests its money in companies that seek to have a positive impact on the environment (or at least not overly negative), makes a contribution to society and is run with good governance standards. In essence, it’s a mechanism where you can put your money to work from a return point of view and as a way for you to use your resources to do good in the world.

While this sounds good, we’re going to investigate if it really is and what the dangers are later in the piece.

However, let me bring you back to why it’s a big deal that the ETF I mentioned above is listed in Europe in general.

According to a recent interview with Deborah Fuhr founder of ETFGI (whose publications I always quote when speaking or training on this theme), there is $5.3 trillion dollars in ETFs globally and 70% of this is domiciled in the U.S. and a paltry 16% are domiciled in Europe. Nothing surprising there, eh? However, when it comes to the money invested in ESG ETFs, 52% of the money is in Europe. In other words, this is a very big investing trend where Europe is leading the way and the US is gathering momentum. This claim is further evidenced by the recent Financial Times headline “ Europe leads the $31tn charge on sustainable investing ” and by the graph below highlighted in that piece. Further, Blackrock, at the time of writing, has 28 funds with this theme listed in Europe .

Source: EPFR Global

So, while all of that is remarkably interesting, I still have three questions that must cut through the mustard.

Do these sustainably themed ETFs generate comparatively good returns with market-focused ETFs?
Is there sufficient liquidity through these ETFs that won’t penalise an investor through the bid/ask spread?
How does an index provider decide on what ESG is versus not?

Can I make a decent return with an ESG ETF?

I asked this question years ago on the blog and saw a clear delineation at that time between what made money and what didn’t . The question is as relevant today as it was back then.

I looked at the year to date return of the aforementioned WSRUSA and see that it has had an 18.67% return year to date and in comparison to the Euro Stoxx at 11.62% and the S&P 500 return of 18.05% .

While one ETF doesn’t speak for the entire theme, it’s difficult to write definitively about the returns generically. Therefore, I took a selection of broad ETFs, put them into a watchlist using the VectorVest programme and compared them against their geographical benchmarks since the beginning of the year.

The results since the beginning of the year are higher than the market benchmark in both Europe and the US:

Source: VectorVest Europe

Source: VectorVest US

The specific ETFs that I chose (randomly) were:

Therefore, in these cases, these ETFs were either outperforming or keeping pace with the market return. Now, of course, if I had tested different timeframes with the same or different ETFs, I would have got different results. I encourage you to try out different data points to evaluate these for yourself. You can use something free and simple (e.g. Yahoo Finance) or a paid and more value-adding offering (e.g. VectorVest has a Backtester tool that enables you to combine an approach of any level of simplicity or complexity with market timing indicators).

So far, I’m satisfied that I can find an ESG ETF that could compete with a market-orientated ETF.

Are ESG ETFs liquid?

The answer to this question can be found by examining the bid/ask spreads of these stocks and they are a function of the average daily volume of the stock itself.

I checked the volume of both watchlists and I found a significant amount all round for most.

Source: VectorVest Europe

Source: VectorVest US

(VectorVest doesn’t feature stocks trading in CHF and so I sought the bid/ask spread of WSRUSA manually).

Source: Teletrader Public Web Station

Therefore, I was satisfied with the answer to my second question, based on the research of my small sample group.

What metrics decide between good ESG and not?

The answer to this truly defines whether this is an investment theme or just a fashionable thing to do. As one might expect, if money is pouring into sustainable funds (and $31 trillion is an attention-grabbing figure), then lots of funds with questionable sustainable characteristics may try to brand themselves accordingly. There have been reports of “greenwashing” (i.e. talking up environmentally sound practises that have little substance behind them) and jaw-dropping disparities between ESG standards in recent times. One could understand why many could look cynically at how truly ESG the investment world can be.

So, how can we answer this question? On this occasion, I didn’t find any faster route than going into the individual ETF site and obtain each individual Impact Report (e.g. this one for KLD )

Therefore, before you put your money where your values lie, put your investment ideas through these three tests and then let your money work for you and work for the world.

Positive Economist

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Affecting the Bottom Line: Does wellness in the workplace offer a return on investment?

Tue, 09 Apr 2019 15:00:00 GMT

Affecting the Bottom Line: Does wellness in the workplace offer a return on investment?

“Wellness in the Workplace” has gained a lot of attention recently and many large companies are now participating in such initiatives… aren’t they?

Take activity trackers: according to Bloomberg, “ corporate services are one of Fitbit’s fastest growing market ”, with American retail giant Target to offer the activity trackers to its 350,000 employees. However, while there is much discussion about the topic, according to the Global Wellness Institute only “ 9% of the world’s 3.2 billion workers potentially have access to any kind of workplace wellness program or services ”.

The trend is gathering momentum, and while many are curious about it, others are not sure employers should intervene in the private lives of their employees and monitor behaviours that are, ultimately, personal. However, the impact of wellness on productivity and sick days is such that employers would do well to accept they have a serious stake in this.

I could quote many studies that make an effort to correlate the benefits of a wellness initiative with every dollar invested (the American Heart Association puts the figure at $3 return for every $1 invested ). But I think it is far more fruitful to give you some real mathematical equations to compute the impact at your organisation. These equations are a clear, stark way of making the case for wellness in the workplace to obtain support from finance or buy-in from senior management.

Whether you are already in, and wondering how to convince stakeholders , or whether you are on the fence about how useful such a project could be, here are some numbers-based ways to throw light on the issue.

Number of Days Saved * Average Daily Employee Salary

If the company could decrease the number of days spent out of the office by just one, how much would that save the company in terms of lost payroll? People are out of the office for a number of reasons relatingto sickness: from the common cold when theseasons change, to burnout and exhaustion, anxiety related diseases, workplace accidents among others.

% Reduction in turnover * Costs of turnover

According to Eremedia, the cost of turnover averages at 40% of an employee’s salary , when considering the cost of redundancy, advertising the position, interviewing, training, opportunity cost of the work that is left undone and the induction period while the new recruit learns to navigate “the way we do things here”. A wellness initiative that can reduce turnover by some percentage, can translate into a very significant saving.

Cost of injury + cost of claim

According to a recent HSE report, there are over 600,000 workers injured in workplace accidents annually in Britain . The cost of workplace injury in 2013/14 was £4.9 billion and equivalent to £7500 per non-fatal injury. If a company can prevent this from happening, then it doesn’t save just money: it avoids the negative impact on the life and lifestyle of the employee, the disruption to the workplace contribution of that employee, the reputational damage for a court case and the tension arising from all of the above.

% increase in productivity * total cost of payroll

Let’s say that, as a result of a wellness initiative in your workplace, staff was to improve their productivity by, say, 2%. What impact would that have on the company? There are a number of ways to compute this. The assumption in every company is that staff generate more return to the company than the cost of their collective payroll. You can compare the actual cost of payroll now, and the increased value of that payroll if the same number of employees were more productive by 2%.

External Reputational Benefit + Internal Morale

In a detailed study, MIT have identified that for employees with an MBA, the reputation of the company recruiting them accounts for 16.3% of the value of the contract ; for non-MBA employees, reputation in total represents 11.1% of the value of the contract; for the under/unemployed workers, reputation has a total importance of 11.4% of the value of the contract.

External reputation can have a huge bearing on the recruitment and retention of talent. If the company can improve its reputation as a good employer (particularly now with workplace peer reviews on Glassdoor.com), for example through engaging staff in meaningful CSR initiatives or by taking an active role in improving employees’ health, then this long-term investment can yield dividends year after year.

Naturally, improving internal morale achieves every single one of these benefits and underscores all efforts.

These equations can help you make the case on paper, with facts-led arguments. However, convincing the head is one thing, convincing the heart is another. Large-scale change is difficult in any organisation, so let’s analyse more ways to effect this change: leading by example and using resilience to work against inertia and pushback .

Positive Economist

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The Future of Retail: it’s data, yes – but not only

Tue, 19 Mar 2019 21:56:00 GMT

The Future of Retail

I was recently an MC at the 16thDublin Economic Monitor about the Future of Retail (7thFebruary 2019)

Some fascinating numbers from the event:

On this last note, anybody who is reading this and thinking “I should really get online myself” should think about applying for a Trading Online Voucher .

Watch my takeaways from the event:

Read the latest Dublin Economic Monitor .

So, what does the future of retail hold?

Was the event all about technology? Yes, technology is a big part of the future of retail. More and more, customers want to be able to do everything on their phones: check a retailer’s website (which should be mobile friendly), interact with the brand, check out products, order from the online shop, ask a question from a representative…

Yes, there are all-singing, all-dancing technological innovations that will help your business grow.

But the surprising conclusion is that the future of retail – is nothing new . It’s back to basics. Something that I was continuously reminded of on that day is that the basic tenets of retail don’t change: customers want shops to serve them to the best of their ability.

A tall order… but then this has always been true – customers just want a great customer experience. Technology is here to make that experience faster and more seamless, but great service is still the golden ticket to sustainable business growth. As it has always been. And yes, “great service” doesn’t always mean exactly the same thing to everybody, but at its core, it’s this: do you know your customers as well as you can, and do you know what they want?

Susannah Hewson from cxchange.ie , a CX (customer experience) expert, had this illuminating insight: the best example of CX, she says, is… not a new app or an ambitious million-dollar overhaul with a grand opening in Tokyo. The best example of CX is the corner shop . It’s reliably there when you need it, you know what you will find there, and if you’re a regular customer, the person behind the counter will know you and will be able to advise you and help you.

Think about it – the corner shop. How can you be more like a corner shop? A regular fixture in the life of your customers, reliable and dependable, and convenient.

As they say, “there is more to life than increasing its speed”: new technology is often just a way of making true and tested principles easier to apply.

The growth is online – but the volume is in the shops.

One frequent misconception is that everything is moving online now and soon shops will go the way of the rotary phone: cute and outmoded. Not so fast, though.

Yes, online retail is growing, growing, growing. But the volume of transactions still happens in shops. Because shopping is not just about acquiring or procuring something you need. It’s also an experience in and of itself: it’s an outing. As I was researching the theme of the future of retail, this idea came up again and again: people love going to the shops as a destination . Shopping is an activity, an end unto itself.

Let’s be honest: it’s always a bit of an anticlimax when you order a lovely dress online and then it arrives in a cardboard box or a black plastic bag. It’s in stark contrast to a shop that’s geared towards experience, you can give it a twirl under the right light, in front of a full-length mirror, and the shop assistant (as long as they’re properly trained) can give you advice.

Data, data, data

What technology makes easier and more efficient is the collection and parsing of data. The future of retail is very much about gathering as much relevant data as you can, and then knowing how to leverage it in order to find out what your customers want. A key thing that came from the panel was that you don’t need the nth degree of detail, but just enough data to make smart decisions .

The role of technology is mostly to make processing huge amounts of data easier. The data has always been there – sometimes right under our noses. And sometimes in perfectly manageable quantities that don’t require an über-powerful algorithm to make sense of it.

Take staff, for example. Staff often have the answers, if only we would listen to them . They have to listen to people giving praise and grumbling – they know what the customer wants. It’s market research. Is that knowledge valued and put to good use?

One very exciting showcase at the Dublin Economic Monitor was heatmapping : based on “point-of-sale” data from Visa, it’s now possible to anonymise data and give shops a coloured map of where customers go, and where they linger. On such a heat map you can see high and low traffic areas. In other words, while you might be aware of what your customer is spending with you, a heatmap tells you if they’re spending a greater share of their money somewhere else.

We also heard how CCTV footage (used for security purposes) can be used to monitor how shoppers behave in a given shop. For example, if they usually turn to the right as they walk in the door, you might move a slow seller right into their line of vision to increase sales. Similarly, retailers may move faster moving goods to a different part of the shop, so that people who are looking for that specific product will have to walk past other offerings. Remember the good ol’ trick of putting the milk at the back of the supermarket?

This removes a lot of the guesswork: is a particular item not selling well because the price is wrong ? Should you sell it at a discount? Or should you just try moving it elsewhere in the shop, and see it fly off the shelves at its original, undiscounted price?

Still, the data that is used is sourced from CCTV footage – not exactly a new technology.

That’s often the case with technology and innovation: it’s in fact more incremental than we think . Amazon is, after all, very much like a mail-order company – with a powerful recommendations algorithm (“People who bought this item also bought…”). Facebook functions on the same model as the good old yearbook – a constantly updated, interactive yearbook.

I don’t say this to diminish the impact of technology or innovations. Amazon is light years away from simple mail order… it simply built on the model we all know and made it immensely more efficient in a short few years.

No, what I want to reinforce is this: we are often tempted to give up on keeping up with technological innovation because we are not engineers or “geeks”. That is a very damaging mentality. We don’t need to be able to write the algorithm, but we absolutely need to understand how it can help us.

Book review: Build A Business From Your Kitchen Table

Wed, 13 Mar 2019 20:09:00 GMT

Sophie and Holly founded NotOnTheHighStreet.com in 2006. A decade later, it is a thriving online marketplace, offering thousands and thousands unique handcrafted gifts made by designers and small creative businesses.

In Build A Business From Your Kitchen Table , Sophie and Holly tell the detailed story of how they created Not On The High Street. They share a candid account of the ups and downs, and, as working mums, they give their readers a very clear picture of what sacrifices they had to make in their first few years in business.

Watch the video of the book review

Build A Business From Your Kitchen Table , Sophie Cornish, Holly Tucker, Simon and Schuster, 2012

It so happens that I read the book just before I had the opportunity to interview Sophie Cornish on stage: I was the MC for IoD NI’s Women’s Leadership Conference , which took place on 8th March 2019 in Belfast.

Read my Twinterview with IoDNI: Finding inspiration and always focusing on what you can do

Build A Business From Your Kitchen Table is a no-holds barred account of how Not On The High Street was born. The book is a hybrid of the founders’ captivating story, and their business advice, based on their hard-earned wisdom. It also features really thought-provoking insights into the experience of the sellers who use NOTHS: their quotes are regularly interspersed through the book.

They baked scalability and growth right into the DNA of their

business

What I found fascinating is that Sophie and Holly built their business with the intention to grow it big , right from the beginning. It is not a story of humble beginnings and incremental progress : the founders make it clear that they wanted their business to be scalable right from the start, and they show you how they engineered it that way .

It’s a very personal but also a very practical book. In my experience, the best thing you can give an entrepeneur is a list of questions – a checklist of sorts, to help them take an objective look at their business idea and their progress. Sophie and Holly do that with a series of “down and dirty tests” . These tests will encourage you to check your business’s originality, competitivity, financial situation and expansion potential.

That really holds up a mirror to your business idea. It reminded me of the “business moment of truth” that Deirdre McGlone, the owner of Harvey’s Point, mentioned on our Savvy Women Podcast. The moment when their accountant told them bluntly that they were running Harvey’s Point with their hearts, not their heads – and that it had to change .

Listen to my Savvy Women Podcast with Deirdre McGlone, owner of Harvey’s Point

Why I will still “waste my time” applying for grants and funding

Interestingly, Sophie and Holly recommend not “wasting time” applying for grants from agencies. To them, it’s like “looking for a 10p coin down the back of a really big sofa”: time-consuming and ultimately not worth it. In the video, I share my own (very different) experience with agencies , and why I will continue to apply for grants .

Even if I don’t get them, the application process is highly beneficial to my business .

Having written a book about how to build your own business myself, I highly recommend Build A Business From Your Kitchen Table as a very engaging, very practical book of hard-nosed business advice.

Explore The Savvy Guide To Making More Money

Watch the video on the Positive Economist’s Facebook page

Interested in productivity, business growth, innovation? Watch more book reviews here .

Positive Economist

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Trade missions and exporting for SMEs: 10 resources to help your SME take the leap

Wed, 13 Mar 2019 19:41:00 GMT

In January 2018 I joined Dublin Chamber’s trade mission to Hong Kong – and as a result I went back to Hong Kong 5 times over the course of the year. Due to a small accident I couldn’t be on the January 2019 edition of that trade mission, but as soon as my foot has healed I will be on that Cathay Pacific direct flight again!

So here is my message to the trade mission attendees this year – as well as 10+ resources on trade missions, exporting and doing business abroad for SMEs.

I share my experience of the 2018 Dublin Chamber trade mission

to Hong Kong with 2019 attendees

Watch the video below

I have been on a trade mission for each year that I have been in business – and they have been absolutely vital in giving me the space to look at the big picture, at the global context of my company, its offering, its competitivity.

Here are 9 articles and directories I’ve compiled for your SME, to make it easier to decide whether to go international, and when.

The Irish doing business in Asia: where to start for a successful

Asian strategy

Read the post here .

Not a day goes by without yet another news item about economic opportunities in Asia – so what are we waiting for? In this post I analyse the cultural implications of doing business in Asia.

Irish businesses have a common culture with the UK and the US, which makes it very easy to do business with British and American counterparts. But when it comes to Asia, we need to be more curious about the cultural aspects. And the Irish have a unique opportunity, an Asian business connection that has been there all along…

How investors and business owners think about opportunities:

Vietnam

Read the post here .

In this post I take a closer look at how economists and investors look at a country for economic or business opportunities: what you should pay attention to when researching a potential business destination. I also share my thought process when thinking about opening trade links with a new country.

This SME got a six-figure grant as a direct result of a trade mission

Read the post here .

People often seem to think that trade missions are this extravagant expense that might derail the finances of their small business. Did you know that I was able to go on a highly efficient, highly focused trade mission to Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi for… 150 pounds sterling? Yes, I also had to pay for flights and accommodation (at heavy discounts, though). But when was the last time that an investment of one week and £150 had the potential to completely transform your business?

International trade after Brexit: Susan talks about amazing

opportunities at Dublin LEO

Watch the video here .

International trade can seem difficult and overwhelming – but that’s before you realise you have the full force of Irish and European agencies at your back. Free market intelligence, huge discounts and business grants, and highly motivated new staff you don’t have to train or even pay out of your own pocket: that’s what it has been like for me to do business with the help of the EU. But isn’t the EU synonymous with bureaucracy and red tape, you say? Not in my experience!

Your exports address book

Read the post here .

Speaking of which, here is my own list of the agencies, in Ireland, in the EU and in the UK, that can help your business. Have a peek at my address book.

When is the right time to start exporting?

Watch the video here .

If your business isn’t exporting yet, you might be wondering: how do you know when is the right time? The truth is that many businesses can be ready to export much sooner than they actually think. My own business started exporting four month after I created it…

How to build your network in a new city, starting from absolute zero

Read the post here .

When you’re starting from scratch and you don’t know anyone, whether it’s a new city or a new country, what do you do? Here are six highly repeateable processes I’ve implemented every time I’m building a new network, starting from zero.

Should you go to one of those expensive business conferences

abroad? If you have the winning strategy, definitely!

Read the post here .

Business conferences are expensive, glitzy affairs where you end up running yourself ragged trying to follow every opportunity – and then nothing much comes of them. Right? Not really… There’s a better way: here are the strategies I have used to make the most of business conferences and to earn some of my biggest contracts as a result. I now make it a rule to attend SXSW every year, for example.

An export strategy for SMEs

Read the post here .

For many small businesses, making the decision to export or not seems like a do-or-die situation. But it doesn’t have to be the case. How will your SME find the money to invest in exporting? How will you or your team member find the time to investigate new trade links? Small businesses don’t have the resources and deep pockets of multinationals – but that doesn’t mean that exporting has to be a risky proposition.

Positive Economist

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6 Tips For Success

partners@onlinepartners.online (Snap Websites) — Tue, 12 Mar 2019 16:48:38 GMT

It may be time to rethink everything you've ever learned about how to succeed in your professional life.

Do What Works for You

partners@onlinepartners.online (Snap Websites) — Tue, 12 Mar 2019 16:47:17 GMT

It's time to stop listening and start living!

Get ready to leave your comfort zone and discover the exciting opportunities that are open to you. You'll be amazed.

Discover Your Purpose

partners@onlinepartners.online (Snap Websites) — Tue, 12 Mar 2019 16:42:45 GMT

There's more power in your self than you imagined. Be ready to explore.

The only thing stopping you from achieving your goals and dreams are your own fears.

No, it’s not too late for the planet: EirGrid Conference – Susan HayesCulleton as MC

Wed, 16 Jan 2019 14:28:00 GMT

We know the frightening statistics. We know we “should” be doing something urgently. And many of us feel helpless when it comes to the environment.

However, that might be because we don’t realise how much progress is already being made, and how much we can actively contribute.

For example, did you know that the European Union is on track to meet its carbon emissions goal for 2020? In 2008, the EU set a target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020, compared to 1990 levels. It hasn’t all been smooth sailing (emissions increased in 2017 after years of overall decrease), but there is clear progress: in 2015 we had managed to decrease emissions by 22%, compared with 1990 levels . That is the power of collective action.

So why aren’t we celebrating? As the urgency of the situation becomes clearer, the EU has decided on more ambitious targets. And it’s certainly not like we can rest on our laurels. We aren’t in 2020 yet and so we need to actively monitor our emissions, in order to make sure that we don’t slip back after years of progress.

But there is much to be cautiously optimistic about. Really and truly optimistic .

There is progress, and our collective action is having tangible results

This was the powerful conclusion of the 2018 EirGrid conference, for which I was MC. Undertaking extensive research in preparation for the event, and then listening to expert panelists on the day, I realised that, just like so many of us, I was under-aware of the progress that was being made, and of its real, noticeable impact .

Watch the video for the three heartening insights I took away from the conference:

Let us focus on the good that is happening, so that we can learn best practices from each other. Let’s encourage everybody – absolutely everybody – to do something: our individual efforts might seem tiny, but collectively they are making a huge difference every day .

Let’s get excited about taking on what is the greatest challenge of the century, and tackling it together – not just as a nation, but as a planet of citizens.

What does the EirGrid Group do? In the words of Rosemary Steen, Director of External Affairs: “Our job in the EirGrid Group is to provide a safe, secure and reliable supply of electricity on the island of Ireland: now, and in the future.”

More importantly, EirGrid is aware of the crucial role the citizens of Ireland will play in this.

Rosemary Steen said “My aspiration is that there is a shift whereby the grid moves from its unseen role to become a central and understood part of everyone’s lives in Ireland . I’d like to get to a position where people understand that the grid has a positive impact on all of us because it enables us to do the things we need to do every day, powering our businesses, our communities and our home lives. I also want to build awareness of the ethical way in which we carry out our work, ensuring that we have a positive impact on the local and national environment.”

Ten innovation projects and seven deep trends that show we are making progress

Yes, we have heard about the devastation caused by plastic in the oceans. Waste and air pollution are huge challenges that we are facing today. What many of us might not be aware of, though, is that right now, clever solutions are being invented to tackle these issues very efficiently .

Watch this video about ten inventions that are tackling climate change, plastic pollution and waste:

Hayes Culleton started in business in 2010. In less than 10 years, there are seven changes we have witnessed and have taken on board at our company:

1. The peer-to-peer economy.

By increasing supply without building more cars or more hotel rooms, companies like Zipcar and AirBnB harnessed idle resources and decreased the environmental footprint. Look at this illuminating infographic from Zipcar . Zipcar members reduced total carbon emissions by 1.5 billion pounds. This is a central theme of the book Peers, Inc. , by Robin Chase, founder of Zipcar ( watch my review of the book here ).

2. The emphasis on access over ownership.

Why buy something if you can access it when and as you need it, for a better price? The explosion in the number of incubation centres is a sign of this trend: many new companies don’t need a whole glass-and-steel building to themselves. Many don’t even need a static office 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Hayes Culleton has been using the services of the DCU Invent incubation centre from the start: it lowered the barrier immensely to start out in business, and it has kept company costs low – and environmental costs particularly.

3. The circular economy

It is much more of a “thing” now, as shown by the recent ban on single use plastics . This is part of a wider trend that emphasises reusing: reusing objects, and reusing materials. Upcycling has dramatically increased in popularity and consignment stores and vintage have moved to much “higher end”. Recycling bins are now everywhere, in airports, train stations, cities, company buildings (like DCU Invent), allowing you to sort your waste to be recovered and put to good use.

4. Remote working.

As this trend is being embraced around the world, we get to enjoy all the benefits: remote working is an excellent example of how environmental gains have a positive domino effect – it’s a win-win-win situation. Employees get more peaceful days, less commuting, fewer distractions, less stress; and fewer cars on the road mean this workplace trend is having a huge environmental impact . In fact, according to Abodoo, “ Carbon taxes could be avoided while still meeting EU targets if every company let 1 employee smart work … It would reduce carbon emissions by 1.1 Million metric tonnes per year.”

This is something we’ve been embracing wholeheartedly at Hayes Culleton: all the members of our team work remotely and we have cut all non-essential domestic and international travel, thanks to technologies like video-conferencing.

Read: 5 e-Learning Technologies To Boost Sales And Productivity

5. Our Savvy Teens tell us that they want to work in ethical workplaces and are much more aware of the environment.

The rise of the B Corp Euro and other CSR initiatives are encouraging more and more companies to keep in mind the triple bottom line. This is not just a “nice to have”: an authentic concern for the environment as shown in tangible action will be essential for companies to attract talent, and to get positive influencer feedback for and from customers.

Learn more about #SavvyTeenAcademy .

6. The paperless office.

My personal assistant is working with me on the VAT return at the moment: compared to when she started working with us, there is so much less paper. I get very little post anymore and I can now bring my office with me everywhere on my laptop and my phone, in a way that just wasn’t possible only a few years ago.

7. This has been enhanced by digitisation and cloud-based technologies.

Apps like CamScanner mean paper can be digitised on the spot. Being able to upload documents to the cloud has reduced the amount of paper we need to carry around. The cloud has also made USB sticks, hardware, memory discs etc. less and less of a need. This has reduced costs for companies and lowered barriers.

The environmental impact of the cloud remains a concern, because server farms are voracious energy consumers, but this is something companies are actively working on: “The Microsoft Cloud is between 22 and 93 percent more energy efficient than traditional enterprise datacenters, depending on the specific comparison being made.” ( click to download the Microsoft Cloud Carbon Study 2018 as a PDF )

We need to accelerate the rate of progress, in Ireland and in the EU

We are progressing apace, and there is much to be positive about. Now, let’s put that in the context of the metrics that matter. At the EirGrid conference, Minister Sean Kyne pointed out that over half of the EU’s electricity will come from renewables by 2030 . There is progress, but we’re not moving as fast as we should in order to meet our targets.

Case in point: in Ireland, as of 2018, “ renewables made up 10.6% of gross final consumption relative to a 2020 target of 16% . This avoided 4.1 million tonnes of CO2 emissions and €439 million of fossil fuel imports.” Renewable energy sources increase the autonomy and independence of Ireland when it comes to energy. But we’re certainly not where we need to be yet.

This is reiterated by the EPA: “Ireland’s economy and economic policy are clearly making positive moves in relation to planning and have achieved some limited success in decarbonisation and resource efficiency; however, there is still considerable scope for improvement .”

In fact, here is a recent tweet from EirGrid themselves: energy generated from wind fluctuates with winds, of course – but Ireland has the ability to harness it. At one point on 11 January 2019, wind represented 80% of the energy generated on the island .

And while the EU is on track to meet the 2020 goals it set in 2008 , according to projections it will fall short of it 2040 goals set in 2014, of reducing carbon emissions by 40% compared to 1990 levels . So we still have work to do, but what we’re doing is working: it seems we need to do more of it, faster.

Where are the bottlenecks? An example is the cost of renewable energy: it has fallen significantly, faster than anticipated, even, especially for photovoltaic solar energy and offshore wind . But these sources of energy are intermittent: the sun doesn’t always shine, and the wind doesn’t always blow. So it is necessary to store the energy thus produced. Again, the cost of storage has also fallen rapidly.

So what gives? Isn’t it all great? Renewables are more and more affordable? Yes, but there are other costs and structural issues that might prove to be more complex to solve: like the cost of implementation into households. This cost is higher and requires more individual co-operation, so that’s where the focus needs to be in the next phase.

International cooperation will be more crucial than ever

Now, here comes a very difficult point. Ireland, and even the EU, despite their evolving, albeit currently insufficient, efforts, are not creating the bulk of the issue. The main issue are countries that are bigger and further afield. In this infographic produced by the FT for example, it’s clear to see that the US and Chinese superpowers are the greatest violators .

According to the World Bank, China produced 200 million tons of municipal solid waste in 2016 . That’s approximately 25% of the world’s total generated waste .

However, other countries are taking the lead and doing their part. Vietnam is an emerging country with lots of challenges due to its mountainous terrain, growing population and rapid economic development. Yet, at the conference Dr. Shannon McDaniel, Director of Data Strategy for the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, specifically mentioned Hanoi as a city showing leadership in the “waste to energy” space.

Here is an excerpt from “ Vietnam: Opportunities in the Waste-to-Energy Sector ”, by Vietnam Briefing

There is a lot of opportunity here!

Going green doesn’t necessarily mean doing without

Many of us think going green means making sacrifices : not using plastic, not buying this, that and the other. We have the impression that being environmentally minded makes life more complicated and less convenient . At a wider, national level, we associate making environmental improvements with sacrifices on the economic front. I would have thought so too, if I hadn’t looked beneath the surface.

However, I mentioned remote working earlier: this environmental choice is having wider positive repercussions, and it is not isolated.

American company Constellation makes the point eloquently in their “ Small Business Sustainability Plan ” guidance: “Your cost savings, reduced risk, positive brand association, improvements to the environment and public health, and ability to meet demands for eco-conscientious products and services will more than offset the costs of up-front integration of sustainability initiatives. In other words, your small business sustainability plan’s initial costs are a wise investment!”

At the conference, Giles Dickson, CEO, Wind Europe, highlighted the positive windfall (!) of the wind energy sector: including 263,000 jobs, €75 billion turnover, €36 billion contribution and responsibility for 12% of all electricity consumed in the EU . This equates to approximately half of the chemical industry’s contribution in the EU.

The environment is not a cost, it’s an investment – one worth billions

Funding initiatives reflect this philosophy: the environment is not a cost, it’s an investment. And one that’s worth quite a lot. Let’s take the Social Enterprise Development Fund :

Professor Patrick Devine-Wright, Exeter University, reinforced the point that we need to not just look for tech solutions, but socio-tech solutions to bring together people and technology . On this, let’s not forget that Enterprise Ireland offers the Innovation Partnership . The Partnership is an opportunity to collaborate with universities to commercialise innovative results of academic research .

Innovation Partnerships enable people with really good ideas to collaborate with the expertise of a university and the money of the EU or Enterprise Ireland to commercialise research.

And of course the European Union has a lot of funding earmarked specifically for environmental purposes : “ The LIFE programme is the EU’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action . The general objective of LIFE is to contribute to the implementation, updating and development of EU environmental and climate policy and legislation by co-financing projects with European added value.”

The LIFE programme started in 1992 and since then it has financed 3954 projects across the EU, contributing approximately €3.1 billion to the protection of the environment. That’s on top of all the other EU funding available for SMEs which always emphasises environmental concerns, like Horizon2020 among others: H2020 provisions around €80 million for eco-innovation .

Government agencies are well aware of the fact that the stakes are high . At the conference, Marie Donnelly, CEO, Dara Strategic Consultancy, gave us a clear example of that: the housing stock in Ireland is turned over once every 25 years . Therefore, we have one bite at the cherry to replace all fossil fuels, for cooking and heating, to electricity by 2050. Think of all the suppliers who have the opportunity to sell into this market!

Enterprise Ireland offer supports to build a “green and sustainable” business including GreenStart and GreenPlus. They say: “Better environmental performance leads to improved resource efficiency and direct cost savings and can also increase access to customers who are increasingly demanding more environmentally friendly products and services.”

There are so many economic incentives to going green.

Let us focus on what we can do – and there’s a lot we can do

So, the question is, what can we do? What can you and I do to make a difference, in whatever capacity we find ourselves in?

Here are 6 steps to take today to make a difference:

1. We can start in the home.

According to the EPA report mentioned above, “ CSO data published in 2016 would suggest that 500,000 national households do not implement waste prevention in the operation of their homes, and 51,000 households do not participate in legal waste management practices.” This means almost one in three houses could be doing better within their own four walls.

2. We can review our Supply Chains.

If, as businesses and consumers, we seek out sustainable products, then our suppliers will adjust behaviour. For example, the European Commission note that the demand for recycled plastics accounts for only 6% of plastics demand in Europe. The proposed solutions to increase recycling rates include introducing quality standards for recycled plastics, encouraging certification to increase trust, mandatory rules on minimum recycled content in some products, reducing VAT on recycled products.

3. We can examine other initiatives that have worked and learn from them.

For example, I was MC in 2015 for the STEM Project Closing Event. STEM was an acronym for “Sustainability Together for Environmental Management”. This particular project helped over 150 cross border businesses in excess of £1 million through networking, identifying savings and enhancing their environmental performance.

The results were more than encouraging:

Monaghan Leisure Complex took steps to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and increase recycling, achieving a 50 % reduction. They say “Through participating on the project we have made big savings without a big investment.”

Quays Shopping and Leisure Complex introduced a recycling policy across the centre and purchased a composter for food waste to fertilise flower beds on site. These improvements alone saw a reduction in landfill of 309 tonnes per year, resulting in savings of over £10,500 per annum.

Cuan Guesthouse reduced the amount of waste going to landfill by 35%, and realised cost savings in energy, water and waste of over 10% per annum.

Susan HayesCulleton was a keynote speaker at the closing event of the STEM project

As I closed the event that day, I said that the true benefit of this would be felt in the years to come, long after that project came to an end. In the words of Warren Buffett, “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

4. The academic, policy making and activism sectors can engage with EirGrid through their External Affairs platform.

EirGrid actively welcomes input from the community . Their commitment to making sure that everybody has the opportunity to shape the future of energy in Ireland is encapsulated in their document “Have Your Say” , which won the Plain English Award : “This guide tells you what to expect from us, and what we would like from you.”

5. The plethora of organisations involved in the development of “Smart Cities” can implement key initiatives having a wide-ranging impact very quickly.

Dr. Shannon identified the three levers (i.e. buildings, waste and cars) that cities need to focus on, in order to become much more environmentally friendly. Jackie Quinn, Chairperson, Energy Cork, told us about the “Drive for Zero” campaign in Cork that grow its impact through incentives such as free tolls and parking, local political support and constant communication.

6. As companies, we can put in place an Environmental Policy Statement.

A useful template is available here .

The term “statement” sounds like something that one might say, but instead, it’s something that’s designed to guide action. For example, in our own case, as documented on our Social Responsibility page , our efforts towards Environmental Sustainability include:

If you want to go further, you can develop a more comprehensive Small Business Sustainability Plan – look at Constellation’s 5-step approach .

Making people feel they can be a part of this

Almost all of the contributions that day made the point that there needs to be more interaction between the stakeholders and society. Marie Donnelly also said that democratisation of the energy sector is key. People need to know that the energy is theirs, particularly when asked to make changes: it is important that they feel the changes are not imposed on them and that they embrace playing a part .

Jim Gannon picked up on the need to give people an ability to understand their community’s use of energy. Robin McCormack said there is a need to get society’s input as we clarify who does what and what we really want from offshore energy to develop a coherent strategy.

The one thing that everybody agreed on is that the time for clear, strategic, community-wide action is now. Mark Foley summarised the Eirgrid position in one clear line:

“Let us do something while we have the chance.”

Positive Economist

The post No, it’s not too late for the planet: EirGrid Conference – Susan HayesCulleton as MC appeared first on "The Positive Economist" Financial - Economics - Fintech & Entrepreneurship Articles .

The five secrets of effective networking that built my success

Thu, 10 Jan 2019 08:47:00 GMT

Networking is one of the most effective and fun ways I know of to grow your business, but not everybody will agree… Often, people feel intimidated by a large room where seemingly everybody knows everybody else and you have to interrupt conversations to get anywhere! It doesn’t need to be like this !

Networking has worked magnificently for me, because I see it as relaxed conversation. And I’d like to share with you the five ways I’m counting on to make any event a huge success – not only for me, but for other attendees as well.

Don’t try to talk to everyone

Instead of throwing your business cards or flyers at other attendees like so many ninja stars, try to connect with five people at most – yes, just five! That way, you will make meaningful connections.

After all, how long do most networking events last? Usually two hours at the most. If you have five twenty-minute conversations , that leaves you twenty minutes to: get your bearings at the beginning, grab a drink and a canapé, and move gracefully from one conversation to the next.

You won’t have time for much more than that, especially if the event is shorter. One meaningful, in-depth conversation will allow you to make a real connection, and to remember your new contact as well as they remember you!

You might ask “How do you know these are THE right five people to talk to?” You might miss a golden opportunity… This is just the wrong frame of mind to benefit from a networking event. Trying to talk to everyone will lead to an armful of business cards, but no real meaning to any of them and a total dilution of the event. Thinking you are “missing out” on something is the worst approach .

First, it distracts you from paying attention to the present moment. If every time you engage with somebody, you can’t focus on them , but instead you’re thinking “Shouldn’t I be talking to somebody else?”, the conversation isn’t going to be respectful or meaningful. Secondly, don’t you think people will notice ? They will feel that you are sizing them up and waiting to see how you can use them. It’s not the best first impression to make on a potential business contact.

Thirdly and most importantly, I firmly believe that you create your own opportunities . By connecting with a given person, you are sowing the seeds of future business relationships. The perfect opportunity is not out there somewhere, waiting for you to find it: it’s waiting for you to build it.

In that case, make sure and follow up . Most people never send an e-mail afterwards or that LinkedIn invitation or indeed, anything to build on that new relationship. Therefore, if you are really interested in building business connections, send a message of value – details of an event that might be of interest to them, a willingness to introduce them to somebody in your network, which would be mutually beneficial, a suggestion of a media outlet that could help them. You will stand out !

Don’t just look for what’s in it for you

Have you ever felt doubt creeping in while getting ready for a networking event? “All those needy business people… All that useless chitchat… All those companies desperately looking for business… Do I really have to go? ” If so, you might be one of those people who think networking is just to “be done”.

Surprisingly enough, that scenario doesn’t ever play out at the networking events I go to. I meet genuinely interesting people whose career and business I’m delighted to hear about.

Think of what you will bring to the event. If a conversation opens up about a business problem that somebody is experiencing, can you share some insights of your own previous experience? Do you know of another event that people there might be interested to find out about? At the event, could you introduce two people you know to each other? In what way will your presence make the networking event a success?

Business is very much about generosity . You get back what you put in it: the more you give, the more you get back .

Help out

Guess who gets to meet most people at a networking event? Guess who always knows what to say to complete strangers ? Guess whom everyone remembers? The organisers. “Hi, I’m Susan, I’m one of the organisers. Is everything to your liking? Can I get you a drink? Is there anybody here that you would like to be introduced to?”

If you’re ever afraid of not knowing what to say, helping out and behaving as if you were a host will work wonders. After joining IIBN (Irish International Business Network), I was invited to become a board member . As a result, some of the responsibilities of making the events a success lie with me. Like other board members, I will do everything I can to spread the word about the organisation and to make sure everything runs smoothly when we bring people together.

Watch this short clip in which IIBN asks me about my 3 Good Reasons to Network (and what if you’re an introvert…)

Cross-pollinate

I have been an active member of the Dublin Chamber . Thanks to their tireless efforts, I was able to meet a Maltese delegation in Dublin, which led to my exporting my services to Malta ; and I was able to take part in a trade mission to Manchester, which led to my finding out about IIBN’s London chapter . One of their meetings happened to take place just while I was in the UK, so I thought, why not go?

Enterprise Ireland has been a partner of IIBN for the past number of years, because it makes sense for them to participate in an initiative that makes it easier for Irish businesses to export successfully. It is another network I belong to: I was a client of Enterprise Ireland before I became a member of IIBN.

The three are not mutually exclusive, but work in synergy .

Belonging to several networking or business groups allows you to bring the contacts that you meet into your broader network. This may open up many doors for them and hence cross-pollination increases the number of connections you can make for others . Karma has a wonderful way of rewarding you for making efforts to help others pave their own way forward.

Network depending on what stage your business is at

Who is your ideal client or business partner? What kind of business circles would you like to belong to? Is your client local, small business, sole trader? Look for local networking opportunities. In my case, I look for international, bigger clients : so I go to international, bigger networking events .

If you want to go international, attending local networking meetings may not directly yield the results you’re after. If you want to do business with big companies, attending networking events where sole traders and SMEs are the majority is not going to be a natural fit.

Combine this with the cross-pollination strategy: take what you already have , where you’re already at, and bring it to an event that represents what you don’t have yet, where you’re not yet at . For example you could join IIBN because of the Irish element: you are an Irish company doing business in Ireland – that’s the first “I” in IIBN. You want to export, and you’re looking at ways to bridge the gap between Ireland and the rest of the world – that’s the second “I” in IIBN. Take the Irish diaspora as a stepping stone bringing you closer to the rest of the world.

Time is precious, so make sure to choose your networking well, do what you can to make it as effective as possible and always leave time in the diary afterwards for your follow up .

Positive Economist

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Pension Resources

Thu, 01 Nov 2018 12:09:00 GMT

Following on from the Insitute of Banking “Mind Your Own Pension” this evening, here are a list of the resources that I mentioned throughout the session:

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Article review: How To Improve Sales By Focusing On The Elements of Value

Mon, 17 Sep 2018 10:12:00 GMT

Today I review two essential articles from the Harvard Business Review: The Elements of Value and The B2B Elements of Value . I recorded the video in Malta where I was delivering training on how to improve sales.

These articles provide precious insights into what customers really value , so I have integrated their teachings into my sales trainings. Whether you’re a business owner or an employee, the concept of “elements of value” is a superb tool when it comes to interpreting customer feedback. This will directly help you improve sales .

Watch my review of the two articles below.

The Elements of Value , Eric Almquist, John Senior and Nicolas Bloch, Harvard Business Review, Sept. 2016

The B2B Elements of Value , Eric Almquist, Jamie Cleghorn and Lori Sherer, Harvard Business Review, March-April 2018

The two articles are based on the same concept of the “elements of value”. In the case of B2C, there are 30 elements of value across four categories: functional, emotional, life-changing and social impact . In the case of B2B, the authors have broken it down into 40 elements of value.

Why would you need to learn about elements of value?

Because price and cost are not the only concern of customers, whether they’re individuals or businesses . In fact, taking a more holistic approach will help you uncover hidden value points: things that your customers truly value, and that you can make sure are part of your offering .

Indeed, we buy for so many different reasons. Elementary sales and marketing training usually boils it down to two or three elements: we buy a product because it saves us time, it saves us money or it improves our sense of self . While this is a very useful mental model, it helps to break it down further and adopt a more fine-grained approach .

The 30 elements of value are great from that point of view, because they give a finer grid through which to interpret customer insights, but it’s not so many that it becomes overwhelming.

We know we should focus on the benefits of our product, instead of just the features – but how?

When I analyse how to improve sales, I constantly go back to the ideas in these two articles. Thinking about what your customers truly value forces you to think in terms of benefits, instead of just features . When we are selling, we know we should focus on the benefits that derive from the features, rather than on the features themselves. But if we’re too close to a product, we might find it difficult to take a step back and take a more well-rounded view of what it is exactly we’re selling. That’s where the Elements of Value Pyramid comes in.

The whole thrust of the two articles is to remind us as salespeople that our customers buy from us for many different reasons that don’t always have to do with pure functionality – emotional and self-actualisation aspects of the product are what takes us beyond the first sale and into retention. The article also highlights how much each interaction with a company is part of the offering: is the company responsive? Is it pleasant to do business with them? Do they represent values we subscribe to?

The insights yielded by such a finer analysis can help smaller companies find out exactly how to differentiate themselves , even when they can’t compete on price. By thinking creatively about the different value elements of their core offering, they can also improve the value of that core offering, without spreading themselves too thin . For a small business, that can mean the difference between stagnation or failure, and satisfying growth.

In the video I give a concrete example, a case study of how you can break down the different elements of value of a business: I analyse my relationship with my favourite shop in Malta as a customer, and what makes me come back again and again. The shop in question is the delightful Soap Café , and I interviewed its owner Charlene Mercieca for our Savvy Women Podcast .

Watch the video on my Facebook page.

Interested in productivity, business growth, innovation? Watch more book reviews here .

Positive Economist

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The Irish doing business in Asia: where to start for a successful Asian strategy

Mon, 10 Sep 2018 21:02:00 GMT

The Irish doing business in Asia: where to start for a successful Asian strategy

As Irish people, we’ve made our presence very positively felt in the US, the UK and even Canada and Australia. The thing is, when it comes to Asia, how many of us can say “My uncle is working in Shanghai” or “My cousin set up her own business in Tokyo”? Very few of us, would be my guess.

Every summer I facilitate workshops at #SavvyTeenAcademy , which I co-founded with Monica Murphy of MONERE Development. Our Savvy Teens share many of their international dreams with us. They say they want to be in the thriving heart of Silicon Valley, have a corner glass office in New York or travel the East coast of Australia. Again, few of them share goals of succeeding in Hong Kong or navigating the Chinese landscape.

In my opinion, that’s because we Irish don’t know Asia, we don’t get Asia and we haven’t been hungry to discover Asia.

In Ireland, we have been richly rewarded for doing business with the US and the UK. Culturally, we “get” them. If I take the example of our own business, Hayes Culleton Ltd, we started working with a new client in recent months in the US – from the point of view of culture, it was a seamless experience. We Irish are even closer to the UK: not only do we speak the same language, we also share a land border, and the Irish have a keen interest in British sports teams, politics and TV soaps. In both cases, there already is a huge population of Irish there on the ground.

However, we don’t know the Asian personality yet. And so doing business in Asia seems too complex.

That’s all going to change. A week doesn’t go by without yet another statistic showing that Asia Pacific is set to be the fastest growing economic region of the next generation. In May, the IMF dclared that “ Asia is expected to grow by around 5½ percent this year, accounting for nearly two-thirds of global growth, and the region remains the world’s most dynamic by a considerable margin ”. Enterprise Ireland are dedicating considerable effort into making export-focused businesses and homegrown hospitality outlets “China Ready”.

Doing business in Asia: Enterprise Ireland infographic on China

Source for the infographic: Enterprise Ireland

Universities are looking East to build new partnerships. Third level students want to travel to Vietnam and India during their summer. The Department of Foreign Affairs is keen to expand their influence right across the continent: in their “ Ireland Global Footprint to 2025 ” plan they commit to developing “ a new cross-sectoral, whole-of-government Asia-Pacific Strategy, recognising the strengthening relationship between Ireland and many Asia-Pacific countries ”.

More conferences and events centre around the theme, including the recent “Routes to Asia” showcase in the Aviva, which drove home the point: “The region is home to more than half the world’s population and will account for more than 60% of the global middle class in the coming years.” Cathay Pacific introduced a direct flight from Dublin to Hong Kong in June.

We can also look at developments at a European level. The EU is currenly working on concluding an Economic Partnership Agreement with Japan. It’s the biggest bilateral agreement ever negotiated by the EU. It removes the vast majority of custom duties that cost EU companies €1 billion per per year and opens up the Japanese market of 127 million consumers to Europe.

The trade and investment agreements with Singapore are the EU’s first completed bilateral deals with a member of the ASEAN. Enterprise Europe Network has a presence in Vietnam, Indonesia, Qatar, Russia, South Korea and many other countries.

Finally, there are more and more companies setting up in the region, notably in the FinTech sector: Fexco , First Derivatives and other companies. These companies are thinking strategically about how to attract people to work in these environments: they are aware that it will be important for graduates, families and commuting business people to have a route to connect with others for business, employment and career opportunities, as well as catching up with people from home.

Where to start doing business in Asia:

the Irish connection that has been there all along

It’s exciting! It really is. However, while operations are being put in place and implemented, they’re very recent or futuristic. So when will we get to reap the benefits? And where do we start?

Yet, an Irish organisation has been there all along: the GAA .

The first Asian Gaelic Games took place in Manilla in 1996. This November 2018, over 1000 players are set to descend upon Bangkok to meet, network and play the games. There are 160+ players who form part of the Asian Youth Championship. The Asian County Board ‘s reach extends across 12 countries in the region and it has ambitious plans to think further and faster. Its architecture is strong, inclusive and thriving. In my view, the GAA is the landing pad for the Irish – those looking for business, employment and career opportunities in Asia would be well served to look to the GAA community as a solid starting point.

Watch my video: Asian GAA is right in the centre of four mega-trends .

I spent a week-end in Shanghai in the spring, as a keen observer of the All-China Games. People travelled from Hong Kong, Beijing and Korea to the Irish “locals” in Shanghai. I spent many hours talking to people, and they all had memorable stories to tell: starting their careers in Asia, travelling across the region with the GAA, finding career opportunities in unexpected places, going on an adventure to Korea for the World Cup in 2002… and still being there over ten years later. I was intrigued by the breadth and depth of knowledge that I found; from where to begin a job search in a new city, to the familiarity with local cultures, to the professional connectivity people can find while training on a Tuesday night, and the incredible goodwill to help a fellow footballer.

The thing is that Asia is also challenging. The languages are different and remarkably difficult to learn. The culture of doing business is very different. You need to invest time in cultivating Guanxi and building relationships. The flights are long haul and the time differences are very significant. You may need to start all over again with new social media platforms. Currency fluctuations are sometimes volatile.

Asian GAA sits at the centre of four trends for doing business in Asia

That said, who is best placed to introduce you to this new world? The answer is: those who you already have a strong connection to. The one place that you’re guaranteed to find a “gang of Irish” is in a GAA club. People who have lived in Asia for decades can be a crucial source of information and guided direction. The newcomers to the region who are looking for a new social outlet may also be looking for employment. If you’re looking for a key contact in a large Asian company, through the dramatically reduced degrees of separation of the Irish community already there, you may find that your path to success is shortened (and sweetened!).

Practical steps for Irish businesses

and Irish expats starting out in Asia

So what can you do to prepare your business or your career to look eastwards? Who can help you when it comes to successfully doing business in Asia?

1. Check out business organisations promoting ties between Asia and Ireland

There are several organisations promoting business ties between Asia and Ireland, and they have been there for years. With a wealth of experience, they can guide you and your organisation to successful, mutually beneficial business relationships with Asia. Check out their website, their Twitter and their Facebook:

I reland HongKong Business Forum

Ireland China Business Association

Consulate General of Ireland in Hong Kong and Macau

And the list goes on – there are many more.

2. Register for a trade mission with Dublin Chamber, Enterprise Ireland or Enterprise Europe Network

At HayesCulleton Group, we were of course excited to explore business opportunities in Asia. But where do you start? It’s such a huge continent… As I’ve done before, I decided to go the route of the trade mission – it has worked tremendously well for our company before, and so when Dublin Chamber offered a trade mission to Hong Kong, I jumped at the chance.

Trade missions are an amazing way to discover a potential business destination in a very efficient, focused manner. Trade missions are also generously subsidised in my experience, and admirably organised. You don’t have to think about the logistics, everything has been set up for you, and you only need to concentrate on pure business as you are chauffeured around, from networking events to incredibly valuable briefings. In just a few days, you discover the lay of the land thanks to a plethora of bodies, associations and organisations, both local and Irish. They are eager to help you, as your success is their success.

3. Attend an Asian-focused “Doing Business in…..” style event in your own area

Not quite ready for a trade mission yet? Without leaving the comfort of your own country, you can attend a “Doing business in Asia” event. There is a range of them, depending on which country or which city you have your sights on: China, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong… The list goes on.

These briefings are a highly focused and efficient way to take the first step and learn useful information, while networking in a strategic way. Have a look at events organised by Enterprise Ireland and Dublin Chamber .

4. Sign up for updates from a recruitment company with offices in Asia

At one remove, and while you wait for the next “Doing business in Asia” event, sign up for updates from a recruitment company with offices in Asia. Morgan McKinley for example has a newsletter with a high information content. A few years ago, I did several webinars about the economy in the Asia Pacific region with them . Recruitment companies need to give accurate and detailed insights about the job market to both companies and potential recruits, and so they are wonderful allies if you want to find a reliable source of information about the latest developments. Morgan McKinley are present in China , Japan , Singapore and Hong Kong .

5. Register for insights from companies who publish about the Asian market, including Deloitte and McKinsey

Read Deloitte’s March 2018 report: Voice of Asia

Read McKinsey’s Asia Pacific Featured Insights blog

6. Join some of the plethora of LinkedIn groups that focus on Asia

The Asian County Board has poured Herculean energy into bringing the organisation to where it stands today and there is so much more to come. As Asia explodes with opportunity, I believe that business, diplomatic, professional and cultural organisations looking East have a lot to learn and a lot to gain from wearing the jersey of this oriental county.

Positive Economist

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Book review: Focus, The Art of Clear Thinking, by Valerie Pierce

Wed, 08 Aug 2018 14:11:00 GMT

Focus, and how difficult we find it to focus, is very much a theme nowadays. We lament the barrage of distractions we have to fight to get anything done; we vow to be less addicted to our phones, but we also find it difficult to stop the constant torrent of random thoughts and worries .

Our ability to focus directly determines our level of success, so working on our focus muscle will make us calmer, more effective and more productive.

Focus: The Art of Clear Thinking by Valerie Pierce is all about the strategies that will help us be more focused – on the right things.

Find the book here .

Focus: The Art of Clear Thinking , by Valerie Pierce, Mercier Press, 2014.

Valerie Pierce is the mastermind behind Clear Thinking In Action . Through her trainings and workshops, Valerie helps people strengthen their thinking techniques for problem solving and decision making .

I had read Valerie’s first book, Quick Thinking on Your Feet , and had found it extremely valuable. Focus: The Art of Clear Thinking covers similar lessons, but in more depth, and with a great structure that makes the ideas stick.

So what are the components of focus? In Valerie’s words, “ Focus fights your fears – Focus is fun – Focus is forever “.

“It is not enough to know what to focus on to be successful, it is even more important to know how to focus”

There are three main ideas that I absorbed from the book: the hidden power of negative thinking, the difference between passion and emotion, and the secret to perseverance .

As The Positive Economist, positivity is my brand. It has become my brand because it is an important part of my personality – I tend to see the bright side of things, the glass half full, and I naturally concentrate (or focus!) on the opportunities in any situation. If that glass is half full, I will find a way to fill the remaining half!

In my experience, I also noticed that I could change my perspective by using positive words rather than negative ones. This is important when you formulate goals , for example. It’s more productive, and more effective, to think of a “towards” goal. This means that, instead of saying you don’t want something anymore, or saying that you want to stop X, say that instead you want Y. Make sure your goal is stated in positive terms: instead of focusing on what you won’t be able to do anymore, you focus on all the great things you will welcome into your life instead. This is a concept I explain in detail in my book The Savvy Woman’s Guide to Financial Freedom .

However, Valerie makes a great point in her book: negative thinking can be a very effective tool , as long as you don’t dwell on the negatives, but use them as a springboard to problem solve. In the video, I talk about the strategies Valerie shares in Focus to use negativity to your advantage, without getting mired in it.

Valerie also makes a very useful distinction between Passion and Emotion – one helps you focus on the right things, the other can derail you when you take every criticism personally, instead of focusing on which remarks are actually helpful .

Focus is also associated with perseverance – when you are focused on something, you stay the course . And vice-versa: if you lose your focus on your goal, you might get sidetracked and give up. Valerie has some very astute thoughts on using focus to help your perseverance.

You can choose what to focus on: if you feel your perseverance flagging, you can focus on identifying what exactly saps your perseverance . Then you can focus on noticing these perseverance killers early enough that you don’t fall for them – and you can focus on the things that do help you persevere. In the video, I talk about what to say to somebody who tells you “Don’t say I didn’t warn you when it all ends in tears.”

Watch the video on my Facebook page.

Interested in productivity, business growth, innovation? Watch more book reviews here .

Positive Economist

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Book review: New Business Models for the Knowledge Economy, by Wendy Jansen, Wilchard Steenbakkers and Hans Jagers

Mon, 18 Jun 2018 11:32:00 GMT

A business model describes in detail how your business makes money: what are people buying from you? How? In what shape or form? In what quantity? How often? Through what channels? How do you market your product?

Your business model is a programme, a blueprint for your business. A business model is absolutely essential for the longevity of any business at all .

The catch is that, in the Internet era, some business models do much better than others . Which ones? They are described in the book I review this month, New Business Models for the Knowledge Economy .

Find it on Amazon .

Watch the book review below.

New Business Models for the Knowledge Economy , by Wendy Jansen, Wilchard Steenbakkers and Hans Jagers, Gower, 2007.

Greetings from Hong Kong, where I recorded this book review. It was a very apt location, as New Business Models for the Knowledge Economy talks about concepts that happen to be cornerstones of doing business in Asia. How so? Watch the video to learn more!

A business model is an essential part of your strategy. In fact, business models are a better predictor of financial performance than industry classifications – some business models do indeed perform better than others.

This is even truer in the knowledge economy.

The knowledge economy is dematerialised – no goods are “made”, put together or exchange hands. In this new economy, old business models are not necessarily the best. Companies need to adapt.

When we enter a transaction in the new knowledge economy, since everything is dematerialised and often happens remotely, intangibles like trust and authenticity matter all the more. That’s what the authors of the book are very good at interpreting: these intangibles are an integral part of the value that is provided by a company . Companies that overlook these intangibles will find it very difficult to thrive.

One such intangible is reciprocal value . In the new economy, it’s important to consider that your customers don’t just give you money in exchange for your product. If you simply optimised each transaction for money, you would be missing out on crucial information that would help your business.

Customers take our product, but they also give us a lot of insights into why they buy from us, why now, why in this specific way – this information is extremely precious for companies. It doesn’t immediately appear on a balance sheet, but it can be very directly translated into a big difference in your company’s bottom line : customers will provide market research, will recommend your brand, will tell you what is on their mind. They provide this value above and beyond the money they hand over for your product.

In the video you will hear me mention guanxi , “relationships”, which is a vital part of doing business in China. Establishing trust is essential, and the book does a great job of breaking down the components of trust (I list those components in the video).

Establishing trust and tapping reciprocal value is very much about knowing your customers better. You might have heard about demographics (sorting customers into age and gender categories), psychographics (their personal and social profile – a college-educated young mother for example). The book explores another dimension: customers’ values. This gave me a lot of food for thought: when you start to unpack these values, it will spark so many ideas to implement in your business. This is something that I have been incorporating into my business strategy for our latest venture.

Watch the video on my Facebook page .

Interested in productivity, business growth, innovation? Watch more book reviews here .

Positive Economist

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Book review: The Leadership Pipeline, by Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter and James Noel

Wed, 02 May 2018 18:50:00 GMT

“Leadership” is one of those words that’s in fashion at the moment – but sometimes it’s not very clear what people mean by it. And I should know… I explored the concept for my Masters in Business. I can tell you it’s a rare book that gives you clarity on such a nebulous notion! This book is The Leadership Pipeline .

Find it in Easons .

Watch the book review below.

The Leadership Pipeline : how to build the leadership powered company , Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter, James Noel, Jossey-Bass / Wiley, 2011.

There’s a quantum leap that comes when somebody gets promoted to manager. Very often you become a manager because you are good at your job, and so you go up a rung on the corporate ladder. But that’s a very different kettle of fish! It’s one thing to be competent at your job, and it’s quite another to know how to manage other people.

Managing other people is one of those skills that are never taught – but that you are supposed to pick up somehow. From being good at what you do, you suddenly need to be good at making other people very good at what they do.

The Leadership Pipeline is great at breaking down all the different elements of that quantum leap. It offers a lot of clarity. The book follows the six passages that will take you from managing yourself to managing others, to managing other managers, etc., right up to becoming the CEO of a company.

It’s a great map that will come in very handy when you’re navigating the unkown territory of managing people – because people are, by definition, human. Working with people to bring out the best in them can be challenging, unpredictable, sometimes frustrating, but most importantly, immensely rewarding.

If you are going for an interview for a management position, make it a priority to read the relevant chapter in time to assimilate it before the interview. Then, once you have the job, make sure to read the whole book!

It’s also a godsend for people who are naturally good at this, who have leadership and charisma. Very often their innate ability can become a hurdle, because they can’t teach others what comes intuitively to them. The book will give them the words and it will pin down the principles that seem so obvious to them, but elusive to others.

If you’re a small business owner, this book might be less relevant to you, and I’d rather recommend another book I reviewed: STAR Leadership ( watch my review here ). However, if your customers are managers, you would do well to read The Leadership Pipeline to put yourself in their shoes.

Watch the video on my Facebook page .

Interested in productivity, business growth, innovation? Watch more book reviews here .

Positive Economist

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Book review: The Airbnb Story, by Leigh Gallagher

Mon, 26 Mar 2018 12:05:00 GMT

Can you believe that last week-end, I slept in an AirBnB for the very first time? Yes, in 2018! That’s because today, I’m reviewing The Airbnb Story by Leigh Gallagher, and so I had to see for myself. I’ve been following Airbnb since the very beginning with immense interest, though: what Brian Chesky and his co-founders have achieved is no mean feat and it’s an inspiration to entrepreneurs all over the world.

Find it in Easons or Dubray Books .

Watch the book review below.

The Airbnb Story: How to Disrupt an Industry, Make Billions of Dollars … and Plenty of Enemies , Leigh Gallagher, Virgin Books, 2018.

Last year, I wrote a dissertation on the sharing economy for my Masters’ degree. Airbnb was of course at the forefront of my mind the whole time, as it’s one of the two best-known companies in this sector. Observers have been fascinated to see how a business went from goofy idea (complete with air mattresses) to startup to a company that has the potential to list on the stock market to the tune of billions of dollars – and the controversies that have arisen around the company are also a testament to how powerful the concept is.

The Airbnb Story is a wonderful close-up and a very revealing look into one of the most famous startups in the world.

What I particularly liked about the book is that Leigh Gallagher focuses on the people : the founders themselves, but also the hosts and guests – all the human beings who make Airbnb what it is . She spoke to many people and as a result the book is not done from a distance, as a dry history, but comes alive with the insights and stories of the Airbnb stakeholders.

And not only is the book riveting, it’s also an extremely useful business manual, too. It takes a very honest look at what mistakes were made, and how they were overcome. It brought to mind something I heard Carmel McKinney say: “Failure is a bruise, not a tattoo” . Carmel is the Chair of NIFRS (Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service).

The Airbnb Story also offers a salutary reminder that growth and scale come with their own challenges . Entrepreneurs and business owners, myself included, love growth, want to see it happen, want it to happen faster – but the book shows you all the challenges that come with that, how greater success brings its own greater risk exposures and how everybody soon begins to take note of what you’re doing and how it affects them.

I kept having lightbulb moments as the book is a treasure trove of very practical business insights .

It’s truly a business masterclass for those who want to build community, who want to scale and blaze a trail.

Watch the video on my Facebook page .

Interested in productivity, business growth, innovation? Watch more book reviews here .

Positive Economist

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What is the Irish position in Brexit developments? A Brexit Irish SWOT analysis

Tue, 27 Feb 2018 19:08:00 GMT

What is the Irish position in Brexit developments?

As I am writing this piece, I am sitting in a “boulangerie” on the “Avenue of the Americas” in New York. The European influence is everywhere in this beautiful patisserie – the better to contrast with the unmistakeable American inflexions in people’s speech around me. IIBN New York invited me over to speak on the topic of Brexit and moderate an all-island panel on the subject. The sheer size of the trade flows between the two economic superpowers that are the US and the EU is mind boggling, and this innocent boulangerie is a fitting reminder.

The EU and US economies account for about half the entire world’s GDP and trade flows. Growth of EU exports to the US is 5.9% average per annum. Total US investment in EU is 3x that of all of Asia.

Anything that happens on either side of that relationship has a significant ripple effect.

Watch this two-minute summary:

However, little did I know that tonight’s Brexit event in New York would co-incide with the draft “Withdrawal Agreement”. Every time the team has gathered to have a briefing call over the past week, there have been new developments. The leaked Whitehall paper suggesting the UK wanted an extended transition period. The Tory proposal of “three baskets” a la carte managed divergence which was spurned by Donald Tusk as “pure illusion”. Jeremy Corbyn’s call for the UK to remain in the customs union post-Brexit. And then today, Theresa May rejected outright one of the key proposals of the EU Withdrawal agreement: that Northern Ireland would remain part of the single market, customs union and subject to the European Court of Justice.

As I write this on the 28th February 2018, it’s almost impossible to see a way through this with key relationships intact. The UK government is seeking a final agreement on its divorce terms, is trying to negotiate a transition deal with the EU and to set out proposals for its future ties… all by people who don’t really know what they want, except all the benefits of EU membership, as well as the ability to strike trade deals with other countries, choose who they want to come into the country, not be subject to the European Court of Justice and absolutely not have a hard border across the Irish Sea or across the island of Ireland.

At the same time, they’re trying to work this out with an economic superpower much larger than them, one that wants to firmly discourage any other country from following them and who was, save for ambitions for reform, quite happy with the status quo. In addition, the UK prime minister is dealing with clear divisions in her own party on the subject. John Major, the previous Conservative PM, even went as far as to say some of the advice she was getting from within her own party was “ very unwelcome from the point of view of the wellbeing of the country “. She also lacks a parliamentary majority and has to rely on the Democratic Unionist Party for support – all the while endeavouring to hold the UK together. The clock is ticking and as Cliff Taylor reminded us in the Irish Times this morning :

Specficially, as per the European Commission press release this morning , “The European Council (Article 50) has called on the United Kingdom to provide further clarity on its position on the framework for the future relationship, with a view to its meeting on 22 and 23 March, where it is expected to adopt additional guidelines.”

One could truly devote their entire career to keeping up to date with the dramatic twists and turns of this geopolitical, economic narrative. For now, let us conduct a SWOT analysis of the Irish position in the Brexit conundrum.

Watch the full IIBN panel here: “Paradigm Shift – All-Ireland Brexit Discussion”

Irish position in Brexit: Strengths

Relationship with Europe

Ireland has a number of key strengths. It has the solidarity of Europe behind it. As Donald Tusk recently declared during a trip to Dublin, “ if the UK’s proposal is unacceptable to Ireland, then it’s unacceptable to the EU….The key to the UK’s future lies in Dublin .” While many of the developments that I mentioned earlier happened in recent hours, our relationship with the EU is designed to last for decades to come. A cynical part of me does wonder if there would be a quid pro quo at some stage, particularly on the topic of eurozone fiscal integration, but that’s for another day.

Relationship with the UK

Another key Irish strength is that we have strong cultural ties with the UK. We have a common language, similar laws, have the second busiest air corridor in the world between Dublin and London. Ireland and Britain trade over €1 billion per week in goods and services. We know them well and our relationship is at its best historically. We genuinely want to be as close as possible to them in terms of trade and political relationship, and that is reciprocated. The day after Article 50 was triggered, Theresa May published an open letter in the Irish Times :

The United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland have a unique relationship founded on our distinctive geography, history and trade – and above all the deep family ties and bonds of affection that unite us. I understand the special significance of this relationship and I am personally committed to strengthening it, not weakening it, as the UK leaves the EU.”

Strong business relationships with the rest of the world

Thirdly, Ireland has a remarkable international business architecture right around the world as Irish businesses seek to find new markets or to build on existing ones. In fact, that’s the very reason that I’m here right now in New York. I’ve served on the board of the Irish International Business Network for the past six years and have been a grateful receiver and enthusiastic giver in that business diaspora. There are Irish embassies and consulates in every corner of the world. Recently, the Department of Foreign Affairs published the second version of their Diaspora Directory: it included 769 Irish organisations. Moreover, Enterprise Ireland and the IDA do amazing work in building our global commercial footprint.

Irish position in Brexit: Weaknesses

Before I outline the weaknesses in our situation, let me remind you that these weren’t weaknesses at all before 2015. Any seasoned business person would have told an Irish company owner to look at the UK for its first export market and followed up with a plethora of good reasons!

(Over?)reliance on exports to UK

Our weaknesses include the reliance that we have on the UK market for export. This goes beyond the aforementioned billion of weekly trade, but let’s start there. As an exporter, if you’re selling into an economy that is growing at a slower pace than your own ( the UK economy increased by 1.5% y-o-y in 2017 vs 2.7% for the Euro-area and 7% in Ireland ) and has experienced a dramatic decline in the value of its own currency (from 1 euro = 76p on the Brexit referendum day to 89p today), you’re facing very significant challenges.

Importance of business relationships with the UK – formative experience for many Irish people

80 per cent of all imports and exports come either to or from Ireland through Britain. It’s also the most cost, time and culture-efficient place to do business for an Irish person. As a student I lived in Edinburgh for a summer because I knew I could come home if things didn’t work out ( they did, thank God ). I can be in Belfast and back within a morning if I need to. I’ve told clients in London, Bristol and Manchester that I could make a meeting within 24 hours if they ever needed me to. So many Irish people go to London to cut their professional teeth and dramatically improve their earning capacity in an environment that thrives with possibility that doesn’t present many cultural challenges.

Brexit has brought all of this to the fore in its current form as people and businesses run a stress test of “what if we took the UK out of the equation, what would we do then?” This really is such a pity. However, it gets a lot worse for those who can’t think like this and have to face the possibility of WTO tariffs, dramatically increased administration burdens and the uncertainty of what could happen in the event of a hard border .

Irish position in Brexit: Opportunities

Of course, it would be impossible for us to move forward at all if we couldn’t look for opportunities. Particularly, as the Positive Economist, I’m always on the lookout for those.

Help from organisations

We have a range of organisations willing to help us through this challenge in a highly practical way.

International tourism

Tourism Ireland have gone further afield in order to find visitors, acknowledging the decrease in tourism from Britain : “Arrivals from Britain reached 3.9 million in 2016; the highest since before the crash. The figures dropped to 2.7 million. The average spend by British visitors in 2016 was €309 per person, resulting in a loss of just over 60 million in 2017.” North America performed exceptionally well, with more than 2.1 million arrivals from the US and Canada, up +16% for the year. Long-haul markets also delivered strong growth, with arrivals from Australia and Developing Markets growing by +13%. There was growth from Mainland Europe too, with an increase of +5.5%. ( see this report from Tourism Ireland )

Foreign direct investment

The IDA is of course monitoring the situation closely and was able to report the following : “The high level of investments won remained stable in 2017 with 237 new investments secured by IDA during the year. The number of new name investments increased to 111 from 99 in the previous year…. And IDA Client Employment grew by 5.3% in 2017, against the national average of 2.3%.”

Irish position in Brexit: Threats

Many have spoken about the threats in broad, abstract terms. Honestly, it’s hard to pin them down, but a recent study offered a useful perspective by isolating the sectors and their respective geographies. The study points out that “ Five sectors – agrifood, electrical machinery, pharma, aviation and wholesale-retail – account for 90 per cent of the expected economic hit. Half of its comes from agrifood and pharma alone.” The corolloary of this is that certain specific regions can expect the greatest impact. Naturally, agrifood is primarily based in rural Ireland, while Cork is the pharmaceutical capital of the country. There are fewer replacement job opportunities in these areas than in Dublin.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the greatest issue that Brexit presents is right on this island of Ireland. The political and social challenges that would come about as a consequence of a hard border are on everybody’s mind. The 20th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement is soon to be celebrated. This represents the immense progress that has been made through compromise in the area and Brexit is certainly not a welcome development in this regard.

It has caused disagreements within the UK – will there be a border down through the Irish Sea? It has caused disagreements between the UK and Irish governments. It has caused disagreements between communities in Northern Ireland itself. This discussion is going to get very real very fast: if there isn’t a very comprehensive agreement, it’s hard to see how there won’t be a border of some sort across the island of Ireland or between our two islands. Either proposal is going to make a lot of people very unhappy.

Structural change in the EU

There have been a range of new proposals coming from Europe and the phrase underpinning the notions is “The time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining”. Since coming to power last year, Macron has hinted at eurozone reform plans including completion of a banking union, progress on a capital markets union, a new European Monetary Fund, and one eurozone budget and finance minister . We share a lot of deeply held cultural values with the UK and while, in general, the Irish nation is pro-European, it has an island mentality of appreciating its sovereignty and sense of identity. Ireland has never promoted fiscal integration and other integration reforms. Now that we have lost a partner in that respect, our voice may not be so loud. In my view, with Brexit the brakes have come off in the European Union and Macron has his foot on the accelerator. It’s important that we’re vigilant and proactive in the development of the economic bloc, and that we keep in mind the many ways it will affect our lives.

Finally, it’s likely that there will be a new competitor on the market. In the very same way that I travelled to Malta , the UK and other destinations when the Irish recession was digging its heels in, British companies are likely to do the same and come to the Emerald Isle to sell their goods and services at a competitive price, helped by a devalued sterling. This offers more variety and choice for the Irish consumer and brings a new entrant into the market for existing Irish businesses. Judging by the annual Global Greening, we’re well able to travel right around the world and position ourselves as a serious contender in any market, so we will need to bear that in mind when we have new business neighbours.

In times of change there are always those who reminisce fondly of times gone by and find people to blame for that change. And there will be others who will be spurred on and motivated by the new paradigm. For the rest of us, we need to gain acceptance and familiarity with the new normal, see how we can make the best of opportunities that are presented and embrace the differences that we have as cultural diversity. That’s our strategy at the Hayes Culleton Group.

Positive Economist

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Book review: 50 Things that Made the Modern Economy, by Tim Harford

Mon, 19 Feb 2018 19:42:00 GMT

What do barbed wire, radars and the double entry accounting system have in common? They changed the world, to give it the shape we know today. In this Facebook Live, I review Tim Harford’s amazing book, 50 Things That Made The Modern Economy . (Find it on Eason’s or on Dubray Books )

Watch the book review below.

50 Things that Made the Modern Economy , Tim Harford, Little, Brown, 2017.

I picked up 50 Things in the lovely bookshop in Lahinch, Co. Clare. I was staying in Lahinch at the Cliffs of Moher Hotel for the week-end and the book immediately caught my eye when I walked into the bookshop. Yes, it has “Economy” in the title, so of course I was going to make a beeline for it…

I took my time to savour it and I ended up picking it up and putting it down frequently as I needed to meditate on the mind-blowing ramifications of seemingly small things. Tim Harford, also known as the Undercover Economist, is amazing at pointing out things that we take for granted, and tracing back their origin to surprising, or surprisingly mundane, beginnings.

Who should read this book?

50 Things is great if you’ve been constantly thinking about your own business and you need to switch off for a while – but perhaps you’re not a fan of fiction and you would like a more productive way to relax . 50 Things is it: it will transport you to distant horizons and completely captivate you, just like the best adventure novel – only better because it is about economics (me, partial?).

You will also enjoy the book tremendously if you love having your assumptions challenged and thinking in completely fresh ways .

I kept being surprised and fascinated at how seemingly random things, like the elevator, or market research, kickstarted momentous developments that are such an integral part of our world today , to the point that we couldn’t imagine our life without these things. And still: there was a time when they didn’t exist. 50 Things is an excellent read and an original way of stretching your mind to think five steps ahead.

Watch the video on my Facebook page .

Interested in productivity, business growth, innovation? Watch more book reviews here .

Positive Economist

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How To Invest In The Stock Market As A Beginner

Mon, 19 Feb 2018 18:24:00 GMT

How to invest in the stock market as a beginner

On so many occasions, I get asked “If I was to start investing from absolute scratch, what should I do?” This is often followed by “Should I read the paper to find a good investment, or “throw” a few hundred into something to see how it works, or do a degree?” My answer to all of these: a horrified “NO! Certainly not!”

It’s perfectly understandable that somebody who is wondering how to invest in the stock market as a beginner would think reading the financial papers is a good start, or doing a degree in finance. And I’m glad they ask the question, as I’m able to save them a good deal of heartbreak!

To invest in the stock market as a beginner, there are three things that you need to do in order to build a very solid foundation in investing and then take it from there. To be clear, there is a difference between investing in the market over time (the goal is to gradually build wealth), and trading, which involves the more frequent buying and selling of stock, with a short term focus.

This article is about investing .

Keep your costs low

1. The first thing is to keep your costs very low. You can buy stocks very cheaply today. There are two things you need to take into account: the price of the asset itself (for example, the price of a share), and the transaction costs. Nowadays, you can conduct such a transaction for under €20 (that’s the price of the transaction – to that, you need to add the price of the asset itself).

However, don’t forget that, if you buy a stock, then you will need to sell it in order to turn it into cash. Therefore, you might spend €40 on transaction costs. Sometimes transaction costs are fixed, and sometimes they’re a percentage of the total amount of the transaction.

If you invest €1000 in a stock, then €40 is 4% of your capital gone already. For that reason, I believe that €1000 is the absolute minimum one needs to invest in order to buy a stock. The transaction costs are whatever the stockbroker sets them out to be. If your stock goes up, you don’t want to have the lion’s share of your gains hoovered up by transaction costs.

If you pay a stockbroker €20 in transaction costs to buy a share, or if you pay them €100 to buy the same share, what’s the difference in the share itself? Nothing. Therefore, find the lowest cost broker that offers the best value.

The lowest price and the best value may not be synonymous. Be mindful of very low cost brokers ($1 commission per transaction) as they can charge you in different ways.

For example, they might

To begin your search, you might like to compare the value proposition of the following three providers as a frame of reference:

So, in summary: when choosing a stockbroker to set up a brokerage account, look out for low costs, be mindful of any inactivity fee (especially because, as a beginner in the stock market, you are unlikely to be active plus you’ll be a medium to long term investor) and minimums. Choose a broker that fits your needs and goals.

How to invest in the stock market as a beginner: what to buy

2. The next thing you need to think about is what you should buy. I suggest that it should be diverse, low cost, liquid and it should minimise decision making . An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) may have all four of these characteristics and can be bought and sold on a stock exchange.

An Exchange Traded Fund is a fund that can be traded on an exchange, as the name suggests. A fund is a collection of stocks: instead of me having to individually pick stocks and assemble my own collection, I can simply buy a selection that has been put together for my benefit. This collection of funds is sold as such on a special marketplace, the exchange.

This means that I can go to my online trading account and buy (and sell) an ETF there. This has a range of benefits. First, I don’t have to go to a fund provider (i.e. a mutual fund provider or insurance unit linked funds provider) and buy something from their fund range.

This often involves high costs because the funds are actively managed. “Actively managed” means that, for every stock that makes it into the fund, the fund manager has to make a decision about whether to take it on or not. More work for the fund manager means more fees for me. ETFs on the other hand are passively managed, as we’ll see below, and so a lot less costly.

Secondly, ETFs are traded throughout the day on a stock exchange, so I can get a price at any stage. A traditional fund is only priced once a day: I need to wait until the end of the trading day to find out how well the fund performed on that day.

Third, I can liquidate an ETF (that is, get my money back) within a day or two, as opposed to up to three weeks with a fund.

Finally, when I do liquidate my position in an ETF, I know how much it’s worth, as opposed to having to wait the three weeks not just to get my money but also to see how much I got.

As a case study, let’s take a look at the S&P 100 ETF. Using my current platform, it would cost me $15.95 in transaction costs to buy a holding of that stock, whatever the size of that holding. I could log in right now and buy it. I could see what price the ETF is currently trading at. I could see, right now, what the value of my holding is. If the market is open in an hour’s time, I could check to see what the price is one hour from now.

How to invest in the stock market as a beginner with Exchange Traded Funds

I really don’t encourage people, first time investors or even seasoned investors, to pick individual companies, unless they have the tools and/or know-how. Personally, I use the GillenMarkets analysis and the VectorVest technology (both have a subscription service), as well as my own deep understanding of the financial markets (as I’m a CFA charterholder ), to pick individual stocks .

For the most part, people simply want to gain general exposure to the stock market. They often think the only choice is to pick stocks, but ETFs offer a real alternative. A diverse ETF will give you exposure to a large number of companies. If you don’t know what sector, currency or geography you want, then you could pick a diverse ETF that includes a cross-section of sectors AND geographies AND where the companies trade in all of the main currencies right around the world.

Let’s go back to my case study example. The iShares S&P 100 includes the largest 100 companies in the world . Therefore, if you bought that ETF, you would have exposure to 100 companies. Even if one of them falls dramatically, that volatility would be balanced out by the performance of the other 99. If you take a look at the top ten holdings, as per the time of writing, you can see that they’re truly global organisations. My guess is that you would recognise most, if not all, of them as they’re active in most countries.

iShares Global 100 ETF IOO – Top 10 Holding

In addition, it’s very diverse in terms of sectors, as you can see below. The money is spread right across a range of industries.

iShares Global 100ETF IOO – Sectors

Similarly, it has geographic diversification. Given that these companies operate all over the world, by buying an ETF that contains shares of these international companies you also have foreign exchange diversification. Keep in mind, though, that this particular fund trades in dollars: the value of your holding, you might change it to a currency of choice, will be exposed to that volatility. This means that the final amount of money you get back when you sell your holding will be influenced by the current rate of the dollar vs. that other currency.

Please consult with your broker regarding the ETFs available to purchase due to regularity rules. For example, if you’re a European investor there is a upgraded version of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MIFID 11), came into force across Europe on 1st January 2018.

How to invest in the stock market as a beginner with low cost solutions

ETFs are exceptionally low cost for a variety of reasons. The most important one is that the portfolio manager simply tracks an index. An index is a list of stocks that share a characteristic, like market capitalisation (that is, the size of the company on the stock market). For example, the S&P 500 is a list of the largest 500 stocks in the U.S. The FTSE100 is a list of the largest 100 stocks in the UK. The Euro Stoxx 50 is a list of the largest 50 stocks in the Eurozone. With an ETF, the fund manager isn’t making any decisions about what to buy or how much of it to buy. They simply buy the stocks that comprise the index and in the same proportion that they hold in the index. In other words, their only job is to track the index efficiently.

The second reason goes back to the fact that ETFs trade on an exchange. ETFs don’t bear the costs of commissions to sales people, the administration of buying and selling fund holdings, the wages of customer service staff to answer questions relating to the value of holdings, etc. As I mentioned earlier, the fact that people can buy through a stockbroker (very cheaply) and can see the price at any point in the day as well as see the value on their stockbroking account makes this an extremely cheap product.

Exchange traded funds are low cost, diversified – and liquid

When you start investing in the stock market as a beginner, it’s important to understand the concept of liquidity . Many ETFs are liquid. What this means is that it’s fast and easy to sell my ETF. The clue is in the name: an E xchange Traded Fund is listed and traded on an exchange, so it is going to be liquid.

Buying and selling on an exchange is similar to buying from a shop: you can always walk in and get what you want. The opposite of that is, for example, private equity – this can be compared to Dragon’s Den. One person can buy a holding in a company but how do they sell it? To whom? For how much? They would have to find somebody who wants exactly that holding, in that quantity, on that day, and they would have to agree on a valuation. That’s the complete opposite of liquid.

An ETF being liquid, I can sell my holding within seconds, know exactly the amount that I’m redeeming, and the amount will be in my account to withdraw within three days or less.

The big ETFs are very liquid and hence, selling a position isn’t an issue. Some smaller ones don’t have a lot of volume. In the IOO case study, there are 37,814 shares (“Avg. volume”) that trade on an average daily basis, according to Yahoo Finance.

Average daily volume for IOO

However, the key thing to look at is the “bid-ask spread” . The “ask” price is that which you pay to buy a stock. The “bid” price is that which you get when you sell a stock. You want that bid-ask spread to be as tight as possible. In other words, you want a situation where there is a negligible difference between buying and selling.

Bid ask spread for IOO

How to invest in the stock market as a beginner: minimise decision making

As you will see when you start exploring, there are many, many, many individual stocks to choose from. The sheer number is overwhelming. Even if you try to categorise your choice into geography or sector, it is still quite difficult – why choose one part of the world or one sector over another? How on earth are you going to make your choice? You might as well be flipping a coin…

The great thing with an ETF is – you don’t have to make a decision. You can simply choose a very broad index to start with . Such an ETF will be diversified over many geographical markets and many industries. That way, you can take your first steps by buying something that ticks all the boxes: low cost, diverse and liquid.

In the case of the 1OO ETF, I’m simply buying the largest 100 companies in the world. With a small budget of €1000, I could never buy individual shares of each of those 100 companies. Because the ETF pools the resources of many other investors, the ETF can buy those shares, and then simply repackages them to sell to individual investors.

Here are three large ETF providers

There are three large ETF providers: iShares , State Street and Vanguard . If you would like to have a look around, you might start with the very useful screener on iShares (from the iShares homepage , go to “Explore iShares > Products” ). For example, here I can select an equity ETF with global exposure and then I can see a short list of ETFs. Each one of these has a clickable link and I can read more information about the fund. I could just as easily select a fixed income ETF with a focus on Asia Pacific and see what iShares can offer.

Equity ETF with global exposure

A caveat: some ETFs are not for beginners investing in the stock market

There are some ETFs that are dangerous for individual investors, especially beginners, as they’re designed for traders.
For example, there are short ETFs (they deliver an inverse daily return), leveraged ETFs (they deliver a multiple of the daily market return) and those with a significant tracking error (the fund doesn’t track the index very efficiently at all).

As a new, beginning investor in the stock market, focus your research on those ETFs that are diverse, low-cost, liquid and broad .

The ETF world moves very, very fast and there are many new developments every week – sometimes every day. At HayesCulleton we give very specialised training in this area , so we know how easy it would be to get overwhelmed by all this information. But as a new investor in the stock market, it’s a good idea to focus your research on, again, those ETFs that are diverse, low-cost, liquid and broad .

Remember: in the stock market, you only make (or lose) money when you sell

3. The third thing you need to think about here is when to sell. Remember, you don’t make any gains or losses in the stock market until you sell. It’s just like selling a house in this respect: your house might theoretically be worth a certain amount, but that money isn’t in your account until you sell the house.

My rule for selling is very simple: sell when the reason you bought it in the first place is no longer there. At regular intervals, the portfolio manager examines the list of stocks and compares it against the index. If a company falls out of the index, then it’s sold out of the fund.

There are two main reasons why you might sell this ETF. One is if you wanted or needed the money. The second is if you felt the world stock market was going into a major downturn. In both of those cases, you’re selling because the reason you bought is no longer there. In the first case, you wanted to invest and now you don’t. In the second, you wanted to gain stock market exposure and now you don’t.

How would you know a major downturn is coming? Sometimes finance news can seem like a rollercoaster and a lay reader can feel like the sky is about to fall in any minute… So how can you tell a major downturn from a passing scare? That’s when a subscription to a service from a reliable/independent stock market information provider, like VectorVest and GillenMarkets , can make a world of difference. Independence is KEY , their business relies on the quality of their stock, fund picks and timing indicators.

And if the reason you bought was “to test the waters as a beginner”, once you feel more confident you will be able to make a better informed choice about keeping or selling your ETF holding. Once again, I would highly recommend subscribing to a reliable information provider in order to increase your understanding of the stock market.

So, how to invest in the stock market as a beginner? To recap: to get exposure to the stock market as a beginner investor, you can

Positive Economist

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How To Avoid A Financial Midlife Crisis

Sat, 20 Jan 2018 10:13:00 GMT

How to avoid a financial midlife crisis

On Saturday 20 January, 2018, I was a guest on The Business on RTÉ Radio 1 , to talk about avoiding a financial midlife crisis.

You might think a “financial midlife crisis” is the crisis brought on by middle-aged people suddenly buying a fancy sports car they can’t afford! However, there’s a bit more to it than that.

A midlife crisis can be described as “a psychological crisis brought about by events that highlight a person’s growing age, inevitable mortality, and possibly shortcomings of accomplishments in life. This may produce feelings of depression, remorse, and anxiety, or the desire to achieve youthfulness or make drastic changes to current lifestyle.”

Tight financial straits can also be the source of much “depression, remorse and anxiety” in middle age – all of it totally avoidable. As for “achieving youthfulness”, well, a good night’s sleep can work wonders to help you look younger – and you would definitely sleep more soundly if you knew you’ve done all you can to put your finances in order!

So, to take preventative action and avert any financial midlife crisis, or to work your way out of such a crisis, let’s get practical, and kiss depression and anxiety goodbye.

There are four main things that absorb most of our money: tax, your property, your children (if you have children of course) and securing your lifestyle after retirement . So these are the four areas we’ll focus on when we look at how to manage your finances in middle age.

1. Get a pension

One of the best things you can do with your money to avert any financial midlife crisis is to get a pension and make sure it is well-funded . Too many people simply assume that their state pension will find them on their retirement, but they don’t realise they can take action to make sure their pension is adequately funded.

It can be difficult to make this a priority when the mortgage has to be paid and the family has to be fed – after all, retirement is still decades away! But you can’t start too early, and it doesn’t need to cost you more than a couple hours of your time, and a little money every month.

To calculate how much you need to save in order to reach your target for a comfortable retirement, the Pensions Authority has a great pension calculator . Input your age, salary, intended retirement age and what percentage of your salary you would like to get in your pension, and the calculator will tell you what you need to save in a pension to get to that point . It can also take into account the details of your existing pension. The calculator will show you how much of a shortfall there is, and how much you need to save every month to make up for it, taking the tax relief into consideration.

The government has given us an exceptional incentive to put money into our pension in the form of our tax back . I am an economist, a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder and an experienced stock market investor, but I do not have any way at all to turn €60 into €100 via a risk-free investment… and believe me I’ve looked. The only way I know of, is through a pension.

Whether I pay tax at the higher rate of 40%, or at the lower rate of 20%, the government is willing to give me all of the tax back on whatever amount I put into my pension. That is, at a 40% marginal rate tax, for every €60 I put into the pension, I get back the €40 I paid in tax. Similarly, at a 20% marginal tax rate, for every €80 I put into the pension, I get back the €20 I paid in tax.

In addition, the barrier to entry is very low. You can start a pension with just €300 . Have a look at your savings account or use any amount left over after your expenses, and you can start a pension with that amount.

The Pensions Authority has put together a very helpful resource about Personal Retirement Savings Accounts , with all the answers to the most frequently asked questions, the charges, a detailed explanation of the jargon, which providers offer them and the detail of their respective offers.

Additional resources

Do you know how much government pension you will get? Do you contribute to your employer’s occupational pension or to a PRSA?

Women and pensions: most common issues and solutions .

Case study: thinking about your pension at different stages of your life .

2. Learn about tax

Last year, as part of my own personal development plan, I studied for the Diploma in Taxation at Chartered Accountants Ireland. It was a fascinating journey through income tax, capital gains tax, VAT, corporation tax and a number of other tax heads besides.

It opened my eyes to all the implications of knowing about tax and making sure we adopt efficient strategies. And it made me all the more aware of all the amazing resources that are out there, that people don’t know about.

Did you know that you can give Revenue or Citizen’s information a call on their helpline, or request a meeting, and a member of staff will answer all your questions? They are not tax advisers, of course, but they will offer excellent information if you want to talk about your personal tax situation.

I understand that people might find it difficult to approach tax, but the Revenue website is actually very well written and very clear. Have a look at Revenue.ie . The Citizen’s Information website also has great, easy-to-read resources on tax.

To get started, here are a few areas to explore:

You can also sign up for the newsletters of accountancy and tax specialist companies. At our offices at DCU Invent , we are lucky to have Grant Thornton as our Resident Experts and you can sign up for their updates.

3. Set up a company

Do you have a number of income streams? That’s the case of many people today. In a household, there may be one person who works full time and another has a small self-employed business. They also generate a little from AirBnB and a small royalty from a piece of intellectual property they created years ago.

In that situation, setting up a company can be very useful. With a company, you can take out the income you need at the marginal rate of tax (20% or 40%), and leave the rest of your income in the company, to be taxed at 12.5%, until it’s needed. A company structure will also allow you to claim any expenses that you incurred in order to generate your income (for example, if you bought new furniture or bedlinen for your AirBnB).

In addition, you can charge expenses to a company including travel and subsistence, educational investments and if you’re VATable, you can claim the VAT back. Please note you can only operate a company if you have multiple income sources – you can’t use it as a vehicle for sheltering sole employment income, or to store passively generated income.

Setting up a company comes with certain obligations, like director responsibilities: you will need to create a set of accounts annually (which you would be doing anyway as a business) and comply with tax returns … which makes point No.2 above all the more relevant.

4. Understand how debt works

Do you have debt, apart from your mortgage? Then in that case, one of the best ways to avoid a financial midlife crisis is to aggressively pay down that debt.

My own rule of thumb is that, for borrowing to make sense, the life of the asset has to be longer than the life of the loan. If that’s not the case, don’t take out a loan (or don’t charge the expense on the credit card). For example, if I borrow for 25 years to buy a house I will live in forever, then that’s likely to be a good decision. If I splurge on a luxury holiday that will last two weeks, but then it takes me a whole year to repay that expense, then it’s unlikely to be a good decision, all else being equal.

Sometimes people think that paying off a loan early is a minus in their account. Certainly at the time, while you’re scrimping and saving to channel the money into repaying your debt, it can feel like that. However, if you clear off a loan a little early, then you get to keep the interest that you don’t have to pay anymore. If I have a loan at 6% interest, it means I have to pay 6% on top of the sum I borrowed – that’s the price of the loan. This also means that, as soon as I have paid off the loan, I get to “keep” that 6%, since it’s not leaving my account anymore. For example, if I borrow €10,000 and I repay it over 4 years at 6%, I will end up paying €1272.81 in interest over that timeframe. I worked this out in seconds using the Consumer Help loan calculator .

Using the loan calculator on CCPC.ie

The earlier I pay that back, the less interest I have to pay and hence, this is a “plus” in my account.

Finally, it’s important to repay the most expensive debt first: the most expensive debt might not be the biggest amount, but the one with the highest interest . For example, if you have a 12% credit card and a 2% mortgage, then of course, it makes sense to pay off the credit card first as it costs more.

Make a list of any debt that you have: mortgage, car loan, credit card, student loans, etc., on a spreadsheet or even a simple piece of paper. Beside it, write the amount you still have to repay and the rate of interest. Using this list, decide where is best to put any extra money. Think about the interest that you won’t have to pay back once your debt is cleared.

5. Teach your children about managing their finances

One of the best things that you can do, in midlife or at any other time, is to give your children a solid grounding in personal finance. Teach your children good financial decision making, how to be resourceful and how to generate income themselves.

Even if you’re not really sure you’re the perfect role model when it comes to personal finance, that doesn’t matter. Your children will pay a lot more attention if they see you making earnest efforts to improve your situation and find solutions, than if you try to appear like you have it all figured out already. This can even be a common learning project on which you embark together.

It’s also good to involve children in the financial decision-making of the household. You will need to bring the language to their level, but even very young children can soak up key lessons in ways that will surprise you. That’s why it can be a very good idea to involve them in an open way. For example, explain that you’re going to have a certain type of holiday this year so that you can have a bigger and more luxurious one in the future. Talk to them about your shopping choices: this brand offers better value than another, and how to find out about that value. Show them price comparison websites and highlight that saving €100 on the car insurance is the equivalent of the amount they asked for their school tour and spending money, for example.

If you ask children and teenagers what they want from their finances, many of them will say “I want to be rich!” Being rich is very often in their eyes (and the eyes of many adults) a shortcut to being financially secure. However, there’s a lot more to financial security than just “being rich”. That’s why it’s important to learn how to set effective financial goals .

When your children become teenagers, the prospect of their working life will start to loom large. I’ve worked with hundreds of teenagers through #SavvyTeenAcademy and they tend to be very anxious about doing well in their exams, about going to a good university, about choosing the right career, about finding a job, and they are worried about unemployment. You can allay their fears by showing them that there are many, many things they can do to take control of their future: they can be proactive and resourceful, and they won’t be the victim of circumstances .

Encourage your college student to look up paid internships for their summers in college. Explore funded international learning exchanges through Leargas and Erasmus. Through all of these ideas, teach them the ethos of financial resourcefulness. This won’t just save you money on funding their lifestyle, but it will give them skills for life that will reward them richly over and over again.

Over at the #SavvyTeenAcademy blog, my partner Monica Murphy and I have written extensively about:

(The #SavvyTeenAcademy is a 4-day camp for teenagers, covering Careers, Communication and Confidence. One of the workshops is specifically about Finance and Budgeting )

6. Keep investing in your education

Over the past week, I attended the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong. As these events often are, the focus was very much on the future and on preparing for it. There were many conversations about FinTech , but there was also quite a bit of anxiety about whether we were all going to lose our jobs to robots. Several panelists suggested that “jobs will be transformed, not lost”. That’s true, but it also requires that we adapt with these evolving jobs.

In addition, we’re living longer and we need to remember that our careers are likely to be much longer , too… As a result, we will be competing against, but also collaborating with people who have recently graduated, and who will be at ease with the latest technology and fresh thinking. Of course, the older we get, the more experienced we become. This sharpens our edge, if we work on it. For all these reasons, it’s essential to continue to invest in our education and not to rest on our laurels.

I was commissioned by CPA Ireland (Certified Public Accountants) to create a suite of six freely available webinars on career skills . You can start there to focus your efforts.

You could spend a couple hours a month upskilling yourself: if you’re not already, start using YouTube to refresh your skills and learn new ones. You would be surprised at the sheer number of very good quality educational or how-to videos on the platform. You can take a subscription to Lynda.com for more structured courses in a number of topics. And to keep up-to-date on a wider range of issues, you can listen to some excellent podcasts, on your daily commute for example. (You can try my own podcast: I interview high achievers about their strategies )

To take things up a notch, you could decide to take a professional exam in your specialty. A few years ago I decided to take the arduous CFA exam (Chartered Financial Analyst): this was a very technical, very demanding professional exam, that I tackled on top of a full-time job as a business owner. Here is how I did it:

If you like this post, sign up to receive my monthly newsletter. Every month, I share economics, entrepreneurship and financial markets analyses, as well as my book review and my latest podcast episode. Sign up here .

7. Have a monthly meeting with yourself to review your finances

If you have a work appointment in your diary, I’m sure that you organise yourself to get there on time and give your concentration (or most of it anyway) to the people that you’re meeting. Do the same for your finances, and treat that meeting with the same serious care you would have for a work appointment.

Schedule an hour with your finances every month. You can choose a monthly theme: reviewing your direct debits, shopping around for a better deal on something, stress testing if you could step up the mortgage repayment by €50 per month, reading about the stock market, etc. Please note, this meeting is not just about having a look through your bank and credit card statements to make sure nothing is amiss – I’m sure you do that from time to time anyway using online banking?

This monthly meeting with your finances can also be devoted on occasion to scheduling time with somebody you need to talk to. Maybe you haven’t discussed making a will with your partner, or you want to talk to your child about the opportunities mentioned earlier, or you need to talk to your bank manager about adapting your credit line or the general state of your finances, accounts, loans, etc.

This time with your bank manager won’t cost anything at all, but it can make such a difference. If you take the time to establish rapport with your bank manager, you’ll receive better, more personalised advice from somebody who is already familiar with your situation. This will be immensely helpful if anything goes wrong, when there is an emergency, but also when things go right, when there is an opportunity to be seized and when things change.

Additional resources

8. Understand what investing really is

Do you understand the difference between investing and speculating? Do you know what investing can, and can’t, do for you? Now would be a great time to educate yourself about it: if investing is right for you, it’s a great thing to do to improve your finances.

Broadly speaking, there are two ways to invest your money: in risk-free or in risky investments. Risk-free investments, as the name implies, are safer, but offer a smaller return. Riskier investments should offer a return commensurate with the risks, so do your research to find out whether they fit your profile.

If you’re looking for the risk-free options in Ireland today, look at statesavings.ie (a tax-free way to save with the government). The Consumer Help website is, again, a great place to find savings calculators .

If you would like more risk, then educate yourself on Exchange Traded Funds. They’re a low-cost, diverse way to have a diversified portfolio of stocks. For example (and this is only an example and not investment advice), the World Stock Market ETF tracks the largest 100 stocks in the world .

This fund enables you to gain exposure to all of these companies, without having to pick your own stocks. This diversifies across geography, currency, sector and generates a dividend.

The key point here is that, as with investing in your education, educating yourself regarding investment can empower you to make better decisions and have better conversations with people who advise you about your finances.

For more economics and investment updates, sign up for my monthly newsletter .

Additional resources

9. Life insurance

One other thing you can do to put your financial house in order and mitigate a crisis is – get life insurance. The idea here, as always, is to “ hope for the best, plan for the worst ”.

Nobody likes to think about their own mortality, but take a few moments to take out life insurance that fits your needs. In case anything happens to you, your family’s needs will be covered, at least in the short term to medium term. Of course money is likely to be the last thing on a grieving person’s mind – but that doesn’t mean their financial situation will automatically be grand. This is the one thing we can do once we are not on this earth anymore – we can help our family weather the hard times when we’re gone.

So if you haven’t already, schedule an hour this month to sort this out and then let it run on auto-pilot for life. The younger you start, the cheaper it is and competition in the industry is such that it can be very cost effective. Your loved ones will thank you for it.

Susan HayesCulleton is the founder and MD of international company HayesCulleton Group , and the co-founder of #SavvyTeenAcademy . Her books are The Savvy Guide To Making More Money and The Savvy Woman’s Guide To Financial Freedom, both published by Penguin ( available here ).

Positive Economist

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Book Review: STAR – Leadership Behaviours for Stellar SME Growth, by Will McKee and John McKee

Wed, 10 Jan 2018 20:00:00 GMT

On 10 January 2018, I did a Facebook live video book review from the board room of DCU Invent. I wanted to talk about a great book that has informed my thinking for the better part of a year, STAR: Leadership Behaviours for Stellar SME Growth, by Will McKee and John McKee.

Watch the book review below.

STAR: Leadership Behaviours for Stellar SME Growth , Will McKee and John McKee, Oak Tree Press, 2008.

I picked up STAR because I needed to think clearly about leadership. In September 2017 I finished my MSc Executive Leadership at University of Ulster, and I spent a lot of time thinking about leadership and what makes a good leader.

If you’re interested in the topic of leadership and if you’ve listened to the conversations around that theme, you will know that it can be very nebulous. It’s not always clear what makes a good business leader – and it’s not always clear even what leadership is…

I wanted clarity and STAR gave me that in spades. The book is written by people who are at the coal face every day, and who deal with people who are at the coal face every day: John McKee is the Chief Executive of Linkubator , a consultancy that helps businesses set direction, develop leaders and improve team performance.

Linkubator is set in Belfast, and a huge advantage of the book is that it’s very local: it’s very rich in anecdotes from businesses in Ireland and Northern Ireland. That’s what gives it a lot of value. You can see yourself in the shoes of the people whose stories are analysed.

So who should read this book? If you are an SME and you want to grow to, say, 10+ staff and a couple of million in turnover, this book is for you. And if you’re not there yet, but that kind of growth is your ambition, you can’t read STAR early enough.

What did I take from the book, one year on? The message of the book that I keep coming back to, because it’s eminently practical and applicable, is the leadership diagnostic: what kind of behaviours do you need to cultivate to be a certain type of leader? The book gives an extremely useful breakdown of leadership styles, when they are needed, and what behaviours they relate to.

A fascinating insight that I discovered as I kept returning to the book is that different times of day, different times of the week, different phases of my company’s growth require me to be a different kind of leader each time . For example, I’ve always been a keen, busy networker. But the way I network has changed and has undergone several iterations as my company grew. I don’t network now in the same way that I did when I first started out . (Read: The 5 Secrets Of Effective Networking That Built My Success )

Another important teaching from the book is that the behaviours that make up leadership are many… around a hundred, to be more precise . How can I ever dream of cultivating them all optimally? I can’t. I have to uncover leadership capabilities in my team, I have to make sure our whole organisation represents the different facets of leadership, that we are complementary and that, together, we exhibit all or most of the leadership behaviours our company needs.

STAR: Leadership Behaviours for Stellar SME Growth has been a tremendous source of learning and I expect to be going back to it time and time again as our company grows.

Watch the video on my Facebook page .

Interested in productivity, business growth, innovation? Watch more book reviews here .

Positive Economist

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Adaptable business: have opportunities land in your lap with this one mindset shift

Wed, 10 Jan 2018 18:15:00 GMT

What’s an essential, vital success skill that business owners and salespeople absolutely can’t do without? A skill that, if they have it, will guarantee their success, and if they don’t have it, will precipitate their downfall?

Business acumen? An ability to take calculated risk? A “Never take no for an answer” attitude?

All these are very important, but the skill I have in mind is one that’s too often forgotten and perhaps not practiced enough in the business world. And still I have so many stories where remembering to practice this skill was the one thing that got me the contract.

It’s this: listen to your customers.

A case study: how I was asked to tweak an offer

for a new market I hadn’t thought of

– but which made perfect sense in hindsight!

As you know, I send out a newsletter once a month , with my latest articles and blog posts, and my monthly Savvy Podcast episode. Over the years, the newsletter has been invaluable in helping me regularly keep in touch with my audience. It helps me follow them through their journey and I have been very excited to meet several readers in person as a result.

The best kind of marketing is not a one-way broadcast, it’s a two-way street: my newsletter is an opportunity to ask myself where my readers are at, what is on their mind on this particular day, and how my articles and podcasts will add value to their trajectory at this point.

And this is where serendipity comes in: the first time I let readers know about the #SavvyTeenAcademy in my newsletter, I thought readers who were also parents or relatives of teenagers might be interested.

While we did have enquiries, what I hadn’t foreseen was this: a company that receives the newsletter approached us to run an in-company version of #SavvyTeenAcademy so they could offer it to the teenagers of their employees and clients. From there, we developed our corporate sponsorship offering and now, we’re expanding into Transition Year Work Experiences.

Being adaptable stacks the odds of success

in favour of the business

It is something that often stymies people who are thinking of creating a business: what is a good business idea? This is akin to asking “How long is a piece of string?”

Stereotypes about business and entrepreneurship too often forget that business is cooperative and collaborative . It’s less about “doing something against all odds”, and more about finding ways to work in synergy with your employees, your providers – and your clients.

Being truly adaptable in business means more opportunities. Are you really adaptable?
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That is why a widely accepted piece of business wisdom is that you shouldn’t fall in love with your product: you should test it and see whether clients actually like it and are ready to buy it. I devoted a whole chapter of my book The Savvy Guide to Making More Money” to this. (Read an excerpt from my book: Market research – how to ask the right questions for true market insights )

Let potential buyers help you design

the product they dream of buying

This is a great piece of advice and you can take it one step further. Before even testing a product, let your clients weigh in when you are designing it. Your product or service won’t spring fully armed from your forehead: be flexible enough to let your clients co-create your offering.

That way, you will be certain it’s exactly what they want and need.

There is a myth that entrepreneurs come up with an idea, offer it to the world and watch as the money starts to pour in. That is not exactly how it works… Many startups crash and burn because there was no market for what they thought was a genius idea. But if nobody is buying “it” (or not enough people), it means “it” is not solving a pressing problem.

A successful product or service does just that: it answers the question of potential buyers – “Where have you been all this time? I’ve been looking for exactly this solution for years!”

For your business or offering to be the answer to that question, you have to ask questions of your own: “What do you need?” Or “I’m thinking of this offer: would you be interested?” Ask questions first, and find out about the pain points of your potential buyers.

If nobody is buying “it”, it means “it” is not solving a pressing problem. #ProductMarketFit
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Don’t get defensive when you feel resistance in clients:

probe and let yourself be surprised

Being willing to ask questions and to listen deeply has been absolutely invaluable in my career as a business owner and main salesperson for the company.

Countless times, I have sat down for a meeting with a client or potential client, and I had a clear idea of how we could work together – only to be very (pleasantly) surprised when my idea turned out to be on a different track than what the client had in mind.

Client seems resistant? Open up to opportunity and let yourself be surprised.
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In each case, taking the time to listen deeply to the client’s need was what opened the way. Listen in a spirit of being helpful, even if it’s not directly profitable for your business. The secret is to be very open, in order to pick up on as many cues as possible – instead of constantly thinking about how you can sell this or that service.

That happened to me while meeting a new client in the UK. The objective of the meeting was to develop a briefing for a keynote speech they asked me to deliver . The client wanted me to present the economic return on investment of their project, at the project’s closing event.

Half an hour in, the client got an email that made her put her hands to her face… She looked genuinely worried. I gingerly asked what was wrong.

She said, “I’ve been given an extra £5000 in the budget for this year and I have to spend it productively by the end of the month. How am I going to manage that?” Extra money might sound like a “good” problem to have, but the client needed to show, in the space of only a few weeks, that she could be an excellent steward of that budget. That put her under a lot of pressure.

We spent three hours going through every little detail. At the end, she had briefed me extensively on everything that went on in that project. At that point, we took a look at the company website. There were several details that were well out of date, or entire pages that had been saying “Coming Soon” for years. Her schedule was full to bursting point and she simply didn’t have the time to update those pages.

That’s when I had my value proposition. I was going to have to process all the information anyway for my keynote speech. While I worked on the content from one point of view, my team could take the same content and look at it in a different way, in order to prepare the copy for the site. Producing the content for the website was just an extension of something that was already part of my brief.

Doing this would mean she could generate a much higher return on her time spent with me, she could get an infinitely better website without having to put in any more work on her part, and she could spend some of the money in a way that was productive and useful, and clearly added value to the company’s customers. And she would also be able to show that she had managed that extra money well and wisely.

That’s how the HayesCulleton content development service was born. Since then, we’ve worked with several clients and we’re expanding what we can offer all the time. This new offering started with a deep conversation with a client. It constantly evolves and is enriched by other deep conversation with clients. Each time, the content development service is refined further to better answer the exact needs of each client.

That one time a deep client conversation got @SusanHayes_ a £5K contract + a new offering…
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What you think you sell, and what you are actually selling,

are two different things

Whether you are an employee or a business owner or a service provider, when you deal with clients you don’t do what you think you do: you don’t “deliver financial training” or “design websites” or “provide secretarial services”. What you do is solve people’s problems, and the medium is training, or design, or secretarial services.

You know the joke: “To a man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail”. If you want to delight your clients and reach the next level of success, you have to abandon that narrow mindset and stop focusing on the exact nail that your own brand of hammer can hit: you have to zoom out and ask in what ways can your hammer be most useful to your customer. Hitting a certain kind of nails is only one way.

An agile business is an adaptable business: sometimes the problem you think you solve isn’t quite the exact problem your customer needs to solve, and you have to be open to listening in order to pick up on certain “vibes”, like uncertainty, reticence, lack of enthusiasm. These can all be clues that something, somewhere, needs to be reframed.

What you think you are selling vs. what people are actually buying: listen to your customers.
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Once, a potential new client asked me about speaking at an event but as I started asking about logistical details I sensed a problem. So I dropped the questions about specific logistics and asked for information about the bigger picture. They replied “The thing is Susan, I don’t know the answers and nobody in here does. I need you to help us figure out both the answers and the questions.”

That day, I realized that an important part of the value I bring as a speaker is that I have extensive experience of events. My role is not just to speak to a brief I’ve been given, but to share my experiences of the hundreds of events I’ve spoken at. Clients are looking to me for guidance and advice about what makes a successful event. Now, I can work with the client on the design of the event as well as my own presentation. This is particularly important when I’m there in the capacity of MC . I give insights on format, how to optimize interaction, effective technologies, promotion, and many, many other things that are integral to a successful event.

Why don’t you ask for the exact service you need

– especially if it doesn’t exist yet?

Let’s turn the tables on this, too: I would encourage you to ask for the product or service that you actually really want, even if it’s not quite what is being offered. You may well inspire the next iteration of a company’s product or service when you articulate out loud what a segment of their market was already thinking. When customers demand the thing they would pay for, this is free market research; even better, it gives the business an idea that they may not have had before.

In each of the above cases, these conversations led our company to think “If these people want this, who else in our client book might too? What new clients could we target now? How does this change how we articulate what we do? How can we offer a more rounded, cohesive, value adding and profitable package as a result?”

What I have experienced, time and time again, is that you don’t need to be absolutely sure months or years in advance of all the steps you will be taking. Just take the first, most logical or even the easiest step right now. Then keep taking steps as they become obvious to you. The path will become clear – and will even veer in unexpected, exciting directions.

It’s important to be clear about how you can help a client so that you can paint a picture of how life will be better after they work with you. However, they may have bigger ideas. Ask open questions about the problem they want to solve and let them talk. Listening will open up your imagination to possibilities you hadn’t even considered.

Best client conversation: Ask open questions about the problem they want to solve and let them talk.
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Here is the LISTEN framework I use

for every conversation

Do you know how to L.I.S.T.E.N. to your customers?

L – Let them have your full attention

It sounds obvious, but it’s so important to be fully and totally present when talking to clients (and staff and stakeholders and everybody really!)

Put your whole focus on them. It’s only then that you will be in the right frame of mind. That’s when you will truly be able to solve their actual problems with your solutions.

Eliminate all distractions. Put your phone in mute mode: silent and without the vibrate, and put it away.

Make sure your mind is clear, free of clutter and random thoughts, by having a “digital download” : write down all stray thoughts before you go to the meeting so that you’re not mentally reminding yourself of random to-dos over and over during the conversation.

If you need to leave at a certain time, set an alarm on your phone and make sure to let the other people know that you have x amount of time. Rather than be worried about it, and constantly keep thinking about the clock, you can relax into the situation and simply wait for the notification on your phone.

If the meeting is a phone or non-video Skype call, turn off your e-mail, social media, etc. It’s even more important to put your concentration completely on the call because neither of you can pick up on the body language of the other.

I – Investigate their world

Be willing to explore and forsake all assumptions about how you can help them. And be willing to go back to the drawing board and redesign your product or service .

Ask open questions and be interested in the answers. “What’s going on in your world? What’s crossing your desk at the moment? What’s the most important thing that you’re working on right now?” are all examples of questions that prompt the other person to share their stories.

Just listen. Don’t be waiting for your chance to cut in and talk about how you’re going through the same or how things are different in your line of business. Just let them talk and ask follow up questions to enable them to elaborate.

On many occasions, there won’t be an opportunity for other business, but these conversations will develop rapport. This may lead to something in the future or give you a more rounded insight into their business. This kind of contextual understanding can help your relationship with your entire client book and network.

Here’s @SusanHayes_ 6-step framework to truly, deeply LISTEN to customers.
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S – Stay open-minded

Whenever a client seems reticent, hesitant, uncertain, it’s your cue to probe deeper: step out of the sales mindset and instead of trying to bulldoze over their objections, step into deep listening mode.

Let your client tell you what they want. Don’t try and box them into a neat category in your mind. Let them express exactly how they would like you to solve their problem and if you can do even better, faster or cheaper, then great! Tailor a solution to their issue, and then you won’t just have a customer, but a happy one who may then be an advocate for your business. Open your mind to their suggestions.

T – Think on your feet

If a gap opens up between what you had in mind, and what the customer might want, bridge that gap if you can. You may need to be creative. You may need to go outside your comfort zone. You may need to source outside help from other service providers. You may need to flesh out the details and come back to them with a more developed outline.

Put your mind to work about what you can do or brainstorm directly with the client. That’s how our content development service was born – we didn’t have it before that customer came to me with too much money and too little time.

E – Embrace opportunity

This isn’t just a part of active listening, but a piece of good business practice in general: Ask for the sale. Ask for the sale. Ask for the sale. If you’ve done everything that I’ve outlined up until now and there is an opportunity for a new piece of business, ask the person if they would like to go ahead.

Don’t assume that it’s their job to ask you to proceed. Don’t expect them to know that their problem can be solved through buying your services, just because you’ve talked about doing things differently. Ensure that, by the time the meeting or conversation is over, you have asked them very clearly if they would like to give you the business. Clearly, and in as many words.

N – Nurture the relationship

The world of business is a dynamic place. People’s priorities change over time. Technology can disrupt the status quo. Personnel in a business can move around. Customers’ tastes and preferences can evolve. Trends can start and stop in unexpected ways.

Ensure to use this acronym at every meeting and don’t presume that, just because things were the way they were the last time you spoke, they will remain that way. Take care of your customers and they will take care of you. Likewise, let customers know what you are working on, and let them know in such a way that they can respond and reply to your announcement (that is what I did when I announced #SavvyTeenAcademy, our content development service and my MC offering in my newsletter). (Read more: 7 Best Practices for a Successful Email Newsletter )

These are the guiding principles have allowed me to spot opportunities and seize them when they arise, because I wasn’t hellbent on one idea. Instead, I let my clients help me cocreate the offering that best suited them.

Positive Economist

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The Future of Europe: Six Areas to Watch

Wed, 10 Jan 2018 17:33:00 GMT

What’s the future of Europe?

When you mention Europe or the EU in Ireland or in the UK these days, the first thing – and perhaps the only thing – that comes to mind is Brexit. What will happen, what will change, how that change will affect us… There is a lot of uncertainty and it seems this is consuming all of our attention.

However, as an economist I make sure I subscribe to a range of news sources. I also keep an eye on headlines whenever I visit a foreign country (Read more about investing and business opportunities in Vietnam ). I’ve noticed a striking difference in recent months, one that many commentators have noted. While we’re focusing on Brexit and only Brexit (or almost only!), the rest of Europe and indeed the rest of the world is analysing and debating many other developments.

Our relationship with Europe is evolving in crucial ways. As voters, business stakeholders or tourists, this is of course highly important for us. Yet, very few are talking about wide-ranging changes that are happening right now, and which will have a considerable impact in the future, both in the short term and in the long term.

Here are six things to watch in Europe.

Beyond #Brexit, the rest of the EU is busy working on its future: 6 Areas To Watch.
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Where are the European Union’s main priorities?

All you had to do was read the final paragraph of Juncker’s European Union’s Long-term Budget press release this week to see exactly where the EU’s main priorities lie:

Michel Barnier has been clear and consistent about the bloc’s priorities. In a speech this week he outlined the key areas of focus for European reform, including:

He also announced very clearly where the Brexit negotiations are and aren’t going:

With all of this in mind, it’s important that, as business people and citizens, we don’t just sit and wring our hands about not knowing what Brexit will bring. We need to be proactive and look further East and South: there is a plethora of interesting developments and opportunities to be seized.

Ireland’s business community and citizens need to be proactive, see plethora of EU opportunities.
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Here are the six key areas that I’m watching. I’m particularly interested in them for several reasons:

Each one of these can have a direct effect on the strategic decisions we make and it’s important to be vigilant to opportunity and apprehend challenges – and, ideally, to turn the latter into the former.

#1 Thing to watch in the future of Europe: Horizon 2020

Horizon 2020 iss a huge initiative, set up to drive forward innovation in Europe. Horizon 2020 was designed “to drive economic growth and create jobs by coupling research and innovation (R&I), with an emphasis on excellent science, industrial leadership and tackling societal challenges”.

According to the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation , “from the programme’s inception in 2014 to September 2017, Ireland has won €475 million in EU funding under Horizon 2020 . Higher Education Institutes accounted for just under €255 million out of this funding. Industry won just over €160 million, of which €98.6 million was awarded to SMEs.”

If you’re interested in building better science, competitive industry and better society in Europe, then there may be opportunities for you to work with others in Europe in a well-funded collaboration. As a starting point, there is a national support network in Ireland comprising 32 European Advisors from ten Irish research and industry agencies. Check out Horizon2020.ie for more information.

Better science, competitive industry and better society in #Europe: Check out @Horizon2020_ire
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#2 Thing to watch in the future of Europe: VAT rules

On 5th December 2017, the European Commission announced that from 1st January 2019, VAT on cross-border sales under €10,000 a year will be handled according to the rules of the home country of the smallest business . This will affect up to 430,000 businesses across the EU. Further, there will be simpler procedures for cross-border sales of up to €100,000 annually.

As it stands currently, each EU country has a limit as to how much eCommerce you can do before you must register for VAT in that country. Not alone is that a costly compliance burden (in a potentially different language), it also may trigger other administrative requirements in the target country. As a result, it’s often easier to stop selling after a certain level has been reached. Have you ever tried to buy something online, only to reach the final stage of your purchase – and you couldn’t find your country in the dropdown menu? This is the reason for this frustrating obstacle. This move lifts those limits higher and ultimately means that people can sell more into different countries. (Read: Is your online shop shooing customers away? )

In addition, this development enables all companies that sell online to deal with their VAT obligations in the EU through one easy-to-use online portal in their own language. This will make a dramatic difference to online retailers and will also help Member States to recoup the current estimated €5 billion of VAT lost on online sales every year.

New EU #VAT rules from 1st Jan 2019, favourably impacting 430,000 businesses.
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#3 Thing to watch in the future of Europe: EU-Japan Economic

Partnership Agreement

On 8th December 2017, the EU and Japan signed an Economic Partnership Agreement . This means they completed negotiations in preparation for a trade deal which is set to:

In Ireland, we exported EUR1.8 billion to Japan in the first ten months of 2017, which represents about 3% of the entire EU sales of goods to Japan. After China, Japan is Ireland’s biggest trading partner in Asia and is the largest Asian-country foreign direct investor in Ireland.

Enterprise Ireland is strategising to develop Irish sales in the Food & Agri. Business, Aviation & Aerospace, Machinery, and Consumer Sectors with this development. Given that Japan is a market of 127 million people and a $5 trillion economy , it’s understandable why. If you’re interested in pursuing opportunities in Japan, then consider leveraging this EU relationship by reaching out to the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation .

EU-Japan Agreement: Japan, 127 million people, $5 trillion economy. Contact @EUJapanCentre
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#4 Thing to watch in the future of Europe: Enterprise Europe

Network

I can’t say it enough, Enterprise Europe Network has had an immensely positive impact on our business over the years. From helping us develop our initial contact points in Malta when we made our first foray into export, to subsidising superb trade missions (I’ve gone on one trade mission per year, every year that we have been in business), this initiative has made a visible difference to our company.

If you want to go to a conference or matchmaking event in your sector, either at home or abroad, that is likely to be completely subsidised or very well funded, you should check out the EEN Events page . If you’re looking to distribute your product in other markets, add a cross-sell opportunity to your own portfolio or start up a business by partnering with somebody else in the EU, then check out the EEN database with, at the time of writing, 7427 business opportunities available in total.

Right now, 7427 business opportunities in the EU with @EEN_EU. Check out their database.
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#5 Thing to watch in the future of Europe: European

Solidarity Corps

The European Solidarity Corps is a superb initiative that celebrated its first year in operation in 2017. This structure “creates opportunities for young people to volunteer or work in projects in their own country or abroad that benefit communities and people around Europe” . Young people between the ages of 18 and 30 can participate in projects ranging from natural disaster prevention to dealing with social issues in local communities.

Volunteers are entitled to travel, lodging and subsistence expenses, training as well as insurance coverage for the duration of the activity. Occupational activities involve an apprenticeship or a traineeship, so there may be an employment contract established in accordance with the national regulations of the hosting country, as well as a subsistence allowance provided. This offers young people real work experience that empowers them to make a tangible difference to a cause they feel strongly about; on top of this, it also helps them develop their C.V. and engage in eye-opening experiences around the continent.

The Solidarity Corps requires young people to spearhead and lead the projects. Therefore, those companies and organisations who agree to sign up to its Missions and Principles can tap into a pool of candidates to further social impact. This offers a new source of enthusiastic talent for those who want to pursue true Corporate Social Responsibility. (Read: The busy person’s guide to making a bigger impact )

#EUSolidarityCorps gives young people the opportunity to spearhead social impact projects.
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#6 Thing to watch in the future of Europe: European

Monetary Fund

Ireland spent a significant portion of this decade under the watchful eye of the IMF ( International Monetary Fund ). In this arrangement, we were offered loans at a lower interest rate than that being demanded by the market. The IMF promotes economic growth and job creation through policy advice, knowledge sharing and lending . In exchange however, we had to sign up to stringent fiscal reforms in a Memorandum of Understanding . While we did borrow from the ECB and took up bilateral loans from individual countries, those loans didn’t come with the same terms and conditions.

If the EMF was to be set up, this is a step towards deeper fiscal integration: the event of an EU country needing a loan of last resort, they would turn to the European Monetary Fund rather than the IMF. In this case, the lending countries could exert much more influence over the fiscal decisions of a country in what would be a “loans for reforms” arrangement.

This ties in with other wide-ranging structural changes including a single EU Finance minister by 2019 . This would be a big departure from the status quo Eurogroup president role, an existing finance minister who chairs a committee of all the finance ministers in the EU states. In the new configuration, that person would become the chairman of all EU finance ministers, responsible for steering the budgetary coordination and surveillance system between member states and be accountable to the European Parliament.

Single EU finance minister by 2019, move towards setting up European Monetary Fund?
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Further, there is a discussion around setting up “budgetary instruments” to prepare countries like Bulgaria and Croatia to become part of the Single Market. All of these are complex decisions: we as Irish people do need to consider them, and we do have to engage in supra-national conversations. They have widespread impact including fiscal discipline, new markets, more complex ratifications, changing centres of power, etc.

Brexit will remain an important topic of discussion and it is essential of course that we are observant and that we actively participate in the discussion. However, the UK has 55 million people and a $2.5 trillion economy, whereas the EU, post-Brexit, will have 440 million consumers and 22 million businesses, as well as a $15 trillion economy.

According to the latest “Monthly Economic Bulletin” produced by the Department of Foreign Affairs , the economy of the euro area expanded by 2.6% year on year, versus 1.7% year on year for the UK.

I’m not for one minute suggesting that you take the UK out of your growth plans for the year ahead (and we’re building our own business in the UK this year), but I am firmly suggesting that you open your eyes wide to what’s happening in the biggest economy in the world, namely the European Union.

Positive Economist

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How Investors And Business Owners Think About Opportunities: The Investing and Business Value Proposition of Vietnam

Mon, 11 Dec 2017 23:43:00 GMT

The first thing that hits you is the heat, then it’s the number of people in such a relatively small space and then, the biggest thing of all is the chaotically efficient (or efficiently chaotic!) experience on the roads. I had landed in Ho Chi Minh City, the capital city of Vietnam with 10 million citizens and 5 million motorbikes.

How I researched a country for business opportunities

while on holiday

On the first morning of my ten-day trip, I enjoyed reading the Saigon Times over a Vietnamese coffee. I was particularly intrigued by this story: “ Trade surplus reaches $2.18 billion ”. One key thing stood out:

Data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs show Vietnamese exports to China posted the highest growth, compared to exports to other Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies in January-October, at 52.9%.

Vietnamese exports to China, highest growth of APEC member economies: @SusanHayes_ is interested.
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From my childhood, I’ve observed the impact on an economy of selling to countries that are more developed than your own. Ireland has had exponential sales to the UK, the US and Europe over the past thirty years . This has had an enormous impact on our own economic growth, our increasing ability to serve those markets (as the country reinvested the money in building productivity and the smart economy), as well as the halo effect of being more attractive as a foreign direct investment destination.

Vietnam is not only exporting to one of the fastest growing economies in the world with a quickly expanding middle class, it’s outperforming its peers in its growing ability to do so. Economic development in Vietnam is striking, everywhere you look. There were cranes all over Ho Chi Minh City. I lost count of the amount of very large hotel resorts and complexes that I saw in construction between Cam Ranh and Nha Trang. The variety of accents that you hear while sitting in a tailoring shop in Hoi An is a testament to Vietnam’s international appeal.

A price advantage, a differentiating factor, or both:

how to compete in a marketplace

One of the earliest things I ever learned in business studies is that you can compete in a marketplace either because you have a price advantage, or because you have some differentiating factor for which people are willing to pay more. One of the most recent things I learned about strategy while doing my Masters is that, in today’s competitive economy, you need to “blue-ocean”: you need to have both cost effectiveness and differentiation to make the competition irrelevant.

Vietnam truly has both when it comes to their evolving tourism offering. The cost of wages, food, transport, accommodation, clothes, hospitality, etc., is so much lower than their main trading partners China, South Korea and Japan. In addition, their tourists come from China, Russia and Europe. Vietnam offers a low-cost destination with an exceptionally rich tourism experience. In just ten days, I was able to enjoy:

The best thing of all about Vietnam is the people. They’re happy, welcoming, smiling, helpful, gentle and great craic!

How to get exposure to a new-to-you country

with Exchange Traded Funds

Within a couple of days of being in this wonderful country, I had observed many things that had suggested to me that this growth trend would continue, and I wondered how I might invest in the country. According to the World Bank , “Vietnam now is one of the most dynamic emerging countries in the East Asia region. Since 1990, Vietnam’s GDP per capita growth has been among the fastest in the world, averaging 6.4 percent a year in the 2000s.”

Vietnam used to be a centrally planned economy and since its shift to a market economy, it has progressed from widespread poverty to a lower middle-income country. I would love to see its fabulous people prosper and perhaps we too may look at doing business there in the future, so I set about looking for an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) .

An exchange traded fund is a fund that tracks an index and is a remarkably efficient way of availing of the full investability of a country, rather than picking and choosing stocks in an environment that you are not familiar with. Given the World Bank’s quote about Vietnam’s dynamic economy, I thought this would be easy, but I found it actually rather difficult. There are several emerging market ETFs that had some part of the fund exposed to Vietnam, but I was looking for an ETF that exclusively invested in the country.

Why @SusanHayes_ invested in a Vietnam ETF after ten days in the country.
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I usually find what I’m looking for from the choice offered by the three biggest ETF providers: iShares, State Street’s SPDRs and Vanguard . I couldn’t find anything close to what I was seeking.

I arrived at the Van Eck “VNM” fund and saw that this had 75% of its assets invested in Vietnam-domiciled companies, and the remainder in companies that are incorporated outside of Vietnam but have at least 50% of their revenues or related assets in Vietnam. In addition, the fund may invest in securities of companies that (i) are expected to generate at least 50% of their revenues in Vietnam or (ii) demonstrate a significant and/or dominant position in the Vietnamese market and are expected to grow.

How I decide to pick an ETF: my checklist

I also looked out for several other factors. The Van Eck “VNM” ETF has 36 stocks . This offers a lot of diversification; I couldn’t have achieved that much diversification if I had tried to pick out a handful of stocks in a business and financial environment that I’m not familiar with yet.

The cost of the fund is 0.66%, which is on the high side, but there is little I can do about it given the lack of choice. In the last year, the fund has delivered 12.66%, and much of that was driven by the past month’s performance of 7%. The fund had a negative three-year performance and has delivered 3.19% every year for the past five years, including its annual dividend. I could have done much better in the US or the EU market. However, my intention is to leave this fund for long term, so the future is far more important than the past here.

I looked at the sector diversification and saw that the money is spread right across a range of defensive as well as cyclical industries , which I was happy to see. I also wanted to check the liquidity of the fund (my ability to turn my holding into cash) and saw that it has an average daily volume of around 190000 shares.

At that point, I decided to go right ahead and place a small part of my portfolio into this ETF and leave it alone for the long term. One might wonder why I feel that I can invest in all of Vietnam with only 36 stocks. The thing is that I don’t have much choice at this stage. I can’t invest directly in Vietnam’s growing SME architecture. There aren’t any sector-based ETFs given the country’s stage of development. Over the years, I expect this will change and will remain alert to this possibility.

And how about doing business in a new country?

Business to consumer, or business to business?

I also thought about the prospect of doing business in Vietnam and may consider this option in the future. Indeed, there is a growing economy, growing investment and a people that is growing in confidence.

However, it’s important to bear a couple of things in mind. If you’re thinking about selling business-to-consumer, the average salary in Vietnam is very low in comparison to Western countries. According to TradingEconomics , wages in Vietnam increased to 5080 VND Thousand/Month in the fourth quarter of 2016 (from 4933 VND Thousand/Month in the third quarter of 2016). At today’s exchange rate, that equates to about €200 per month. When I asked locals, most people told me that wages ranged between $200 – $300 per month.

Therefore, if you’re thinking of selling your products or services into that market, you need to be aware that your cost base may be very different to the price point that is suitable for the market now.

It is important to remember that Vietnam is developing strongly as an economy and there is a huge amount of international interest in the region. You will see many household names and corporates located in Ho Chi Minh City . This has boosted wages for professional services and, naturally, pushed up the monetary reward for staying in education for longer.

What’s more, global platforms have empowered locals to avail of global wage levels. As a quick-and-dirty experiment, I searched for graphic design services on Upwork and filtered specifically for profiles in Vietnam. I then did the same for the United Kingdom and found that UK prices were approximately 1.5 times that of Vietnam. Therefore, the differential on a global site like Upwork is much smaller than employing locals in their own environment.

That’s exactly what trade missions and trade agencies are for:

testing the waters in a new country

On the other hand, you may have a business-to-business offering and in my experience, the absolute best way to evaluate and then enter a new market is to stand on the shoulders of giants. In other words, go on a well-organised trade mission and leverage the experience, contacts and cost-effectiveness of a larger entity. For example, London Chamber of Commerce is planning a trip to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in January 2018. Based on my own experience with this fantastic organisation in September 2015 when I participated in their mission to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah , I can’t recommend this route (literally!) enough.

I also suggest that you engage with other opportunities that are going on while you’re there. For example, when I went on the trade mission to the UAE in September 2015, I noticed that, on the day before that mission started in Dubai, as luck would have it, the Irish Business Network Dubai had their annual conference. I went there a day early and met lots and lots of people before picking up with the London Chamber group. Eventbrite , Meetup and local event sites can be very helpful when in a new city for a business trip. I’ve used these to great effect over the years.

(Read: How to build your network in a new city, starting from absolute zero )

It is also a good idea to reach out to your local Embassy in a city that you’re travelling to. They tend to be very well connected, be a source of rich market intelligence and of course, your first port of call if you get into difficulty or need any legal direction.

Want to expand to a new country, don’t know where to start? Trade missions + embassy + Eventbrite.
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Perhaps you can’t find a trade mission or you simply want to get some more information about this market first. The European Vietnam Business Network has a fantastic “SME Starter Kit”. This “covers a wide spectrum of topics ranging from Vietnam’s economic structure, legal framework, market entry conditions, investment, infrastructure, tax, intellectual property rights, finance, labour, business culture to dispute settlement.” In addition, they have an enquiry portal for any questions that you can submit directly to them.

That’s my process to think about new investing and business opportunities – what’s yours?

Positive Economist

The post How Investors And Business Owners Think About Opportunities: The Investing and Business Value Proposition of Vietnam appeared first on "The Positive Economist" Financial - Economics - Fintech & Entrepreneurship Articles .

Book review: Peers Inc, by Robin Chase

Mon, 11 Dec 2017 18:19:00 GMT

On 11 December, I did a Facebook Live video from Mechelen, Belgium. In this book review I talk about a truly paradigm-changing book that I studied heavily for my Master’s: Peers Inc , by Robin Chase . ( Watch my book review of Deep Work by Cal Newport )

The subtitle of the book is “How People and Platforms are Inventing the Collaborative Economy and Reinventing Capitalism.” This was an idea that interested me particularly because my Master’s dissertation discussed business models for bootstrapped peer-to-peer startups. Robin Chase’s book was instrumental in changing my whole perspective on this.

Robin Chase is a spectacular entrepreneur and visionary, the founder of Zipcar and Buzzcar: “With Zipcar, Robin Chase introduced car-crazy America to the concept of non-ownership. Now she’s flipping that model with Buzzcar, which lets you rent your own auto to your neighbors.” (from the TED website) I’m also personally grateful to her, because not only did she write a tremendously readable, deeply researched book, but she also took the time to answer my messages on Twitter with her words of wisdom and guidance.

Robin is a force for radical change and a galvanising speaker . Her incredibly astute business ideas go way beyond business – she is a true thought leader, keenly aware of social issues. Her constant concern is harnessing the incredible power of the collaborative economy to tackle climate change.

So what will you learn when you read Peers Inc? For me the main teachings of the book revolved around three main ideas.

First, excess capacity – excess capacity is what will allow scale . This is of particular interest for entrepreneurs, since scale is the name of the game. How do you grow your business to the point where it makes money without needing your constant presence? How do you get other people to grow your business for you? Before I read the book, I thought I was at capacity – but Robin Chase showed me otherwise!

Secondly, how to have access to the right mind at the right time . There are many people conspiring right now to make your life easier, more effective, more hassle-free and more successful overall. Don’t believe me? Watch the video – I describe all the ways in which this idea of Robin Chase’s now informs all I do for our business.

Thirdly, and this idea will appeal to the entrepreneurs among you: if you want to build a collaborative economy platform, the book will offer you a blueprint to do so .

Peers Inc contains the ideas that changed my life and my business in 2017: find out how when you watch the Facebook Live video below.

For more Facebook Live videos, like my Facebook page .

The post Book review: Peers Inc, by Robin Chase appeared first on "The Positive Economist" Financial - Economics - Fintech & Entrepreneurship Articles .

Webinars: Why you must seriously think about adding them to your content marketing mix

Tue, 07 Nov 2017 16:45:00 GMT

Never tried webinars before?

Perhaps you’ve heard about webinars or you’ve been on a few yourself… But they sound like a lot of trouble. Don’t you have to invest in fancy software and a recording studio? Aren’t webinars overdone, aren’t they just for high-pressure sales pitches?

Let’s think of webinars differently…

What do you do when you need to showcase your expertise but you can’t afford the cost and time of travelling to an event? Or when you want to increase your reach but you don’t have the bottomless pockets of a huge company? Or when you want to create a community but your customers are all over the world?

How webinars helped me make a point in the most elegant way

A few weeks ago, the Meath Local Enterprise Office asked me to talk about my experience with Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), I am a vocal fan of EEN: they have supported my international ventures from the start and they do amazing work. Their work enables European SMEs to export and play their rightful part at a global level .

Ironically, thanks to the help provided by EEN, I was actually in the US at the time, in Ohio, with an American client. I couldn’t be in Meath. Webinars provided the solution: using Skype, I was able to talk to the Meath LEO attendees and toggle between my webcam and my PowerPoint slides . My presentation was broadcast onto a screen from the organiser’s laptop.

Afterwards I got several emails from people in the audience, who told me how much they had enjoyed the presentation and especially that I was “walking my talk” – the fact that I was on the other side of the Atlantic only highlighted the success I’ve known thanks in no small part to EEN.

Are webinars a thing of the past?

A few years ago webinars were all the rage. They finally allowed you to be in several places at once, and they were touted as the be-all and end-all of online learning. They were going to solve all our problems.

However, as often happens with “fads”, we’re now experiencing the counterswing: pundits announce that webinars are dead, that MOOCs with their dismal completion rate cannot replace live, in-person teaching , etc., etc.

Are webinars dead, though?

Are webinars a thing of the past? @SusanHayes_ doesn’t think so!
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Here is what Karen Hyder ( @ karenhyder ?) from the E-Learning Guild has to say:

As you might have guessed if you’ve ever been in boring webinars and ended up clicking away, webinars are just a tool. They can’t make up for a boring presentation or a monotonous style. However, webinars can be amazing if they’re used in the right way.

So what does it take to use webinars successfully?

The basics of webinars

A webinar is a seminar on the web. Whoever wants to attend the webinar follows a link to join a live session where a presenter is speaking and you can either see them or their screen. Webinars offer great advantages, for example to small businesses, because they give you masssive reach with very, very low costs and almost no barrier to entry. Webinars are a great ally in a variety of business models.

Let’s say your company has an amazing software tool. Your customers are all over the world. How can you make sure that each one of your customers has the opportunity to familiarise themselves with your software?

Because that’s the rub: if they don’t know all the things your software can do, they will stop using it – and they will cancel their membership. You can prevent that by helping them see how incredibly useful the software is, and how it is tailored to their exact needs.

To increase retention, you can offer a regular webinar to take your customers step-by-step through the functionalities of your software. From the comfort of their own home, they get valuable information in easily digestible format, which tremendously increases the value of the software.

@SusanHayes_: “Used well, webinars are an amazing customer retention tool”
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This is the use of webinars I’ve had most experience with, with superb results. I introduced them to VectorVest Europe in 2012 as a method of increasing subscribers’ familiarity with the software, to create a community and to reach out to those who found it difficult to travel to the live seminars. On every calendar metric (quarterly, half-yearly and annually), the retention increased and this way of doing webinars has now been rolled out globally across the company.

For two years, I gave a quarterly webinar for recruitment company Morgan McKinley , on the same theme: the APAC Economic Outlook . Quarter by quarter, the companies and candidates who were Morgan McKinley clients could follow the evolution of the five countries I covered in the webinar (Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, China and Australia). This made for continuity, and the information and analysis I shared had a direct impact on workforce planning processes (for the companies) and on job interview skills (for candidates, who were able to come across as highly knowledgeable and up-to-date).

Webinars were made for joint ventures, as I found out when I worked on a range of these. You might have a large database of customers or readers. I have a product that you honestly think will be of interest to them. You introduce me to your list via e-mail, inviting your community to a webinar we will hold jointly. I deliver the session, offer a special rate to your readers and you take a commission. I gain exposure to a new audience, as well as new customers, and you get to increase the value to your existing audience by presenting them with a special offer for a useful solution. This allows you to offer more content and monetise the time you spent building trust with your audience.

I was recently working with the VectorVest team in Toronto, Canada. While there, I was explaining why and how the European markets are doing so well at the moment. The MD then asked me if I would be a guest at his “International Forum” and give a presentation on the topic. With webinars, we knew we could make it happen quickly! I ended up presenting the “inside track” on the European economy to 1500 people all over the globe (If you follow the link to the webinar, you will need to register with GoToWebinar).

Because webinars are live, your audience can interact with you. They can ask questions, get answers immediately, share their own feedback and hear from others in whatever environment they choose. This is great for them as they can get the solution to the exact problem they were struggling with, and they get to know you better. You get to meet your audience and deepen your relationship with them, while gaining invaluable insights into their tastes and what issues they might be facing. It’s highly useful help and information for your audience, and it’s unbeatable market research for you.

Shortly after I published The Savvy Woman’s Guide to Financial Freedom , we ran a Savvy Women Online budgeting webinar. It was delightful to speak directly to readers and deal with their queries in real time from all over the world.

If you have a group of new customers, it’s likely that they have similar questions. If you can answer their questions, with other people in the same group “listening in”, everybody benefits. We introduced a “First Steps” webcast in VectorVest Belgium and Netherlands for this very purpose and it’s been very useful. It’s a great resource of “Frequently Asked Questions” , it provides amazing introductory support, it onboards new customers very effectively and of course, it acts as a video library of recorded content that newcomers can refer back to as often as they like.

What does it take to excel at leading webinars?

In my experience, it is very important to be aware that this isn’t a typical presentation where you stand up in front of a group, with a supporting PowerPoint and speak about a topic. Let’s talk about the negatives of webinars.

1 . People tend to be in their natural environments: their home or office. They don’t experience the feeling of being in a different place, meeting new people and enjoying refreshments. There is value in each of these and a webinar cannot offer them.

2. In a similar vein, one joins a webinar on their laptop… which means they’re only a click away from distraction: Facebook, their e-mail, or the job they were working on. If attendees know they can look back at the recording, it may be tempting to zone out completely, while entertaining great intentions of studying the recording later…

3. There isn’t any full person-to-person connection. A presenter can’t make eye contact with their audience and can’t rely on visual cues from their body language.

Therefore, to excel at giving webinars, it’s important to overcome these issues, but also to truly leverage the advantages they offer. These include:

1. Do more and make your presentation more interesting thanks to tech tools.

Make sure you master all the technology that your webinar platform can offer. From sharing your screen during a Skype conversation, to conducting an impromptu poll with thousands of attendees all over the world, webinar platforms offer many bells and whistles that can make a huge difference.

A webinar is not just a video conference. See what tech tools could enhance your presentation, and learn to use them. Something that comes to mind is managing questions: it is customary to have a chat function in a webinar, where attendees can leave their questions. This means the speaker can choose to answer them on the spot, leave the questions for later because they know they have a slide coming up that will have the answer, or make sure that an overly chatty audience member doesn’t hijack the conversation.

2. The corollary of all that wonderful technology is that – there’s a lot of wonderful technology… and technology can let you down at the last moment if you’re not familiar with it.

Make sure you have a tech person to train you thoroughly, or to be on hand during the webinar. Attendees will have many, many, many tech issues, from the sound they can’t hear to the screen they can’t see. Have a tech person with you to answer their queries and make sure everything is running smoothly.

3. Recording.

Usually, there isn’t any recording when you are delivering a session in-person, although smartphones and TED talks have changed that. With a webinar, it’s a very easy choice to offer a recording. Simply have recording software running in the background (sometimes it’s an integral part of your webinar platform), and you could be building a valuable video library every time you give a webinar.

4. You don’t have to worry about capacity… at all.

Whether you have one person or a thousand people online, there isn’t any reason why anybody’s experience needs to be compromised by a crowd… or the lack of one. Webinars truly are a great way to scale. There can be hundreds and thousands of people on a webinar, at no additional cost. On the other hand, if there are only four or five registrants, it’s still worth your while to go ahead with the webinars, test it out, get feedback, share the recording, etc.

5. Tremendously lower costs.

You don’t need to rent a venue, to offer refreshments or have people to welcome your guests. You might decide that you want to run a monthly online event, sharing content from several different concepts and perspectives, as informal Q&A sessions, with a guest speaker and as a joint venture. You can test all of these ideas almost cost-free, see what works and what doesn’t, provide value to your subscribers in a variety of formats and then pin down your content plan for next year.

6. One of the most beautiful things about webinars is the diversity of a community that you can bring together.

At the international online forum I mentioned earlier, I was able to speak to investors in Canada, the US, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and so many other countries around the world. I was able to take questions with regional perspectives from all over, and to offer my own view, informed by my own regional experience, in response. This simply couldn’t have happened without a webinar.

So, are you getting excited about all the possibilities that webinars can open up for your business? Here are my six parting tips for a great webinar experience.

Webinar platforms in all shapes and forms

Once you know you want to leverage this wonderful tool, where do you start? Many people harbour the secret fear that webinar technology will be their undoing… Not so! Yes, there is a learning curve. No, it’s not half as bad as you imagine. Most importantly, the investment in time and training yourself to use the right platform for your needs will be very handsomely rewarded.

Easy and light on technology on the one side, with facebook Live and Skype; extremely complete and with high-capacity functionalities on the other side, with GoToWebinar, Adobe Connect and Webex – here are all the webinar platforms I have had experience with:

Six tips for a successful webinar experience

1. Double and triple-check your internet connection.

For your webinar to be successful, it’s imperative that you, as the host, have a very robust connection.

2. Have a quiet environment.

Turn off your phone and notifications on your computer to avoid being interrupted by random pings. If you’re at home, make sure babies, dogs and lawn-mowing neighbours will not be a concern. If you’re at the office, find the quietest spot you can, on a floor that’s as empty as possible (at DCU Invent we are lucky to have a special videoconferencing room that is on a different floor, away from the hustle and bustle of offices), and make sure you are not disturbed.

3. Invest in good equipment without breaking the bank.

I record my podcasts and webinars using this Blue Yeti Studio microphone . It’s very good quality and is quite affordable.

4. Work on your public speaking.

If you’re not familiar with public speaking, get help from a coach or join your local Toastmasters . Work on your delivery to liven up your presentation, especially if you are going to show slides and attendees will only hear your voice.

5. Think in detail about the pace of your presentation.

A webinar is in some respects like a movie: it needs to have good rhythm. Ensure you give a test webinar first and then listen back. With no body language cues, your audience will be relying on your voice only to carry them through the webinar: vary your tone and delivery. Speed up to convey excitement and slow down when you want to emphasise a point. Use visual effects efficiently to make your webinar a visually engaging journey: without overdoing it, you need to make sure you add animations, graphics and transitions to highlight important information.

6. Make your webinar truly interactive.

If you’re not familiar with giving presentations generally, and delivering them online more specifically, it’s only too tempting to fall back on the time-honored format of the lecture: you talk, they listen. However, this doesn’t pass muster anymore in the 21st century. Make sure you include polls, questions and other ways to invite your attendees to participate.

Avoid webinar nightmares: make your next webinar more successful with these 6 tips. @SusanHayes_
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So, are you ready? See you on your next webinar!

Hayes Culleton Group also offers webinars as part of our content development service. From consulting to training to co-presenting, talk to us if you want to add first-rate webinars to your content marketing mix.

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Book Review : Deep Work, by Cal Newport

Thu, 02 Nov 2017 10:05:00 GMT

On 24 October, 2017, I did a Facebook Live video from Ballylagan Organic Farm near Belfast – I love Ballylagan and stay there every time I get the chance. It was the perfect location to settle in for a book review of Deep Work , a great book by Cal Newport.

Watch the book review below.

1:00 What is the book about ? It’s about doing proper deep work – but it’s not about productivity and getting things done. It’s about solving deep problems and reaching big milestones . (For more about deep productivity, read my article about the “Important and Urgent” matrix )

1:30 How has the book affected me? Since I read it I’ve done quite a few things…

3:00 This is a dramatic increase on years gone by – it comes from several factors, but learning to harness deep work was definitely the biggest factor in achieving so much in six months .

4:00 Who would benefit from this book? People who need to deliver outputs – who are output focused. People whose work is people focused wouldn’t benefit as much.

5:20 What insights have I put into practice? The book is about getting the things that really matter done, by organising resources and headspace.

6:16 This book has really shown me I wasn’t as ruthless as I could be with attention leeches !

6:30 How I ended up in Austin, Texas, taking a week out just to think . It was just me, a notebook and a pen. No internet.

8:00 The results of that week were immense! 1. I worked out the entire crux of the argument for my Masters; 2. I got through a huge amount for VectorVest Europe; 3. I hatched a new business project.

9:30 None of this would have happened without that week out. It was a defining point for the year . It was the first time ever I took a week out – and it’s now scheduled in my diary for next year, and every year after that!

11:00 Two other things this book has done for me. And why Ballylagan is the ideal place for deep work!!

13:20 What I do with deep work that I couldn’t do in my office .

14:30 The specific strategies I learned to facilitate deep work : how to increase concentration and focus. How to get what really matters done, and how to eliminate procrastination.

Watch the video on my Facebook page

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Accelerate Your Career With These 6 Webinars

Thu, 10 Aug 2017 08:30:00 GMT

Accelerate your career: watch these 6 webinars I was commissioned to create for CPA Ireland (no cost, immediate access, no need to register).

Work on your career, not just in your career

You know the age-old business advice to “work on the business, not just in the business”. It is just as valid for people who are employed.

In fact, the qualities that make great business people also make great employees. This drive towards “intrapreneurship” has been apparent for some time, and it is only gaining momentum globally.

Reflection, taking a step back, taking the time to think about what it is you truly want to achieve, and what you desire from your work, is especially important in this world of constant interruptions and distractions.

If you take some time out to think deeply about what you truly want from your work, what you want to achieve, what you want to protect – then it’s a lot easier to know what should be given priority.

And if you have clearer priorities, you will be more productive.

Instead of wasting time wondering what you should be working on and how to accelerate your career, you will know exactly where you’re headed.

Instead of a career standstill, you will be on the career fast track.

This advice isn’t just for employees – these mental models can help anyone who wants to achieve bigger things in their career or their business.

That’s why I created a series of six video webinars with CPA Ireland. Watch these videos to get the edge in your career – or your self-employed business. They are immediately accessible and no login is required.

In the videos, I talk about emerging trends in the workplace. I explore how the world of work is changing: it’s important to embrace these changes and not just endure them – you can thrive and prosper.

Here are the six webinars:

Stress testing your skillset

1. WEBINAR: Find the webinar here .

If you applied for your own job today, would you get it?

Have you ever joked with college friends that, if you were to take your final university exams today, more likely than not you’d fail? Where has all the mental alertness and all the knowledge gone?! It’s there, but it needs some brushing up…

Mental skills and knowledge require regular training, just like physical skills. Just because an athlete was a gold medalist a few years ago, doesn’t mean they’d automatically make the Olympic team today.

So don’t let promotions pass you by – make sure you always have the edge in your career.

What if you could…

Watch the video suite at CPA Ireland to start putting in place your own training system.

If you applied for your own job today, would you get it? Stress-test your skills. @SusanHayes_
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What will you learn in Stress-Testing Your Skillset ?

1 – Comparing your Skills to Current Market Requirements

2 – Running a Self-Diagnostic

3 – Future Proofing Your Job

4 – Developing an Effective Training Plan

5 – Establishing a Timeline and Budget

6 – Develop a Reading List

7 – Getting the most out of conferences

Redefining yourself in the workplace

2. WEBINAR: Find the webinar here .

Does your daily work feel stale? Do you feel like you have reached a dead end in your career? Do you feel antsy at the prospect of doing the same thing for the next five or ten years?

Maybe it’s time to redefine yourself in the work place.

Perhaps you have changed… Now that you know more about your company or your industry, you see opportunities that you didn’t see before: different roles with different responsibilities. Perhaps you want to become a manager, or a senior executive, vice-president of a department or part of the C-suite.

Perhaps your life has changed: you want or need to have a more flexible schedule, you want or need to move to a new city or a new country. You are in transition and you want to make way for the new.

Perhaps your job or your workplace has changed, and not for the better. Or perhaps it hasn’t changed, and that’s the problem! Is it possible to throw something new into the mix? Where do you start?

In this series of videos , you will learn to put your finger on your best strengths and skills. You will find out how to strike strategic alliances with people who have a stake in your success. You will widen your horizons and feel elated and hopeful, where you felt hemmed in and stifled before.

Is it time to redefine yourself in the workplace? Here is how to ace the transition. @SusanHayes_
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What will you learn in Redefining Yourself in the Workplace ?

1 – Clarify a vision of what you want

2 – Challenge your assumptions – and widen your mental horizons

3 – How to use the GROW model to keep moving forward constantly

4 – Gather a portfolio

5 – Communicate effectively and convincingly

6 – Uncover others’ desires and objections with the SPIN framework

7 – Network strategically and authentically

Managing Your Personal Brand

3. WEBINAR: Find the webinar here

How do people who know you describe you when they introduce you? If you were not in the room, what would people say about you?

How do others perceive you? Do they know how you can help them? Would they think of you first if they ran into an issue you can solve?

Successful personal branding means people have a clear picture in their minds of how you can help them and what you are good at.

When you find that “your reputation has preceded you,” it can be a double-edged sword: either this saves you a lot of work if your reputation is positive – but it can also make your work more difficult, if your reputation is negative.

Are you making the mark you want to make?

Personal branding is not about manipulation or controlling others: it’s about personal development. True personal branding is about publicising your real efforts to become a better, more valuable player.

Most importantly, personal branding is about having a strategic plan for yourself and your career: how can you benefit when you put in the work to change your colleagues’ and boss’ perception of you? This is what will accelerate your career.

Successful personal branding means people have a clear picture of how you can help. @SusanHayes_
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What will you learn in Managing Your Personal Brand ?

1 – Interview with branding expert Gillian Horan

2 – Clarifying your personal brand

3 – Conducting a goals and values brainstrom

4 – Managing your weaknesses

5 – Articulating your competitive advantage

6 – Conducting a 360 review

7 – Your brand and the world

Managing the transition: from employed to self-

employed, or from self-employed to employed

4. WEBINAR: Find the webinar here.

Are you tired of your regular job – do you dream of striking out on your own as a freelancer?

Or the opposite… Are you looking for more stability and regular hours, and do you want to go back into employment after working as a freelancer?

If you’re worried that being an employee makes you ill-prepared for freelancing, or that no employer is going to consider you for a job because you’re a freelancer, think again.

You have a wealth of transferable skills that will help you manage the transition.

Don’t understimate your transferable skills when changing employment status. @SusanHayes_
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Watch this series of videos to find out

What will you learn in Managing the Transition ?

1 – Transitioning from Self-Employment to Employment

2 – Transferable Skills from Self-Employment to Employment

3 – Interview with Jo-Ann Feely (Alexander Mann Solutions)

4 – Transitioning from Employment to Self-Employment

5 – Transferable Skills from Employment to Self-Employment

6 – Interview with Carla Manning of CACM Accountants

The Changing Nature of Employment: the portfolio career

and emerging trends that will affect your career.

5. WEBINAR: Find the webinar here.

Experts talk about “the end of the job” and part-time work is on the rise. In this context of groundswell changes, the “job” as we know it is disappearing fast – but it doesn’t mean we are all going to be “jobless”.

In fact, this is a great context in which to accelerate your career.

The last few years have seen tremendous changes in the workplace, the emergence of the “portfolio career”, and the need for mentoring in all directions of the hierarchy: not just top down, with older people mentoring less experienced ones, but bottom up, too.

How a “portfolio career” can accelerate your own career. @SusanHayes_
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If you want to make the most of this new fragmented environment – if you want to prosper and enjoy these changes, watch this video series to discover:

What is discussed in The Changing Nature of Employment ?

1 – The changing nature of the workplace

2 – Interview with Jo Ann Feely of Alexander Mann Solutions

3 – Do you want a portfolio career?

4 – Mentoring and reverse mentoring

The Future of the World of Work

6. WEBINAR: Find the webinar here.

Work is changing at an unprecedented pace. Things that were true in the world of work even a couple of years ago are now obsolete. With the internet and the cloud, with the sweeping tide of globalisation, work as we think we know it, and work as our parents knew it, is a thing of the past.

The truth is that work has changed beyond recognition. Every week we hear about new trends and new concepts, from the “gig economy” to “agile management” to “remote working” to deep changes into what it even means to “be at work”.

If you come prepared, these new modes of work can be the liberation you’ve been waiting for. Liberation from reporting to just one boss, liberation from short-sighted instructions from your higher-ups, liberation from a constricting schedule, or even from having to commute at all.

Work has changed beyong recognition: is this the liberation you’ve been waiting for? @SusanHayes_
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In this series of videos , you will discover what these changes are, how you can feel empowered to act, how to examine scenarios for how these trends can affect you, and how to protect against downside risks.

What is discussed in The Future Of The World of Work ?

1 – The Gig Economy

2 – Agile project management

3 – Hours vs. Outcomes

4 – Remote working

Watch these videos at your own pace and implement the action steps, and you will have all the cards in hand to accelerate your career. If these videos have helped you, I’d love to know how you’re getting on! Tweet me @SusanHayes_

The post Accelerate Your Career With These 6 Webinars appeared first on "The Positive Economist" Financial - Economics - Fintech & Entrepreneurship Articles .

What is fintech, and how it’s going to change the world of investing and financial transactions as we know it

Wed, 05 Jul 2017 21:30:00 GMT

Are you curious about “fintech”? It stands for “financial technology” and it is the topic of many conversations at the moment. Fintech is more and more widespread and we are all using it to some extent nowadays.

Have you ever bought something online? The payment mechanism that you used falls under fintech. Have you heard about crowdfunding? That’s fintech. Have you used your phone to pay for anything? Fintech again!

So what has set the scene for fintech being all around us at the moment?

What economic changes are driving growth in fintech?

What social changes are driving growth in fintech?

Social changes like the “liquid workforce” are also fuelling the rise of #fintech. @SusanHayes_
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What technological changes are driving the growth in fintech?

Creative destruction in #fintech: which players have the advantage? @SusanHayes_
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All of that said, much of fintech is seeking to achieve incremental innovation as opposed to disrupting existing business models. Indeed, there are companies that are trying to eat their competitor’s lunch, but the food on the plate is still the same. Take the example of peer-to-peer lending: the person who has excess money can lend it to another party through a trustworthy platform. In the past, this would have been fraught with difficulties, and banks were the go-to entity to borrow money. Now with fintech and, in that specific instance, peer-to-peer lending, anybody can be a de facto “bank” and lend money, and earn interest on it. This is the same value model as retail banking, but a peer-to-peer business is facilitating it in a different way.

What purpose does fintech serve?

Fintech has a very functional purpose : these facilities make life faster, easier and cheaper. A mobile payments app linked to my debit or credit cards removes the need to carry them around. A peer-to-peer foreign exchange facility reduces the cost of doing business abroad.

Blockchain dramatically increases the security of transactions and hence improves quality, reduces risk and delivers peace of mind (To find out more about blockchain, read this article or that article or watch this 2-minute video ).

Big data informs suppliers of financial services about the aggregated actions of their customers, so that they can generate predictive analytics and offer more tailored, convenient services to users.

Cost comparison websites save time and simplify the process of going into each offering, finding what you’re looking for and then deciphering what’s best for you.

As a result, the growing customer demand for fintech services is likely to rise and rise, in the main. Let’s now look at two specific case studies of where fintechs are highly solution-focused.

Fintech Case Study 1:

ETFs in response to a lack of outperformance on the part of actively managed funds

This October 2016 article from the Financial Times describes how almost all US, global and Emerging Market funds have failed to beat their benchmark since 2006 .

Financial Times: “99% of actively managed US equity funds underperform”

This has been a problem for decades now. Indeed, financial analysts and traders who are exceptionally well informed, highly educated and have access to all sorts of software can achieve gains higher than their benchmarks. However, these gains are not necessarily passed on to the owner of the assets: when you take the analysts’ and traders’ fee out, investors may be left with just the benchmark performance or worse. That fee can be a percentage of AUM (assets under management) and sometimes a percentage of the outperformance too.

Back in 1972, Vanguard asked a great question. Which is more important to investors: to outperform the market, or to make money? If it is the latter, what about simply delivering the benchmark return very efficiently for them? As long as they are making money, most people are happy to track the progress of the markets, and have little interest in constantly doing better than the markets. The “index fund” was born. An index fund is a fund of stocks that are held with a view to providing the investor with the market return.

An actively managed equity fund manager is paid a lot of money to find stocks that are offering particularly good value and/or are set to grow their earnings (and hence share prices) at a pace that is faster than the benchmark. They invest a lot of time, money and resources into doing so and are held to account (in terms of the return they got and the risk they took to get it) against that benchmark at the end of the period.

A passively managed equity portfolio manager is paid a lot less to buy the stocks that fit the index. There isn’t any research apart from finding out what stocks make up the index and the focus is solely on delivering this performance as efficiently as possible. They invest very little time, money and resources into doing so and are held to account (in terms of tracking error) against the benchmark at the end of the period.

This was the market’s answer to that problem!

In 1993, the next wave of innovation came, in the form of challenging another assumption. Why do investors need to buy a mutual fund in order to have access to index funds? What about listing these funds and letting investors buy and sell them directly?

The “Exchange Traded Fund” was born: a fund that tracks an index listed on an exchange.

An investor wanting to buy an index mutual fund needs to go through a financial advisor (and must select a fund only from what they can offer), who subsequently gets a commission for selling it. After filling out a range of forms, they take a unit of a fund. If they want to find out the value of this, they must wait until the market closes because it’s only valued once per day. They may have to leave the money locked away for a while or else pay early penalties if they want to cash in on the holding beforehand. On leaving, they need to fill out more forms and then they get their money.

An investor wanting to buy an ETF can do so directly, picking from the almost 7000 funds available, through their stockbroker who simply receives a transaction fee for executing the trade. There isn’t any form filling, the fund is priced continuously throughout the day and hence, the investor can check the value at any stage at all. They can sell at any time by executing another trade.

ETFs are much cheaper, transparent and more convenient than mutual funds.

This incremental innovation has been hugely successful as evidenced by the latest statistics at the time of writing:

(Note: ETP (exchange traded products) is an umbrella term to include ETFs)

Do you want to beat the market or just make money? #fintech #ETF @SusanHayes_
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Fintech Case Study 2:

Roboadvisors in response to the ban on commission based selling

In 2012, the Retail Distribution Review banned commission based selling to retail investors. This followed on from a similar development in Australia and India. The rationale behind this made excellent sense.

If I’m sitting down with a financial advisor who has a range of products that they could sell me and one or two of them have a higher commission than others, then they’re naturally going to be incentivised to sell me that one. Therefore, a ban on commission based selling was introduced with a view to eliminating product bias.

The results of this include ;

However, there is one issue. Commissions have been replaced with fees and let’s think through the consequences of that. If I have capital of €10,000 and it costs €1500 for the full service of an investment consultation, then 15% of my capital is gone before I ever implement any of the advice.

“RoboAdvisor” was introduced as a method to offer smaller investors a low-cost method of obtaining investment advice: a RoboAdvisor is an algorithm that asks you to input the information you would give to a financial advisor (e.g. income, return objectives, risk profile questions, etc.), processes the information and then generates a portfolio. There is a range of traditional investment houses that offer this service now and a cost comparison analysis highlights the cost effectiveness of the offering. For example, a (comparatively) expensive RoboAdvisor would incur an annual fee of less than $20 per year on a $5000 portfolio and an inexpensive RoboAdvisor would incur a fee of $36.39 on a portfolio of $35000.

It’s natural to ask what returns the RoboAdvisors are offering and this is dynamically tracked at Senzu . In the same way that some active managers outperform the market and some don’t, as discussed above, the same can be said for RoboAdvisors. However, it’s important to mention that many of them simply hold a host of ETFs, so there is a huge drive towards cost compression in the entire industry.

At this point it is important to mention Mifid II (The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive): this new piece of regulation is going to be implemented in January 2018, after many drafts. It includes the following paragraph in Article 12:

(It’s interesting to note that this piece of legislation has been some time in the making – I’ve been keeping an eye on it since 2012 )

In other words, a ban on commission-based selling is coming to Europe in a few months. There is growing interest in this sector with successful traction in the US market: Robo Advisers now account for 1% of the market and BI Intelligence projects that it could represent up to 10% of global asses by 2020. This is backed by a PriceWaterhouseCoopers report, highlighting the finding that almost half of wealthy investors under 45 not currently using Robo-services would consider using them in the future . It will be very interesting to see how these figures materialise and what happens during the next crash, when people want to turn to a person with their emotional reactions to the market and the computer says no…

Roboadvisors are an example of #fintech responding to changes in legislation. @SusanHayes_
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How to get involved in fintech: 7 ways

As you can see, fintech is poised to change the way we transact money even more than it has already done. While today, we may see paying with our smartphones as innovative, there are many more momentous changes gathering pace. Now is a great time to get interested and involved in fintech. That being said, do you recognise yourself in one of the seven profiles below?

There are a range of programmes designed to welcome your idea, help you test and validate it, cultivate its progress and expose you to investors. For example, the NDRC and Enterprise Ireland can potentially present you with exciting opportunities!

McKinsey has compiled a range of thought leadership pieces in a comprehensive report, FinTechnicolour: The New Picture in Finance . This publication covers digital financial services, partnerships, Internet of Things, data analytics, banking on the cloud, machine learning, blockchain and much more.

The Financial Times has an annual awards ceremony and the coverage of that can act as a proxy for what’s moving from marginal to mainstream. For example, in that report, I found that the US and China account for $9 out of every $10 invested in fintech, that Venture Capital investment in blockchain rose by 20% last year and the largest ever single tech funding round in history, valued at $4.5 billion, was to the payments arm of Alibaba.

I look at BetaList as a good barometer of where startups interests lie. Given that the profiles of those listed are in beta testing mode, they haven’t been fully unleashed on the market and offer a keen observer a good insight into commercialised innovation, before everybody else sees it.

There are a range of organisations now that act as a broker for investors and investees. One of the largest and well-known for equity in Ireland is the Irish Investment Network . Of course, there are peer-to-peer debt financing companies available now too including Grid Finance and LinkedFinance .

The Enterprise Europe Network is the largest business network in the world and has incredible capacity to bring companies together in synchronicity. They have a huge database of businesses with collaboration opportunities to offer to others as well as partnership events, like a large fintech event in 2016 in the Netherlands .

The European Commission has a facility to draw upon the views of experts when it’s designing policies evaluating proposals, monitoring actions as well as preparing, implementing or evaluating programmes and design of policies. If you register and are approved, this could lead to a paid contract.

Want to get involved in #fintech? Investing is great, but here are 6 more ways. @SusanHayes_
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Market research: how to ask the right questions that will give you true market insights

Sat, 10 Jun 2017 16:38:00 GMT

Market research is where the rubber hits the road: does your product have potential? Would people actually buy it?

However, there’s a way to ask market research questions so that you get truly useful insights, instead of vague or downright misleading answers. Avoid the pitfalls that threaten too many business ideas by making sure you conduct market research in a truly effective way.

Then reap the benefits when you find the perfect product-market fit!

This is an excerpt from chapter 9 of The Savvy Guide to Making More Money , published by Penguin. Buy the book here .

Enough about the theory, here’s market research in practice

There are loving people in our lives who will always try to save our feelings. They mean well, and we turn to them first at times when we’re feeling delicate. They give us faith in ourselves when our own reserves are running low. If you ask one of these people if they would give you a raise or buy a product you’re considering selling, they would probably tell you that they would, of course. Sure, isn’t it the proverbial best thing since sliced bread?

I have had this happen to me on several occasions and I’ve learned to recognize that look from a loved one that says, ‘I don’t have a clue what she’s talking about, but I haven’t the heart to tell her’, while they’re telling me that they would definitely hand over whatever price I was thinking of charging.

While this is reassuring to hear, remember that your boss, or the person you’re sitting next to in a meeting, or the person who casually comes across your product on a shelf in a shop or online, won’t have the same positive reaction just because it’s you.

Your market research must extend beyond your immediate circle. You need to show your product or describe your service to your target market, and see what potential customers tell you. Depending on their reaction, you can now actively market your offering. Or you go back to the drawing board.

I recently told a business mentor about an idea that I was mulling over. She said, ‘The best thing you could do is to send me a one-page business plan. Let me introduce you to two senior people in the industry and get them to tell you what they don’t like.’ In that short sentence, she outlined an ideal framework for doing market research:

The business mentor could see my face falling when she said, ‘Let them tell you what they don’t like’, and she smiled. She told me that one of the reasons for failure early on in any entrepreneurial journey is that the founder is too busy admiring their product, while the market sees it as below par.

Ask, ask and ask again. You know that you have got to the end of the process when the ‘negatives’ that people point out are there by design. For example, one could say to someone who specializes in life coaching for female entrepreneurs that her offering doesn’t sound like it would help her customers deal with bereavement. This is not something that she needs to change; it’s simply recognition of the fact that she doesn’t choose to specialize in that area.

How to ask the questions that will give you helpful answers

It’s very easy to phrase a question to get the answer that you want. For example, you can ask questions like ‘It’s a great idea, isn’t it?’ or ‘Imagine life if you could eliminate x or enjoy y.’ This is sales language. Instead, what you need for effective market research are neutral questions that elicit honest answers. Listen carefully to the answers that you get to these four questions:

1. Does this product solve [insert problem] or give [insert pleasure element]?

Translation: do you see the benefit that I think you should? Is this product or service something that you might actually go in search of? Can you identify this product as the antidote to your problem or is it synonymous with the pleasure that you’re seeking?

Do not say, ‘So what do you think?’, ‘It’s great, isn’t it?’, ‘You probably think it’s awful, but I’m still working on it.’ The first of those statements is too broad: ‘So what do you think’ doesn’t help people to frame a useful answer. You need to find out (for better or for worse) if what you intend to bring to the market actually does what you intend it to do. The latter two questions put words into the user’s mouth – let them come up with their own.

2. How much would you pay?

Translation: how much do you value the benefit derived from this product or service? If somebody recommended this product or service to you, at what stage would you recoil from buying it?

Do not say, ‘I was thinking of charging €100 – what do you think?’ Don’t anchor their expectations by giving them a number either to agree or disagree with. They might think, ‘Well, I would have paid €150 for it, but, yes, €100 is even better’ – which would result in your underselling the offer by €50. This would be a serious loss in potential revenue, just for asking a question sub-optimally.

Their answer will most likely be different if it’s their task to think about a number first. Also, if you suggest a number to them, you will bias their expectations. The person might have thought it was worth only €50 and been too embarrassed to tell you that they don’t quite see how the extra €50 could be justified. They might say, ‘Yes, I was thinking about the same myself ’, but, upon seeing the price in a shop, would actually drop it quickly and move away.

3. What would you change?

Translation: have I actually understood what the market needs or wants? Can you suggest ways that I could add value? What are your barriers to buying this product (and how can I overcome them)?

Do not say, ‘Would you change anything?’ It’s easy to give an inert answer of ‘No, I wouldn’t.’ Create an environment in which they feel free to criticize. Invite the person to really think about what would make them buy. If you ask them ‘What would you change’, they’ll be more likely to point out a negative.

4. Would you prefer to use a competitor’s product and, if so, why?

Translation: how do I compare against the competition? What do they have that I don’t? What don’t they have that I do? If my product is set beside that of my competition, what would draw you to either of us? What elements differentiate the two?

Do not say, ‘You wouldn’t be bothered with anything else now, sure you wouldn’t [insert nervous laughter]?’ Again, remember that if somebody picks up your product from a shelf and then that of the competition, they are mentally comparing the two anyway.

From chapter 9 of The Savvy Guide to Making More Money .

Positive Economist

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Portfolio Career: Is management ready for the “liquid workforce”?

Thu, 20 Apr 2017 10:08:00 GMT

More and more workers choose a portfolio career:

do managers know how to lead them?

This article originally appeared in the April 2017 issue of London Business Matters by Susan HayesCulleton , the London Chamber of Commerce Magazine.

Businesses are rarely sustainable in a monopsony situation where they have only one client: more and more employees don’t want to be, either. They see that jobs are increasingly automated, in full or in part.

The remaining jobs are knowledge work requiring mental acuity, which waxes and wanes throughout the day, or depending on stress and other psychological factors – like happiness. A happy employee is a more productive, more creative employee, but increasingly, it seems that a happy employee isn’t an employee at all .

Is management ready to adapt its style to this “liquid workforce”?

Thinkers and luminaries have been heralding the end of the job since the 1980s. This trend has accelerated recently with the “Uberisation” of the work force. More and more people become “Uber entrepreneurs” and rely on the sharing economy for primary or supplemental income, using their assets (a spare room on AirBnB, skills on Skillshare) in order to complement their salary, or to replace it completely.

When a happy employee isn’t an employee at all, is management ready to adapt? @SusanHayes_
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Embracing the portfolio career out of choice

The media has been quick to point out the negatives, with attention-grabbing headlines about worker exploitation. However, it turns out that, for the most part, these independent workers love the flexibility and the ability to choose what projects they work on. Even employees in seemingly stable jobs are seriously thinking about quitting and striking out on their own.

A recent McKinsey report, Independent work: choice, necessity and the gig economy , puts the number of independent workers at 20 to 30 percent of the working-age population in the United States and the EU-15, or up to 162 million individuals. And it turns out that 70% are independent by choice, not necessity – and they are happier for it .

A portfolio career of several income streams

In other words, workers are embracing a portfolio career of several income streams combining full- or part-time work and independent work. Parents appreciate that flexible and remote work allows them to make their own schedule and manage caregiving commitments to children and aging relatives. For millennials, the portfolio career is the only career path they know as they tend to value experiences over possessions, access over ownership. Workers increasingly want to be able to choose interesting, stimulating projects and do their best work, instead of just “punching the clock”.

Workers want more than just to “punch the clock” @SusanHayes_
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The portfolio career is not a temporary fad

This is not just a passing trend: it’s a groundswell, and it’s here to stay. This evolution is the convergence of three factors: technology that now makes it easy and efficient to pair up workers and customers, or under-utilised assets and those who could use them.

Second, businesses have been cutting costs for years and applying “just-in-time” principles not just to stocks but to their workforce as well. After all, why hire a web designer full time, when you only need a full website redesign once in a while, with only light to moderate maintenance in between? It makes more sense to outsource it and focus on outputs, rather than simply time spent at work.

And finally, workers and employees are finding this new fluidity very much to their taste.

Portfolio career not a passing fad: people leaving stable employment out of choice. @SusanHayes_
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Portfolio career workers require a new management approach

The question is, what are managers doing to reflect this change in their practices? You don’t manage a casual worker who might be there just for this one project in the same way that you manage somebody who has been with you for three years and is on a full-time, permanent contract.

I see this disconnect every day in business: whenever I bring up the topic of training management to bring out the best in a liquid workforce , my suggestion is often met with perplexity. This is corroborated by the findings of Peter Johnston, founder and CEO of Lystable, a platform that allows businesses to manage their freelance workforce. Lystable noticed that only 1% of their users are in HR . This could mean that HR personnel are kept out of managing a sizeable and growing part of the workforce . But when a significant proportion or even most of the people who work for a company are on a short-term, freelance contract, what will HR do?

Bringing out the best in your liquid workforce: do you know how to do it? @SusanHayes_
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Portfolio career experts: hiring an elite squad of specialists

I recently interviewed Jo-Ann Feely of Alexander Mann Solutions , who confirmed that management practices are slow to catch up to these new working relationships . Independent workers aren’t gapfillers anymore : they’re the consummate professionals you deploy when you need niche expertise .

Managers in the future will need to source, cultivate and retain them, so that they can put together the best possible team at short notice whenever an important project comes up, requiring a lot of diverse, deep and narrow skills that the company does not need to hire on a permanent basis. More and more, in the words of Agile methodology, the task of a manager will be to hire “squads” of elite specialists .

Freelancers are the consummate specialists of your elite squad. @SusanHayes_
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Feedback is what portfolio careerists want

The expertise of these specialists comes at a price, and that price very seldom is money alone : they want flexibility, but they also want to make sure they are doing excellent work , as well as the ability to network with other professionals and hear about interesting opportunities. The independent workers of the future, careful to monitor their online reputation through reviews left by clients , will demand regular, precise feedback , whether praise or constructive criticism.

This, as well as information about opportunities, will be the new currency. Are managers ready to become curators of that content?

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International trade after Brexit: Susan talks about amazing opportunities at Dublin LEO

Fri, 07 Apr 2017 13:47:00 GMT

How do you create your own opportunities ?

Many Irish SMEs are uncertain at the moment on the topic of international trade after Brexit: will agreements have to be renegotiated? Will the whole picture shift? And how? It seems that it’s a time to “wait and see”. You should of course keep an ear on the ground and keep on top of developments, but you can definitely be proactive and get a headstart.

I gave this presentation on 9th March 2017 at the Dublin Local Enterprise Office , to talk about my extremely positive experience of leveraging the help of government organisations to turbo-boost the growth of my business.

Don’t leave money on the table

You can take active steps to reduce the uncertainty around your own success at international trade after Brexit. There are so many grants and funds that are left languishing – simply because people don’t know about them and don’t apply for them. They are there for the taking: watch the video below to hear how one email changed the growth curve of my business , brought me thousands of euros in funding and discounts , and put thousands of eager, experienced, highly skilled people at my service .

Irish businesses and SMEs are worried about international trade after Brexit. @SusanHayes_
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Watch the video to find out about the following:

How much does it cost to go international? The real price, in euros, will surprise you. @SusanHayes_
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Get free market intelligence by email once a week with this database. @SusanHayes_
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How I met 300 Irish people eager to help me the instant I landed in Dubai. @SusanHayes_
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Did you know your business problems are worth 5000 euros free money? @SusanHayes_
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How asking “why” will get you free business mentoring – after you’ve been rejected. @SusanHayes_
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The 100 Year Life: Plan for it, because it’s coming, and it’s here to stay – for a long time

Thu, 02 Mar 2017 09:21:00 GMT

Are you ready to live to 100 years old?

This was the subject of my presentation to Business in the Community Northern Ireland, as part of their “Age in the Workplace’ initiative.

A study recently published in the Lancet highlights optimistic projections for a rise in life expectancy in many industrialised countries.

(for more, scroll down for my video interview below)

According to the team of researchers, British women born in 2030 can expect to live to 85.3 years old, and British men born in 2030 can expect to live to 82.5. British women who will be 65 in 2030 can expect to live to be 88, and British men who will be 65 in 2030, to 86. As for the Irish, men and women born in 2030 could reach an average age of 84 and 87 respectively. In Ireland the current life expectancy is at 78 years for men and 83 for women.

As project leader Majid Ezzati said, we once thought there was a sort of natural lifespan, and that life expectancy beyond 90 was an impossibility. But he’s changed his mind: “I don’t believe we are anywhere near the upper limit of life expectancy – if there even is one,” he said.

Populations around the world are ageing, and we have known about this phenomenon for quite some time already. However, it is usually talked about in terms of hand-wringing over insufficient personal pension provisions, near-bankrupt state pension provisions and increased healthcare costs for the diseases and disabilities of old age.

But two professors from the London Business School, Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott, argue in their book (published June 2016) that living to be 100 is something we should be looking forward to – and definitely should be planning for.

I’m in full agreement! There are so many things we can do with those extra years: rounding our skillset, investing our experience in new ideas, having more time with loved ones, travelling to new places… The hundred-year life also represents an immense opportunity for businesses, both to create new products and services by really thinking through the consequences of the 100 year life, as well as selling more of their existing products to their existing customers for longer.

So, what’s your hundred-year plan?

Pensions, pensions, pensions

The first concern of course revolves around pensions. Governments are struggling to continue to provide the same level of state pension and many are proposing to raise official retirement age , or have already done so. In the UK, the official state pension age will rise to 66 between 2018 and 2020, to 67 between 2026 and 2028, and then to 68 between 2044 and 2046. People who are in their 20s today might not retire before they are 70.

Mind the Gap, a Deloitte report commissioned by Aviva, shows that the pension savings gap is growing: “across Europe as a whole the annual pension savings gap has now topped 2 trillion euros .”

This pension savings gap is the amount people need to save each year, to compensate the difference between the amount of state pension they will receive if they retire between 2017 and 2057, and the amount of money you need for an adequate standard of living: “For example in Ireland the average 30 year old needs to save an extra €5,100 a year and a 50 year old an extra €9,700 a year.”

The report estimates this savings gap as €365bn for the UK, and €28bn for Ireland, and makes it clear that raising retirement age would be one straightforward way of reducing that gap without placing an additional burden on state finances. In fact, raising retirement age by 10 years would almost halve it.

As Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott highlight in The 100-Year Life , “if you save 10% of your income and expect to retire with 50% of your working income, you will need to work into your 80s.”

Raising retirement age by 10 years could halve pension savings gap. @SusanHayes_
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So if you need to work longer, and you also need to save more in order to have a comfortable retirement, you would do well to take pension provisions in your own hands. (read more about pension provisions and why women need to stop sabotaging their future ).

First, calculate your state pension and see what personal savings gap you need to fill. You can do this via the Pensions Authority calculator in Ireland and this pensions calculator in the UK.You will need to set better financial goals , and also be aware of what returns you can expect on pension savings in a context of low interest rates .

What else can you do?

I am personally doing three key things and I would suggest you consider them also:

1. Really think about what you enjoy doing and how this can translate into workplace skills and advantage.

Ask yourself: “if I retired tomorrow, how would I choose to spend my time?” Craft a job description accordingly and brainstorm ways this might be possible. I’ve been doing this since the very beginning of my career and it has served me very well thus far. This makes good sense anyway, but if you’re going to be working for a decade longer than you might have previously thought, then it becomes even more important.

2. You can also think about additional income streams, especially from assets that you can leverage thanks to the sharing economy .

3. It’s crucial that you keep your skills up to date .

A generation ago, one might have studied for a degree and there wouldn’t have been any need for formal education for years and years thereafter. This is no longer the case. I take a formal course each year and pursue informal online learning every month to ensure relevancy.

The effects of an ageing population on the financial markets

Of course, the effects of ageing will have far-reaching impacts on financial markets . Ageing societies will usher in an era of saving, which should provide a tailwind for companies that help people plan, invest and save for retirement.

Fixed income and dividend-paying equities will probably benefit in this environment given both asset classes provide a regular income for retirees to use.

Additionally, the structural demand for longer-dated bonds from insurers and pension funds may limit the extent to which bond yields can rise in the future.

More and more people living to be 100 will have huge impact on financial markets. @SusanHayes_
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Older people enjoy work and don’t always long to retire

Older people are enjoying more active lives and choosing to work longer not always out of necessity, but simply because they can’t imagine retiring just yet. They’re having too much fun .

In the UK, the DRA, the Default Retirement Age, was scrapped in 2011, which means that employers cannot issue employees with forced retirement notices. This was hailed as a positive move by Age UK, a charity and advocacy group, who campaigned for its abolition. According to Age UK, “ The DRA gave older workers second-class employment rights and takes away their freedom to plan for retirement at a time when they need it most. Forcing people in later life out of the labour market when they want to work, save for their pensions and pay taxes is nonsense and it makes a mockery of the government’s attempts to extend working lives.”

This is a crucial social change: our perception of work as a “sentence” to be endured is changing. The idea that you have to grit your teeth through 40 years of a boring job, and wait until retirement to enjoy yourself , has less and less currency.

Don’t wait until you retire to have fun: many people work longer because they enjoy it. @SusanHayes_
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Especially if we are going to be working into our 70s and perhaps even our 80s, we need to create the conditions in which we love what we do because we do what we love. Then doing it won’t feel like a life sentence. Of course, interests change and the market demands different specialisms, so this requires dynamism on the part of the individual, both in terms of self-awareness as well as action to reflect that.

Lifelong learning: let go of the idea that age = stage

In 2014, numbers highlighted by UK skills minister Matthew Hancock showed that “more than 34,000 people aged over 50 have started an apprenticeship , with more than a third of them finding jobs in business, administration and law.”

In the above mentioned Irish Times article, there was one common point in all the profiles of these successful, enthusiastic people still enjoying work after 60 : retraining.

This corroborates what Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott say in their book: the idea that there are definite, rigid life stages corresponding to a certain age number will soon be outdated. “If you now work into your 70s or 80s in a rapidly changing job market, then maintaining productivity is no longer about brushing up on knowledge it is about setting time aside to make fundamental investments in re-learning and re-skilling.”

It used to be that, from your birth to your early 20s, you were in education. Then you worked, from your 20s until your (late) 60s. Then you retired. But the world of work is changing. With new technologies and innovations, employees are embracing lifelong learning and a more fluid career path. To keep up with the rate of innovation and to secure a long working future, we will all need to have not just a pension plan, but an education plan in place as well .

Life stages are not set, but becoming more fluid with ageing of population. @SusanHayes_
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Fortunately the world of education and CPD is changing, too: it is now possible to fit continued education into your already busy life thanks to quality online learning. And the ageing of the workforce will be a wonderful boon to companies: experienced employees who don’t want to retire can become coaches or mentors. This is a win-win arrangement, as older employees’ own lifelong learning needs can benefit from reverse mentoring .

Hopefully this will lead to more flexibility and empathy: if age doesn’t equal stage, then a young worker isn’t necessarily naïve and clumsy, and an older worker isn’t necessarily outdated. This will be a more fluid world where each person’s merits will be appreciated for themselves, and not rigidly linked to the age of the person.

The “Silver economy” as a business opportunity – for the over 50s, too

Such initiatives show the need to think in terms of innovation and initiative: longer lives are also a business opportunity, for companies catering to older people, and for older people themselves. I have written about this on the blog before , and more recent research points to the continuation and growth of the opportunity. A Bank of America Merrill Lynch report from 2014 estimates the silver economy at $15trillion by 2020 . According to this report, in the UK, households headed by someone aged 50+ have a net worth averaging £541,000.

Silver economy of smart ageing will be worth *$15tn* by 2020. @SusanHayes_
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On the side of companies who have older people as customers, we have seen how private pension providers will need to make sure they address the concerns of this demographic with investment vehicles like longer-dated bonds. Nursing and retirement homes as well as private home care providers will of course see an uptick in demand. But that’s not all: career change coaching for the over 50s and education providers also stand to benefit from the trend. Employers and coworkers will need to wake up to this potential if they haven’t already done so.

However, perhaps “adapting” to this older demographic will be easier than we think, since more and more entrepreneurs and employees will be over 50 themselves – they will know how to talk to this demographic because they are part of it. They will be the best placed to advise companies who need to overhaul their marketing strategy to reflect the ageing of the population.

Initiatives such as ISAX’s “mature entrepreneur” programme through their Ingenuity scheme are also bound to flourish. Ireland Smart Ageing Exchange is a network of businesses highlighting opportunities for over 50s, in several ways: for companies whose clients are the over 50s, but also for the over 50s themselves. With members and partners running the gamut from Nestlé and IBM to Dublin City Council, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, you can see how important players are taking the smart ageing economy very seriously – and we, businesses and citizens young and old, would do well to pay attention.

As we get ready for our own 100-year life, there are many steps we can take to make it pleasant and productive as late as possible.

Ironically, we will need to do the kind of things that many people prefer to leave until later: eat healthy, exercise, research pension schemes and investments, career changes, etc. We will have to take care of the “boring” but ultimately essential things that will guarantee a better, more prosperous and comfortable old age.

Increasingly, older age will not be a quiet, passive period in which we reminisce about our younger, more energetic years – and this is another ageist stereotype that will need to go.

To finish on a quote that I love: “Never give up on a dream because of the time it will take; for the time will pass anyway.” – and it seems there will be plenty of it!

The post The 100 Year Life: Plan for it, because it’s coming, and it’s here to stay – for a long time appeared first on "The Positive Economist" Financial - Economics - Fintech & Entrepreneurship Articles .

CETA What Does It Mean? Positive developments for businesses, professionals and employees – but not all

Wed, 01 Mar 2017 22:09:00 GMT

What is CETA, and what does it mean?

CETA, the “Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement”, is the new Canada – EU trade deal that has taken eight years to hammer out. It opens up many doors for Ireland to sell into this growing, culturally similar, developed country, and this was made possible by the trading clout of the European Union. It’s particularly welcome for small business, employees, the professions, exporting companies and those who believe international trade is good for our economic, political and social development. Let’s examine the deal in more detail.

What is CETA?

“CETA” stands for “Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement”. It is a free trade agreement between Canada and the EU. The European Parliament has voted to accept the deal with a wide margin of 408, 254 against and 33 abstentions. The next stage is to put forward this free trade agreement for ratification in all national parliaments.

What does CETA mean in practice?

CETA eliminates up to 99% of tariffs for business between the EU’s 508 million people and Canada’s 35 million citizens. According to the summary of results, based on 2009-2011 data , if CETA is fully implemented, EU exporters would save on average duty payments on industrial goods of €470 million annually; for Canada this figure would be €158 million.

However, one major peeve of CETA opponents is that, they say, the deal would lower and endanger European standards of consumer protection. The reality is CETA offers greater choice while upholding European standards, as only products and services that fully respect all EU regulations will be able to enter the EU market: the import regulations still stand.

“ The EU is Canada’s second biggest trading partner after the US and it is the fourth largest foreign investor in Europe. Overall, the EU economy has the potential to grow by about €12 billion a year, if CETA is fully implemented” says MEP Brian Hayes.

According to the European Commission , “Canada is a large market for Europe’s exports and a country rich in natural resources that Europe needs. CETA is also progressive. It goes beyond just removing customs duties, by taking people and the environment fully into account. By doing so, it’ll set a new global standard for future trade agreements.” Is everything wonderful then? Let’s examine the implications for Ireland.

What does CETA mean for Ireland?

Currently, Ireland sells €2.3 billion to Canada which includes € 880 million of goods and €1.4 billion of services per year. In trading with Canada, we have several advantages: we are native English speakers and enjoy close cultural ties with Canada, we have a good relationship with the U.S., their own largest trading neighbour, and we are their closest geographical neighbour within the EU.

Irish airports offer direct flights to Canada; we can also offer an existing, reliable enterprise and diplomacy infrastructure with Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Consulate. 400 Enterprise Ireland client companies currently export to Canada . Canadian companies operating in Ireland that are clients of IDA Ireland employ some 2,800 people across a range of sectors. This is reinforced by strong business networks, including Ireland Chamber of Commerce in Toronto , Ireland Canada Business Association and others.

The Irish Exporters Association agrees that Ireland has a lot to gain from CETA , emphasising that Ireland is the 5th largest recipient of FDI from Canada, with over 80 Canadian companies operating in the country, while over 50 Irish companies have invested in Canada. According to the IEA, “We estimate that when [CETA is] fully implemented we will see a 25% increase in trade with Canada .’’

What does CETA mean for SMEs?

CETA has mostly been represented as a tragedy for European citizens and enterprises, as if the only possible outcome of CETA was for European SMEs to be steamrolled out of existence by Canadian mega-corporations. This is a very skewed view of things.

In fact, the agreement will overwhelmingly benefit smaller companies who can least afford the cost of duplicate testing requirements, lengthy customs procedures and costly legal fees. Larger companies are more likely to have the resources to overcome these inconveniences. Small businesses however can save a lot of time and money with such a development. CETA would remove those issues and would open up Canada for European SMEs to expand their geographic reach and their client books.

Very importantly, CETA opens up Canadian public procurement to EU firms, to a greater extent than any of its other trading partners, in terms of both federal and municipal tenders (these being double the size of federal tenders). All of Canada’s public tenders would be published on a single procurement website – this would be a goldmine for enterprising EU businesses.

According to the EU Commission , “Access to information is one of the biggest obstacles for smaller companies in accessing international markets, so this will be a boon for smaller businesses in Europe.” On foot of all of the above, I would expect governments, industry bodies and chambers of commerce to start planning trade missions to Canada immediately on ratification of the agreement.

CETA will open up Canadian public procurement to EU firms. @SusanHayes_
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Finally, many EU companies today are deeply concerned about Brexit and fear the impact of potential tariffs , of a sterling decline and a declining economy when the break takes place. Similarly, as they read about Trump’s protectionist policies and economic reports of anemic European economies, SMEs are looking for alternative markets: CETA could prove a timely opportunity for diversification and growth.

Some opponents refer to an opinion issued by the EU suggesting that 90 million jobs are at risk . I’ve since sourced that document and here is the specific text:

Therefore the “90 million jobs” figure refers to all of the jobs created by SMEs across the EU . This refers to the fact that with more competition in the EU marketplace, there is going to be pressure on companies to compete in some areas. However, the reference to “North American transnational corporations” is slightly misleading: these companies already had the means, even before CETA, to overcome barriers to trade, due to their size. They opened subsidiaries in the EU and so SMEs will not be more threatened by them after CETA than they were before. Smaller Canadian companies will not necessarily be interested in expanding into Europe: a small café owner in Quebec isn’t going to open up a franchise of their business in rural Kilkenny due to CETA. Therefore, let’s take that 90 million figure for what it actually refers to: the total number of jobs in SMEs in the whole of Europe.

What does CETA mean for employees and professionals?

First and foremost, let’s bear in mind that SMEs represent 99% of all companies within the EU . SMEs employ two out of every three employees and produce 57c out of every €1 of value added in the EU . A better trade environment for SMEs is likely to lead to more sustainable enterprises and greater potential for employment, especially for those that choose to leverage the opportunities of this trade agreement.

There is another practical benefit, in that CETA would make it much easier for company staff and other professionals to work on the other side of the Atlantic, and for firms to move staff temporarily between the EU and Canada. According to the Irish Canadian Immigration Centre , 10,700 Irish people are welcomed to Canada each year on the IEC visa.

The CETA deal also establishes mutual recognition of professional qualifications in regulated professions such as architects, accountants and engineers. The relevant professional organisations in both the EU and Canada will have to collaborate to work out the technical details of recognition of their respective qualifications on the basis of the framework. The competent authorities in Canada and the EU will then approve their work and give it legal effect. As stories from Generation Emigration show , this lack of recognition for qualifications has until now been a real barrier to finding employment and settling into a new home (albeit a temporary one on the IEC working-holiday visa).

There are two other key issues above and beyond this. Canada has a lower unemployment rate (6.8%) than Ireland (7.1%) , so there is opportunity to pursue employment there, which the Irish have been doing for decades. Moreover, working internationally or within an FDI organisation that gives international experience also has a tremendous impact on one’s CV and, hence, one’s wages. These companies empower people with a wider skillset, greater frames of reference, secondments, digital communication tools for collaborating with teams in multiple jurisdictions, geographic arbitrage and global training. This enables the individual to command a premium salary in their next role and reinforces a positive message that will attract to Ireland other companies in search of talent.

Further, there have been concerns voiced about workers’ rights. I have three key issues to point out here:

Under CETA, EU labour rights and consumer protection laws still stand. @SusanHayes_
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What is negative listing?

Negative listing refers to the practice of excluding certain sectors and subsectors from CETA general provisions which open all sectors to foreign service suppliers under the same conditions as for domestic service suppliers. These specific sectors or subsectors are excluded by inscribing reservations for all measures which are considered to run counter to the Market Access and National Treatment principles. For example, poultry and eggs are excluded from CETA .

I think this is a much more efficient way of progress as the size, scope and complexity of the products and services which could be positively included in this deal could be infinite and grind the agreement to a halt.

What about the Investment Court System (an incarnation of ISDS)?

One of the most contentious issues within the CETA agreement is the Investment Court System. In effect, the Investment Court System is a mechanism that would give companies the right to sue governments in cases of abuse, misappropriation of assets, etc.

Some are worried that this might trigger the following scenario: if a country decides to implement new regulation that would be seen as beneficial to its citizens, but would prove harmful to business, companies that stand to suffer from these regulations would sue the government on the basis that their profits are being challenged, and such lawsuits would cost the taxpayers immense money and resources along the way.

For example, Philip Morris sued the Australian government regarding plain packaging in its national court (it lost its case) and then took it on through the Investor State Dispute Mechanism (and then lost again).

This is not new: Let’s really understand what this is about, in terms of the purpose of the mechanism, the provisions in the text for the scope of invoking ICS, past history of cases and what the sums of money involved really were.

The purpose of the ICS is that if an Irish company was to find itself in a position where it is being treated unfairly in Canada, then it has an international judicial mechanism to defend its position .

It’s important to point out the following direct points from the agreement:

There is a lot of emotion around this topic, so let’s examine the facts :

This type of mechanism has been around for a long time already. History has shown that it’s far more likely that an EU company will take a case against the Canadian government than vice versa. Remember that this is the right to sue, and the number of cases that are actually taken is quite small; the number of cases awarded to companies is lower again, with the monetary rewards resulting in a fraction of the amount claimed.

Also, let’s remember that companies can sue governments and governments can sue companies through the national courts. There have been details of tobacco companies suing Ireland and Ireland threatening to sue tobacco companies for years now.

All that said, criticisms of ISDS over the years have resulted in amendments to the system, including more transparent procedures, for example by opening up hearings and publishing documents submitted during cases. It has made crucial progress to prevent openings for abuses or excessive interpretations and creates an independent investment court system, consisting of a permanent tribunal and an appeal tribunal that will conduct dispute settlement proceedings in a transparent and impartial manner.

Investor-state settlement disputes provisions more transparent under CETA. @SusanHayes_
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According to the EU Commission’s consolidated explanation:

I don’t think it’s perfect by any means. However, I do believe that, for example, an Irish company should have a neutral platform to defend itself in an international setting if it was being treated unfairly.

Is CETA good for everybody then?

If only it was that simple! It’s a blindingly obvious point but it requires reiterating that this is a two-way street between Canada and the EU . As a result, we will see new offerings and businesses moving into the EU to pursue the benefits of this agreement: if EU companies can compete with Canadian companies on Canadian soil, the same is true for Canadian companies on EU soil.

One key sector that is worried is the Irish food and agri-sector . According to Bord Bia , “the food and agri-sector represents 7.6% of GVA (Gross Value Added), 12.3% exports and 8.6% of total employment”: it is a key contributor the economic, social, familial and physical fabric of rural Ireland.

Let’s focus on beef, a prized Irish export. According to Enterprise Ireland , “[on an annual basis] beef is, by far, the biggest category within the meat sector, accounting for 21% of food and drink exports from Ireland. Ireland is the fifth largest beef exporter in the world and the largest exporter of beef in Europe. Total beef production in Ireland stands at approximately 520,000 tonnes, with around 470,000 tonnes destined for export”.

As per ANNEX 2-A , there is a phased in schedule that allows Canada to increase the amount of Canadian beef to be sold into the EU market by 50,000 tonnes. Let me contextualize this by highlighting that the EU consumed 7,765 thousand tonnes of beef and veal meat in 2015 . 50,000 tonnes of Canadian beef equates to about 0.6% of total consumption . Further, there will be a rise of 0.4% of pork imports as a percentage of consumption, whereas poultry and eggs are excluded (see negative listing above). So there will be an increase of less than 1% for each of two Canadian meat products – these are very small figures. On the other hand, there are no caps on what amount of meat the EU can export to Canada.

However, the agri-food industry is understandably concerned about this as it could displace some of their existing EU market and apply downward pressure on prices. The Commission has completed a study on the impact of future trade agreements on the Irish agricultural sector. The outcome highlights broadly positive results, particularly for dairy and pig meat, but there are certain vulnerabilities for beef and rice.

There are mixed views from different agricultural representatives; Darragh McCullough wrote in The Independent : “While Meat Industry Ireland (MII) was convulsed in ‘extreme’ disappointment three years ago, this time they urged the pesky Wallonians to give way so that the deal could be signed”. He also noted that “the Irish Dairy Industry Association openly welcomed the prospect of a deal last week [late October 2016], while the normally hard-to-please IFA were reported to be “happy” with the agreement.”

Mairead McGuinness, MEP, who has long been a voice for Irish agriculture, voted for the agreement and Michael Creed, Minister for Agriculture, was quoted in the Farmers Journal as saying “The fundamental principle is that we need to trade. We need to get 90% of what we produce off the island.” The Irish agri-food sector’s reliance on exports means that “if we do not trade, that industry dies,” he added. “In principle, therefore, our starting position must be pro-trade, in favour of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, (…) and in favour of any other trade deal that, on balance, reflects our best interests.”

Of course, just like for SMEs, there are other markets to diversify into to circumvent challenges. Bord Bia estimates that the short- to medium-term opportunity for Irish beef in Japan is worth between €12 and €15m with potential for significant expansion beyond that over time… and the growth of beef imports into China is 20% per annum, with 75% of that going to the service industry. However, in an industry that is facing outzised challenges via Brexit, the overhang of legacy debt, pressure from factories and retailers on margins, this may prove scant comfort.

Overall, on balance, I believe that CETA offers some excellent opportunities to Ireland due to the nature of our existing relationship, language, social infrastructure etc. In particular, I’m heartened by the opening up of the procurement to EU companies and lifting of travel restrictions between the two areas. I think that small businesses who could previously ill-afford monetary and non-monetary tariffs are set to gain the most and I think it will serve Ireland particularly well to pour some collective government, business and international effort into making the best of the opportunity.

CETA: let’s pour some collective effort into making the best of it. @SusanHayes_
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My Time-Tested, Go-To 10 Tips To Be More Effective

Fri, 13 Jan 2017 17:32:00 GMT

If you could be more effective, how would that change your daily life? Would you feel more in control, less stressed? Would you feel more confident that you are getting the important things done?

Here are ten strategies to be more effective from my personal arsenal – they have stood me in great stead over the years.

What’s more, they’re a great starting point whenever I start feeling overwhelmed. I know that, if I have these ten down, then the rest will take care of itself.

1. Use a spreadsheet to hold yourself accountable

It is no mystery to those who know me that I loooove spreadsheets. They are a very effective and convenient tool to present information, so that you can have a wealth of details at your fingertips. It becomes so much easier to get the bird’s eye view, and as you can imagine, that is a crucial factor when you’re trying to be more effective.

Although spreadsheets are especially useful to keep track of numbers (especially when doing your accounts ) or business processes (like sales ), they can also be a simple personal development tool that allows you to log relevant information and check on your progress at regular intervals.

They are particularly great if you are suffering from “app fatigue”, constantly chasing after the latest and best digital tool: productivity apps are great, but sometimes nothing beats a simple tool that has stood the test of time. A minimalist, essentialist approach is exactly what you need to be more effective: less time spent on input, for a higher-quality output.

A spreadsheet is simply a double-entry table. As such, it can be used to track your goals. Write down a list of goals, one goal for each row for example, and then each column can be a date when you log your progress. You can log your progress weekly, monthly or quarterly, depending on your goal, or even daily if you are trying to ingrain a new habit.

Be more effective with a simple habits or goals spreadsheet

That’s it. Don’t underestimate the power of your own psychology: when you check on your spreadsheet, the simple sight of boxes to be filled in with milestones reached will be a powerful accountability mechanism.

Couple your accountability spreadsheet with another simple but understimated tool: your calendar , and you will be amazed at the power of such a simple system to increase your productivity and personal effectiveness. Use the calendar on your phone, for example, to set regular reminders to log information in your spreadsheet. Your calendar will help you choose timeframes in which to work on your goals .

Productivity Tip: Suffering from app fatigue? The simplest tools can be the most effective
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2. Understand and use effective metrics

If you are going to track progress using a spreadsheet, sooner or later you will run into the age-old conundrum: what metric should you use to accurately reflect your efforts?

You want a metric that gives you a good overview of your progress; you also want a metric that is under your control, and that is strict but fair: no hiding behind comfortable vagueness, but no beating yourself up, either. It’s a delicate balance to strike.

It’s important to know how many metrics you should use to measure one aspect of your goals. You want enough detail that you get an accurate reflection of reality, but not too much, so that you don’t get swamped in irrelevant tidbits. You also don’t want to spend your time tracking and logging data, instead of actually doing the work that will bring the real results: as they say, “you don’t fatten a pig by weighing it”.

It’s also good to measure the performance of anything according to both external factors, and factors that are truly under your control: you can’t necessarily control how many sales you make in a week, but you can control how many sales calls you make. It’s worth recording both – that’s how I know I make two sales on average for every three sales calls.

I am constantly refining the metrics I use to evaluate the performance of my business. For example, the metrics I use to gauge my sales process have evolved a lot as I have gained experience .

The main thing is that you start: choose the metrics that make the most sense to you right now , and adjust as you go along, to reflect what you learn along the way.

Always stay on top of your most important goals and commitments with these 10 systems.
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3. Write down an achievement every day

Speaking of which metric to log, make sure that you keep track of all the things that go well! Some people use a gratitude journal; others have an achievements journal as well. Every evening, I make sure to write down one thing I am proud of achieving that day. I log that event in red pen, so that the achievements are immediately visible when I leaf back through my diary.

This will give you a great lift on days when things are difficult or slow, and this little psychological pick-me-up can make a huge difference: it will motivate you to try one more thing , to keep at it just a little bit longer, to try again… It’s the accumulated effect of all these little efforts that will make your success: anything that can help you keep up your motivation and do just a little bit more is also guaranteed to help you be more effective!

4. Upskill yourself regularly

At least once a month, learn something new. You might find quick fixes on YouTube, or follow a more in-depth course or workshop, for example on Lynda.com.

Is there something that you don’t know how to do, but would like to? It’s good to keep a running list of skills that you would like to learn. It can be for hobbies or professional skills. For example, you could learn about networking, lead generation, sales conversion, data analytics, coaching, managing people who don’t report directly to you, productivity, negotiation, assertiveness, writing blog posts, fundraising, serving on a board and SO much more.

Start small with low stakes, or be ambitious and embark on a big course of learning: both are excellent to improve not just your career prospects, but your enjoyment of life in general. Take pride in your skills and enhance your creativity thanks to them. I am currently studying for a Masters in Executive Leadership, I previously studied hard to become a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) – and I also enjoy learning how to make new dishes in the kitchen. All widen my horizons and give me even more things to look forward to.

5. Take your free time very seriously

Be aware that resilience comes from recharging . Make sure you learn how to effectively switch off from work without guilt, and take precautions to guard your quality time, so that you are ready to be maximally effective when you do work. Remember the adage: “Work hard, play hard.”

There is an art to doing nothing properly. According to Prof. Manfred Kets De Vries , “Slacking off and setting aside regular periods of ‘doing nothing’ may be the best thing we can do to induce states of mind that nurture our imagination and improve our mental health.”

Free time should be spontaneous, certainly, but you need to make sure that, when you do have free time, you don’t fritter it away on activities that don’t really recharge your batteries. We’ve all been there: we look forward to a relaxing evening or week-end, but we’re so tired that we don’t quite know what we would REALLY like to do, and we end up watching bad TV or puttering around the house aimlessly. Then we’re disappointed that we didn’t recharge properly. That’s why you need to plan for free time. Make a list of activities that you know will allow you to relax deeply and that give you energy, and take this list seriously.

Does a walk in the park help you clear your head? Then in that case double-check that you have everything you need for this activity, where and when you need it: for example you might pack your trainers and possibly a rainjacket in the trunk of your car. Do you prefer to savour a cup of coffee while people-watching? Then plan your next relaxation session when your favourite coffee shop is open. Is reading a book more your thing? What kind of book? Do you have the kind of book you actually enjoy at hand?

Make sure that you prioritise restorative activities during your free time, and “know thyself” by knowing which activities do, in fact, restore your energy levels.

Are you truly good at doing nothing? It’s one of 10 secrets of personal effectiveness.
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6. Cultivate a relationship every day

Now that we’ve looked at personal systems, let’s have a look at your relationships with other people. As the proverb has it, “Alone, we go faster, but together, we go further.” It’s important to nurture relationships because we are social beings and we simply cannot succeed on our own.

So this is another thing that might be worth encapsulating in a metric to be tracked regularly. No, logging and tracking relationships goal is not sociopathic: you should log and track the things that are important to you and represent priorities, to hold yourself accountable. In the hustle and bustle of every day life, we can lose sight of these priorities – that’s why we need to make sure to make room not just for the urgent, but also for the important .

Relationships are crucially important in our lives, and taking them seriously means having an accountability mechanism. So take five minutes to help somebody . Make sure you follow up promptly , offering new contacts something of value. Nurture existing relationships by networking within your network . Remember that asking for help is also a great way to cultivate relationships – don’t forget to follow up and let the person know how you applied their advice, and to what effect (you might provide a valuable testimonial where relevant).

And give the gift of listening .

7. Go to a new networking event monthly

Meet new prospects, clients and suppliers and help synchronicity happen by networking regularly. Used wisely, networking is a magnificent tool to be more effective, grow your business and fast track your career harmoniously.

Speaking of metrics, the number of people you talk to at a networking event is not the right one! Networking is not about swooping down on a roomful of people and trying to fob off as many business cards as possible, as fast as possible. Go for quality over quantity, and savour the opportunity you get to discover new ideas, new perspectives and opportunities you would never have thought existed.

When you keep an open mind, networking is a tremendous help every time you are starting from scratch , in a new job or a new city or a new environment.

8. Learn to ask more effective questions

Networking is about open-ended conversations in order to build rapport. Open-ended, rambling conversations can suggest out-of-left-field ideas that will help you brainstorm original, innovative solutions.

Next to that, there is a place for laser-focused questions/answers and heightened critical thinking. By improving the style of your questions and by engineering the way you reply to questions, you can shorten meetings, avoid meandering exchanges that lead nowhere and never lose sight of the raison d’être of a conversation.

If you want to make your business conversations more effective, by getting right to the issue and keeping on topic, Precision Questioning is a tremendously helpful framework to learn. I attended a workshop at IIBN on this specific methodology and it is strikingly effective.

You learn to take each conversation through seven categories for more efficient and effective intellectual exchanges. The seven categories are:

When you examine your questions and answers through the prism of these categories, you will increase your preparedness and make every meeting count.

9. Read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

Let’s finish this catalogue with two tips to sustain inspiration. First of all, if you haven’t read it yet, read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People . If you have read it, re-read it. There is a reason this book has proved to be an enduring business classic. Its advice is as relevant today as when it was first published in 1989, almost 30 years ago.

Stephen Covey focuses on building character and aligning your business decisions with your moral compass. There is a strong ethical component to his advice. The book is the source of many concepts that have become mainstream today, like the abundance mindset vs. the scarcity mindset, looking for a win-win solution, etc.

You will be inspired and enlightened when you go back to the source of these ideas, and you will see that they are not just buzzwords, but deeply reflective concepts that will give you a renewed understanding of your career or your business. This is a “bedside table” book that you will want to refer to regularly.

10. If you have a long commute or spend a lot of time driving, listen to podcasts

Not all podcasts might be as enduring as Stephen Covey’s book, but they are a very effective way to discover new ideas, get inspiration, find new perspective and get out of a rut, should ever find yourself in one. The kind of meditative frame of mind you can find yourself in on a long drive is great to be exposed to and absorb new ideas.

I regularly listen to the Guardian’s podcasts , and of course I have my own podcast, the Savvy Women Podcast , in which I share my own success and productivity strategies, as well as interview the world-class professionals you’ve never heard of.

Personal effectiveness tip: engineer serendipity and expose yourself to new ideas often.
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There’s no better time than right now to implement these tips to be more effective, and I hope they will serve you as well as they have served me!

The post My Time-Tested, Go-To 10 Tips To Be More Effective appeared first on "The Positive Economist" Financial - Economics - Fintech & Entrepreneurship Articles .

Take five minutes: On your mark… Get Set… Tackle the Next Six Things!

Fri, 02 Dec 2016 19:57:00 GMT

How to be more productive: Take five minutes

In this series I want to encourage you to take just five minutes out of your busy day to set yourself up for bigger, better success.

People wonder how to be more productive and how they can make their dreams come true: very often, it’s a matter of working out a way of making a small dent in a big ambition , putting the right systems in place, and making sure that it’s easy for these systems to work.

I will share my own systems, so that you can test them and see whether they work for you.

If you want to share a five-minute system with my readers or give me feedback on how this is working for you, tweet me @SusanHayes_

Remember, it only takes five minutes, right now, to change the course of history – your history at least!

Focus on the Next Six Things

The following 5-minute strategy gives you laser-like focus and turns you into an unstoppable productivity machine . It works very well in conjunction with the “Important and Urgent” matrix: once you have established priorities with the matrix, the “Next Six Things” will narrow down your focus and give you an achievable (or “Attainable and Realistic” ) goal.

This technique is especially useful when you are flitting from one task to the next, not achieving much , because to-dos keep popping into your head and you’re not sure which one to prioritise.

To list the Next Six Things:

1. Take a look at your to-do list, or create a to-do list.

If you’re wondering how to be more productive, your first reaction might be to create a to-do list. Personally, I prefer to use a tool like Trello . Jot down all the things you have to do. It might be the things you need to do today, or the things you need to do for a certain project or just all of the tasks playing on your mind.

2. Choose six items that can be achieved in a certain timeframe.

For example you can use the “Next Six Things” to establish your to-do list for the day, or to engage in a two-hour productivity blitz. Give yourself a time limit . You will find that you often choose the most urgent things on your to-do list, because achieving those will give you an immediate sense of relief, achievement and control .

3. Remove unnecessary distractions (if possible or relevant, leave your phone in a drawer and switch off email notifications).

Tackle each item, one after the other, and take short breaks in between until you’ve worked down your list. Go go go! The power of this technique is that you don’t do anything else at all , until those six things are done. Outside of absolute emergencies, you apply laser-like focus to one thing after another.

It’s so tempting to just check your phone along the way, send out a tweet, look up a web site, etc. But if you do this properly, then you need to exert the self-discipline to avoid these distractions. In fact, I’ve found this exercise to illuminate clearly the answer to “where did the time go today?”

Every time you feel that little tug to look up from your work to just take a quick look at something else, be aware that this is exactly how a potentially great day ends up being disappointingly unproductive. You’ll be amazed to see just what can be done when you remove everything else.

4. Give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back and celebrate in style.

This step is absolutely essential and shouldn’t be overlooked!

5. While you are still riding the high of your productivity blitz,

you might list the Next Six Things you’ll tackle, in the next hour or the next day.

That’s it!

“Mmhh… But there are a lot more than six things

on my to-do list!”

That’s exactly why you need the “Next Six Things”! The “Next Six Things” temporarily narrows down your horizon to a limited number of things. This has the immediate effect of increasing your concentration by focusing your attention .

Suddenly your never-ending to-do list is reduced to six things you can achieve in the next hour or two or before the end of the day: everything becomes a lot more manageable when you break it down into chunks.

This gives you an exhilarating feeling of “I can totally nail this!” If you’ve heard me mention elephants and taking one bite at a time , you know what I mean…

Why should you do this exercise?

1. To create unstoppable momentum and focus your energy when it’s go time .

2. To whittle down your to-do list in a methodical way, especially when you want to chip away at a big, ambitious project for which you don’t know all the steps yet. Simply start by working on the steps you know , and the way will become clear as you make progress.

3. To stave off overwhelm and stress by narrowing your vision – imagine an Olympic athlete at the start line when they hear the words “On your mark…Get set…”: they squint, ready to pounce, and the adrenaline floods their system.

The post Take five minutes: On your mark… Get Set… Tackle the Next Six Things! appeared first on "The Positive Economist" Financial - Economics - Fintech & Entrepreneurship Articles .

How To Have More Energy At Work: Building Professional Resilience

Thu, 01 Dec 2016 10:45:00 GMT

A version of this article first appeared in Legal-Island ‘s Annual Review – (Ireland’s Employment Law Hub – the one-stop-shop for HR professionals) – (Author: Susan HayesCulleton)

How to have more energy at work: practicing resilience

A few weeks ago I managed a stand (consisting of myself and a colleague) at a consumer show. Anybody who has done this will know how mentally and physically exhausting it is .

When you’re behind a stand at an expo, you find yourself constantly interrupting people walking by, you run through your ten-second pitch a thousand times, you are rejected frequently and sometimes rudely, you have to deal with the tyre kickers, not to mention the pressure of needing to make it a success when you think of the vast amount of money that has been invested in the entire stand… all this for hours on end . To top it all, the show was taking place in the Dutch speaking area of Belgium… and I don’t speak Dutch. As you can imagine, I needed a lot of resilience that day.

Resilience is the capacity to mentally recover from draining experiences . When people say they are drained at the end of the day and they wish they had more energy at work, what they don’t know is that an understanding of resilience can help them build their resilience muscle and be more productive without the need to grit your teeth and tough it out .

Despite the amount of physical and mental energy we expended to run it, our stand came away with the best results of the entire exhibition. Did we simply charge on, stop everybody irrespective of their response and kept going “one more time” until the pain ended? No, it didn’t happen that way. Resilience can be learned and there is a method to the apparent madness. I would like to share my principles for improved resilience: why they work, and how they can be applied in a professional context to different individuals, teams or scenarios.

Resilience is not toughing it out: work on resilience to have more energy at work – @SusanHayes_
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What should you measure to increase resilience and have more energy at work?

I can’t point to any research, academic or industrial, to prove a neat return on investment into increased resilience. The soft skill of resilience doesn’t lend itself to such measures as “For every $1 invested in resilience, then $x flows to the bottom line.”

However, just because we can’t measure this with a spreadsheet or profit and loss statement doesn’t mean that the relationship isn’t there. According to Cal Newport, “such metrics fall into an opaque region resistant to easy measurement – a region I call metric black hole” (from Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World ).

Just because it can’t be measured easily doesn’t mean it won’t make a noticeable difference . During that day, our resilience and constant efforts led to greater sales, higher productivity, increased lead generation and an overall higher return on investment.

Additionally, on an opportunity cost basis, by having more energy at work we reduced the need for the company to spend money seeking out and pursuing other marketing channels. It didn’t require transporting, accommodating and paying “fresh bodies” to take on the challenge when both of us would have run out of steam, thereby reducing staff turnover.

Finally, it was important that, as the more experienced team member, I demonstrate leadership to my colleague: if resilience can be learned, it can also be taught (preferably by example) . There is an organised, efficient way of running a stand in such a scenario. As we worked alongside each other, my team mate was able to absorb my tacit knowledge and experience, building him up to do the same in my absence, and to subsequently demonstrate to others within the company how to do so. Enriching our bank of experiences also opens our minds to new challenges (“If I can survive this, then what else could I do and make a success of it?”)

Resilience: its impact is difficult to measure, but at work it can make all the difference. @SusanHayes_
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Does building resilience have an impact? And what impact? We can’t directly or accurately answer the question, but we can certainly ask if there is a need for improvement. In “Tough at the Top”, Sarah Bond and Dr Gillian Shapiro questioned 835 British employees about their sources of resilience. Fig 1. clearly shows that employees feel their employers soak up a lot of their resilience without offering the resources to build it up . Whether this is reality or perception is irrelevant: we must seek to invert the results of this graph.

Fig 1 – Where do people get their resilience from? “Tough at the Top”, Bond and Shapiro, 2014

More energy at work: where do people get their resilience?

More energy at work also means not wasting the energy you have

A look at the research and at workforce answers confirms three things: resilience is important to deal with challenges, today’s workplace requires a lot of resilience, and people generally want to have more resilience . Are we short on resilience?

Resilience is often associated with “grit”, the ability to keep at it even though it might require effort . Not giving up at the first hurdle, or the fifteenth, demands willpower, and willpower is also a function of energy. Research into the mechanisms of willpower has shown that it’s a resource that can be depleted , explaining for example why most diets are broken in the evening. If resilience is linked to willpower, then increasing and improving resilience also means not wasting it .

To have more energy at work, the first thing you must do in any challenging endeavour is to identify whether resilience is required at all, before dipping into your reserves .

Let’s go back to my stand in Belgium. It’s simply preposterous to think that everybody who walks in the door of the exhibition hall is going to make a beeline for our booth, begging to be marketed to. The fact that they paid to be admitted to the expo qualifies them as leads, self-selecting into a marketing funnel.

Let’s keep in mind that they’re handing money over to be entertained and informed. It’s our job to do that at the stand, but it’s important to realise that not everybody is going to engage with our “entertainment and information” in the way that we would hope. As a result, rejection throughout the day is close to guaranteed . I used to find this awful! You invite people to come over to your booth, take some flyers, sign up for a special offer, etc. and they might ignore you, smile politely and say “no thank you” or reply with a smart comment. All of which makes retreating to a chair, the bathroom or a coffee dock remarkably attractive. In that scenario, I used to switch on my resilience engine and just fight through it .

If resilience is linked to willpower, then increasing and improving resilience also means not wasting it – @SusanHayes_
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I now take a totally different approach . I observe the results of our invitations to engage: how many positive responses do we get, out of ten interactions, in the first 30 minutes? Taking into account lunchtime or other “seasonal factors”, I use this as a gauge to anticipate the amount of engagement we are going to get, in comparison to the rejections. From that point on, I see every non-engagement as a stepping stone towards the next “Oh yes, I would be delighted to learn more”. In my mind, it doesn’t make any sense to draw on resilience reserves when the outcome is quite mathematical .

Albert Eilis’ ‘ABCD’ model is well articulated in “ Building Resilience ” (Seligman, 2011):

The second thing to test in a professional scenario is whether the people in it are adequately trained and have access to adequate resources for the task . Rather than using resilience to find a way through an uncertain set of circumstances, we should ask whether they are prepared for the assignment . Do they know the sales techniques of inviting people to a stand? Are they clear on the call to action? Do they have the elements at hand to collect contact details, etc?

Similarly, when we say we are “tearing our hair out” trying to solve a problem, this is code for “using up vast quantities of resilience” . I have heard so many stories of people trying to make a budget balance or working out a simple calculation with several inputs, spending hours and hours looking for a solution. As an avid spreadsheet fan, my first reaction to their tale of woe is “Microsoft Excel could have saved you 99% of that bother”. If you want to have more energy at work, don’t be wasteful with resilience .

You would PREFER to have more energy at work

Notwithstanding the above solutions to leaving a resilience tank untouched, there are several times and places in our lives when we do need resilience and I’ve developed the following model, following the acronym PREFER. It is easily replicated and I invite you to try it.

P – Perspective

Our perspective on a situation often overrides the actual circumstances we’re presented with. In the famous words of Viktor E. Frankl, “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’.” We must ask ourselves why we are undertaking a given activity , how the outcome can be varied by the degree of our involvement and to what extent this meets our objective.

Managing the stand in Belgium corresponded to several goals. I trust immensely in the value proposition of the company, and I knew this was an opportunity to offer people who didn’t know about it the chance to actively benefit from its offerings. I knew the expo was a most worthwhile chance to meet the business goals I had set with this team for the year. It was also a real time opportunity to demonstrate leadership to my colleague – in the near future he will be managing the stand on his own and training junior staff. The event was packed with meaning!

R – Resourcefulness

A key tenet of resilience is being able to improvise quickly and effectively with what’s available right now . To brainstorm my way out of several business pickles over the years, I’ve used the GROW model to great effect. Start with asking “What’s the Goal that we have in mind?”; this should be easy to answer, based on the previous step of the PREFER template. Next, consider the Realities of the situation: what’s holding you back from achieving your goal. Separate those realities into the “circle of influence” (what you have control over and can change) and the “circle of concern” (external factors that influence your situation but that, ultimately, you don’t have control over), as defined by Stephen Covey . Now, consider the Opportunities you have to surmount any and all of these obstacles, before settling on a practical plan showing you the “Way Forward” .

On several occasions during that show, I needed to switch tactics . During quiet periods, I used the time to tweet and use social media to generate digital traffic. I also took that time to check in with my colleague, informally mentor, motivate and reassure him. During steady times, I offered our leaflets to people passing by the stand smiling silently and when they engaged, I brought them right across to my colleague, who speaks Dutch, so that my lack of language didn’t inhibit the process.

During conversations in English, I asked a question that invariably prevents an easy getaway, in the case of a cynical lead: “Where do you live?” Everybody at the show lived somewhere, but the question also had a practical purpose beyond keeping the interaction going: we have regional workshops all over the country. As a result, from “Where do you live” it was easy to segue into the call to action: “Would you like to put your name down for a local free educational event?”

E – Exercise

To have more energy at work, you need to work on having more energy in general . Your body can soldier on a lot further – it’s your mind that can trip up your efforts with doubts and second guesses. Exerting your body also strengthens your mind, which is one of the main reasons I work out. A healthy body is more likely to be productive and resilient. There is another hidden benefit to working out at the gym: every time I have felt like walking out of a demanding fitness class, I decided to hang on in there until the end instead. In effect, I chose to stay thanks to the same resilience techniques outlined in this model. I know my body can handle it; the gym instructors are trained in safe fitness and our anatomy is built for these activities. I use these opportunities to engage my mind and when my mental strength needs a boost, I encourage myself to follow the example of my body . An exercise class is a comparatively small commitment : even if my heart is racing, I know there is a clear endpoint in sight. As a result, it’s the ideal environment to strengthen your resilience muscle through regular training .

In Belgium, as I would in a typical workout, I took regular breaks , kept myself hydrated , had good sleep the night before and reminded myself regularly that I had the physical and mental capability to continue throughout the day, until the very end, so the only question would be my willingness. And as for my willingness, the answer to sustaining it lies in my perspective.

F – Focus

Focusing on one thing at a time is non-negotiable. Multi-tasking simply does not work : it can lead to a 40% loss in productivity and to a 10-point decrease in IQ . What’s more, heavy multi-taskers are actually less competent at multi-tasking than occasional multi-taskers: that’s something you can’t train for .

Its impact on resilience is even worse. Distractions create a breeding ground for procrastination. This can lead to pushing tasks out substantially, especially those tasks that do require resilience precisely because we find them challenging. Procrastination is multi-tasking in and of itself , since it triggers that nagging voice reminding us of what we should be doing: we are trying to do one thing (the distraction), while simultaneously thinking about the task we are not doing but should be, and trying to silence these thoughts.

All these drain our resources of willpower and ultimately resilience: resilience has much to do with our self-belief and with the confidence that we have what it takes to succeed, even in difficult conditions . Procrastination undermines that confidence: we have to ask for extensions on deadlines, which damage our reputation (especially in our own eyes), we end up delivering rushed work that is not up to standards, and we can’t fail to acknowledge that we wasted potentially productive time.

In Belgium, I switched off every other aspect of my businesses. I didn’t look at e-mail, I didn’t think about other marketing projects nor check in with other members of other teams. I simply focused on yielding the best results that I could, for the client, the company and my colleague. By focusing you reduce distractions: removing this huge drain on your mental resources will contribute to having more energy at work.

E – Emotional leverage points

In Deep Work, Cal Newport refers to “emotional leverage points” as a technical term for what we would generally call “seeking out the positives” . This is a very powerful resilience-building technique. This ability, far from being the stuff of fluffy motivational talk, is often a matter of survival. It becomes progressively more important the more challenging the situation becomes or the more people who are looking to you for leadership.

In Belgium, there was a plethora of positives! We were directly in front of our target market, our offering had enormous potential for them and we had the opportunity to meet with people who could become part of our commercial community. I learned mindfulness years ago and practice it all the time. I always enjoy being immersed in another culture, observing nuances and questioning my own assumptions. I thoroughly enjoy visiting Belgium, the immensely varied nature of what I do and meeting our clients in person. I simply needed to be mindful of the positive points throughout the day when I needed some resilience; I could use those positives to offset the doubts and negative thoughts triggered by stressful or challenging situations.

R – Recharge

In the words of Achor and Gielan , “Homeostasis is a fundamental biological concept describing the ability of the brain to continuously restore and sustain well-being.” True recovery is essential to homeostasis: without the ability to completely disconnect from work at times, we lose the ability to give it our all when we are at work . Some companies are even paying their staff a bonus to take a vacation. For example, AirBnB gives employees $500 of credit to use on trips to properties on their site on a quarterly basis. Others, like Baremetrics, enforce a rigid “minimum vacation policy” to make sure that their staff really do take at least 4 weeks off (compare this to the customary two weeks in the US). This time off gives your personnel the change to rejuvenate and come back to work with more energy, new ideas, higher productivity and with tip top resilience .

In Belgium, I ensured that we both had a solid lunch hour that was taken completely separate to the booth, and during predictably quiet periods when there was very little chance that either of us would need to be called back in an emergency. In addition, I soaked up some of that Belgian culture in the evenings to sample their cuisine, enjoy some fabulous local accommodation and a few relaxing early nights, so that I returned home soon into the week-end, to enjoy the work-life balance that I value so highly since it enables me to be ready for the next adventure.

Would you P.R.E.F.E.R. to have more energy at work? Here’s how – @SusanHayes_
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More energy, right to the end

At the end of the consumer trade show day, all of the other stands had cleared up and left. I took the last batch of flyers and stood at the exit. I smiled and bid farewell to everybody leaving – and ensured that each person had some of our branding in their hands before they left. My colleague and the organiser wondered how I could possibly be still standing, fresh and enthusiastic, after everybody else had walked away exhausted. My answer was that I PREFER my way of doing things !

The post How To Have More Energy At Work: Building Professional Resilience appeared first on "The Positive Economist" Financial - Economics - Fintech & Entrepreneurship Articles .

The Future Of Accountancy – The Next 90 Years

Wed, 02 Nov 2016 11:32:00 GMT

This article originally appeared in the June issue of CPA Ireland Magazine (Certified Public Accountants)

In the days of the uberisation of the workforce and the emergence of FinTech (financial services technology), does accountancy have a future? As with many things, of course it does – but perhaps not as we know it . Let me take you on a whistlestop tour of business and finance trends that you need to keep an eye on: more than threats, think of them as opportunities to thrive and flourish . This year CPA Ireland celebrates its 90th anniversary – here’s to the next 90 years!

Does accountancy have a future? As with many things, of course it does – but perhaps not as we know it
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Globally, there continues to be strong interest in pursuing accountancy-related career choices in response to a strong market. The total membership of the accountancy bodies has grown at a compound annual rate of 2.5% in the UK and ROI and 3.4% worldwide over the past five years, according to the Financial Reporting Council. However, let’s conduct a scenario analysis: if we become aware of assumptions and critically examine “the way we’ve always done things”, what transpires? Consider the status quo and think about the industry assumptions you hold. Now, think about what would happen, for better or for worse, if these assumptions no longer held true. For example:

What if the assumptions that underpin your whole profession no longer held true?
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Likelihood as well as Impact

The next step in an effective scenario analysis is to examine each assumption in terms of likelihood to change as well as impact. Let’s consider the first two assumptions: what if companies didn’t need accountants anymore? What if people who don’t use accountants today did so in the future? How might that happen?

What if people who don’t use accountants today did so in the future? How might that happen?
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A key trend making headlines currently is the “uberisation” of the workforce. In the last recession, more and more people became freelancers out of necessity to make a living after they were made redundant or couldn’t find a job. The internet, of course, had a crucial part in enabling that, as well as the glamour of the “digital nomad”; earning money remotely from a beach in Thailand and backpacking through Asia while using geoarbitrage to earn in a strong currency and spend in a weak one. A recent Ipsos Mori study confirmed that this “sharing economy” has provided five million Britons with paid work via Uber, AirBnb, Lyft etc. That same study evidenced that 42% respondents, equivalent to more than 18.5 million people, said they have used apps and online platforms to source taxi drivers, builders, designers and accountants.

Companies capitalise on the fact that hiring contractors, as opposed to employees, reduces the need for benefits and pension plans, and makes it easier to adapt to the requirements of projects in an agile fashion. Instead of having to hire at double pace in times of plenty, only to be confronted with a bloated payroll during leaner times, companies can adapt by only reaching out to those contractors they need, when they need them.

This only reflects the larger trends affecting the business world. As a teenager, I used to think that, in order to have a large company, a “real” business, I needed lots of inventory and lots of people to sell it, all housed on company premises on expensive real estate. Today, I run a small company with customers across three time zones, collaborate with partners, institutions and agencies; operate out of an incubation centre and lever technology for communication, management and operations. Think about this on a global scale. The world’s first accommodation provider in number of beds is neither Hilton nor Marriott. It’s AirBnB, with 2,000,000 listings. How many rooms does AirBnB actually own and service? Zero.

The future of your profession only reflects the larger trends affecting the business world.
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Corporate culture

Likewise, corporate culture is evolving towards the idea that contracting work isn’t just for temps, but can be suited to specialised, niche skills with high level execution. Similarly, companies clearly have to realize that today’s workforce loves variety. According to the Bureau for Labor Statistics in the US, the average 55-year-old spends on average 10 years at a job, while the average 25-year-old spends three. This means that employee retention becomes more difficult, but that talent today is more rounded, versatile and can leverage transferable skills. The world of “self-employment” appeals to all these attributes. In 2014, the World Bank measured that 17.3% of the total number of people employed in Ireland were self-employed. The recovery in some sectors and regions has seen since then has offered more opportunity for stable employment to involuntary freelancers who might want traditional paid working arrangements. However, the CSO notes the number of people in the “self employed (with no paid employees)” category was 215,000 in Q1 2013 and this has grown by 14,000 people within two years. In particular, as aforementioned online business models are tried, tested and embraced, people are finding ingenious ways of earning a living through a range of passive or semi-passive incomes rather than one job.

As a result, the rise of the self-employed is a factor that concerns accountancy firms on two counts: one, many companies have less people on the payroll (and they might not even have a payroll to begin with). These companies have less of a need to manage salaries, expenses, benefits and so on and so forth. Two, the emergent self-employed contractors, even though they are de facto businesses, have relatively simple accounts and can use existing accounting software to produce the vast majority of what they need.

The rise of the self-employed is a factor that concerns accountancy firms on two counts
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Automation and software proliferation

Let’s consider this trend of automation and software proliferation. Could there be a shift towards government-mandated, compulsory software that people and companies have to use in order to file their taxes? Take the example of banks: between the good old ATMs, internet banking and mobile apps, most people today don’t have any need for a physical retail presence. Banks offer incentives (like lower or no fees on certain types of current accounts) to encourage their customers out of the branch. Mortgage applications are handled through software where choices can’t be overridden by an employee. Most banking processes have been automated, making much human interaction obsolete.

Could the same happen to accountancy? Today many accountants process the data from their clients through cloud-based filing systems or through the CSV file produced by the customer’s CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system… Hence, bookkeeping offers little extra value and certainly isn’t a differentiating factor. Rather than be held back by the hassle of retrieving all of their paperwork from their existing accountant, all a client need do now is send a Dropbox folder invite to a new e-mail address. Therefore, this barrier to moving supplier has disappeared.

Many processes have been automated through software. Could the same happen to accountancy?
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Adapting to change

These wider trends don’t of course spell a demise of the accountant, but they do require adaptation. If bookkeeping and document production have taken back seats, what could take the front seat? To state the obvious, accountants have a wealth of business expertise. Accountants talk to companies all the time about their key KPIs: revenue, cashflow, profit, return on investment, capital expenditure etc. To their clients, they are an authoritative source of creative problem-solving ideas to optimise financial resources expertly.

Accountants are in a prime position

Accountancy firms are therefore in a prime position to offer real business insights into current sector-specific trends, innovative ways to reduce business costs, packaging products into marketable bundles, strategies to decrease debtor days, as well as ideas to engage with government agencies and comply with legal requirements. Also, as professional service providers, they often need to network extensively in a variety of different commercial circles and hence have an admirable book of contacts. They could routinely make introductions to clients that could lead to prospects, customers, partners, suppliers and a plethora of other business relationships. In other words, accountants are in an exclusive position to help their clients avoid costly mistakes and open new doors. These consultative offerings are not commoditisable, can’t be replaced by an algorithm, build rapport and retain clients into the long term.

The future of your profession lies in what is not commoditisable.
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So perhaps the industry needs to consider its very fundamental business model in the 90 years ahead. Rather than focus on meeting compliance requirements with pristinely prepared documents, consider that to be just the beginning of the service offered to every single client whereby the accountant themselves proactively seeks ways to deliver this as efficiently as possible. Design your own processes and procedures to make this happen, coach your clients to adhere to them and support them in making life as easy as possible for you. Now, add value through, for example, establishing a regular meeting schedule to discuss the finances of their business or businesses, underscoring strategy and holding the promoters accountable? One objection is that it takes time. The solution is to create a suite of new packages to reflect varying degrees of this high-value, bespoke service your clients are getting, while at the same time automating the production of accounts to free up resources. In this scenario, not only are you less affected, by the commoditisation of accounts, but you are actively leveraging a trend that could otherwise be a threat.

Uberisation

The uberisation of the workforce is another opportunity. Many people create some small sources of income through selling goods on Etsy, turning spare time into money using TaskRabbit and collecting money from influencer marketing campaigns and social media endorsements of products on Clickbank. They have every intention of continuing, but don’t see themselves as sole traders and are totally unaware of the taxation implications of this “few euro here and there”. These people could be small clients for a long time and have set the foundation to turn these income streams into a company further down the road which plumps your sales pipeline.

Alternatively, accountants can diversify into the training space offering workshops to navigate self-employed accounts, learn the basics of business finance, and the rights and responsibilities of sole traders. You can bring in guest speakers for budget briefings, sectoral economic outlooks etc. Newly minted freelancers might not have the money to pay for personalised services (yet), and might not need their accounts looked over by an accountant (yet), but there are many ways in which accountancy firms can help them and benefit from helping them: for example as a consultancy company getting on the preferred supplier list of Local Enterprise Officess, Enterprise Ireland, InterTradeIreland, etc.

The way in which we work is undergoing momentous change. It’s unrecognisable from 90 years ago and is set to go through a metamorphosis in the years ahead. Unless strategic thinking, innovation and fast iteration are ingrained in your habits and usual processes, “business as usual” will now more than ever, simply not do as a philosophy, but opportunity, if you chose to embrace it, is abundant.

This article originally appeared in the June issue of CPA Ireland Magazine.

The post The Future Of Accountancy – The Next 90 Years appeared first on "The Positive Economist" Financial - Economics - Fintech & Entrepreneurship Articles .

11 Steps To Create Your Own Opportunities

Mon, 24 Oct 2016 18:33:00 GMT

How to create your own opportunities

2016 so far has been a year of surprises. Comfortable assumptions have been sharply called into question and as a result we are all looking for clarity to navigate this landscape of uncertainty.

This is certainly a theme with event organisers who have contacted me recently: they can’t quite put their finger on what they want me to speak about, but I get questions along the lines of “Can you tell people something that they haven’t heard before ? Where could they find something that they’re not seeing? What could they do that they haven’t tried before ? Something that will make a difference, given them a new insight and perspective? Maybe something they could do to finish the year with a bang or strategise for 2017 ? ”

Other people, particularly in Northern Ireland, are saying to me “ We have to think really differently now given new uncertainties and blurred parameters. What do you suggest? ”

Create your own opportunities by taking action

When calculating a course of action, we often wait to see in which direction the wind is blowing, and we weigh up our options and our risks. In the face of uncertainty however, you can’t wait for outside events to follow their accustomed course. That’s why the earlier you act, the better .

So here are eleven action steps that spell new O.P.P.O.R.T.U.N.I.T.Y!

Reading now: 11 tips to create your own opportunities in the face of uncertainty
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I was invited to speak on this topic at Dublin City University and Darragh Power was in the audience. Look at the amazing sketchnotes he created – they are an incredible visual representation of the post you are reading! Follow him on Twitter @darraghpower .

11 steps to create your own opportunities – Susan HayesCulleton – Sketchnotes by Darragh Power

O – Observe trends

Creating your own opportunities has a lot to do with keeping your eyes open for new developments in the world and in your industry .

Mary Bradley from Pat’s Pizza once told me that she and her husband went on a 25 year wedding anniversary trip to Rome. There, they noticed that the Italians were selling pizza by the slice. As soon as they were back, they tried this out in their shop in Letterkenny. It proved to be a highly profitable move!

A very long time ago I was a member of the NUI Galway Bizsoc (the “Business Society”). Brody Sweeney came to speak to us and mentioned that he had observed people in America walking down the street with cups of coffee . Who would ever have thought such a thing? The trend hadn’t caught on in Ireland yet. He introduced the concept of take-away coffee into O’Brien’s Sandwich Bars to great effect.

Keep your eyes peeled for opportunities: Brody Sweeney noticed Americans getting take away coffee and followed suit.
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In New York a few years ago, while participating in the IIBN New York conference, I noticed new brands of fast food restaurants offering healthy convenience meals. Now, in the middle of continuing concerns about fast food and junk food leading to obesity , I notice CHOPPED and Lovin’ Salads are enjoying huge popularity at the moment, by offering gorgeous salads.

Take every opportunity you can to look around what other countries, industries and companies are doing: it can reveal simple, novel insights that could turn out to be most profitable . Magazines are always reporting on the latest trends: find inspiration by downloading free copies of business-oriented in-flight magazines like British Airways’ Business Life magazine, or reading up on the Harvard Business Review website for high quality, in-depth articles; podcasts like the Guardian’s are also a great source of innovative ideas.

P – Put Yourself Forward for a Board Position

Many people who have been in their careers for a while wonder how they can compete against younger counterparts who have more energy and time than they do. Yet they have a growing asset on their side: experience . If you want to gain exposure to new places, people, processes, ideas and opportunities, consider putting yourself forward for a board position .

There are several types of boards, including voluntary organisations (like government agencies – IIBN Irish International Business Network (Join Us) – I have sat on their board for the past four years) . Government agencies in particular hold paying positions across the country that require well-rounded experience. Boards often struggle with a dearth of women: if as a woman you’re wondering how to progress and remain relevant, joining a board could be the way forward.

To prepare for your new role and take this to another level, you could take the Chartered Director programme at Institute of Directors and/or you could apply to be on the board in another jurisdiction, like Northern Ireland .

How to create your own opportunities: put yourself forward for a board position.
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P – Purchase a Business – Your Business!

Many people look at me in surprise when I say this, but let me clarify! If a super opportunity came along and somebody was to walk up to you and offer you €100,000 more than you would have asked for your business, would it be ready to sell? If you run your business as if you were preparing for a sale, you would create processes and procedures that would make it run more smoothly , you would build in retainers with your best clients, you would document important information, protect your intellectual property and so on. Create your own opportunities by thinking about your business from the perspective of a potential buyer : it could be just what you need to think bigger and better.

Run your business as if you were preparing for a sale: create processes and procedures to make it run more smoothly
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Look at sites like irishinvestmentnetwork.ie , businessesforsale.ie and sellthebusiness.ie to see how other people position their companies so that buyers might be interested in buying them outright , taking a franchise or investing in some equity. Then, call a business broker and ask them what you would need to do to prepare to sell your business (this has a significant lead time) and put the practices they recommend into effect. At the minimum, you will have a better functioning business and at a maximum, you could greatly increase the number on the cheque when you are finally ready to sell your polished asset .

O – Offer to Write

I’ve been very fortunate to participate in a plethora of radio and TV interviews . They offer huge exposure, superb networking and give you immense experience. However, they are usually a few minutes long at the most: if you make a mistake or don’t deliver to your full potential, you can’t wind back the clock. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

Writing for an audience is a totally different experience. You can brainstorm ideas, think through what you’re going to say, write freeform, edit and then, once you have honed your message, convey it to an audience in your, and their, own time. You are not beholden to the programme’s running time.

Writing will create even more opportunities when you can do it for a new audience and engage with a whole new set of people. For example, I’ve recently written for CPA Ireland on the future of accountancy and was able to interact with readers on the social media platforms of the organisations I wrote for. Think about a new group of people that you want to reach out to : consider in detail what they read and who publishes it. Find the contact details of the editor at a relevant publication and send a short, concise e-mail offering to put together an article that would add value to their print or online publication. Remember that they often have space to fill and they might welcome your e-mail with open arms. On the other hand, the worst they can say is no and then you simply move on to another.

You can then take these pieces and use them as ways to follow up with people in your network by reminding them of conversations you’ve had recently , you can include the articles in a newsletter and use them to boost your own social media profile. It’s a win/win all round!

R – Read a Biography

I’m fortunate that I travel a huge amount for the company ; as a result I often find myself staying in foreign hotels with few TV channels I can understand. To wind down after a busy day, I watch documentaries on YouTube: there is a seemingly infinite supply of very good productions, giving insights into different historical characters, geographic cultures, business successes and failures. As the saying goes, “History doesn’t repeat itself, it rhymes”: viewing original footage of a historical event or seeing an event that made the news, or even an event of your own country’s history, through the lens of a film director’s special sensibility can yield amazing insights. It often makes me question my own assumptions, highlighting the biased lens that we all wear when getting second or third-hand information.

At the moment, I’m reading My Vision: Challenges in the Race for Excellence by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. It’s fascinating to spend some time in the mind of one of the world’s most respected visionaries. As the Chinese proverb says, “If you want to know the road ahead, ask those coming back” . Reading biographies and watching documentaries have certainly made me a better economist, trainer and business person. They give me case studies, they show me how people created their own opportunities, they give me nuggets of knowledge and a rich benchmark when looking at the world today.

T – Trade Missions

At the time of writing, HayesCulleton is six years old and I have attended a trade mission every year since the creation of the business. I have participated in inbound and outbound missions to Malta , Manchester, London , Brussels, San Jose and now the United Arab Emirates. I have gone for several reasons: to open up new trading paths , to make connections all over the world, to gain an inside track on the local economic situation and financial markets developments, to network with the other participants , but always in a spirit of being open to serendipity and new opportunities.

I’ve just returned from a trip to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah in September with London Chamber of Commerc e. It certainly gave me all of the above and lots more. Dubai is fascinatingly complex under the surface; by going right into the heart of the business community I was able to experience the “real deal”. The business environment is so different from Europe: there are zero corporation taxes, the working week begins on a Sunday, the Emirati population comprises only 15% of the general population, and so many more mind-boggling insights. If you’re interested in going abroad on a mission of this nature, reach out to Enterprise Ireland, Enterprise Europe Network, your local larger Chamber of Commerce, etc.

Because it is in the interest of governments to develop international trade links, many of these events are heavily subsidized and can be very cost-effective, so check out some opportunities and launch right in!

U – Understand the world of your client

Sometimes, we sit in our offices trying to brainstorm new products and services for our customers, writing marketing copy and only then testing these out on the market. This approach is good, but the opposite one is just as effective, if not more. I have often sat opposite a client and simply been interested to hear about how their business is going . I’ve gleaned the most interesting observations as I was simultaneously thinking of ways my company could help my client solve their business problems .

It has happened more than once that I discovered during such an open-ended conversation that the reason they buy from us is not what I thought it was . For example I used to think that people hired me because of my strong technical knowledge of financial markets. But very often that’s only part of the picture: the client actually needs somebody who can facilitate a panel discussion, manage the energy in the room or bring out the best in interviewees .

Listening to my clients has also provided me with ideas for totally new products and service offerings to match a rising interest in a specific area, like Exchange Trading Funds (ETFs). As a direct result of that I developed an intensive training on the subject.

How to create your own opportunities: listen and learn what is going on in your client’s world
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On one such occasion, I found out that a business contact wanted to partner with somebody to finally manifest an idea that had been in their mind for years: that’s how #SavvyTeenAcademy came about!

Set a goal of regularly meeting with a client or with a vocal representative of your customer group, simply with a view to learning what’s going on in their world. If you don’t end up increasing new business, brainstorming a new product or service or retaining that customer, then at least you will have an enjoyable hour over a scone!

N – Newsletter

Sending out a newsletter enables you to keep in touch with clients and remind your customers, leads and contacts of what you do and how you do it. There are a number of things that you need to do to boost your chances of success with a newsletter, and the return on investment is phenomenal: my newsletter is my marketing channel of choice .

I send out my newsletter once a month and it often prompts people to get in touch and say “I was just thinking of you the other day and meant to contact you. Your newsletter made me actually go and do it.”

In the intro to the newsletter, I always mention where I deliver training and the locations of my speaking events. As a result people will often contact me, saying “I believe that you’re in (specific city) next week – it would be great to catch up while you’re there”.

It is also an effective direct marketing strategy: it has happened that a company or organization has called us to deliver speaking or training on a subject that they read about in the newsletter.

As you can see sending out a newsletter makes a lot of business sense. I also treasure those responses that people wrote simply to say “I was having a tough day and your article about recovering from failure or the fear of success was just what I needed to read.”

I – International Conferences

I have had some of the best experiences at international conferences: from learning about next generation technology, to becoming familiar with new apps (like Trello and Slack) , to intensifying my learning curve, developing relationships with different organisations, meeting amazing people, seeing wonderful cities, buying truly innovative business solutions – and thoroughly opening my mind.

At the Money Show in New York in 2011, I met our biggest client , VectorVest . After the Learning Solutions Conference in Orlando, we developed our webinar offering. After DevLearn in Las Vegas, we developed our eLearning offering. Following a visit to Boston College, I met Barbara Messing, CMO, TripAdvisor and I subsequently interviewed her for the Savvy Women podcast series . After the IIBN Conference in London in 2012, we soft-launched into the UK. I could go on and on!

If you have the right strategies to maximise the ROI of such events and you want to look for new ideas, check out the Financial Times Live events , Eventbrite and if you’re part of an industry organization, check out their international conferences.

T – Toastmasters

According to an oft-quoted statistic, more people are afraid of speaking in public than are afraid of death. If you’re one of them, there are many ways that you can overcome your fear of public speaking to unlock a myriad of new business opportunities.

Check out the superb organization that is Toastmasters. You will be able to cultivate your public speaking skills (everybody has them!) in an encouraging, constructive, supportive environment. Their credo is that “by regularly giving speeches, gaining feedback, leading teams and guiding others to achieve their goals in a supportive atmosphere, leaders emerge from the Toastmasters program”. They have local chapters and events in towns and villages all over the country and you can find a group near you very quickly .

If you’re willing to step onto the stage, there is a whole host of industry, commerce, local, regional and national events looking for speakers on various topics. I recently met the person behind Speakific , “Where event organisers and speakers connect”. You might consider putting yourself forward on that platform – who knows what opportunity might come knocking!

Y – Yes!

Say yes! Follow the lead of Richard Branson: “If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later!” All the previous steps were about creating the environment to foster and welcome opportunity . When your own opportunity comes knocking, don’t be shy! You need to accept it. Say Yes!

Richard Branson: If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later!
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One day five years ago I got a call from Penguin Ireland asking whether I would write a book. This marked the beginning of The Savvy Woman’s Guide to Financial Freedom . Even though I hadn’t a very clear idea about how to write a book, I said yes immediately. I was fired up to share what I knew about personal finance with my future readers, and I decided that what I didn’t know, I could learn. I have countless examples of saying yes and figuring it out later and I hope you will have more and more as time goes on!

The post 11 Steps To Create Your Own Opportunities appeared first on "The Positive Economist" Financial - Economics - Fintech & Entrepreneurship Articles .

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