Preparing for the Future: Strategies for Building a Resilient Toolkit
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:
๐ฉ๐ผ 2/3 of people who work in the State are employed by an SME.
๐จ๐ 12% of people engage in lifelong learning in Ireland (and that is half the rate in Sweden).
๐ค 9/10 people want to learn a new skill in the near future.
๐ There is a plethora of state funded supports available for businesses and the Supporting SME tool (https://lnkd.in/ej62FaES) can help navigate.
Finance
๐ธ Ask yourself where your last ten sales came from and whether your marketing efforts are being invested wisely based on this snapshot.
๐ข 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?
๐ฅ
What are your financial goals (in relation to revenue, profit, cashflow, marketing budgets, product lines and/or scale)?
Sustainability
๐ Sustainability offers the opportunity to be a differentiator in the market with customers, staff, stakeholders and senior management.
๐จ๐ฉ๐ง It's important for intergenerational justice and can set the stage for businesses to become more lean, efficient and environmentally effective.
๐ด "It's hard to go green when you're in the read" and there must be consideration given that sustainability costs money.
๐ค Communicate internally and tell your story with your industry, society and the world.
Resilience:
๐ฃ A team needs clarity in its communication, trust, integrity and a leader who understands their role.
๐ Resilience is about "bounce back ability" as well as the ability to deal with change.
๐ญ People with purpose don't do drama. They remember who they area and why they're there.
๐ฏ What is your "mistake culture" and do you give yourself the same leeway?
๐ Be open, honest and get stuck in!
๐ฑโ๏ธ 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.
