Bitcoin: The Emperor's new currency?

08 September 2017

This week I have been amazed at the amount of people who have asked me about Bitcoin. “Are you involved?”; “Would you be a Bitcoin miner?”; “What’s a good wallet for Bitcoin?”. Entirely out of the blue I think I’ve had about 5 different unconnected conversations with people suddenly showing an interest in the cyber-currency. But why now? And why at all?

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Recruitment Processes: The human touch

21 July 2017

As part of the expansion of Embedded, I have been looking at responding to adverts for consulting projects through recruitment job boards / posts on specialist consulting websites.  Clearly this is a completely different venture to the word of mouth references I’ve enjoyed so far, but you can’t rely on your mates all the time….

I’ve signed up to a number of services, and entered a profile.  Being a people based search process, you need a CV which I have duly completed and have been submitting with little to no results.  When you look at the volumes of applications there is clearly no surprise there.  So, in the interest of understanding how best to succeed, I engaged with an agency that specialises in CV writing to understand how the whole process works.  It’s quite depressing.

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5 Steps to bridge the 'Chasm of Disappointment'

01 August 2017

The relationship between what a client wants, and what a supplier delivers, is a complex one. It’s a bit like teenage dating. At the start, it’s all quite exciting with seductive looks across the board room. Then it gets to the point where some sort of commitment needs to be made, and things become a bit more focused. Order placement is usually done in the back of a car somewhere, then there is a period of adjustment whilst dynamics change because of this new relationship. This article should not be used as a judgement on my teenage dating approach.

Realistically though, the process of supplier engagement should be simple. Client knows what they want, articulates it – supplier confirms they can deliver, and they deliver it. However, the most frequent problem I am invited in to look at is ensuring that this process works smoothly, or to mop up the consequences once in contract. How hard can it be?

So rather than sell everyone full fat consulting rates; (why would I want to do that?), I thought it would be nice to share 5 simple things that clients can do to avoid the post contract miff moment. There is nothing worse than buying a new toy, and hating it within the first few days.

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3 things that will stop cold callers from getting the cold shoulder

12 July 2017

I have never been a telemarketing person. I have utmost respect for people who do it as the constant rejection must play with your mind somehow. I have however, been targeted by telemarketers to try and sell me all sorts of stuff, most of which has been utterly irrelevant to my business. In response to this maddening diatribe and to vent my increasing frustration, a straightforward guide would be useful to suggest some quick and easy “before the call steps” that clearly many of the cold callers of the world don’t bother doing.

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