Wishing you all a year of peace, health, happiness, fearlessness, focus and success.
Sincerely
Suzanne
Blogger and co-founder
Sincerely
Suzanne
Blogger and co-founder
Monday, 31 December 2012
Thursday, 20 December 2012
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
Saturday, 15 December 2012
Friday, 7 December 2012
Friday, 23 November 2012
The entrepreneur chooses a winner
Entrepreneur LouLou Khazen Baz won with Nabbesh, an inspired skill sharing business supporting women, youth and SMEs.
http://www.nabbesh.com/
Congrats on the win. Lou Lou received 2 million UAE dirhams to develop her business further.
Thursday, 22 November 2012
Monday, 19 November 2012
Why the Entrepreneurship Revolution is Critical for the Arab World
By 2020 over 100 million job seekers will have entered the job market in the Arab World. This, according to some sources, is from an overall population of just 372 million. The strain this population bubble is already placing on the job market and resources is unprecedented in the Region.
How will the impending skyrocketing jobless rate for youth impact the stability and daily life within the region? The recent shortage of youth jobs has already been sited as part of the fire which fuelled the Arab Spring. The sheer numbers of placements needed are no longer manageable by adding more government jobs. The dream of a government job for life has been eroded for most.
That leaves only the creation of new jobs. Investors to build organisations may be part of the solution when areas of the region cool down, but no solution alone is likely to reach the scale of new jobs needed. Entrepreneurship is becoming survival.
With technology, inexpensive communication interconnectivity and access to knowledge, skills and learning, exporting knowledge based solutions has become possible and is happening.
While at the International Startup Festival in Montreal this summer, a Startup CEO of an online marriage counselling site asked me how to hire programmers and coders from Palestine. Why Palestine? The nature of our dialogue didn't allow me to delve deeper, however the interaction brings focus on a small wedge of the pie of possibility.
The ecosystem of entrepreneurship is weak in the region. A majority of business success has historically revolved around trading, and importing.
It's time for local and resident entrepreneurs to focus their energies on developing exportable knowledge based services and homegrown solutions which fit their community's cultures, lifestyles and unique problem sets. Easier said than done with complicated bureaucracy, a distinct lack of mentors and a culture of interfering investors and a business culture which doesn't make an exit part of the plan let alone a strategy.
But think about the realm of the possibilities. We write future history through our actions today. It's time to get to work and be part of the entrepreneurship revolution.
Sunday, 18 November 2012
SEO and the ICEMAN are Dead
SEO is Dead from Douglas Karr
Douglas Karr shares insite into Google's new SEO approach on the slides above.
Finally - a new discovery... as if we didn't know.
People don't like to read intrusive, uninvited advertising. Content created for SEO is uninteresting.
Stories should be created for the reader/listener/viewer.
Back to basics; let's communicate in a natural way. Captivating, relevant content re-rules!
My guidelines for successful content:
Douglas Karr shares insite into Google's new SEO approach on the slides above.
Finally - a new discovery... as if we didn't know.
People don't like to read intrusive, uninvited advertising. Content created for SEO is uninteresting.
Stories should be created for the reader/listener/viewer.
Back to basics; let's communicate in a natural way. Captivating, relevant content re-rules!
My guidelines for successful content:
- Keep it real
- Be authentic, be human
- Be you - you are interesting!
- Be relevant to your intended audience
- Don't try to sell - all those guys who told you they could sell ice to eskimos... where are they now? Did they create a global ICE e-commerce business yet?
Don't die with the Iceman and SEO. Keep on keepin' on with interesting conversation.
Saturday, 17 November 2012
An Entrepreneur to Watch: Jaber Henzab, Young Qatari Inventor and Winner
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He is one of those people that squeezes the quality out of every opportunity life offers and during his studies at Texas Aand M he participated in 5 internships around the globe from Germany to Japan and including Porsche and Toyota.
Jaber shared some of his internship experiences, one of which was life changing. Jaber's most significant lesson was one of self awareness and personal development. Through his internship experiences, Jaber decided he wanted to be in charge of his own future when he graduated. He did not set out to be an inventor, but his passion for entrepreneurship and independence led him there.
Jaber developed a prototype of Tahi using his own resources, sought out and worked with star mentors from Education City and won significant prize money from the Stars of Science TV experience. Tahi now has investors lined up to support the development work ahead.
This is one young man to watch.
Wish you best of luck Jaber!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fEcdn25Sks
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Thursday, 15 November 2012
Going Beyond the Hive at Network Connect - Startup Collaboration
This group's diverse background consisted of ten countries of origin and professional backgrounds from Technology, Construction, Design, The Arts, Entrepreneurship, Youth Community, Education, Management Consulting, Fashion, Retail, Luxury Brands, and Social Media.
Collaboration, support and problem solving rocked. The lesson: mix it up.
Wednesday, 14 November 2012
Q&A With Suzanne Grant - Collaboration & Startups
Entrepreneur,
Suzanne Grant - collaboration a key success factor for local and international
business
Why is collaboration important to
entrepreneurship?
Startups
usually have limited resources, from cash to talent. So they can benefit from
helping each other out. Kind of like old-fashioned barter. What is special
about entrepreneurs, however, is their wonderful openness to help one another.
We are all learning along the way, and today as soon as you get used to a new
technology, tool or process it changes. Nobody can make it alone – at least not
to potential. If you look at collaboration as part of your strategic tool kit,
you have the opportunity of making progress faster with your existing
resources.
Are social media and internet tools the
answer for collaboration?
I have
personally developed solid business relationships starting from Internet and
social media connections. But a majority of people are still using these tools
in the wrong way. Whether face-to-face or using Linked in Groups, Twitter, Facebook,
Pinterest, etc principles of collaboration still apply.
Too often I
see people trying really hard to “sell” their products or services without
working on building a connection. Social
media is all about being social. And when it comes to selling – how can you do
that successfully without knowing the person you are interacting with – at
least just a little.
Collaboration
starts with connection and we all seek this as human beings To seek connection
is completely natural, but somewhere along the way, growing up, we became shy and forget our instincts.
People can
develop themselves. Shy people can be charismatic. I think I have managed to do
that, although I am still learning too. We can always be better.
How can collaboration be strategic?
We can
collaborate at many levels. Collaboration can lead to friendships and thought
leadership. It can be for charity. Aligning our collaboration energy with our
business mission is where we can take it to a strategic level.
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
Network Connect - Startup Collaboration Workshop at GEWQatar
Network Connect - Startup
Collaboration Workshop
November 14, 2012 at 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Crowne Plaza, Doha, Qatar
You are invited to share collaboration
secrets in a fireside chat/working session. Brought to you by 8ovate Canada and
The Youth Company, Qatar as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week. All GEW Qatar
events are free.
@SuzanneMGrant has launched, built and
supported countless local and international brands pushing the envelop of the
possible. What's her key to success? She credits collaboration as one of the
key factors behind business growth. From a bootstrapped one-woman startup to a
multi-million dollar success story, multiple disciplinary global projects and
enterprises, Suzanne relies on the same principles.
You are invited to share collaboration
secrets in a fireside chat/working session. Build your own collaboration
strategies to suit your natural style, interests and business objectives.
Looking for co-founders, investors, a
talented team, strategic alliances, mentors or more clients?
Get a jump-start developing your
collaboration strategy and skills with Suzanne and Qatar's entrepreneurs.
Register for free: gew-qatar.com Select
the Youth and entrepreneurship stream for Wednesday 14 NOVEMBER.
Sunday, 11 November 2012
Saturday, 3 November 2012
Daily Creative Juice - Ski Whistler
Wednesday, 31 October 2012
The #1 best opportunity for content marketing in the Middle East
The people in the Middle East are fast adopters of technology. The region, in-fact, leads the world in technology adoption. Internet usage is skyrocketing, with major global social networks siting growth in the region as their best. Some of the world's best news networks spawned from the region, creating a legacy of content.
Despite all the reasons the Middle East should lead in content marketing, arabic web content remains at only 2% of the world's content and consumption products are still largely originating from outside the region.
This represents a fantastic opportunity for businesses to stand out. Compare competing for ranking and search optimisation on the web in English and Arabic. Creating relevant, engaging content in Arabic should be a key part of any marketing strategy in the Arab Middle East.
The info-graphic below illustrates how marketers are measuring the success of their content marketing.
Next blog post: creating strategic digital content including my #1 tip.
Tuesday, 16 October 2012
We all need an Eddie Obeng in our Lives
Monday, 15 October 2012
What did Felix say as he took the leap?
Post Jump Press Conference with Felix He talks from 7:42 Minutes.
What did you say before you jumped?
"When i was standing there on top of the world you become so humble--the only thing you want is to come back alive. You don’t want to die in front of your parents, your girlfriend and all those people.”
"I know the whole world is watching now and i wish the world could see what I see…Sometimes you have to go up really high to understand how small you are.”
Felix Baumgartner's supersonic freefall- Highlights
Sunday, 14 October 2012
Is Sheryl Sandberg still "leaning in" at Facebook?
I became fascinated with Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, after watching her TEDWomen video. She was criticizing women taking a back seat and not aspiring to their full potentials in the workforce. Her advice: lean in, come to the (meeting) table and lean into the dialogue.
I have been fortunate to have been surrounded by strong women in my professional life and haven't experienced what Sheryl described in her talk. I do respect her experiences in Washington and Silicon Valley. She was very convincing, her delivery authentic.
Apparently Sheryl spent one year preparing for that TEDtalk and hired her own researchers to get the facts right.
Sheryl later appeared on Makers talking about authenticity, a topic near and dear to my heart. After seeing her interviews and commencement speeches, I liked her even more.
Sheryl pitched for Facebook's new business strategy in early October .
http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000119449
Having followed this convincing woman promoting her thoughts, Sheryl's televised Facebook pitch appeared to lack her usual authenticity. The delivery left me questioning if Sheryl still believes in the Facebook she is selling.
If you no longer believe in something, and you deliver speeches on authenticity, you best let someone else do the promoting - or even better go find something you believe in and lean into that.
Do you think Sheryl is still leaning in as her authentic self?
Friday, 5 October 2012
Tuesday, 2 October 2012
When People Say You're Crazy - You're Onto Something Arabstarts GEW 2012 Series
I can't agree more: When People Say You're Crazy - You're Onto Something
Ghassan Halazon of Team Buy (Canada) Speaks at TedxDeadSea talking about; starting up, pitching on Dragon's Den, punishment as a reward, company culture, the power of a threat, the need for failure and getting people to feel something
Inspiring talk in English and Arabic
Shy away from people who belittle your ideas! Big thinkers are those who support you (Mark Twain said it first a little differently - now startup legend speak)
Saturday, 29 September 2012
tips on closing an efficient meeting
Inc.com articles usually have fantastic titles but often lack depth and substance. The article 3 Ways to Keep Meetings Short , however, is brief with some useful reminders of how to set up a productive meeting with some non-obvious takeaways. It speaks to one hour meetings which may or may not meet your "short' criteria for a meeting. I'll share the non-obvious tips part with you :
How to wrap up a meeting - very similar to closing a sale. I would recommend this approach for a one-on-one or a small group meeting with a client:
- "In one sentence, what was your single biggest takeaway from this meeting?
- In one sentence, what is one topic that should be discussed in our next meeting?
- Give one word or phrase describing how you feel about this meeting?"
One and three may be repetitive - but try it out and see for yourself. Sometimes repetition is what it takes to get the info you want flowing.
This technique certainly reinforces that you care about what your client wants and is a great opportunity for feedback and building trust.
Wednesday, 26 September 2012
The Essence of Starting with Heart
I am sharing a work in progress. My designer will cringe as he has not yet seen it, nor therefore touched it. If you click on the link below it will take you to a powerpoint presentation. Images are rough, and the sound is even scratchy - how did that happen? Maybe some kind of intelligence on behalf of the MAC? This is an early communication from a startup hence let's select scratchy garage 1970s recording sound?
I'm interested to know what kind of content could enrich the presentation. It is meant to help startups find a place to actually start their startup from. I put it together in early early days when the to do lists were overwhelming and impeding creativity and progress.
If you don't feel like going to the presentation a synopsis of the notes are below.
Start with heart – Finding the Start Up Essence
- The learning curve can overwhelm: Business models, financial systems, technology, competition, creating pitches for funding, engaging partners and sponsors, revenue models, corporate tax, how many people will we need to hire, what skills will we need, where will the money come from, … the daunting list goes on
- Business schools are big on teaching how to build business models and business plans….But there are so many reasons why the best place to start is on your idea – the essence of your start up – your product or service.
- Trying to do to many things at once can block creativity.
- Building a worthy product takes some stretching of the imagination, questioning our own idea, testing our ideas, throwing some away, starting over, finding better solutions.
- And until we have our product prototype designed - most of the to do list will need to be redone anyway.
When you want to bring a start up to
market, creativity can be one of your best allies. To put your best foot forward:
- Step back and take a long look at your start up
- Set your own preferences aside and step into your customer or users wardrobe.
- Live in their space, think about their joys, problems, influencers, inspirations..
- Feel how your idea change your customer’s world – even if just a little bit?
- Or think how would you like to change their worlds?
Find
the reason you must bring your idea to your customers.
There are a lot of people we need to
reach, engage and motivate to be on our team: start up partners, investors,
clients, end users, collaborators.
Your business model will be essential –
but it will not enchant the
people around you.
We
typically
have about five minutes to convey
that our startup is worthy – of partnership, of funding if we are delivering
that message personally.
Passion
conveys confidence, it is contagious. Get an angel investor excited about your
idea and your opportunity for success skyrockets.
What can you say in a short time to gain interest in your idea? How many
words do you need to use to prove your point? How long will you have a key person’s interest?
Passion
and enthusiasm will get attention and it’s infectious – just like laughter. An
excited audience pays attention.
We
learn by doing, we remember through activity. Demonstrate and test your
prototype. A prototype shows you mean business and are not just batting an idea
around, Your business is the real thing.
Heart and authenticity build trust
with your users and investors
Most importantly – live your customer's/user's
life. Understand their desires, their problems, their culture, how they make
decisions. Love them. Love to help them. That’s how you will create an
authentic business and attract a trusting audience.
You need heart for your clients and for
your partners. If you love your customers.. then you will love your solution and
this creates passion.
Passion is contagious and fuels courage and tenacity.
If
you build your business with heart, if you love
it, so will others.
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