Trevor G Baylis : Listening to the market

In 1989, a documentary movies was broadcast by a television channel and showing the importance role of radio to overcome AIDS in Africa. Trevor G Baylis was watching those program. He's thinking about the need to relay educational messages to remote areas with radios that didn't use conventional batteries or mains electricity. He had the idea of powering a radio using a small generator driven by a clockwork motor. He had many rejections and some experts even said it wasn't possible to make a suitable spring drive.

With his options running out and the patent clock ticking, he was very lucky when an airing of the rough prototype on the BBC's Tomorrow's World in 1994 was seen by entrepreneurs who recognised its potential. Without this break, Trevor Baylis would have had to choose between maintaining his patents at high cost, or losing them.

Trevor G Baylis created his innovative radio which is cheap and running without electricity or battery. He create wind-up radio which dedicated for poor people in rural Africa so that they can listening the broadcasting program of educational and AIDS. Because of his invention. Many African more understand about the danger of AIDS. And because of his invention too, he had opportunity to meet Nelson Mandela and even Queen Elizabeth II who awarded him Order of the British Empire in 1997.

Many people agree that being inventor is difficult task. Creative process of innovative things might be challenging. But it is a must for company in order to survive in this competition, otherwise company will fall. Many companies through their R&D , launch their innovative products and services. Some of them are success, but many of them are failed in the market. To make innovative product, companies must know the “starting point” so that their products will be accepted by the market. And sometime the “starting point” is not difficult to find. Knowing and understanding the market or the costumers is the best starting point. And good innovation sometime is just about well “listening” the market.

Q7 : Innovative solution of energy crisis

Energy is something vital in the modern activities. All modern industry rely on energy to run their production. And most of energy resources in this world is highly depends on oil and gas where it cause some important problems which become international issues. It’s un-renewable characteristic and global warming issue make us aware that the world need an alternative energy resource to sustain the economy growth. Innovation is needed to find those alternative energy resource.

Basically there are a lot of alternative energy resources such as biofuel, geo-thermal, water, sun, and wind. Many projects have run in order to create this alternative energy resource. All nations are in race of finding new energy sources.

Q7 project is sample of innovation which arise to offer alternative energy source. Located 23 km off Netherlands coastline in the North Sea, Q7 wind farm is already garnering attention and awards not because construction is ahead of schedule with 42 monopiles already in place, but rather because of the projects unique financing structure. The locations at the sea in particular offer great advantages. The total project value is $50 million and recently won the prestigious Deal of the Year Awards is financed completely by group of international banks such as Dexia, Rabobank, and BNP Paribas.

Wind energy is clean form of energy that doesn’t involve the emission of CO² or other pollutants that are typically associated with fossil fuels and nuclear energy. The energy payback time- the time needed to generate the level of energy used to created a wind turbine- is approximately 3 to 6 months. Apart from being clean, wind energy can reduce the Netherlands dependency on the import of oil and gas from other countries and regions of the world. In addition, the supply of wind energy is inexhaustible and freely available.

Q7 is based on proven technology and an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract with renowned international offshore contractor. The 60 turbines will be placed at a depth of 19 to 24 meters, feature Vesta V80-2 megawatt technology which capacity produce up to 400 GWh per year. By way of illustration, the global potential demand of electricity is double by 2020. this enormous potential and continuous improvement of its competitive advantage against other energy sources make wind energy is one of the vital alternatives for fossil fuels when economic extraction of these fuels is no longer viable. Consequently, wind energy will increasingly contribute to sustainable future.

Innovative Marketing Strategy

The continuity of company heavily depend on the product and service they produce. whether the market or customers will accept the products and services, that what make company exist. Brand imaging is important thing for product and services in order to be accepted by the market. That’s why most companies spend huge budget for strengthen brand imaging activities which is similar with promotional activities by many ways such as television, radio, internet, brochure, boards, etc.

While companies consider promotional activities are important things, this activity is faced by some challenges. In this dynamic growth, everything is changed in a very short time. Promotional activities or ads have to step forward and keep innovative to face this situation. Conventional ways of ads might be irrelevant anymore since customers and peoples sometime see ads in different ways. For example, ads in television. More television viewer consider ads in television as something disturbing, moreover the remote control would make easier for them to switch the channel at the time commercial break displayed. As a result, promotion is becoming ineffective.

People and ads is like cat and mouse. Ads try to catch the mouse but people run to avoid the cat. In this view of point, the promotional activity need to be creative and innovative in order to maintain it’s objective to strengthen brand imaging in people’s mind. Volkswagen marketing strategy for their new product of Touareg is an example of innovative way of marketing. Volkswagen using movies as means for promotional activity. Involving their new product, Touareg, in this action movie, The Bourne Ultimatum. Volkswagen using The Bourne Ultimatum as their global marketing platform, starting communication process of Touareg with peoples before it’s launching to the market. By using this movies, Volkswagen show to the public the performance and quality of Touareg which finally would strengthen it’s brand image to the public. Innovation and creative idea is important things in promotional activities in order to reach it’s objective of brand imaging to the public.

Female Crocodile the Timing Master

“ Doing the right things at the right time in the right place”

This sentence looks simple but in fact, it isn’t so easy as it like. It is something that we have to practice in the real business. But to do this, it took a lot of time and efforts through learning process. We might learn this thing from crocodile. It is quite strange that actually female crocodile is one amazing animal.

Crocodile is different with another reptiles. The task of female crocodile is not finish soon after spawning process. On the contrary, the real challenges is begin after they are spawning. Female crocodile must prepare carefully the nest to put their eggs. After finishing spawning, female crocodile covered the nest with certain things in order to keep it warm. Then they back to the water but not so far from their nest and keep an aye to protect their nest from other animals. Once time, if necessary, they will fix the nest. In this condition, female crocodile is very wild and dangerous if there’s something or someone who threat their eggs.

After few weeks, female crocodile back to the nest to handle carefully their eggs one by one. Female crocodile is ready to take out their infants from the nest. The big question is “ How do they know that it is the right time to take out their infants from the eggs shell?” Female crocodile “ask” to their eggs! Each time they back to the nest, they take one by one their eggs to their heads and listening something from their eggs.

If they open their nest too early, the eggs would get cold and unprotected so that can’t incubating. If female crocodile open their nest lately, their infants would incubating by themselves so that they would get problems in breathing. Crocodile infants have to take out from their eggs shell at the right time and at the right way. Obviously, timing is very important here!

How do they do that? Through long time evolution process, female crocodile learn how to do it. Real entrepreneurs do the same. Through the failures and many hard ways, entrepreneurs will more understand doing something at the right time and at the right place. Listen more to the potential customers and the market and catch the opportunity to win the competition.

Lance Armstrong : The Great Entrepreneur

Everybody knows Lance Armstrong, the living legend of bicycle racer. His career started at Plano, Texas. Since high school, he had won National Junior cycling competition. On 1993, he was on National team and rank fifth in the world. All observant predict that he will win Tour de French in 1996. But something happened. Suddenly he got problem with his eyes and medical test showed that he got cancer on high stadium so that at the beginning, the doctors wasn’t gave any hope for Armstrong’s condition. According to the doctors, any treatments couldn’t save Armstrong life !

In 1996, Armstrong underwent brain operation and intensive chemotherapy at Indiana University Hospital. For one year, Armstrong and the doctors struggle for his health. Those was the hardest time which full of pain, suffer and uncertainty. And tehn the miracle comes. The doctor stated that Armstrong has free from cancer.

But it just beginning. He made a shocking decision that he would come back to the professional bicycle racer. He trained his body for preparation of Tour de France in 1999. it’s not an easy task considering his condition at that time. He must start the very hard physical training after being suffered from cancer.

Most people taught that, even Armstrong would be lucky if he can finish the competition. But the facts is different. Armstrong prove that he can win the hardest bicycle racer competition seven times!

When Armstrong told his life story, he said that he wouldn’t win tour de France if he not suffered the cancer. Because of the cancer, he push to the limit in training his physical condition. The cancer motivated him to do more. Armstrong focus on his goal and arrange by himself the competition he joined.

It is the spirits of entrepreneur must have! The challenge for entrepreneur is finding their own race and then run with all the power they have to win those race. Real entrepreneur shouldn’t give up in failure they faced. Turn the failure into positive things so that it would be a power to do better. The world not belongs to easy give up person, the loser. This world need more never give up person, the real entrepreneur!

Vigorous Colibri : Entrepreneur essential

To build a business and lead organizations is not an easy task. It took a lot of energy and well planned. Without enough energy and good planning, business will fall. Many entrepreneur failed to run their business because of lack of those things. Good planning is not enough without energy and vice versa. Sometimes entrepreneur got de-motivated so that lost their energy.

We might learn from small bird : Colibri (hummingbird). It is amazing creature. It’s length is less than 9 cm but it has amazing energy. Colibri always fly from one flower to another flower to get food, honey and insects. When they fly, they lost a lot of calories. That’s why they have to fill their body with many foods.

Once every two years, Colibri migrate from South Canada to Panama in South America. The distance they have to undergo less more 800 km on track above the sea non stop! Generally, the journey to the south is relatively easy for them. The hardest challenge is that this journey is passing route above the sea. Obviously, they can’t lost their energy while migrating. It does need a big energy and well preparation.

The night before Colibri do the journey, they do fasting. On fasting condition, the energy needed to warm up their body is only 20% of normal condition. At sunrise, Colibri wake up and starts gathering honey and eat their last food they need before taking 800 km journey to the south.

Entrepreneur must have good preparation and energy. It means that we have to know where we are going or objectives that have to reach and good cost calculation in running the business. Energy would be something essential to run the planning that entrepreneur made.