(As published in Tempo magazine, July 2012) By Ian Mason
The Tamakkan Knowledge Hub is a roundup of tips, hints and advice for entrepreneurs and start-up businesses. It also keeps you updated on Tamakkan activities.
Team Building and Training
Summer is an ideal time to consider training and team building in your business. Some people may be on vacation but quite often there is downtime for the employees that work through. Business should pick up quickly after Eid al-Fitr so this is the perfect opportunity to upskill your staff or give them new skills in readiness for the busy period.
Perhaps they need a customer service refresher course, an update on how to answer telephones, some sales training or a workshop on business writing. There are many courses available to ensure your team are fully skilled to meet the business challenges of the post-summer period.
Similarly, if your team needs a lift or you have had a number of staff changes, perhaps a departmental team building event can lift spirits and generate some office cohesion. Team building is a great way to introduce new team members or improve communication between departments. This is also the right time to start planning executive retreats, those essential strategic planning getaways for management, in preparation for the new financial year which will come quickly once Eid is over.
Social Media
Keep in touch with the latest in entrepreneur and SME news. Follow Tamakkan on Twitter @tamakkan and don’t forget to send us tweets about what’s happening in your business. We’d love to retweet them to our followers.
You can also read business articles for entrepreneurs and start-up businesses on our website at www.tamakkan.org
Tamakkan seminars
The popular Tamakkan seminars are currently in summer recess and are scheduled to re-commence in September.
If you have any topics you would like covered at a future Tamakkan seminar or have suggestions for guest speakers, email me at ianmason@brandmoxie.com
Tamakkan 2 Minute Talks
Have you read the Tamakkan 2 Minutes Talks on the website? Tamakkan has taken two minutes to interview some successful entrepreneurs about a current business topic.
- Soaud Al Hosani, President of Nexus Business Services, talks about setting up a business
- Manar Al Hinai, Founder of Lucky Nooni, talks about marketing
- Hermoine Macura, CEO of Straight Street Media, talks about leaving full-time work
- Melissa Rancourt, Managing Director of Greenlight, talks about managing projects
- Faisal Al Hammadi, Co-Founder of Slices, talks about dealing with finances
Read the Tamakkan 2 Minute Talks at www.tamakkan.org
HIGHLIGHTING: Branding
Many people new to marketing think that branding is a logo. A logo is an element of branding but it is not the full story. A brand is what your business stands for, its essence, the image you portray to your customers and the wider public.
A brand is a mix of physical attributes, values and attitudes. Think of some great global brands – Apple, Nike, McDonalds, Starbucks and Virgin – all leaders in their category because they clearly understand about the power of effective branding. Each of these brands has a strong and distinctive personality, and these traits are communicated very clearly and consistently in everything they do.
Brands can have many attributes – they can be socially responsible, luxury, fun, evolutionary, cheeky, quality, innovative, emotional, green. But whatever brand attributes you identify, you must follow them in every aspect of your business, from the colour palette to the retail fitout to staff recruitment to marketing, and yes, even the logo. A brand is the sum of all the parts. It is your business DNA.
The best time to start developing a brand is during the set-up phase of a business. Find a marketing company that specializes in branding and have them work on your brand from the outset. Chat to them first to make sure they understand what brand you want to develop, and make sure you see samples with their work.
