Building a light weight Global Business By Tim Norton

I’m not going to speak in philosophical terms, or use buzz words... building lightweight businesses is not something only of the future, or for hi-tech saavy young cats... its a strategy anyone can follow, and like any approach, requires focusing on a way of doing things, and eliminating much of the noise surrounding the million other possible things you could be doing.

the first face of a light weight business...

Getting People cycling on the other side of the world

The weigh-in - Challenge for change $12,000 in cash invested 3 people at 60%, 50%, 5% for 4 months 1 Person in UK, 2 people in NZ 20,000 pounds of revenue 40,000 miles, 6,100 liters of petrol saved, 900 people, 67 businesses, Contract for $250k over next 18 months

$12,000 in cash invested

3 people at 60%, 50%, 5% for 4 months

1 Person in UK, 2 people in NZ

20,000 pounds of revenue

40,000 miles, 6,100 liters of petrol saved, 900 people, 67 businesses,

Contract for $250k over next 18 months

I’m Tim... and I’m a lightweight and I’m a lightweight

I Build Businesses and Communities Achieve your Business Plan New Zealands StartUp Community Design Online Communities that Grow Get more People Cycling Get People More Active Open Global Community of New Zealand Businesses

I write / Talk / Blog Wellington Hi-tech Community Building a Great Business Journeys Starting Businesses

The 7 Keys of Lightweight

1. Light on Time...

Big things come from small bits of time...

run it from the couch

and the deck...

the walk to work, the queue, the waiting for your friend, the 10 minutes while your stirfry is simmering, the quiet ride in the passenger seat, while lying half naked in bed ...

Multi-Business or SideJob it You get simply heaps done when spend a few solid hours on a venture in a day... Often when you’re all done and dusted on one business, you still have some natural energy for another, so you can just pop into it fresh and get some stuff done.

midnight service... the world is always awake... say hi

2. Light on complexity...

Its only complicated if you make it that way There are a million ways to look at your business, so its a choice to decide that your business will be simple.

Focus - There’s only what you need to do You can scheme what could be and follow the usual process of businesses, but we haven’t ben building lightweight businesses before now, so don’t be afraid to just do what you need to, and don’t put things in place that you don’t need yet or very soon.

3. Light on Bulls#@!

The Homepage Business Heavy weight - ‘the web is a powerful channel’ Light weight - If my homepage makes sense and everyone gets us and knows how to become a customer, then we’re on track.

The pen version...

The real deal...

The pen version...

The real deal

4. Light on Infrastructure...

The Lifestyle Office - No LAN, just a lappy, a phone, and some online tools When you only use online tools for running your business, you don’t just cut cost, or save time, or improve efficiency... sure you do all of that, but what you really do that gives you an edge unlike the others is you’re lean, can scale up easily and most importantly... you can run your business around your life...

PlanHQ - Achieve your Business Plan So before I could really get my lightweight career cranking, I needed a way to turn ideas into action quickly, concepts into businesses, and businesses into part time teams working together around the world... enter... PlanHQ

5. Light on the purse...

Know your costs & Run a tight Ship There are heaps of costs you could incur, that might be useful... but these are the ones that all pile up and create a heavy weight P&L. Know each of your costs, don’t just let them keep coming in, and don’t leave your chart of accounts to your accountant - you should know your costs, they should all make sense and provide value.

6. Light on the environment...

The future of sustainable business today, the sustainability game is to get your carbon zro badge... And now we have large heavy weight organisations, spending even more resource on getting their badge.

The real measure of a sustainable business will be one which provides the most value for the least resources used.

having a big office, requiring people to come into the office all the time, having desktop computers, a server room, more people than you need to do the job... this is a picture of a modern corporate or government department. Yet they are trying to claim carbon neutral? Paleeease... Paleeease... Paleeease...

sustainability, low carbon footprint, carbon zero... blah blah, talk talk.... if you really care about the environment, then just go lightweight

7. Light hearted...

it must be fun... or I’ll smash you some of you may get the above statement, some won’t, I’m not saying much, I’m just having fun, and talking shi... when you spend so much time making serious stuff happen, you have to just let stuff float away and just laugh at any and everything, you’re on a journey, and if you want to sustain it through the good times and the bad, you’ve got to roll into another level, where everythings all good...

Office Press-ups.. Gimme 20

Lift Dips...

Left over from an underwear venture...

bra saturation...

I’m Tim Norton, and I’m a lightweight and love it!

The pleasure is all mine, thankyou... PlanHQ.com start-up.co.nz seamlessexperience.com swindoncyclechallenge.org.uk thenakedtrainer.net madefromnewzealand.com (coming soon) siliconwelly.com makeithappenhq.com blogs-start-upjourneys.co.nz