Mikronet Weblog

An exciting development was announced at the recent general meeting of Business Council for Lolland Falster, when Stig Vestergaard, Mayor of Lolland Kommune and John Brædder, Mayor of Guldborgsund Kommune, announced that a new collaboration between the 2 municipalities and businesses on LF is expected to be launched  1st January 2011. They suggested that all the various organisations who work to promote the islands unite with local businesses in a new effective development organisation ’Business Lolland-Falster’, “so we ensure that we all work toward the same goal and that we exploit resources in the best possible manner. Realisation of this suggestion will mean that we, in future, will have a common entry to promotion of business and tourism on Lolland-Falster.”

The list of organisations and firms involved was impressive, but we, the small businesses of LF who are an integral part of business on the islands (and the rest of Denmark) were not mentioned. So I wrote a letter on behalf of Mikronet to both Stig and John, pointing out that Mikronet represents more than 500 micro businesses and about half of these are located on LF.

Microenterprises represent a huge potential for LF, particularly in connection with the Fehmarn Belt project and other major projects, but are also an incentive to show other micros that LF is an attractive place to live and work. And that we contribute positively to the development of the area.

Imagine my delight when Mikronet received an invitation to join ‘Business Lolland-Falster’. I’ll be attending the inaugural cafe meeting as Mikronet’s representative. An open discussion of visions, ideas, projects etc. will take place.

So if you have any burning visions, ideas etc. that you would like have mentioned at the meeting please let me know. If I am not able to present them on the 17th, we will definitely do so at subsequent information and discussion meetings.

I attended a very heated public meeting this week-aboutsiting test model sea wind-turbines locally- the crunch being that these 200 metre high turbines are to be situated on land thus making maintenance, development and testing etc. much easier.

The idea is excellent – but the complaint is that too many turbines are to be erected on the site, leading to noise and light pollution of our lovely night skies.
The representatives from the council and from the companies involved were clearly prepared for opposition and equally clearly not prepared to change position so a lively meeting ensued. I was interested to read an old blog entry which dealt with the topic of Sensationalism and the press  - the meeting I attended was kept very controlled although feelings ran high. The local focus group presented well-prepared, well thought out arguments, but the Council representatives did not appear to be willing to use the synergy and interest shown by the inhabitants for a mutually beneficent result. It’s early days yet, maybe we’ll reach a sensible compromise between vested interests, money and citizen’s interest.
The reason for blogging about the topic here (which is meant to concentrate on topics of interest to us micros) is that it is important to take an interest in local politics, to do our best to influence things in our local sphere.

It has taken me a long time to realise this…!

Helen

For quite a while now I have been working on the idea of some sort of quality systems for micros. (see blog entry 07.01.09, and comments)  I aired the notion for Mikronet members and had a somewhat lukewarm response. A few saw the value of the concept and I plan to contact them to see how we - together- can set up some way of attaining a quality concept.

One of my colleagues asked a couple of very pertinent questions:

-What’s in it for me?

And
-If it such a good idea – have you established any quality systems in your own business?
With hindsight (that perfect science) I realise that I should have tackled those very important points first.
So – I’ll deal with both, hopefully together with those who have shown an interest, and blog about the outcome.

Helen

Catching up on my reading I came across an article in ErhvervsBladet (20.01.09) written by Jon Arskog which extols Abelone’s idea of collaborating with potential competitors in order to handle bigger projects. (It seems to have taken the rest of the business world a while to realise how important it is to collaborate in order to survive!)
The article lists several points which actually are the same as those covered by Peter Lind Nielsen (ref my previous entry 21.01.09)
Jon Arskog also lists a quick summary of how to be prepared to tender for bigger projects:

• Keep an eye on tenders; check on the Kommunes’ home sites
• Ensure that you are locally ‘visible’ so the Kommune know who you are. People remember those they know about.
• Talk with others who are experienced in tendering for Kommunal projects. What are their experiences, both good and bad?
• Find collaborating partners if the projects are too big for you to handle on your own

It all ties in with our present debate on quality systems and the importance of being able to call on a group of micros that one knows all embrace the same high standards of quality.

Helen

Writing this is actually more difficult than I expected – I am under non-disclosure agreements with most of my customers, so I have to keep the contents very non-specific….

My day starts early – the broadband is turned on as the early morning tea is prepared at around 5 a.m.

A quick look at the mail boxes before the working day starts in earnest.
Morning

A final run-through of the translation I had done over the week-end and promised ready for today.
My subconscious has been working overnight and I substitute a phase that wasn’t quite right.

After breakfast I do the daily check on various companies and topics on which I run business intelligence projects. Mail the results and check email again.

The nine o’clock meeting starts on time, the client turn up promptly. This is the first time a client has come to my home office, I generally travel to their premises, so this is a pleasant change.

We discuss his project and go through the work prepared in advance for this preliminary meeting. The project, price etc are agreed, it seems as though it is going to be a pleasure working on this, as he is so open and full of suggestions as to how we can get the most out of the planned meetings.

A quick cup of coffee; check on the emails, deal with them and then post my blog entry.

Catch up on some reading and reply to an English colleague who wants help with a big information project – for free. I have learned from bitter experience to be hard – helped here by the comment from Charlotte Hammer who gave the example of her car mechanic who charges her the proper price for work done, even though they are friends. (Like many of us, I have spent entirely too much time working for nothing). But I do suggest which databases to search, and what search terms could be useful and point out that patent databases are probably the best place to start….

Lunch and then a quick walk with the dogs – quick because the wind is bitingly cold.

Afternoon

Contact some STN customers (I am the Danish training agent for the FIZ Scientific and Technical  Network databases) to find why a mailing re. Web-seminars couldn’t be delivered. Catch up with their news, alter my email contact list, my Excel sheet of contact details and inform STN.

Read through a prospective project for an EU project. Preparing a bid for these projects is time consuming and difficult. I work in close collaboration with Danish and colleagues in other EU countries and enjoy this international teamwork very much.

Do some more translation of ‘my’ current book – it is almost finished now, a fascinating topic, so it is interesting to do, though technically demanding as it is very specialised.

Check my ‘to-do’ list and sort out the most urgent things ready for the morning.  I have not done all the stuff I had planned (again).

A final check of the mailbox and the pc is turned off  at 17:30 – Monday evening is bridge night and a complete rest from all work topics.

Helen
Helen Martin

I have not been keeping an eye on the SME section on the EU commission’s homepage for a while, and was surprised to find that this section now is listed  under Enterprises and Industry.

There is a lot of activity regarding the promotion of us Micros – the following is cut from the site:

“Promoting international activities of SMEs
Ambitious SMEs will not limit their activities to their own country, but setting out to establish a product or a firm in a foreign market can be daunting, even with the progress made in creating the Single Europen Market. The Commission is working identify the best policies to make it easier for SMEs to work beyond their national borders, both within and beyond the EU.”

Something that me be of real interest to us Mikronetters is the new initiative  of  producing a catalogue of good practices in 2008 – we may get some good ideas – and maybe contribute some of our own. As previously mentoned on this blog, I am actively involved in various European Projects as part of a consortium of  independent information finders/consultants and was therefore pleased to come across the following:

“International activities reinforce the growth of enterprises, as they help them become more competitive. For many SMEs, national frontiers still represent a significant barrier to expanding their business, although the European Single Market has made it easier than ever for small firms to do business in other Member States. At the same time, the EU is also helping to open up opportunities for SMEs beyond the Single Market.

For most SMEs, the domestic market is their only market; only one-fifth of European SMEs export their products or services outside their home country. And even fewer have entered deeper into foreign markets; just 3% of SMEs have set up subsidiary firms, branch offices or entered into joint ventures in countries other than their own.

While large firms have the resources to operate in many markets, for smaller companies going abroad is a big step. There are many reasons for SMEs’ lack of penetration in foreign markets, including linguistic and cultural barriers, and differences in regulatory and legal environments. Furthermore, many SMEs are unaware of specific opportunities that would suit their business. They simply do not have the resources and the contacts which could alert them to potential partners and openings in foreign markets. And of course, the financial investment needed to launch into a new market can be a significant barrier to many SMEs.

Most Member States have put a range of programmes and support structures in place to help smaller firms tackle export markets. To help them all learn from each others’ successes, the Commission has set up a group of experts from all Member States to identify and share details of proven initiatives in this field. The group is due to produce a catalogue of good practices in early 2008. “

I was disappointed at not finding Denmark represented on the list of “experts” – I am certain that we could have contributed. It is a matter of keeping an eye open for the various tenders!

An overview of the main funding opportunities available to European SMEs can be found at
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/entrepreneurship/docs/financing/sp_2007_en.pdf

As promised in an earlier blog here is an update on the collaboration between MediTeam Consulting and Helen Martin – micro-businesses which will be able to tackle bigger projects by collaborating. Things are moving on – slower than expected, but gathering momentum.
Our joint brochure is now available for download on-line, MediTeam’s home site is done, and mine has been updated, but still needs a lot of work.

I have been told that it needs some pictures to brighten things up; there is too much text at present. I agree with the criticism – I’ll have to add some pictures. This means that I shall have to learn how to do that, I found it difficult to edit the text. Still, learning a new skill is never a waste of time – even if I may end up paying my web master to do it!

Yesterday we had a meeting with Erhvervsråd Lolland-Falster (the equivalent of our local Trade and Commerce Advice Centre) to get professional help with press releases. It was an enjoyable meeting which will, we hope, result in good publicity, and hopefully, some new clients.

We have sent copies of our brochure to existing clients so they are updated on the added services we now can offer, and have begun to select potential new clients to whom we can send our brochure.

They cannot be sent by e-mail as Denmark has banned the sending of unsolicited commercial e-mail – the only way one can send this sort of information by mail is if the client has made a prior request to be kept informed. So we will be using the postal mail.
And of course, following up on each mailing, to find out if the information and services offered are relevant to their present or future needs.

So – now it is fingers crossed for faster progress!