About:

“Micro-National” is a phrase I keyed (like all the best things, entirely by accident) to describe my company, which is “like a MultiNational, only Micro“.

Now is, I feel, the right time (personally, creatively and socially) to put virtual pen, two not so virtual blank web space.

This blog is really an extension to my online velofello.com persona, which has been online since ’05 and mostly covers random mumbling about my personal life and Mountain Bike / Bike Industry things.

Although the topic itself is entirely different, I’ll go about my blogging activities in much the same way. That is to say ‘badly’, please don’t expect too much from me in the way of long in-depth articles. Please do expect a pleasant read, some interesting thoughts (if I say so myself…) and a ‘magpie like’ knack of skimming through websites to find the little sparkling gems.

To read more about he who calls himself VeloFello, click here

Aims:

The idea behind this blog is simple, although the concept gets pretty broad very quickly, to discover more about the new generation of businesses being created and run today, using today’s playing field.

With regards to Micro-National’s (aka business 2.0) I am very much aware that the goalposts are moving, so much so that I think that we are about to throw them away altogether. Perhaps we’ll collaboratively invent an entirely new game; and maybe, just maybe, it will end up looking like basketball, but played on a cricket pitch, with an un-even number of players in an indefinite number of teams, all wearing American football body protection with hockey pucks and four balls in play…

So, in no particular order I’ll be exploring a bit about:
Networks, collaboration, communities, trends, practices, inspiration, e-commerce, branding, consumer awareness, eco-awareness, social media, distribution methods, pricing strategies, and other things I discover along the way.

Essentially, what I’m asking myself is “what does this business model look like in real life, what are the trends and the must-do’s that will be applicable in a company five years from now”?

Why?

There is a ‘new type’ of organisation in existence today that relies on small teams, working together – yet geographically far apart.

Quite often they are involved with software development, websites or graphics – those creative type operations seem to have been the early adopters of this work ethic.

But they can also be companies that deal in export, import, offshore design, or have regional offices across the world. That’s the case in my company.

There are a million blogs out there about “web 2.0” and how this affects marketing. Social Media and retail trends are mentioned elsewhere on the web, and the commentators are far better than I. there are also an infinite number of websites (many of them trying to sell you their latest book) that talk about business in the traditional sense.

However, what seems to be missing (what I can’t find) is the ‘how’ of tomorrow’s business, what will stitch these themes and trends together; after all, a business is only a business if it manages to sell it’s products.

Check out this blog post for more gumph on why?

A few of my guiding beliefs that guide my business decisions:

I believe that Social Media will change the face of how we communicate and do business.

I believe that Companies are part of a community, and we have obligations to become involved with that community.

I believe that profit is not bad, indeed it’s anything but as this is what drives the company forward, makes a strive to be better and allows us to buy “fun tokens” to pay for the nicer things in life.

I believe that excessive profit is bad. The idea of profiteering is much like the idea of piracy or conscription. In another era it was an acceptable way of carrying oneself, but it’s just no longer relevant.

I believe that Apple Macs are the best computer platform.

I believe that increasing the number of people on bikes is good; socially, urban transport, fitness, stress-busting, eco-aware, or just for fun. Bums on Bikes are the answer to many of our problems.

The financial crisis of late ’08 is going to be a good thing – in the long term anyway. It will lead to increased awareness of the issues of debt, greater financial transparency and a rationalisation of the marketplace. Big brands will continue to get bigger, but not like before.

The world of tomorrow belongs to the Micro-National.