Being a NERD can boost your business… and here’s how
NERDS may be the subject of jokes, but there is nothing wrong with being one in business. In fact, being a nerd may be GOOD for your business.
And here’s how…
Nerds are often obsessed with numbers, details, and they like to fix things.
Right?
But isn’t that what we should all be doing in business – constantly analysing our costs, profit margins and cash flow, and then making adjustments?
This came to me when listening to an excellent presentation by John Cardy – of the increasingly successful Garden Games Limited – at a past annual Local Leaders’ Meeting of MD2MD business leaders in Abingdon last month.
“I am a bit nerdy,” said John. “I like to look at figures, like the sales figures for each member of staff.”
And in that handful of words John had revealed one of his key personality characteristics – a characteristic that has been instrumental in growing his nationwide business, overcoming the challenge of changes in technology, and why his business is still going from strength to strength.
John’s love of detail – that his presentation showed, for example, he had learnt to understand search engines and get to the top of Google, streamlined staff workflow, and automated his ordering and enquiry services – has made his business increasingly efficient and profitable.
This point was also noticed by one of MD2MD’s members, Fergus Reid of Urban Element, who said it was one of his ‘golden nuggets’ from the day’s presentations.
“Be nerdy is my lesson from today,” said Fergus, sharing it with others. “Be prepared to measure things constantly, like John Cardy.”
Both of them are right.
The message to all of us is … collect and monitor the variables that are key to YOU – whether it is reducing avoidable overheads, decreasing the bounce rate on your website, increasing particular staff members sales figures… or increasing the time you spend being a nerd.
Written by Bob Bradley, founder of MD2MD
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