As some of you may remember, the last post on this blog was in April. At that time First Touch Technology was in the midst of restructuring the company's services and overall branding. In Phase I I had to go back to our roots, meaning that I really had to sit down and analyze why I launched this business in the first place. For over five years I've been working with small business owners in various capacities. First as a commercial banker then as a loan officer/consultant at a microfinance organization. In each of these roles, I've found myself developing and delivering training materials to small businesses on how to improve operations, strategy and marketing. I also have an affinity for technology and absolutely love this new Web 2.0 revolution that is upon us. I love how websites like YouTube and Facebook are empowering people to disseminate ideas and motivate groups to action in such creative ways.
So I decided to take my skill in developing and delivering training curricula and marry it with my love of technology and voila, First Touch Technology was born. The mission was to bridge the digital divide by providing training on software and other technology to individuals and small businesses so that they gain the knowledge necessary to be more productive. This mission lends First Touch Technology to a social business. The problem though was that in pursuing business opportunities, I meandered from the mission. Anyone who is familiar with the non-profit arena can attest to how dangerous this "mission-meander" can be. Mission-meader refers to the process of developing programs that are not in line with an organization's mission for the purpose of qualifying for grants. Mission-meander diverts precious resources away from the core programs of an organization. Although this concept is most relevant to non-profit organizations, I think it still can resonate with often resource- strapped small businesses. In First Touch Technology's case I wasted months, time, energy and resources chasing business that was not in line with my business mission.
This being said I leave readers with the first lesson I learned during my restructuring process:
Mission statements are not for non-profit organizations only. Define your business mission (or reason for existence). Your business' activities should flow from there.
As a result, First Touch Touch Technology's mission has been revised to the following:
First Touch Technology provides training and consulting services to small businesses and non-profit organizations .The company specializes in providing training and disseminating information on the best practices in the new media arena. The company goal is to ensure that our clients access and use appropriate technology to carry out their business objectives.
I view this company blog as a natural outgrowth of this company mission and envision it as a knowledge portal for small companies and organizations who seek to learn more about emerging tools in the Web 2.0 space/new media and how to use these tools in their businesses. I want First Touch Technology to help these companies navigate this space ,and I plan to cover a specific technology and how it relates to a functional area in business. For example this quarter, I'll be focusing on Web 2.0 tools such as LinkedIn and will discuss some ways companies have used these tools to identify and reach out to their target markets. Check this space out biweekly and I look forward to sharing more lessons with you as well as hear about your business journeys.
Onward!!!
TechDiva-- (A.K.A. Rosedel Davies-Adewebi, Principal)
Much thanks to my fabulous graphic designer, Gino Di Bianco who hooked me up with this logo and helped me complete the cosmetic upgrade of my marketing materials.
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