Mid Year Check In

We closed our midway point on target as a firm. Overall, this is a good thing for 2009. It certainly could have gone the other way for us.  A number of our competitors continue to spiral downward.  We are very lucky. The economy continues to humble us daily.

The situation does represent some opportunities for us to take very serious looks at acquisitions that complement our services and our client base.  We are in a good position operationally to add immediate value to the right firm.  It makes my job very interesting and a lot of fun.

We are continuing our investment in Dynamics AX in several underserved industry segments.  Early indications are we have made the right initial steps.  The interest in our services in this area is promising. We’ll be keeping close tabs on it.

Another positive aspect of our local econ is the commercial real estate deals.  We are considering a move to a more centralized location. For our firm, this means somewhere in Bellevue proper.  From what we have seen, there has to be over 1MM square feet of sublease space on the eastside, crazy numbers.  We will be in strong position when it comes time to lock in a deal.

Looks like we need to integrate our blog with our website, we’ll take care of that this week. Take care!

Q1 Down 3 To Go

Well, first quarter is now in the books.  March was the first month as a combined firm.  As expected, we have some duplicate costs, which we identified prior to the deal closing.  We have another two months for these expenses to be totally out of our system, so to speak.  What’s more encouraging to me is that we are see signs of growth in our project business.  I am really impressed with what our team.  Our staff augmentation business continues to be holding pattern.  Given the economic climate, we’ll take this as a positive sign too.

We are in the process of changing everything that was Endeavor over to BluWater Consulting.  The new logo design is done. It’s simplified, with a slightly improved color. Looking forward to getting that out there.

I have had a chance to review the web design, and I like the direction and the messaging we are putting behind it.  We are planning to launch the rebrand by Mid May. I have faith in the design team, they are doing great so far.

Another new effort for us will be BWC’s entre in providing Microsoft Dynamics AX consulting and implementation services.  Given our firms experience, technical competency and fundamental desire, its a natural fit.  Our first little goal is to get the Dynamics AX modules installed and in use here, within the firm.  The good news is the install has gone well and the configuration is underway.  Looking forward to getting the sales team off of spreadsheets and on to a decent CRM platform. 

On a personal note, I am excited about my training on the bike as of late.  I have added in some new stuff and I am think it is working…if nothing else, I feel it.

Stay strong and never quit! 

Great weekend, lots of miles in. About time we saw some great weather here in the Seattle area.

BluWater Branding

Well, we are officially going to brand the new firm BluWater Consulting. After giving the whole idea some serious consideration, BWC is the better choice. The name has a good sound to it, it is not as common as Endeavor and it is pretty universal.

The branding effort, the real work, is being done by our very own Angela Kernan. She is helping me address every detail, and she is really good at keeping me focused on the decisions needed.

In most cases, we’ll be dropping the wave design and go for a more clean look. The color standards will stay the same. Looking forward to having this done as well. Still there is a ton of copy to write, designs to be done and sites to be upgraded.

The rest of the merger items continue to move along. The first phase of the technical aspects of the merger are complete. Still need to move everyone over to the BluWater domain and get our phone system upgraded…man I miss our unified communications system. Jim tells me it is coming soon though.

It has been interesting to hear the various takes on the merger. What I am most amazed is that a small group of employees focused on one negative aspect and had a real hard time understanding the positive impact and the bigger picture. Regardless of the opinions, the merger was the best thing for everyone, its fun and very exciting.

Of course I understand that change is hard, try owning a services business for 10 years. I started the company during the .com mess and now the nation is smack in the middle of a recession. Even though the economic mess will take a few more years to work out, the fundamentals of business remain in place. Sure, businesses are feeling tremendous pressure on operating capital. In turn, this forces management to do the right thing and manage expenses and profit margins as best as possible. Of course this is over simplifying the problem, but the point here is that all business are being forced to lean up, and become more competitive. We made these changes over a year ago and the merger was another step towards improving our position for the long run. Borrowing an analogy from my favorite sport, running our business is a century ride not a time trial.

Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 Nomination

Up early. Interview with the E&Y Team this morning. Should be fun trying to describe 10 years in 30 minutes. I am very interested in hearing the stories of my fellow nominees.  The nomination was nice, I am really interested in how companies have made it through the last two years.

#5 Driver pulls out in same lane as bike, the car & the bike are in the same lane, sametime, if I was a car, would the driver had pulled out?

#6 Drivers passing a slower car while a cyclist is in the oncoming lane on a narrow road. I see this about 20 times a year. Crazy…

#7 Drivers swerving at the cyclist as they pass the for no reason. I mean really, 4000lbs verses 170lbs, enough said.

#8 Drivers shouting profanity for no reason. Usually found in redneck country. Thing is a cyclist can’t really hear it because of the wind.

#9 Drivers not leaving enough space between the cyclist and their right side mirror on a narrow road with no shoulder. Cause: Ignorance.