An Entrepreneur’s Atmosphere

I came across this article recently that really hit home.

The gist of the article was how people who are driven, passionate and successful are often alone.

There have definitely been times over the last decade that I have been my own boss that I’ve felt alone.

However, most of the time I’m not alone. I have always worked hard to surrounded myself with people who get what it meas to be successful. Ones with a great work ethic, have a vision and possess integrity.

So when I read the article, which the above quote is a paraphrase of, I felt the need to share it and explain what it means to me.

“The energy we carry, the personality traits we possess and the atmosphere that create on life are hard to understand by the average person.” Let’s break this one down.

“The energy we carry” is what drives us to do what many people look upon as crazy choices. Working 100 hours a week so we dont have to work 40. Leaving a stable salary and managed healthcare benefits. Walking away from a routine, where we know what we have to do everyday without many surprises. These choices give us an energy that is hard to understand unless you live it yourself.

“The personality traits we possess” is what makes us successful. We are persistent, we don’t give up and we have a deep faith in our ability to make a difference. Many people in our lives are quick to tell us their opinion, but few actually have the experience to make that opinion one we should listen to. Not a judgement, but a fact.

Most of us are surrounded by people we love dearly, but they are probably not the best ones to be taking advice about how to run a business from. CEO’s of big companies have boards of advisors. Small business owners generally do not.

“The atmosphere we create” is what happens when someone who is always “working” walks in the room. We never have a lack of things to do, we see opportunities in everything and we know the value of always moving forward. This makes us seem impatient, distant and unrelatable to many who know us.

So this leads me back to the central theme of joining masterminds and surrounding yourself with leaders and doers and people of action.

It is the best way to meet the challenge of being alone.

Daniel Meyer heads Sonic Analytics, an analytics firm with offices in Manila, the San Francisco Bay Area and Ocala, FL. With over 20 years in Big Data, Dan is one of the most sought-after public speakers in Asia and offers big data coaching and analytics training seminars on both sides of the Pacific. Dan has also recently joined the Powerteam International family as a small business analytics resource speaker.

Sonic Analytics(www.sonicanalytics.com) brings big data analytics solutions like business intelligence, business dashboards and data storytelling to small and medium sized organizations looking to enhance their data-driven decision-making capabilities. We also advocate the use of analytics for civic responsibility through training, consulting and education.

As citizens of this great democracy, we need to look at the data (analytics), plan a course of action (strategy) and share our data-driven viewpoints (presentation). This approach to a data savvy work force starts in school. So, we started an internship program to empower our youth to use Analytics, plan Strategy and Present their insights… ASP!

When not training current and future analysts, you can find Dan championing the use of analytics to empower data-driven citizenship by volunteering his expertise with schools and non-profits dedicated to evidence-based social progress like Saint Leo University’s Women in STEAM 2020 Conference.

It’s an Entrepreneur’s Life for Me

I came across this article recently that really hit home.

The gist of the article was how people who are driven, passionate and successful are often alone.

There have definitely been times over the last decade that I have been my own boss that I’ve felt alone.

So when I read the article, which the above quote is a paraphrase of, I felt the need to share it and explain what it means to me.

“Not everyone is going to understand how you mind works.” This is 100% accurate. Most of the people in my life have a job. They don’t get what it means to want to work 100 hours a week so I don’t have to work 40. The freedom that comes with being self-employed makes it like most of the time I’m not even working. Teaching, training, going to meetings, conference calls, etc… they rarely feel like work. They feel like me living the life I was destined to live.

You’d think most people who think that is cool and it would inspire them as well. But it doesn’t.

Sometimes I’ve been able to impact people and move them forward towards being a successful business owner, but most of them thank me for my time and thoughts, and then go back to the life they know. “There are many people out there who are willing to settle for less.”

Now this is not a judgement by any means, its just a fact. I was like that for most of my life. I didn’t really think about doing my own thing until I was 40. I never saw it as settling, just doing what I thought was the best way to provide for my family. It wasn’t until I got to a level of expertise in my field (analytics) that I rediscovered my passion for teaching and found a way to merge the two.

Now as I do what I do, its with a great amount of “intense” passion. I live it. That scare people. It shouldn’t, but it does. People have so many forces working against them to keep them in place. It’s not easy to throw off the yoke, and break free into the world of entrepreneurship.

So this leads me back to the central theme of joining masterminds and surrounding yourself with leaders and doers and people of action.

It is the best way to meet the challenge of being alone.

Making a Mastermind Successful — Part 2

At this point in my career, I’ve had enough experience with masterminds to know what makes them work and what doesn’t. As we launch Mastermind PH next week, I want to make sure everyone who signs up is signing up for the right reasons.

Having spent most of the past decade doing business in the Philippines, I’ve got volumes of experience to draw on.

Mastermind PH marks my 7th business venture in my adopted country since 2011. The first one failed spectacularly, the next two based on learning the ropes through hard knocks did ok. But by the 4th go around I got the formula right and enjoyed massive success.

So lucky #7 will have every reason to succeed. Why do I feel so confident? Because it’s a business mastermind forged out of everything that came before it and everyone that contributed (good & bad) to getting me to where I’m now at… the sweet spot.

I’m also in the right place at the right time. A lot of great ideas and business plans here in the Philippines misfire because of not being in the right place at the right time. Over the years spent here, having worked with the hundreds of businesses and the thousands of Filipinos in my circle, the biggest challenge to success I see is the broke brother in law concept. If you are Filipino, it’s a concept akin to the “crab mentality”.

If you are surrounded by people whose only goal is to keep everyone down in the miserable place they are, you will fail. Stop taking advice from people who are never gonna be as successful as you plan to be. You need to leave them behind and get signed up to be part of a business mastermind.

Now as a recap for those who hadn’t heard of the term business mastermind before, a mastermind group is a peer-to-peer mentoring concept used to help members solve their problems with input and advice from the other group members.

The concept was coined in 1925 by author Napoleon Hill described in more detail in his 1937 book, Think and Grow Rich. Find the book, the audiotape or do a google search. If you truly want to Think and Grow Rich, it all starts here!

So to help me build my first mastermind in the Philippines I’m looking for Filipinos from a certain mold. The goal is not just to sign them up to be in my mastermind, but to get each one to a point where they can run their own mastermind as well.

I’ve learned from two of the best in the business, Bill Walsh & Michael Silvers. I’ve set up a couple of masterminds in Central Florida. I know Napoleon Hills concept down. And I’m part of one of the biggest, baddest, most accomplished mastermind groups out there, Powerteam International’s Win Global Mastermind.

So to summarize my point… the 3 biggest reasons I know Mastermind PH will be a huge success; adaptability, market awareness and being surrounded by people who make me better.

One Simple Skill

The funny thing about when I started at Wells Fargo, the skill that really got me started in my career with data, was simply being good with Microsoft Excel. That’s how it all started.

When I got to Wells Fargo and started working as a customer service supervisor, we had all the kinds of sales goals. Many of you have probably seen in the headlines the past few years, Wells Fargo was ultra-aggressive in it’s sales goals. To be able to effectively manage phone bankers and coaching them to meet goal was key to success. Ironically, I was the only one on my team that really knew how to use Microsoft Excel.

Before I knew it, I was being asked to create reports, do all kinds of analysis, to help us figure out how to optimize the salesforce. I also learned how to get better at managing teams using data and was often loaned out to HR to help develop people metrics around employee engagement. It was a fun time and managing all the data involved with all the transactions, sales, products, and everything we were doing in the customer service center at Wells Fargo really taught me how powerful data can be to a company’s success.

That first job at Wells Fargo really started down a path towards things like artificial intelligence, all because, I knew Excel.

Over the next several years I continued to level up my skills with Excel, and MS Access and different database tools like. Then they got into understanding data warehouses and seeing the data architecture underlying the enterprise. I moved from away customer service and got into project management and that led me to working on the bank’s websites and online channels.

Before I knew it, I had 15 years of the experience with Wells Fargo. Each stop along the way during my time with the bank, I kept taking more and more challenges that involved learning new technologies and new skills. It was fascinating for me during my time Wells Fargo to be able to move up the corporate ladder simply be learning new skills to add to my “data utility belt”. And with each move being more and more data centric job functions.

Which takes me back to the point I really want to emphasis, I am self-taught, I learned everything pretty much my own. I took a few classes here and there, like I took a class at HTML, which helped me figure out how to manage a mutual funds website. I took a class and Microsoft Access to help build a database for investment products. Whenever I got a new opportunity to learn any technology, I did. I went from Access and Excel to start to learn business intelligence tools like Tableau and IBM-Cognos to builds better reports and dashboards.

Towards the end I learned programming languages like SQL and I got into predictive modeling using R. I know it sounds like an alphabet soup of applications, programs and languages, but it all started with that one simple skill with Microsoft Excel.

Even today, Excel is still powerful tool for data analysis as it is used by just about every company. It has a lot of value as being a piece of the puzzle that you will need to solve as you prepare your business to use A.I. Excel is like the very first brick in the wall.

If you are not sure if you want to get started in working A.I., ask yourself this question. Does working with data and and to use data to manage your business interest you? That is really the first thing you should ask yourself. And if the answer is yes, start with mastering Excel. If you can do a pivot table, if you can do the basic things like pie charts, or line graphs. If you know a few formulas, then that is a great foundation to start.

Daniel Meyer heads Sonic Analytics, an analytics firm with offices in Manila, the San Francisco Bay Area and Ocala, FL. With over 20 years in Big Data, Dan is one of the most sought-after public speakers in Asia and offers big data coaching and analytics training seminarson both sides of the Pacific. Dan has also recently joined the Powerteam International family as a small business analytics resource speaker.

Mastermind PH & Powerteam International Present Vison to Wealth – Makati

Learn specifically what it takes to build an even more successful company, connect with other like-minded business owners, and discover new ways to create revenue streams! At the event you will learn the UNTOLD SECRETS and proven concepts that successful entrepreneurs utilize every day to WIN in business.

Find out how to build even more leads, sales & streams of income! You will leave with great concepts on how to become an inspiring leader, utilize great systems and become 100% laser focused!

In addition, you will meet some amazing local leaders and learn processes to connect with others on a deeper level to create the space to do even more business. Perfect for existing companies, start-ups, independent agents & executives in transition.

Please note, that General Admission seating is limited. VIP Access & Guaranteed Seating is available for only P200 cash at the door or online credit card payment.

Based on the mastermind idea championed by Napoleon Hill in his book, Think & Grow Rich, Our Mastermind Series brings professionals together to share best practices, brainstorm new approaches and helping each of us get outside our box.

To effectively sell a product or service, organizations have to know how consumers behave with regard to what they buy. The study of consumer behavior involves examining what products certain types of consumers buy and when and how consumers decide among products.

Once you become part of a mastermind, you will gain access to our million-dollar program on how to properly blend social media into your business strategies so that you successfully grow your business and strengthen your brand online!

Schedule:
7:00pm-7:30pm – Networking Session with Mastermind Members
7:30pm-8:00pm – VIP Panel of Small Business Experts
8:00pm-8:30pm – Mastermind PH Breakthrough Session
8:30pm-9:00pm – No Time for Tech Talk with Dan Meyer

This is the 2nd in a series of Mastermind Meetings being set up across Metro Manila.

This is a a Powerteam International Sponsored Event. Learn more about America’s Small Business Experts & out Rainmaker Business Accelerator Training (http://ipowerteam.biz).

Attendees will take part in an exercise on How to Increase your Business, connect with other High-Level Local Leaders and learn Powerful Tips from our VIP Panel of Entrepreneurs.

Event Main Speaker and Small Business Expert Dan Meyer will share his insights into how to level up your business

Daniel Meyer heads Sonic Analytics, an analytics firm with offices in Manila, the San Francisco Bay Area and as of February 2019, Ocala, FL. With over 20 years in Big Data, Dan is one of the most sought-after public speakers in Asia and offers big data coaching and analytics training seminars on both sides of the Pacific. Dan has also recently joined the Powerteam International family as a small business analytics resource speaker.

**At this event you will also learn about becoming an Annual Powerteam Local Mastermind Member and be informed the benefits that are included with this Ultra-Exclusive Group.

Mastermind PH & Powerteam International Present Vision to Wealth – BGC

Find out how to build even more leads, sales & streams of income! You will leave with great concepts on how to become an inspiring leader, utilize great systems and become 100% laser focused!

Please note, that General Admission seating is limited. VIP Access & Guaranteed Seating is available for only P200 cash at the door or online credit card payment.

Get Your Tickets Here! >>>

Starting up a new business can be incredibly difficult. After all, it takes a lot more than a great idea and a pocket full of dreams in order to disrupt markets and generate success.

New entrepreneurs need access to capital, mentoring and structural resources in order to prosper. But sometimes those lifelines seem nearly impossible to track down — which is why nine out of ten startups shrivel up and die within three years.

Business Accelerators are designed to prevent those premature deaths. At this meeting we will discuss how to find the right business accelerator for your small business.

This is the 3rd in a series of Mastermind Meetings being set up across Metro Manila.

This is a a Powerteam International Sponsored Event. Learn more about America’s Small Business Experts & out Rainmaker Business Accelerator Training (http://ipowerteam.biz).

Attendees will take part in an exercise on How to Increase your Business, connect with other High-Level Local Leaders and learn Powerful Tips from our VIP Panel of Entrepreneurs.

Event Main Speaker and Small Business Expert Dan Meyer will share his insights into how to level up your business

Sonic Analytics (www.sonicanalytics.com) brings big data analytics solutions like business intelligence, business dashboards and data storytelling to small and medium sized organizations looking to enhance their data-driven decision-making capabilities.

**At this event you will also learn about becoming an Annual Powerteam Local Mastermind Member and be informed the benefits that are included with this Ultra-Exclusive Group.

How To Use Data To Make a Business More Profitable

I’m often asked how investing in analytics will make a small business more profitable?

In my answer, I often quote a few data points from a study of 400 companies that the consulting firm Bain conducted. They found the companies with the most developed analytics capabilities commanded a larger market share. In addition, they were twice as likely to be in their sector’s top 25% for profitability, and five times more likely to make swifter decisions than competitors. Considering these statistics, businesses that are not exploiting the potential of big data analytics are certain to fall behind.

Sometimes I mention a study by the University of Texas that analyzed data sets from Fortune 1000 corporations and measured the impact data analytics had on profits. Some notable findings included:

Companies could increase profit by more than $2 billion a year by making just 10% of available data usable.
Return on equity increased by 16% by making data more accessible.
When advanced reporting was deployed, return on investment increased by 0.7% — which is equal to $2.87 million in additional revenue.
Most importantly, a comparably low investment in data analytics was required to produce these significant gains.

But just quoting a bunch of statistics is far from compelling.

That’s one of the challenges of “selling” big data solutions to small businesses. All the stats are not very relatable.

It takes time to get to know a business in a way that a tailored solution can be designed. Every business uses data differently, so no two solutions are the same.

That is why I walk entrepreneurs, small business owners and leaders through an assessment. With this we link hinderances in their analytics process to solutions that mitigate the hinderances. We can also look for technologies to optimize the storage, analysis and presentation of data. Only then can we set targets to achieve the benefits mentioned in the Bain and UT studies.

And for me that is both satisfying as business coach and fun as a data nerd.

Dan Meyer heads Sonic Analytics, an analytics advocacy with offices in Manila, the San Francisco Bay Area and as of February 2019, Ocala, FL. With over 20 years in Big Data, Dan is one of the most sought-after public speakers in Asia and has recently begun offering public training seminars in the United States. Dan has also recently joined the Powerteam International family as a small business analytics resource speaker.

Building Businesses By Doing Things Many Don’t Do

Early in my career, I realized that I had a very in-demand skill, something that people really needed in the business. I knew how to use Microsoft Excel. The ability to make spreadsheets and turn them into reports and to do analysis, surprisingly, was something I had a natural talent for.

It’s actually quite amusing to think how my entire career trajectory benefited from my innate ability makes sense of large files of numbers in a speadsheet. I was able to start doing that on a regular basis, making reports and doing different types of business analysis work that added a lot of value to the bank. Making sure we targeted the marketing of our products to specific, much more likely to buy, geographic and demographic groups accelerated the adoption rate and drove up cross sell of additional products.

Before I knew it I had a 15 year career with Wells Fargo and in that time, I got to do all kinds of analytics from end to end. Bringing in new data, structuring it, putting it in databases, and figuring out how to extract insight and report to senior management was something I got really, really good at.

After years of great experiences, working on huge data science projects and working across various teams to roll out complex analytics solutions. So, after doing that for the bank, I went into business myself as an analytics expert. I’ve spent the last decade working with a wide range of companies helping them level up their use of data.

Now, I am working small business owner and entrepreneurs as Icoach them into how to look at their data the same way Wells Fargo looks at its data. I help them implement analytics systems and processes — solutions that will help them mimic what the big successful multinational companies are doing with their data —so then they can be more competitive. That opportunity to coach them and give them a chance to be successful is what’s driving me.

It all starts with a commitment to start doing things that most other businesses aren’t doing very well or even at all.

Sharing an excerpt from a recent issue of Success Profiles Magazine that I was featured in. Thanks to Brian K. Wright and Bill Walsh for the opportunity!

Francisco Bay Area and as of February 2019, Ocala, FL. With over 20 years in Big Data, Dan is one of the most sought-after public speakers in Asia and offers big data coaching and analytics training seminarson both sides of the Pacific. Dan has also recently joined the Powerteam International family as a small business analytics resource speaker.

Has the Philippines BPO Industry Lost It’s Edge?

Just read Tholons latest paper on Digital Disruption: http://www.tholons.com/pdf/TSGI%20Report%202017.pdf

As if things aren’t gonna be hard enough, the BPO industry here in the Philippines is not evolving fast enough. The tidal wave of digital disruption is not something we are adequately prepared for.

Although we are #3 overall when it comes to countries in a position to continue to benefit from globalization, being one of the top countries is by no means assured.

Screen Shot 2017-07-18 at 5.15.42 PM

For the past decade its mainly been a battle between India and the Philippines, but China has crashed the party and a lot of Latin American countries are in hot pursuit.

If you are one who thinks the BPO industry here is gonna continue to see 20% year over year growth, then this slide should give you pause.

Why? Because although blessed with some amazing advantages for customer service, we aren’t currently optimizing our focus on digital transformation.

When you look at the next image, you see both Manila and Cebu have lost ground in the battle of global cities in the past year as well.

Screen Shot 2017-07-18 at 5.14.24 PM

Manila was #2, now its #4. Now is not the time to be complacent. We need to invest heavily in upskilling our BPO workforce to offer higher value chain services. We need to champion for strong DSA programs in the schools. And we need to make sure decision-makers are armed with the data they need to keep the Philippines on the cutting edge of globalization.

Thats why we have the AAP.PH and why we have launched Augment BPO.

17426122_1095825400562902_5936762267508985241_n Analytics Leadership – DMAIPH is a founding member of the Analytics Association of the Philippines (AAP.PH) and specializes in arming the Data-Driven Leader with the tools and techniques they need to build and empower an analytics centric organization. Analytics leadership requires a mastery of not just analytics skill, but also of nurturing an analytics culture. We have guided thousands of Filipino professionals to become better analytics leaders. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to discuss a uniquely tailored strategy to ensure you are the top of your game when it comes to Analytics Leadership. #AAP.PHMoonshot

The Augment BPO Data Science and Analytics Advocacy Project (Augment BPO) is empowering BPO Companies, Executives, and Workers in the Philippines to prepare for and address the clear and present danger posed by Artificial Intelligence Chatbots (AI Chatbots) to BPO revenue growth and jobs through Data Science and Analytics strategy planning, awareness building and upskill training. #AugmentBPO

Working on an Analytics Internship/OJT program…

400 Hour DMAIPH Data Science & Analytics OJT/Internship Program

The end goal is to develop a DSA strategy presentation for manager. Start out by getting to know the physical data environment, the tools being used and the main players in the business. Move on to assessing the maturity of the analytics culture and it’s use of DSA talent, techniques and technology. Design a business dashboard prototype and deliver a compelling data story to improve management reporting.

Three tracts for interns… HR Analyst, Business Analyst and Data Analyst.

Interns will spend 60% of the internship at the place of business and 40% of the internship in a classroom. This will facilitate the application of theory to real business data in order to help managers get a better idea of the what’s working and what’s nor when it comes to the data in their business.

Based on the APEC DSA Competencies which is close to being adopted by 20+ countries across Asia and the Pacific as a guide for current and future DSA training efforts.

Week 1 – Fundamentals of DSA

APEC DSA Competencies
Company Background
How This Internship Works

Exercise: LinkedIn Profile

Company Deliverable: Company/Organization DSA Profiles

Week 2 – DSA in the Philippines

Putting Data into Context
Emerging Trends
Cultures of Innovation

Exercise: Glossary of Data

Company Deliverable: Defining Where the Cutting Edge Is

Week 3 – Data Management & Governance

Data Management Macro View
Data Governance
Information Security

Exercise: Data Survey

Company Deliverable: Info Security Risk Assessment

Week 4 – Data Analytics Methods & Algorithms

Data Management Micro View
The Right Data
Machine Learning

Exercise: Who’s Who of Data in the Business

Company Deliverable: Data MVPs

Week 5 – Data Science Engineering Principles

Data Map
Identify Right App
Feedback Loop

Exercise: A Visio Data Map

Company Deliverable: Map of Business Data Lake

Week 6 – Computing and Computational Thinking

MS Excel
Query Data
Programming Languages

Exercise: Top 10 Excel Tips Video

Company Deliverable: Top Ten Data Tips

Week 7 – Statistical Techniques

Getting IT
Analytics Maturity Model
Predictive Analytics Model

Exercise: Flight Risk Model

Company Deliverable: Results of Maturity Assessment

Week 8 – Operational Analytics

Management Reporting
Public Big Data
Business Dashboards

Exercise: Tableau Public Mock Up

Company Deliverable: Business Dashboard Prototype

Week 9: Data Visualization & Presentation

Data Visualization
Enchantment
Data Storytelling
Exercise: D.R.A.P.S
Company Deliverable: A Business Data Story

Week 10 – Final Project/DSA Strategy Presentation

My goal is to create and promote a hybrid approach that offers both supplemental education and hands on experience. We need to get past the days of having OJT do data encoding or simple research projects… they need skills that they can apply day one.

They need it, we need it, the country needs it.

Any ideas or suggestions? This is just the first draft.

Hoping to roll this out in the next month or so.

Analytics Education – Facilitating a mastery of the fundamentals of analytics is what DMAIPH does best. As a key parnter of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation’s Project DARE initative, DMAIPH champions the use of using data. All across the world, companies are scrambling to hire analytics talent to optimize the big data they have in their businesses. We can empower students and their instructors with the knowledge they need to prepare for careers in data science and analytics. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly so we can set a guest lecturer date, On-the-Job Training experience or other analytics education solution specifically tailored to your needs.

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