First impressions - GITEX - Day One

1. Didn’t think that we would do any business at all or even get reasonable road traffic. Got hit by a Moroccan technology integrator, a Malaysian technology company, a Pakistani software consultant, a Pakistani technology company, and a mysterious, as yet unknown visitor. All this on day one between 4 and 5:30 pm.

2. I think the real potential is not with foot traffic but with exploring potential partnerships with country pavilion companies from Tunisia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, China and others.

3. For a first time visitor, the convention center, the organization, the execution is quite decent and comparable to similar exhibitions elsewhere on the planet.

4. Parking was a mess till we figured out where exhibitor parking was – follow the signs and then park in the over flow area.

Day One lessons
1. For wifi access, buy the izone cards – they work every where. You can also buy the Etiselat cards

2. Rent a car. Reserve it before you arrive

3. Traffic is slow so settle down in slacker mode other wise you will just give yourself a heart attack.

4. Local cell phones run from 160 - 100 AED. Make sure you have a GSM enabled phone. Worth every penny.

GITEX and Malaysia

Alchemy at Malaysia: http://www.alchemya.com/alc-malaysia.htm


Alchemy at GITEX: http://www.alchemya.com/alc-gitex.htm

Off to see the wizard?

Off to participate in GITEX at the PSEB stall courtesy of PSEB and PASHA. And then quick jump to KL for the Single Country Exhibition in Malaysia. Come look us up if you are in the neighbourhood.

Expectation Management & Business Development

Ultimiately you get to a stage where there is a team dedicated to running your day to day business. As a founder if you have been actively invovled, you quickly find yourself in a position that has been made redundant by your growing organization. Every thing you used to do is now being done by someone you have hired. From running tech dev to doing sales demos, from managing books of accounts to hiring talent, from writing user manuals to editing press releases, every function you were involved with is now staffed.

What do you do next? You can take it easy but I won't wander too far off on a break because there are still two things that only you can do that no one else can. The first is expectation management - internally and externally. The second is business development. Even if you have both functions staffed, there is still a directional and supervisory role that needs to be played and in most cases it can only be played by you. Both functions are also responsible for maintaining existing momentum and making choices for future growth and your participation is required to ensure continuity.