‘On the Wing’ is an experiment.

While this is true of all new products or services brought to market, I’ve a wider interest here than simply the entrepreneur’s guess that he can earn a crust if the value proposition holds with an audience, whether it’s the one originally intended or some newly developing one.

The work I’ve done over the years with enterprise agencies and government departments — building systems for business support and latterly being drawn into running workshops on ICT for new businesses as well as working as an accredited business adviser — has made me a hardened sceptic about the traditional views on business development and an ardent seeker after new disruptive business models that provide better solutions for entrepreneurs, their employees, perhaps even their investors and certainly for their customers.

You could argue that I’m looking for my New Lanark and I’d like you to join me.

So, in no particular order as yet, I’m testing the following propositions:

• That I can scale the advice and support I enjoy giving friends and colleagues and make it a viable line of business without damaging my other business activities, or losing the pleasure I take in evangelising the possibilities these new technologies and ideas can bring
• That I’m right in creating an apparently perversely simple business model for this project because I want it to be subversive of existing support structures and to allow much more interesting and creative relationships to flourish
• That I have hit a price point that will work as value proposition for micro business clients to allow them to buy into a flavour of business support at a workable level from which other services and benefits can flow. Also, equally, that the price point won’t deter corporate clients cut free from IT department support by virtue of declaring a preference for BYOD – the right to Bring Your Own Device.

I’ll be addressing my progress on all this testing in a series of blog entries, as well as picking up for discussion interesting points emerging from issues you raise in contacting me for support through On the Wing. Of course, any discussion of these issues will be without reference to the individuals concerned, except where I have their express permission to provide such details and where these help to cast light on both difficulties experienced and the possibilities uncovered.

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