9 Years of BLU – What Have I Learnt

Many of you may know by now that BLU Networks Consultancy Limited is celebrating 9 years of existence. It will be very easy to write an article about all that we have achieved, how much we have grown or what our plans are moving forward, but I really believe that I will add more value by writing about what I have learnt. For the people that do not know us and need more info on who we are and what we do, you can look at this article appropriately entitled Who is BLU Networks Consultancy Limited.   Before I go into my experiences, let us talk briefly about how BLU came about.

Some History

I remember ten years ago sitting with a “then” co- worker of mine speaking about plans for life, and he asked me if I ever thought about opening my own company. I was very hesitant at the time. The thought of leaving a full-time job and going on my own was extremely terrifying. I did remember saying that if I were to open a company, it will be one that focuses on addressing the issues that I would have experienced during my time in the Telecommunications space. I also went on to say that my company would be focused on creating a much-needed new perspective in the Telecommunications space. That perspective would be focused on ensuring that every experience is one of customer satisfaction due to excellent and skilled service. I remember that conversation like it was yesterday. Exactly one year after that conversation, my wife and I sat and decided to take that leap and incorporate BLU Networks Consultancy Limited. This was the beginning of one of our most rewarding experiences together.

My Learnings

Nine years is a long time, one that has been filled with many experiences; some good and some bad, but all relevant and important to where we are today. Here are five of the most important things I have learnt over the last nine years:

1. Put God First – building a company has been and continues to be an incredibly challenging task. Of course, over the years I would like to think that I would have gotten better at it. I would say one thing though; had I not understood the importance of having faith and believing in God, I believe that the outcome would have been different. I cannot stress how important, having faith and continuous prayer has been critical to the process.

2. Stay the Course – I would say that I have seen some of my most challenging times over the last nine years of building BLU. As we continue to grow, I expect to have many more challenging times, and with my experience now, I can safely say that we will overcome every one of them. Building an organization was never meant to be easy. There were many, many times when I asked the questions “what have I gotten myself into?,” “why did I bring all these worries on myself?” and where are we going to find the money?” BLU Networks is a result of resolve and dedication. There will always be tough times but you need to stay the course. My wife introduced me to a scripture from 2^nd Timothy, Chapter 1 – 7 that I am always guided by. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of sound mind.” I know it gets hard at times but be true to yourself, stay the course.

3. You Cannot Do It Alone – As entrepreneurs we often believe that we need to do it all, we want what we want, and we do not see the need to ask for help. We believe that if we ask for help, then it becomes somebody else’s dream, or you run the risk of making someone better than you in the process. BLU Networks started off with a clear goal and understanding of who our ideal customer was and where we wanted to go. We also started with one employee; yes, I was the only employee at BLU for over 1 year. Making the decision to hire additional people was a tough one. The fear of having to be responsible for someone in terms of salary was a concern, but the uppermost concern in my mind was the fear of losing control of what I had built and continue to build. To deliver on the plans that I had set out for the company, I needed to build a team. Fast forward to nine years after, looking at our achievements both locally and regionally, I could confidently say that it would not have been possible alone. Growing a company is not a one-man job, you need a great team.

4. Surround Yourself with Positivity – I remember when some of my prior work colleagues got word that I started my own company; the feedback was not all positive. There was a balance of congratulations and persuasions to re-think my position. I appreciated all the positive comments, but for some reason only the negative ones stuck in my head. The most popular one was “Are you sure you want to give yourself all that pressure, especially in these times?” I was a magnet for negativity, I only focused on the challenges and what people said rather than really understanding my full potential. I was not about to be steered away from my goal, and the only choice was to overcome that negativity with positivity, so I decided to only surround myself with positive thoughts and positive people. The truth is negative comments are necessary for you to really think and re-think your steps. They do provide a backdrop of reality sometimes that is necessary when making life decisions. I just do not believe that you should let them consume you and deter you from what you want to do.

5. Build the Right Team – building on what I mentioned above, about surrounding yourself with positivity; it is also important to surround yourself with the right people. In this case I am specifically speaking about the right One of the most influential books that I have ever read in the initial stages of my time as an entrepreneur was Good to Great by Jim Collins. In the 3^rd chapter of this book, Jim Collins spoke about the importance of getting the right people on the bus and the right people in the right seats. This has stayed with me up until now. Building BLU started off as an individual goal, but it was never a goal to be realized by one person. Every day that I go to work, I am reminded that none of this would have been possible without the amazing people that flank my left and my right. Teamwork makes the dream work – embody this, this is real….

BLU Networks Consultancy Limited has grown from a concept in the form a business plan written an entire year before inauguration, to a telecoms Integration company that has delivered cutting edge solutions for many organizations locally and regionally. Our resume of solutions and designs include jurisdictions like Suriname, Haiti, Barbados, Grenada, St Kitts & Nevis, Antigua, St Lucia and of course Trinidad and Tobago. We have partnered with some of the strongest manufacturers in the space today and our customers span many verticals for example retail to the energy sector. We have developed an extensive and truly relevant services portfolio which our team continues to evolve. This is just the beginning for us, we have so much more to do and we will continue to do it humbly and to the best of our ability. Happy 9^th Anniversary BLU Networks….

For more of our content please check out our blog page and our webinar page for recordings of our delivered webinars. I also encourage you to visit our YouTube page for more electronic content and educational videos. There are also some documents on our blog site that specifically speak to approached that helped me stay focused, for example this one on How I Find Balance and this one Work Life Balance in general. Thank you for your continued support.