Is a “solo” entrepreneur an oxymoron?

Life and Entrepreneurship 2

YES! Oxymoron means to put together contradictory concepts.

In this post, I explained the case in point of a low price orientated customer that you try to catch using flash sales websites, thinking that after the first visit they will return paying the usual price!

Why a “solo” entrepreneur is an oxymoron? Basically, because an enterprise means an organization and that means more than one person! You have to create a new independent, autonomous and replicable entity. If your enterprise only works when you are there, you have NOT created and enterprise you have created a job!!!  Engineers create airplanes able to fly, Touristologists create tourism enterprises able to survive!

When I was a child I had an introverted personality, as a matter of fact, I still have BUT… I master the science and art of… what I think drives my feelings! So, when I decide… I am the most outgoing person in any circumstance and any place!

I preferred to be with one person than with a group. I also preferred to choose a book and try to memorize it in order to achieve excellence in Programming, in Yoga in Martial Arts…. But soon I discovered that the perfect person or book doesn’t exist. You have to learn from everybody and everything, and then (and only then), make a good selection and focus on it!

In life as in entrepreneurship, If you want to create the new, new thing, You will have to, at least, set up a small team. In the past I tried to create companies with only one partner. Nowadays, I prefer to create a group and become their leader (at the end of the day, to me this is very similar to managing a class!) OR to integrate myself into a small group of leaders.

But Jordi, if the company is successful you will need to create a bigger organizational structure. Yes, for sure Touristologist! Then, It will be time to sell my stock and move on OR delegate the leadership and just cash-in on a weekly basis.

I love innovation and innovators. I get bored with standardization and standarizators.

So, remember Touristologists, keep an open mind talk with everybody, learn from everywhere, then (and only then) make you selection and keep focus from the beginning to the end.
Are you ready? So am I!!!!

Forget about your mobile... embrace Ubiquitous computing!!!

As you know, I prefer to talk about Ubiquitous Computing rather than Mobile. To me, mobile is just an interesting support for it.  Maybe in this post we can review a few examples related to two seminal technologies: RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and NFC (Near Field Communication) technology that will make Ubiquitous Computing...well... more Ubiquitous!!!
The first example made me tweet...
“One of the best ideas of using RFID in Tourism!!! If you love to ski you will love it!”

As you have just seen, it’s easier for anyone to update and share information related with his activity, his distance, his altitude…If you have concerns about... “This is a big brother society”... just think that you have the possibility to disconnect!
Leave the mobile, leave the RFID card behind... But Jordi I can‘t live without my mobile... Are you sure!?!?!
We have interesting ideas from Starwood chain of hotels.
First, they provide a RFID card to their guests, now they want to use a mobile app. When you change from a RFID card to a mobile app some problems can appear:
1) Security concerns
2) Battery drain
3) If you share your room...Surely, you don’t have a problem with sharing your RFID card BUT... sharing your mobile???
4) Any ideas? Is there anybody out there?!?!?

Anyway, all these ideas related to Ubiquitous computing can generate doubts about losing the personal touch and also the opportunities that a human being can provide “If  I don’t go to the receptionist I won’t get an upgrade (late check out, better views, powerful Wi-fi... you name it!)”...
Remember an upgrade is a service. Using a RDIF card or a mobile app just means a different physical support in the servuction process. As all my Touristologists learn the first year “ Service is what to offer... Servuction is the way to offer it”
But Jordi! A machine is unable to provide a customized update!  Are you sure Touristologists? Please review our post about Real-Time web for Revenue Managers... See? Masters in Servuction Creation always find a solution! Are you one of them?
We are Touristologists, we are game-changers, we are solutions providers, we are the future of the best sector ever!!!!

Keep focus from the beginning to the end!!!

Life and Entrepreneurship 1

The past year I was able to avoid illness from the beginning to the end of the course. I didn’t skip any classes, meetings or programming session. I was very happy (Maybe this sounds bizarre for you young Touristologists but, when you are 50 years old these kinds of things are important!).
I only had one class left, I thought to myself well tomorrow it will be the last day…That’s it, l did it!
That night a virus went into to my veins… next morning I feel horrible nevertheless, I tried to go to my class… I arrived BUT I wasn’t able to give the class.
One of the best chess master in the world (Capablanca) said long time ago “You may learn much more from a game you lose than from a game you win! “ So, instead of worrying about if in the future this will happen again, or swimming in a sea of guilt, or crying over spilled milk …. I choose to learn and to be aware for the next occasion.
You have to keep focus from the beginning to the end. Usually it’s very easy to be focused at the beginning BUT remember… near to the end you need to keep the same level of concentration!
And this is not only for my classes, it is applicable to my/yours consultancy projects or my/your ambitious startup enterprises. How many times, almost at the end, I thought “I did it…” then I relax… then I lose?
In life as in entrepreneurship, you don’t assume a battle is won until the end, Touristologists!
Are you ready? So am I!!!!

Casually… giving away control of the chain of value! Part 2

Touristology and Web-Engineering; Business Model and Technological Scheme… always two hands remember? Are you sure you can allow yourself to forget about the technological hand? I don’t think/recommend/advise so, Touristologists!!!
In the previous post we talked about the kind of drivers (basically, economies of scale and innovation base on controlling a community of users) that unleash a Business Model that will allow you to manage your chain of value.
Now, it is time to deal with the Technological Scheme that will allow you to implement this Business Model.
Ready? Steady? GOOOOO!
If we think about the feature of managing a virtual community and to offer to them the 3 C’s in the way we talked about in the part 1 of this post…  a portal seems a very interesting option. You can analyze the open source solution offered by Liferay or the proprietary one offered by Oracle.
I teach my Touristologists how to deal with the most important social networking sites nowadays BUT ABOVE ALL I teach them to create one of their own. I love to see their faces the first time I say “You have to create communities each one of them will represent a component of your chain of value, then you have to create users, then you have to assign them to the communities and give to them public and private pages, finally, you have to add widgets inside this pages according to the role users have” To them it seems an impossible task to do, but then they began to work, to deal with bad thoughts and feelings and they end up with wonderful presentations like this one… thanks Gerard, Angie, Jonatan, Laura for being EXCELENTS TOURISTOLOGISTS and proudly say “You don’t have ONE website you have a platform able to create, distribute and send the 3 C’s in a customized way to any device”

If we think about the feature of trying to satisfy the tourist from the beginning to the end of the trip, getting 3 C’s from all the members of the chain of value and offering it/them in an integrated, customized and synchronized way using any device. We can use the power of Web Services and Web Scrapping. Nevertheless, a question remains… What kind of technology should we use in mobile devices?
As you remember, when I talked about mobile I went beyond smartphones and tablets. I stand on the shoulders of giants (paraphrasing Newton!!!) and using the vision of Mark Weiser…. I talk about ubiquitous computing using any device, it can be smartphones, tablets, glasses, watches, or any other wearable computing device… At the end of the day, they would allow people to connect to their environment.  When is this connection more necessary than when you are travelling? 
Until now I was undecided about the paradigm mobile web or native application. Right now, I make up my mind…
In the server side access to the members of the chain of value via restful services or webscrapping.
In the client side a mobile web base on JavaScript and optimized with Backbonejs (Maybe you prefer Angular, Ember, Meteor… it’s your choice!) offering Single Page Applications to any devices!
I don’t say that native applications are not good. I only say that in Touristology in order to provide the right servuction from the beginning to the end of the trip, I have to use any device in a personalized and synchronized way (Web 3.0 remember?). They can be mobile, laptop, smartTV, glasses, watches, boots… you name it! And, in my opinion, this is better achieved with single page applications.
Jordi! I don’t know what the heck you are talking about! Take it easy Touristologists… We have plenty of time to discus all these ideas in class. If you are ready to learn I confidently declare that YOU WILL LEARN!!!!.... And not only that, you will become a game-changer for the tourism sector.
The other day I read an article where an expert in Tourism and Technology claimed that 2014 it will be a regular year…. Not any big revolution will appear… well… let’s see who is right!!!
Interesting times for Touristology and Web-Engineering! A quiet 2014? Expect the unexpected. Welcome to a new era… Touristology one!

Casually… giving away control of the chain of value! Part 1

It has been a long time since I have put on my developer hat! Well, not so much, just one month… But in languages, coding, martial arts, yoga… one month is a hell of a long time!!!
Ok it wasn’t eastern holydays but I had to pass my penitence and now I’m back with my two favorite hats: Touristology and Web-Engineering!
Let’s see what these two perspectives can offer to these posts… Different Business Models mean different technology schemes. You know that (you’d better, because this will be one of the questions in your final test!!!).
We will see the business model to keep control of the chain of value in this post (Part 1) and we will deal with the technological scheme that would allow you to implement this business model in the next post (Part 2)
Ready? Steady? GOOOOO!
As you know, the bedrock of Touristology is the chain of value, and 1,2,3 theory is the framework Touristologists use in order to manage it, foresee threats and opportunities, build up a successful business model and last but, definitely not least, to provide servuction from the beginning to the end of the trip.
As usual, the main features that give you control over the chain of value are economies of scale and innovation (the most powerful being the control over a community of users as we saw here and here.
I like to represent these ideas with this picture:

The strategy followed by some Chinese enterprise is a good case in point about how to use economies of scale in order to control the chain of value. When western companies find out the possibilities of delocalizing production to China, looking for lower salaries and less restrictive environmental laws (when I was younger this it was called social dumping!), they believed that they had found the Holy Grail. In reality, they, casually, gave away control of the chain of value to Chinese companies… and as you know the one which controls the chain of value wins… Chinese companies, nowadays have international customers low price orientated (number 1) they are the only ones able to produce with a very low cost thanks to economies of scale (number 2). If you try to recover the control of the chain of value (number 3) they just implement a distribution center in your country.
They win the low cost battle; the only hope is in specialization. In tourism and I believe in any other sector… As I always said, follow Touristology’s mantra Specialization, internationalization and Groups!
By the way, try to do this kind of analysis using one popular so-called framework, used nowadays in order to define/improve a business model:

My opinion? Canvas is a set of fancy words beautifully orchestrated, NOT a framework which enables you to understand and foresee the evolution of your business model!
It thinks about enterprises as some architects which plan a building without thinking about the eco-system where it will be placed. Touristology see enterprises / tourism destination as a part of an eco-system, as a living organism. It is, in fact, a complex system. You have to analyze the system to see further on and be able to predict the success or failure of a new enterprise or Tourism destination.
But let’s focus on the business model of a big enterprise or a small one who aims to get the trust of a community In both cases they must aim to control the three C’s in the way that we explained here.

If you are a big company, usually, you will try to do ALL by yourself in order to get Economy of scale power. If you are a small enterprise you have to use the 3C’s from all the members of the chain of value, then do a kind of integration and provide the output to the customer in a way never seen before.
My advice? No matter who you are… try to do both!
A big enterprise? Try to improve your servuction try to be at the cutting edge. You can offer the services or, as usual, buy/hire SME that are trying to offer them! Try to build and manage a loyal community (Do as Apple does!)
A small enterprise offering what’s never been seen before? Try to become big! Get economy of scale, get critical mass!
Let me see… who is able to do this kind of analysis, to implement these kinds of solutions? I’m glad you asked! My Touristologists do! They have the knowledge, the skills, the vision… to deal with both, the Business Model and the Technological Scheme.
In this post we have reviewed the Business Model in the next one we will focus on the Technological Scheme. I Love Touristology’s games!!!

I like Mixtures!

I like Mixtures… Consilience is a mixture, Touristology is a mixture, Speaking, Writing, Reading… Thinking in three languages is a mixture, coding in three languages is a mixture…

The other day, I handed out the final test to my Touristologists.

- You can answer it in Catalan, Spanish or English. You can mix the three languages if you wish… I like Mixtures!!!- I say to them trying to be funny in order to keep their nerves at bay!!!

While I was waiting for my Touristologist to give in the final test, I began to think about what I had just said… I like mixtures… Ummm, someday I will have to write about this…

People which only speak/read/write… THINK in a single language are not better. The excuse /argument … “I speak only one language BUT better than you” It’s only an excuse for lazy minds.

Developers which only code in one language are not better developers. Usually, A-players can deal with more than one language, usually they’re full-stack developers. It doesn’t matter if you are talking about Java, Python or Javacript (You can name the languages you prefer. I just give my selection!).

Steve Jobs gave a very interesting insight about programming and A-players. Who better than himself to explain this:

Are you an A-player? Interested in Tourism? Do you like the way I propose to mix Touristology and Web-Engineering? We, definitely, have to talk!!!!

I love full-stack developers, I love polyglots!!!

Jordi!? What on earth has this mixture thing got to do with Touristology!!!?!??! Plenty Touristologists!

First, languages AND web-engineering are important for anyone and I, strongly, believe that especially for Touristologists.

Who wants the world be his/her office more than a Touristologists?

Who wants to provide services before, during and after a trip making all departments and members of the chain of value work as a single organization?

Don’t even try to achieve that without Internet and associated technologies and a set of languages, Touristologists!!!

Second, because Touristology, as a science, needs open minded people ready to deal with different ideas, concepts, frameworks, tools… from Economy, Psychology, Sociology, Engineering, Geography… For that reason I claim to be a consilient thinker. To me there’s only one science as Edward Wilson explained I his seminal book “Consilience”.

The knowledge of any decent Touristologist enables him/her to deal with any kind of enterprise. We know how to deal with the main opportunities-threats nowadays enterprises are facing Internationalization, multiculturality issues, customer integration into the organization (I mean the Chain of Value, of course!!!) web 2.0.. You name it!

Wow! Definitely, Touristologists are intellectual warriors!

Wow! Definitely, Touristology is a science!!!

By the way, remember the exam we talked about at the beginning of the post? Guess what…most of my Touristologists choose to do the final test in English! I couldn’t be prouder of them!

The king of metaphors… Your humble Touristologist!

I believe that, at the end of the day, I have been teaching the same ideas over the last 20 years. Same ideas but using different metaphors!!!

As you know (because you hear me saying this often), in OUR classes, seminars, in-company training, sessions of mentoring star-ups, motivation of my own crew in OUR own enterprise….  It’s never been about me it’s always about YOU! So, it is not about my knowledge it’s all about my skills to convey it... AND metaphors are a good tool !!!

Let’s review the last example that I use in the battlefield (NOT you, definitely, are NOT the enemy, Touristologists. We have a common enemy: Ignorance, lack of knowledge, lack of motivation, lack of vision, conformism, this-is-the-way-it-is-and-always-will-be… You know how much I hate those enemies!!!)

I played this video about blue ocean:

I think it’s a good metaphor about what is going on in our beloved sector. Especially in mass tourism. As I said here, In order to increase your profits in mass tourism you have to use economies of scale’s power. You need volume, you need to apply the big fish eats the small one law. This is happening with intermediaries and infomediaris: Priceline bought Booking, then Kayak… Expedia make a partnership with Travelocity , they also bought Trivago.
Apart from increasing profits they also want to stop other initiatives. Have you seen google Hotel Finder? In my opinion, it gets all the good ideas of the best data aggregators. Deal Angel’s idea about assessing the price of the hotel in comparison with the latest prices? You get it!
Room77’s idea of seeing the view from the room? You get it!
Tripadvisor’s idea that a hotel is as good as its users decide? You get it!
You want to select hotels by location, by category, by kind of features the hotel provides (Or amenities as Google call it) You get it!
Is this a good evolution for service providers in mass tourism? I don’t’ think so! The bigger the intermediaries the more focused on price they will be and this mean that they will try to convert you into a commodity.
I don’t know about you BUT I don’t like this… NOT a single bit!!!
So, this is the scenario of red waters.
Can you see the blue waters one?  Not yet? Maybe you would like to explore these posts and make your own conclusions…
Identity refreshment
Community/Magnet/Super3

Swimming Pool
If you have any doubt... I will here (in blue waters) looking for new opportunities, dreaming about higher salaries and powerful start-ups for my Touristologists AND building my own pirate ship to sale those seas!!!
Enjoy your journey Touristologists! The world is your office, your passion is your compass AND TOURISTOLOGY OUR SCIENCE!!!!