There is a director who works in the same organisation with my client who often expresses his disagreement with the size of the IT department there. The organisation is small with about 90 total employees, while the IT department has 7 employees including the IT director. In his view, the IT department should have no more that 3 users.

I’m not sure where he got that idea from – that there is some standard formula that determines the ratio of IT staff to total employees – and from the comments in the forum, it seems that many people have that same question on their minds.

So let me answer that question for you: There is no standard for IT staff to total employee ratio, nor should there be any.

Industry Averages

The Gartner 2013 Key IT Metrics Report shows that the Cross-Industry average of IT Full Time Employees as a percentage of Total Employees is 5%. In the Banking and Financial services sector, the average is 9.6%, and in the insurance sector is 11.7%. Again, this is the average, which means that some organisations in the sector have less than the average, and some have more.

I dislike the use of industry averages for decision making as it implies striving for mediocrity. In my view, any decision on the size of the IT department using industry averages is stupid and short-sighted. Do you look at industry averages of revenues and say, “our revenues were $2 million, but the industry average is $1 million. Let’s cut back!”? No! So why do the same with staffing requirements?

How Should You Size IT

IT staffing requirements, as for any staffing requirement, all depend on the needs of the organisation.

Business Growth

Is the organisation growing? Then you may find that support issues are not being resolved in a timely manner, and you may need more staff. If more services are being brought on-stream, then again you may either need additional staff or skills to support that service and the necessary infrastructure.

Your staff will also be required to have the time necessary to figure out how to grow the services to meet the growing business, which means that they can’t be 100% allocated to fighting fires, that is, only addressing support issues. You may even find that it’s not so much the quantity of staff that’s important, but the quality. You will need staff that know how to get you where you want to go.

Is the business shrinking? If it’s because of competition, then you may need to invest more in IT – both in services and in skills – to improve your competitiveness. If it’s because of market or environmental conditions, then that’s a more complex matter, and and solutions vary on a case by case basis.

IT Dependence

What about your services? If your IT services is critical to your business and highly utilised, then having a high number of staff may be critical to keeping your business going. For some organisations, even outsourcing certain functions is out of the question because of the value of the service being provided.

If, on the other hand, your IT services are not that critical to the business, then a low number of staff may be required, and you may be able to outsource much of the support to outside parties.

What about your infrastructure? If you are outsourcing the IT infrastructure, such as using a cloud service or another managed service, you may find that you need less staff.

Data Security

Is your data highly valuable? Well, all data is valuable, but some is more valuable than others. Your business may consider that financial and customer data is important and everything else is not. In this case, you may find that a small number of staff is required to keep that data secure.

However, if you have much more data to secure, such as in the banking sector, you need a larger amount of staff to ensure least privilege, and to have the required checks and balances in place.

IT Staff Utilisation

Does your IT staff have too much to do? If you have IT staff that’s 100% allocated to tasks at all times, then there’s a problem whenever that person needs to go on vacation or is sick. Ensure that you have redundancy so that work can continue even of a person is absent.

However, if you have staff that spends most of the day doing nothing, then perhaps you need to relook your staffing needs, or get better employees. Even in downtime, employees can use that time to better themselves by learning new skills, or figuring out new ways that IT can help the business.

Conclusion

Of course, you may never get a right number. I’ve gone to a lot of places where the IT department never seems to have enough people, but a deeper look showed a number of inefficiencies, which also tend to worsen as more people join the fray. As they say, too many cooks spoil the broth. It’s important to always appropriately analyse the situation before making a decision.

In summary, choosing the number of IT staff in your business simply because of some arbitrary ratio – industry average or otherwise – is unwise. You should decide the number based on the needs of the business – growth, services, infrastructure and security.

Properly staffing your IT department can go a long way to ensuring business success in the long run.

Original article: Is there a standard ratio of IT Staff to Total Employees?'">How Large an IT Staff Do You Need Is there a standard ratio of IT Staff to Total Employees?

©2025 Interxect Services Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Their change management process requires management approval, but because the IT manager was on pre-retirement leave, the approval had to go up to the executive level. Justification was shown using the current allocation and historical data on how the network has grown. Still, the executive doesn’t see the need for it, and want further justification for the change.

The executive is not an IT person, but even so, I can’t see why he was blocking such a simple change.

My colleague wanted help convincing the executive.

She asked if there would be any adverse effects to changing the scope size, considering reasons against such a change. I explained that the DHCP server performance will be unaffected, and that network degradation would be expected as the network grew. I said that it would be wise to look at segmenting the network, especially putting the servers within their own network.

But considering that the executive was blocking a simple change, I can’t imagine what would happen if she suggested a major change such as segmentation.

Now this change would be as simple as changing the subnet mask from 255.255.255.0 to 255.255.254.0 (even if you don’t understand what I mean, take my word for it that it was simple in this case). I do not know exactly what the executive was thinking as I only spoke to my colleague, but suggested a few things that she may try to convince him to approve the change.

The Approach

• What may happen if you don’t change?

At the moment, the scope capacity is at an urgent level, but not quite critical. The team now has the opportunity to take their time and practice due diligence to properly determine all the changes required, and reduce the chances of any disruption.

However, if you do nothing, the issue may become critical, and considering the number of network devices proliferating the office environment – mobile phones, tablets, and network connected coffee machines – the scope can become quickly depleted. When the issue becomes critical, clients may have difficulty accessing the network and new services cannot be added. The team may now need to seek outside help to expedite resolution, resulting in extra costs incurred.

Doesn’t he feel that it’s better to avoid the risks?

• Will he take responsibility and accountability?

When the issue does become critical, he will be the one who will ultimately be held responsible and accountable, since he was the one who blocked the change.

Wouldn’t he be better off not feeling responsible for the issues?

• Will he prefer the stress when things get critical?

Will he be okay with the stress and frustration that may come when the issue becomes critical.

He can simply remove this source of stress by implementing the change now.

Wouldn’t he feel that this is better course of action?

Why this approach

You will notice that none of these tips talk about the technical nature of the issue, or how DHCP or IP addresses work. The reason is that many decisions are emotional, and considering the details as I have them, a technical discussion will probably not alter his resolve.

Also note that you are trying to get a “Yes” answer to your questions, so that there’s a better chance of getting a yes answer to the approval. Manipulative? Possibly. But I expect that your intentions are for the good. (It’s for the good, right?)

Will these tips work? I don’t know, and there may be more to the story. But for such a minimal change, the concern is unwarranted.

My other advice was less pragmatic – surreptitiously make the change on a evening and no one may be none the wiser. As Grace Hopper once said, “It is better to beg forgiveness, than ask permission.”

Of course, I really don’t recommend anyone does that last bit (please don’t say that I said to do that) and you should always follow your change management procedures, but if you did do it, I’ll understand.

Your Turn

What about you? Have you encountered similar challenges in your workplace? How have you handled it? Do you have any tips that you wish to share? Please add to the discussion using the comment section below. We will all appreciate it.

Original article: 3 tips for convincing your manager that your course of action is correct'">Getting management approval for small changes 3 tips for convincing your manager that your course of action is correct

©2025 Interxect Services Limited. All Rights Reserved.

It’s tough sometimes being an independent IT consultant and solo-practitioner. It’s even tougher when many prospects are only interested in hiring the large consulting companies and vendors.

Most prospects make the argument that those large consulting companies with their large workforces can better serve them because everything does not fall on one person. They see it as a safer investment.

Plus no one could be fired for hiring Accenture, Fujitsu or IBM, right?

As an independent consultant though, I can offer you several advantages that those large firms cannot.

1. You are already dealing with the top person

If there is additional work to be done, or if there are problems that need to be resolved, you don’t need to talk to anyone else to get a resolution. I don’t have to “take it to my manager” or you don’t need to “talk to your sales associate”, I have the power then and there to make the decision.

How much will this speed up implementation and completion of projects?

2. Your project has the oversight of my entire firm

Your project is not lost among several engineers and projects within a firm. It has my oversight and my focus. Executives don’t have to wait for a monthly report (if one exists) to see what projects are running behind or need adjustment; I’m already on it.

What will this mean to your peace of mind?

3. Your satisfaction is in my best interest

One bad service (or even terrible service) may not ruin a large firm’s reputation, but it can surely ruin mine. As a result, I go out of the way to ensure that my client’s work is done well and they felt that they got the value they deserved.

I’m not trying to fill my sales quota, or trying to get the top salesperson award. I want to ensure that you get the best solution and best service so that you’ll want to come back for more and tell all your friends about me.

Would you like to be more satisfied with the outcomes of your projects?

4. You’ve built a relationship at all levels of my firm

The person helping you implement the solution, is the same person who helped developed the solution, and the same person who worked with you from the beginning helping determine what you needed. No sales associate came in to understand your needs then an engineer came in to design and implement the solution. I am there throughout and fully understand what the solution means to you and your business.

As such, there is no disconnect between sales and engineering, where you’ve been sold a solution that engineering can’t live up to. If I ever promise you the moon and stars, it means that I can deliver it.

Wouldn’t you rather have a partner interested in your success, rather than just be thought of as a customer?

Go Independent

As a former Fujitsu employee I will say that some of my co-workers there were some of the best in the field. I learned a lot about working in the service industry from working there and I’m truly grateful for my time spent there.

There are advantages and disadvantages to working with any consultant – big or small. Perhaps you may consider working with an independent consultant next time, preferably me, but there are lots of great folks out there all willing to serve you just as I am.

Original article: 4 advantages of the independent consultant'">Why choose an independent consultant over a large consulting firm 4 advantages of the independent consultant

©2025 Interxect Services Limited. All Rights Reserved.

To me, there was no reason that the services could not cost more that the hardware or software being implemented. The provision of service itself is a valuable thing, just ask anyone who has been given bad service at any establishment.

I didn’t realise it then, but that moment initiated a change in my thinking about how I approach service jobs or more particularly, knowledge work.

There is an old joke I know.

There was once a widget factory that depended on a core piece of machinery for the production of its widgets. This piece of machinery was running for about fifteen years. One day when the turn it on, all it did was give a grinding, whirring sound and refused to work. Without this machine, the factory couldn’t produce its widgets and was losing tens of thousands of dollars for every hour that the machine was down.

The current engineers tried as they could over a day to figure out the problem and get the machine operational once more, but they couldn’t figure it out. It took another day and a half, but eventually they contacted an engineering consultant who had knowledge and experience working with such a machine. They asked him to come and see if he could fix the machine.

The engineering consultant came and turned on the machine. He spent five minutes and listened to the grinding, whirring sound, and took a quick look inside of the machine. He then went to his truck and came back with a 10 inch long bolt. He reached into the machine and took out an old, rusty, worn version of that bolt and put in the new one. He then turned on the machine, and voila, it was back in action. It took thirty minutes in total for him to get the machine working again.

Everyone cheered and thanked the consultant. He then handed them an invoice for $10,000.

The managers baulked at the price. “But all you did was spend thirty minutes replacing a $10 bolt! How could the charge be $10,000?”

“Oh, the bolt is free!” the consultant replied. “Knowing where to put it costs $10,000!”

I often tell this joke to illustrate to people how valuable knowledge work is. People often put value in tangible items, but little value to thoughts, ideas and ability.

We are able to quantify the costs associated with an employee, but are unable to quantify how much value in return an employee returns to a business.

It’s time we change that.

In the information age, value is no longer tallied in terms of how many items you can produce, or even how many hours you put it, but only by how much return that you can bring.

That’s why I’ve created a business that’s about producing value for other businesses. And I do this, not by selling hardware or software, but by using the knowledge, skills and experiences that I’ve gained during the years to help businesses run better using information technology.

It’s different from what other consultants in the region have provided, but knowledge work should be valued. My current customers believe that, and so should you.

Original article: The intangibles are sometimes the most important part.'">The Value of Knowledge Work The intangibles are sometimes the most important part.

©2025 Interxect Services Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Most businesses and departments would have already gone through their goal setting exercises already (at least those with a financial year ending in December), but that doesn’t mean that you can’t review your goals for the year and make adjustments.

Have you set the right goals?

I’m not going to go through setting IT goals, but just offer a few tips on ensuring that better goals are set. I’ll do this by asking three questions.

Do they integrate with the business goals?

I use the word ‘integrate’ over the word ‘align’ as the latter implies that IT is separate and apart from the business, when it should not be so. Business and IT goals go hand-in-hand, as IT not only helps the business achieves its goals, but also to create new goals to achieve.

• Have your spoken to your stakeholders and executives?
• Have you suitably educated them on what they can reasonably achieve with existing technology
• Have you used new technology to influence the business goals?
• Have you showed them what else they can achieve by using new technology?
• Have you taken account of the existing business goals?

Not all goals may be IT related, but IT may nonetheless help.

What about employees?

Have you taken account of your employee goals? Employees that find meaning and purpose in their jobs perform better.

Have you collaborated with your employees? Employee engagement helps improve productivity, quality of work, quality of health and reduce turnover

Are they SMART?

You’ve probably heard about SMART goals before, all businesses have. Yet, we still have goals such as “improve customer satisfaction”. SMART goals are more than just a hype, it is way of setting better goals and objectives.

Your goals should be:

Specific

The goal should be as specific as possible. For example we can set a goal that “80% of customers choose a rating of 4 and above on a scale of 5 as to how satisfied they are with our service.”

I would suggest finding the root cause of customer dissatisfaction and creating smaller, more specific goals towards reducing those causes, but I won’t go into that for the purpose of this example.

Measurable

We should be able to measure the goal. In this case we would have a survey at the end of every service to determine what their satisfaction is with the service.

Attainable

Can the goal be attained or achieved? Do you know what small steps you can take to reach it?

Improving customer satisfaction may not be possible if the problem is that sales consistently give customers the wrong information, or if the technical issues are due to limitations of the systems being used.

Realistic and Relevant

Is the goal realistic? For example, current customer satisfaction is 20%, can we realistically expect a jump to 80%? The optimist may say yes, the realist says no.

Also, is the goal relevant? If IT has no impact on external customer satisfaction, then why is that goal there to begin with?

Time-Bound

Goals should be given a time for completion. Improve customer satisfaction to 80% by when? End of the year? Six months? It needs to be stated. Of course, that time frame should also be attainable and realistic.

What not to do?

I can’t say (or rather won’t say) what your goals should be for this year, but I would give some tips on what not to do.

Buy technology because it’s shiny and new

Don’t fall for the hype that analysts and tech journalists put out there. Always do a proper analysis first and decide whether such technology is suitable for your business.

Believe vendors when they say that you need something

I’ve seen this many times. Most businesses depend on vendors to provide them with truthful and accurate information, but this is sometimes not the case. Vendors usually have their own interest in mind, and sometimes let that conflict gets in the way of their best judgment. Review the information on your own and do your own research that you may make a more educated decision.

Not invest in training and continuous improvement

In tough economies, and slow growth, many businesses cut back on expenses, with training being one of the first to grow. I’ve always thought this contradictory thinking. How can you grow your business if you don’t grow the capabilities of your people? Grow your intellect and grow your people, and the business will grow

Plus you will learn what new goals to add for next year.

Original article: 3 questions to set better goals for IT'">What are your goals for IT in 2014? 3 questions to set better goals for IT

©2025 Interxect Services Limited. All Rights Reserved.

I’m sure you’ve also seen it happen at the department level – power plays between employees. I’ve seen it before where staff members will not do certain tasks, see issues but will not resolve it, or worst, sabotage efforts of another to make them seem incompetent.

Such negative activities reduce the capability and productivity of the department. And in the IT department, it can be hazardous for your data, which can become pawns in this dangerous game of chess play.

So what can you do about it?

1. Do not get involved

Often the manager or team supervisor will get involved with the gossip and negativity with the intention of being “friends”, but this just adds fuel to the flames. Don’t do that! Nothing demoralises a department or business more than the leadership getting involved in the politics, even if done behind closed doors.

So what to do instead?

2. Listen and Be Open

When there is conflict or negativity, listen carefully to your staff and team. Do not interject or offer advice, no matter how much you want to. Get the person talking about what is going on. Why do they feel the way they do? What do they think cause it? What do they want to happen? What would they like the environment to feel like?

Do not judge. Just listen and take notes (after asking if it is okay to do so first).

3. Mirror and empathise

This is a very tricky area here. You do not want to make light of anyone’s issues, but also you do not want to agree that they are right (unless for sure they are). Instead empathise with the way they feel saying something, “and this whole situation has you feeling… angry? Disappointed?” or “I understand that you may be feeling frustrated”. The idea here is to let the other person feel felt.

4. Formulate an action plan

Once the person is talking and is open to dialog, formulate an action plan as to what needs to happen next. It might be tempting to bring the other person in, but I suggest that you talk to the other person in private first to get them open to dialog as well. Once that happens, then you can have both in the room with you as a mediator. Mediation is another skill that I will address in another article, but for now, know that it is something that may be required.

Ensure to set deadlines to when certain things are to happen so that there is not another issue of unmet expectations.

Issues addressed, what next?

Once major issues have been addresses and things have settled down, it may be beneficial to do the following.

Understand the informal organisational structure

Not all power and influence comes from position and job title. Many people have influence outside of position or may have the ears of people in high positions. There may be cliques and groups, and others who seem dead set to put one against another. By understanding these linkages, you will be in a better position to head-off potential problems.

Keep your ears to the ground

Listen out for grumblings among employees and staff, and be ready to address any rumour circulating before they become uncontrollable. In the absence of open dialogue, presumptions run wild. Keep friendships with people who are always in tune to the grape vine; this is usually the receptionist, but could also be admin staff.

Build relationships at all levels

By building relationships at all levels of the business, you can have greater resources at your disposal to address issues that come along. You can also learn from others how best to approach certain issues so you can benefit from that knowledge and handle the politics more effectively.
Learn to recognise and treat all peers and employees fairly.

You may never be able to eliminate office politics from the work environment, but you can work to minimise the negative effects. And if you can minimise office politics within the IT department, you have one less thing affecting your data to worry about.

Do you have a story to share about how you handled your internal politics? Or how do you feel about the advice that I’ve given? Please leave your comments below.

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail list where we plan to send out regular tips on how you can improve IT and your business along with it.

Original article: Here's what you can do about it...'">Office Politics can hurt your IT Here's what you can do about it...

©2025 Interxect Services Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Not only Microsoft is impacted though. Intel has much to lose, though not by as much; its low powered Atom processors have not been adopted by the market, except during the very short Netbook boom. AMD saw these signs and has altered its server roadmap to include ARM processors signalling its change from the x86 architecture.

I have over-simplified the overarching details of what had lead to the changes, but you have to admire the effect that disruptive technologies can have, even it has been around for a long time. ARM is no new newcomer (it’s been around since the 1980’s), but has consistently come up with good designs that mobile and smartphone producers have included in their products. ARM read the market well to realise that the mobile, low-power market would have been huge.

Such is the power of vision.

Original article: ARM: Breaking Monopolies and Giving Choices

©2025 Interxect Services Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Note that an FFI is any financial institution such as banks, credit unions, insurance companies, bond brokers or money managers. However, FATCA also impact any foreign entity (call Non-Financial Foreign Entities, NFFE) who is the recipient of a US sourced payment, and the NFFE will have to show its FATCA status. Withholding tax may also be imposed on those NFFE who does not provide information on each of their “substantial US owners”.

The FATCA essentially turns all FFIs into agents of the IRS, reporting the status of account owners who are US citizens. It is the Responsible Office (RO) who is required to make certifications to the IRS regarding compliance with FATCA. The IRS can terminate the FFI compliance agreements if the required certifications are not made and the FFI will be subject to the withholding tax. There are also penalties to pay for incorrect reporting for compliant FFIs.

You can find more information from the IRS Website.

Here are some other FATCA facts that you may not know.

• Increased Bank Fees – FFIs will need to re-engineer their business processes to meet the FATCA compliance. This means that much cost will be incurred initially and on and ongoing basis to meet FATCA compliance. The Banker’s Association of Trinidad and Tobago (BATT) estimates the cost to implement FATCA will be around US$100 million. This cost will be passed onto the customer, resulting in higher bank fees.
• New IT Investments – New information technology infrastructure and software processes will be required to capture the necessary information and securely transfer the information to the reporting agency or the IRS.
• New Legislation – New legislation is necessary to allow FATCA, especially in terms of privacy and transfer of financial data. Because of legal implications, the IRS entered in Inter-Governmental Agreements with countries to overcome those issues. Several countries have already signed IGAs with the IRS. You can find a list at this web page.
• Non-US Citizen Flagged as a US Citizen – The due diligence performed by FFIs look for US indicia, which includes an account holder having a US address and US telephone number. If you are like me and many of the T&T population, you have a Skybox address tied to your credit card.
• Business Impediments – Even if you or your FFI is FACTA compliant, if you are sending money to a vendor, or through an FFI, who is not FACTA compliant, then they may be faced with the withholding tax, preventing the business transaction from proceeding. It’s quite possible that those entities may impose a 30% premium on goods or services provided. Update: Not all income is subject to the Withholding Tax. Payments that are subject to Withholding Taxes are any payment of interest, dividends, rents, royalties, salaries, wages, annuities and licensing fees if such payment is from sources within the United States, including any gross proceeds from the sale or disposition of U.S. property of a type that can produce interest or dividends. These payments also include passthru payments.
• FATCA Offers No Returns to Signing Countries – FATCA is not expected to bring any returns to non-US countries. Agreements are being signed to simply not lose money or risk being blacklisted in one way or the other.
• FATCA Offers No Returns to the US – FATCA is expected to bring the US about US$10 Billion over a 10 year period, far more than it’s going to cost the US or the rest of the world to implement and continue the FATCA process. This implies that FATCA is unfeasible, but the US is still proceeding with it; I believe that there is more in the mortar than the pestle.
• There is a Lot of Opposition to FATCA – Just Google “FATCA illegal”, or check out the website Repeal FATCA.

Personally, I believe that FATCA should strongly opposed by everyone. I simply cannot understand how FATCA could be legal by international standards.

What is your take on FATCA? Give your comments below.

Original article: How we in the Caribbean are likely to suffer for it!'">Facts about FATCA How we in the Caribbean are likely to suffer for it!

©2025 Interxect Services Limited. All Rights Reserved.

There are two ways to have a mobile friendly site – a mobile website or a mobile responsive site. Believe it or not, there is an argument among web-developers as to the merits of each.

A Mobile Site

This type of website is the earliest type of mobile sites. This is a different site with content specifically designed for mobile viewing alone. It would often have its own URL such as m.domain.com, while the full site will be at www.domain.com. Companies like Yahoo! utilised sites like these. This site may have a totally different look and feel from the original website, unless a lot of care was taken to create both sites similarly.

A mobile site tends to load faster because the content is specifically designed for mobile devices. You also have full control of the elements of the design so you can have the look and layout specifically the way you want it, regardless of what the main website has.

The drawback to the mobile site is that you have two different sites, with different code-bases. If you need to make changes to the main site, then the developers may also need to make changes to the mobile site, and in some cases, the developers may be different. You may end up having different experiences on both because of that. Also, it becomes more costly the more changes that are required.

A Mobile Responsive Site

A mobile responsive site is a website that automatically adjusts parameters to suite the device viewing display size. So you may have code within the main site that adjusts the layout of your dividers and size of your fonts as the screen size goes down.

A responsive site has the same look and feel as the main site, because it is the main site; it’s the same design elements, only formatted for a different screen. Because of the adaptive nature, the screen can be adjusted for multiple screen sizes, so one layout for desktop, another for mobile, and another for in-between devices such as tablets. Maintenance is easy because it’s only one code base that is being maintained, and only one developer is usually required.

The disadvantages of the responsive site are that is takes longer to load than a mobile site, and more expensive to develop initially. The site takes longer because it’s the main site being loaded and then resized and laid out on the screen. And because a responsive site takes more time to develop, the cost may be higher, but it will be cheaper to maintain.

Another disadvantage is that you have less control of the layout for different screens. For example, if you have a search for your side in your sidebar for a desktop display, on a mobile the search bar may be at the bottom, which may not be effective.

The Skinny

This website has a mobile site. If you view it on a mobile screen, it’s totally different to the main site. To be honest, I only found out about the mobile responsive site when redesigning my personal website – www.sachinganpat.com. If you view that site on a mobile, you will see it looks almost the same, just all the elements one under the other. If you re-size the browser you will see how the elements move to fit it.

So what should you do?

If you cater mainly to mobile users, then it may be worthwhile to have a mobile site, however, given the breadth of devices browsing the web now, plus the bandwidth speeds and capabilities of these devices, having a mobile responsive site is the best way forward.

It’s also important to note that Google has stated that mobile responsive sites should be the preferred choice of web designers. So if you’re into Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), then that’s added motivation.

If you can’t change your site right now, don’t make it a problem. Most mobile browsers try as best as possible to allow web content to be viewed. It’s still a good practice to check how your website is displayed on the different screens.

Your website is your image, and you want to look good no matter what.

Original article: Two options to pick from.'">Choosing your mobile web site? Two options to pick from.

©2025 Interxect Services Limited. All Rights Reserved.

I reviewed my program and implemented some new processes to help me, and by the end of March (within three months) I lost the final 20 lbs that I needed, and currently maintaining that weight.

This experience has taught me a few things that can be used by businesses to improve and help them reach their goals. Here are some of the lessons I learned.

1. Measuring progress is critical.

You can decide that you are going to lose weight by eating less and exercising more, but by how much of each do you mean? You need to note how many calories you intake by eating and expend by exercise, otherwise you are just making wild guesses and will not go far. Yes, you might lose weight, but not nearly as much as if you were accounting for those calories.

The same with business; if you decide on making certain changes, ensure that you determine how much you are going to change it by and then measure those changes as you go along.

2. What you measure is important.

Most people trying to lose weight look at only one measurement: how much weight they lose. The problem with that is that you cannot directly control your weight loss. You cannot will yourself to lose 10lbs. But you can control other things that your weight depends on – namely how many calories you eat and how much you burn by exercise. By looking primarily at those figures, you will start to see results. You will still look at your weight, but only as a secondary measure to determine if you are on the right track.

It is the same with business. You cannot will more profits, but you can control things like how much you spend on services or other expenses, and how many customers you speak to on a daily basis. By keeping track of those activities that you can directly control, you will have the type of profits you want.

3. The right activities matter.

When I first tried to lose weight I was doing a lot of cardio exercises and not merely eating as well as I should have. What I later learned is that I needed to improve my diet and include more weight training exercises and less cardio. With that my weight loss was far more dramatic.

What activities are your business following that may be outdated or just plain wrong? Read up on new and emerging business management research. Just like health, new findings may render the ways you thought you should follow as unbeneficial.

4. Be consistent.

We are hardwired for instant gratification, and we would often keep changing tactics when we don’t see results soon enough. I was doing a little of this, and when I didn’t get results I did a little of that. Exercised one week, dieted the next, then exercised two weeks later. As expected, I didn’t lose much during that time. Then I set a consistent routine of diet and exercise, which had a significant impact.

In your business, you can’t try one thing, then another and another without any type of structure and expect to see the results you want. Do your research, choose your method, give it serious effort and after some time determine if it’s been working or whether you need to improve it or change it altogether.

5. Determine your motivation.

Just wanting something is not enough! You must have a very good reason for wanting something, which resonates to cause real change. I wanted to lose weight, but it was not until I had a real reason that I got serious and lost most of my weight.

What is your reason for wanting to improve and grow your business? You might be motivated, but do you employees feel the same? You must have a reason that resonates with them as well; a rallying cry that everyone can agree with and want just as badly. Find that out and you will be unstoppable.

6. Sometimes you need help.

I got a lot of help in order to lose weight. I did research on the internet, read books, joined online forums and, one that really helped me, a mobile app for my phone. That app helped me keep track of my meals, exercise and weight and also gave me lots of excellent tips.

What help does your business need? Do you need information, support or tools? Ensure that you get the help you need to achieve the goals you want.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint!

There is a saying that weight loss is a marathon and not a sprint, which is to say, that it’s really a slow and steady effort to get where you’re going, otherwise you can burn out and never reach there. I understand that many businesses have shareholders and investors to report to, but you must also decide if you want a company that will last. While I know that nothing is guaranteed in business, continuous improvement is a proven way to keep a business going and growing.

May your hard work pay off, whether it’s in business or losing weight.

Original article: and you should learn them too!'">6 Business lessons that I learned from losing weight and you should learn them too!

©2025 Interxect Services Limited. All Rights Reserved.