The Changing Decision Making Process

I have two (going on three) small children. One of the most important skills I hope they develop is the ability to make good decisions. Lord knows that I've made my share of bad decisions. I often wonder how different my life would have been had I made better choise along the way. Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with my life, I just feel like I could have taken a more smooth ride to get here. And yet, despite my shaky qualifications, I will be partially responsible for teaching my children how to make good decisions.

Obvisouly I've been talking as much about life choices as much as decision making, but the same holds true for small, eveyday decisions. But here's the thing - the decision making process in this country is changing. Quite literally, how the population of this country reaches conclusions on many things from purchasing decisions to relationship decisions.

I've witnessed this first-hand in my own home. My household has completely changed how we make a purchase decision. We hardly make a purchase (of any significance, of course) without consulting online product reviews or user comments. In fact, my wife based every single Christmas gift purchase on product reviews and comments. Said another way, we only bought gifts that received good reviews. That is a pretty powerful statement.

What's driving this change? Simply put, it's Web 2.0. It's the interactive nature and feeling of connectedness with other people facing the same decisions - even if they are small, everyday decisions. It's the sense of community with others who have common interests. We both draw from these communities and participate therein.

The biggest challange, and of course the biggest reward, will go to those who are able to figure out how to integrate this change into their business models and use it to their advantage.

Background

I'd like to start off by giving a brief background and history of Valore Consulting Group to properly set the stage for the path forward. Valore was established in 2006, but has really been dormant up until the fall of 2008. The principal founders are Brian Simone and myself, Sean Stewart. We both have a passion for business and just felt like we had more to offer the world than traditional (and safe!) corporate positions.

The initial vision for Valore was that of an IT consulting firm dedicated to small to medium sized enterprises. And though the vision has not strayed far from that path, it has evolved into a more holistic vision of an outsourcing firm that has technical capital to leverage for project-based consulting engagements as well as a placement firm that can draw upon a pool of talented individuals for in-house solutions for our clients. Sort of a one-stop shop for the small to medium sized business that is looking for help getting the job done.

Now, here's the wrinkle. We believe social media as part of the Web 2.0 evolution has the power to change some of very fundamental aspects of our business. Obviously, the $64,000 question is, how? And how does Valore reposition itself to be at the forefront of the climate change and in a position to drive sustainable, long-term value for all constituents?

That is precisely the goal of this blog - it is to catalogue the process of discovery and decision making along the way with the ultimate goal being a repositioning of our strategy to better compete in a different and exciting new business world.

Welcome

Welcome to the inaugural posting of the Valore CG weblog. If you're anything like me, you are feeling seriously overwhelmed by the glut of content available on the internet. Certainly as a business owner it can be daunting. So many questions come to mind, not the least of which is how does all this affect me? Or, what are the opportunities and risks to my business of all these news sites popping up? (seemingly daily!) Well, that's what I want to explore in this blog. Join me on a journey of discovery as I seek to assimilate social media into my business model.

Questions?

E-mail sean.stewart@valorecg.com
Twitter http://twitter.com/sstewart949
Website http://www.valorecg.com