The strange thing about being involved in running a cluster organisation is that it is not like a normal business, if such a thing exists. Every day I get spam emails telling me how I can grow the business, get more leads and turn them into customers, have a more sticky website and drive traffic to successful outcomes, or recruit the best talent available.
Most I ignore yet to others I reply saying we’re not that kind of business. At times I find the spam amusing but those that say they have investigated the business and can offer such and such a service, when it is clear they have done no such thing, are particularly vexing.
It is an interesting challenge. Of course we need income and want the business to grow and flourish, yet the number of ‘customers’ is set. Every year there will be a few more cyber security companies in the region and one or two may fall by the wayside. Going for growth through customer acquisition is not what we are after.
Our website needs to be interesting and informative. We want it to let the cyber community know what we are up to and how they can get involved yet it is more a repository of useful information than a sales tool. Our issue is more one of engagement rather than commerce. Selling a concept is not the same as selling a product or service.
As for recruitment, there are four or five of us in the team, more if you include the volunteers, yet none of them is employed by the business. All are self employed, running their own businesses, with CyberNorth a part of their overall offer. In total we have between one and two full time equivalents. We don’t need software developers, IT technicians, web gurus, only people who are able to tell a story, engage with others and encourage collaboration. Perhaps this will change with time but at the moment we are not in the market for additional people.
CyberNorth is in business but not that kind of business. Our objectives are difficult to compare with others. All of these things are a challenge yet that is what makes working with CyberNorth so interesting.
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 