February 2017

The company that I’m growing over time is Bitesize Irish Gaelic.

A big influence over how the company is run have been the people behind Tropical MBA. They’ve spoken lots about Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to run a business. To give it some direction you need some Strategic Objectives (plus separate Operating Principles).

Here’s a snapshot of our current Strategic Objectives. Any comments? Get in touch with me.

Note to staff: this section is like our “Declaration of Independence”. It sets out who we are, and what we stand for. Once matured, our Strategic Objectives should not really change from year to year. Our Operating Principles will sometimes change as we learn. Out Working Procedures will constantly be under review to be improved, cleaned out, and added to.

Everything we do should reflect our Strategic Objectives and our Operating Principles. If you’re asked to do something outside of our stated objectives and principles, then it’s certainly time for the team to review the situation.

Mission

• At Bitesize Irish Gaelic we exist to help people CONNECT more deeply to their Irish heritage by encouraging and helping them to make the Irish language part of their everyday lives.

Values

Here are the four pillars that Bitesize Irish Gaelic stands for:

• Connection: We help people make a deeper connection with their Irish heritage
  • A person’s heritage is where they’ve come from, and it’s the most valuable part of what makes them who they are. We value people’s heritage by giving them a DEEPER CONNECTION to that heritage.
• Culture: We share our love for Irish culture
  • We feel deeply for Ireland’s culture, encompassing what has passed and what Ireland is today. We share that love for Irish culture through everything we do. We help others realize their love for Irish culture, starting at the core of helping them to speak Ireland’s native language.
• Bitesize: The best way to learn to speak Irish is regularly in Bitesize portions
• Personal: We’re personal and generous
  • Our customers love Ireland and their Irish ancestry from their hearts. We support our customers and contacts with the friendliness and interest they expect.
  • We do what we can (within reason) to help our customers and contacts. Take the burden upon yourself, rather than leaving it them. For example, something as simple as pointing them to the correct URL that they are seeking will make life easier for them.

In our Google Drive document for Strategic Objectives, the content above is followed by a description of how we generate value and money from that value (what products we sell).

It’s always good for me to read through this stuff: a pillar I’d add would be “Immersion”, since the only way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in it (and you don’t have to be in Ireland to create your own Gaeltacht). Interestingly, that’s more important than the Bitesize concept itself, which threatens the name of the company. But it does all fit in the same line of thought.