Changing the way we do business

The title was the header from the exciting Innovation Infusion presentation that took place at VIU today, by Jamie Sabbach (jsabbach@110percent.net) and Matthew Hickey (http://eprepsolutions.net/). The dynamic duo have crafted their own unique business approach to bringing financially responsible practice into the social service realm, namely the public and non-profit sectors.

Championing the mantra of financial resilience Jamie and Matthew challenged the audience to think outside of the box, when it comes to traditional business and financial social service structures. For them, it all begins with the fundamentals:

• What is our "real cost of doing business"?
• What is our market condition and what opportunities exist?
• What does the competitive landscape look like?

In accompaniance with their approach, is their innovative software, PASS. PASS is the first and only fiscal planning and management tool that tracks the real cost of service provision, including all direct and indirect costs for federal, provincial and local parks and recreation organizations.



The primary nugget that I took away from the presentation is that being creative and engaged, when it comes to service provision, needs to be the new norm. It is better to create your blue ocean niche then digress into or perpetuate a red ocean of competition. Organizational philosophies also need to become ingrained in their operations and sustain them, instead of fictitious mandates.