Sometimes inspiration can come from the most unexpected of places, as Franziska Iseli-Hall found on her travels through Mongolia. Here she shares some of the business lessons she took away from her time with the nomadic people of the region.
This article is coming to you from somewhere in between Mongolia and Russia as I’m sitting on the Trans-Siberian railway admiring the landscapes and thinking about how there is so much we can learn from the Mongolian nomads.
Living with the nomads in Mongolia was one of the most amazing experiences and I’d like to share some lessons I’ve learnt that apply to your business (and personal life).
1. Using resources to the maximum: The nomads really use and re-purpose their resources without wasting anything. From their animals, they use the milk to make cheese, yogurt and different other dairy products, eat the meat, use the fur to make clothes rugs, blankets and even use dried cow poo to make a fire to cook and keep warm in winter.
In business, look at how you can re-purpose and use your resources better. There might be ways to add an extra stream of revenue. For example, some of our clients have a strategy to repurpose their content effectively. A video can be turned into a blog article, which can then be turned into Facebook and Twitter posts. Or maybe the programs and products you offer can be packaged with more or less components to create different levels of service.
Are there any resources in your business you can re-purpose?
2. Sharing everything: Sharing comes naturally to the Mongolian nomads, as they’re used to sharing the vast landscapes with their neighbours. Food is often shared, because to survive a harsh winter they understand the importance of supporting each other.
In business, more often we should look at how we can share our knowledge and resources with other businesses to make it mutually beneficial. There are many opportunities for businesses to support each other, and grow as a result.
3. Looking after their most precious ‘tools’: The nomads look after their most precious and important ‘tools’, their animals. I was actually quite impressed to see how well they treated their animals – they always make sure they’re healthy and have enough food – as they understand their wellbeing depends on that of their animals.
In our company we are big believers in investing in our systems, equipment and resources. Being up to date with equipment makes work much more efficient and fun. Even though you might save a few pennies using older systems and computers, you or your team might not be working at optimum efficiency.
4. Amazing hospitality: I’ve never experienced anything like this anywhere else in the world! The nomads were so welcoming and did everything to make our stay unforgettable – even if it included serving us horse milk and other interesting dishes.
This one really hit home for me and I realised how important it is to go above and beyond our call of duty with clients, suppliers, team members and business partnerships. They are all part of your team and you need to look after them.
5. Hard work pays off: The nomads are such hard-working people, especially in summer. At dawn they’re up milking cows, finding food for their herds, cooking, sewing clothes, preparing for winter and so on.
In business, especially in the early days, you really have to work your butt off to gain momentum and make it through the first few years.
6. Keeping it simple: Because of their nomadic way of living, the Mongolians keep life very simple as there just isn’t much room for stuff. It was really refreshing to live in an environment that wasn’t full of things, we don’t need.
Keeping things simple is a real art in business and sometimes we just need to take a good look at the business and see where we can simplify.
That’s it for now. More inspiration coming soon from Russia.
