October Newsletter

Welcome to my first LinkedIn Newsletter...my first ever newsletter! This will be a monthly brain dump of anything that interests me, as well as a recap of the previous months' happenings. In my newsletter you are going to find tech and business updates and tips, rants, reviews, health & fitness topics, productivity hacks, audiobook reviews (I don't read) and a whole lot more.

I'm hoping to get this newsletter out the first week of each month...this one is slightly delayed due to time contraints and may contain some less 'original' content than I hope to provide going forward, nevertheless hopefully sharing some of the interesting articles and videos I have seen over the past month will give some value anyway.

I hope you find the newsletter helpful and interesting, if so I would really appreciate you liking, commenting and sharing it amongst your connections.

September was a busy one, holiday season is over and everyone seems back into the swing of things, finally making those decisions they have been putting off making throughout August.

Dufeu IT has been busy getting ready for our FREE Cybersecurity event in November at the beautiful Champneys Health Spa in Tring. We are looking for IT Managers, IT Directors and business decision makers to fill the room, so if that is you then find out more information and register here: FREE CYBERSECURITY EVENT.

Aside from that, the reception area at our HQ is coming along nicely with some new floor tiles being installed throughout last month...we are making the final touches to what has been a 2 year long project to move into our new offices...video tour coming soon!

Speaking of video...

We're firmly in the Podcast game! Well, if you can call it a podcast...its more of a chat and a rant at the moment, but I feel as if we are improving each episode and getting used to being on camera. And speaking of that, we are hoping to start bringing some decent value by way of our YouTube channel in the near future, that is currently exactly where you can find our Podcasts too, so please check them out and give them a like...don't forget to subscribe too!

Dufeu IT YouTube Channel

We took our Service Desk team out for a bit of a jolly to London towards the end of September. We ended up on a tour of some of the oldest pubs in London which was great, I would definitely recommend it if you haven't done this before, many of them are dotted around the Fleet Street and St Pauls area including the my favourite - Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. We also had a cracking time at Gordon Ramsays Street Pizza, which was an unlimited pizza buffet...I only managed 13 slices however...poor effort.

Now, I'm not sure this is classed as bullying as he was pretty receptive to it, but one of our first line technicians ate a whole bag of my bagels...without asking me the week before went on our London outing, so his punishment was to spend the day wearing a beautifully designed bagel necklace :-)

Other September happenings...

• My eldest started High School. She's growing old too fast so we have started bi-weekly 'date' nights where we can spend some quality time together at a place of her choosing...a common theme of these so far is either indoor climbing/bouldering or out eating pizza.
• I had Xmas dinner in September as a family member is off to Australia travelling and that was his last request...I kind of preferred it.
• Dufeu IT had our first poker night, it was well attended and we had the rugby on the TV, perfect! Congrats to alfie mayes who was our first poker night winner.
• Speaking of Rugby, the World Cup has started and so far it has been a great tournament. England are looking a bit flakey so I am not sure how they are going to hold up against the big boys. My money is on Ireland.
• We received some legit wedding cake samples from Honeytree Cakehouse which we demolished in our SLT meeting - check out Honeytree Bakery and make sure you sample their brownies as they are amazing...they also make perfect gifts for new customers or referral partners :-)

Enjoy the rest of October.

Thanks for reading!

This section will cover tech news and tips, once we are all YouTubed up then I am sure there will be some instructional videos parked here for everyone to take advantage of.

I mentioned this newsletter will be a recap of the previous month, I sort of lied, in tech we tend to look forward instead of backwards...however with that said the iPhone 15 was released in September so that is a pretty big deal, you can find a nice review here: iPhone 15/15 Pro Review

Onto October and couple of big tech happenings which businesses need to be aware of. Firstly, it is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, so take a moment to consider what the current threat landscape looks like and how well protected your business is currently. At Dufeu IT we are able to offer an 8 step Cybersecurity Risk Assessment, which will give you a detailed picture of how at risk from a cyber attack your business is, and if we don't find at least one vulnerability that helps your business reduce risk then we'll give you your money back. When you realise your business needs our CSRA then drop me a DM...i'll wait.

We're posting articles throughout the month, so stay up to date by following myself, Darius S. and Dufeu IT . Here are a few recent posts for your viewing pleasure:

Cybersecurity - a layered approach

Setting IT & Cybersecurity budgets

Where to start with Cybersecurity

Knights of Old goes into Administration following cyber attack

The second BIG event in our diaries this month...one all businesses should be aware of is the Microsoft Windows Server 2012 end of life date - Tuesday 10th October 2023. This is a huge event in the IT calendar as there are still well over 32,000 Windows Server 2012 devices connected to the internet as of today (Monday 9th October), and by Wednesday these will be open to any future security vulnerabilies found in the operating system.

More info on Microsoft Windows Server 2012 end of life here!

As it is Q4 already, it is time to start planning for the new year, something that up until 2020 I really wasn't a fan of, or very good at. So here is my checklist of tasks to complete before the year is out in order to make sure we hit the ground running in 2024.

(In no particular order)

• Set financial budgets
• Set financial targets
• Map our end of 2024 Org Chart
• Define our target customer: Size, industry, location
• Create a marketing plan for 2024
• Connect with vendors to discuss where they may be able to help
• Review sales and marketing materials
• Review the products and services we offer
• Review our pricing
• Review sales commission structure
• Create staff training and development plans

Feel free give me some tips and pointers in the comments if you feel I have missed anything. And if you hadn't thought about anything in particular on my list it would be great if you could drop a comment to say it helped you.

Those who know me know that I have always been fairly active, however I have certainly been on a journey over the past few years to improve my health and fitness, get my nutrition sorted, push my limits and 'stay ready' for any activity or challenge that I fancy doing at the drop of a hat (did I mention that I climbed the Matterhorn??).

This section is reserved for those who may be interested in health and wellbeing hacks, and any advice that I can give from the experiences I have had getting myself into shape.

My idea was that I will post workout tips, recipes for a decent but quick lunch in the office and progress updates on challenges I have set myself amongst many other things. I know no one really gives a s**t but if I can help just one person then that is a win in my eyes.

So, I have a few challenges coming up, starting with a Hyrox event in London at the end of November. I have completed a few Hyrox events over the past couple of years (including one in Malaga), my best time has been 1 hour 17 minutes. I am not trying to break world records but if I can keep improving my time then i'll be happy!

I recently signed up to the Cambridge Half Marathon which is in March next year. I have never competed in a half marathon before, so I need to mix my training up a bit over the coming months, to include a lot more running as I am currently only doing 10 to 12 miles per week over 3 running sessions. Maybe next month I will post my current training plan and those in the know can comment to give me some tops and tricks... Amy Walkers i'm looking at you.

I've spent the best part of the last 16 years (14 since I started my business) just trying to get better at being me, being better at whatever I put my mind to, being a better person, being better at giving back to others. This little section will be dedicated to self-improvement, whether that is my own self-improvement and acheivements or articles and posts I find that may motivate and inspire others. Here are a few interesting posts from the last month that I have found pretty cool or helpful:

Simon Sinek on leadership

Jesse Itzler on commitment

Cody Sanchez on entrepreneurship

This month I have been listening to $100M Offers: How To Make Offers So Good People Feel Stupid Saying No, by Alex Hormozi

This book is amazing, there is also a FREE course that you can follow along with to create your own $100M offer here: $100M Offers Course.

Alongside the ups and down he had in his early days in business, Alex talks you through the process of creating an exceptional offer and how to get away from people viewing your products and services as a commodity...something that seems to be common place in the IT Service industry right now due to the 'IT Support' companies stating they can do the job of an 'IT Service Provider' (there is a BIG difference...one for another day) for a cheaper price.

Anyway, this is worth a listen/read for anyone who is involved in the sales function of their business, I give it an 8 out of 10.

This month, aside from the Dufeu IT Podcast - Episode 2 (obviously), my favourite listen and one that I have taken the most value from has been a talk by Nick Bare on how to properly fuel for endurance sports. Those who know me know that I am extremely active and take part in a number of different sporting activities including many endurance sports. The benefits of proper nutrition are massive in both sport and business and can often give you the extra few percentage points you need to stay ahead of the game.

Check it out here: How To Properly Fuel For Endurance

This is a bit of a random section, but I often find myself buying gadgets that improve my everday life, help me in my businesses, or simply things that I like the look of, so i thought i'd pop the odd product review here as random as it is.

Sometimes these will be video reviews, other times just text and photo.

Hopefully my experiences will help others decide whether to waste their money on something they are on the fence about :-)

Nowt for this month however as this was a lastminute.com section, but I am currently working on a review of my Remarkable 2 Tablet ready for November.

Some decent business networking events I attended this month which are worth checking out:

Rugby World Cup themed networking at The Curry Club UK . This was an awesome event at The Cinnamon Kitchen where I got to meet...and eat with legendary Rugby Union referee Nigel Owens . Check out my experience here.

My local and regular Northampton based gig The Connections Club which meets once a month Delapré Abbey and hosts a great bunch of people. If you are local to Northampton then contact Barbara Hodgson to come and visit.

London Connector put on an amazing event Tramp London Mayfair where I met some amazing and really interesting people from all over the UK (and the world). This was an informal evening event for business owners and decision makers at an unreal venue. Shout out to Domenico Di Pietro FCIArb Amy Walkers and sheraz yousaf who I had some great conversations with. I also got to sample Lean Snax which is sheraz yousaf ' brand, perfect for on the go professionals, people into their health and fitness and for people who just want a healthy snack, grab some from their website here.

Handy Links:

Dufeu IT Website - For first class IT and Cybersecurity services for your business give us a shout. Remember we aren't simply an 'IT Support' company, we are a service and solutions provider...there is a big difference.

Dufeu IT YouTube - we are only a few videos in but expect a lot more in the coming months.

My IG - not the most interesting but occasionally I climb mountains and post photos so may be worth a follow :-)

Revival Nutrition - My sports nutrition and recovery company, mainly focused on CBD based products for fitness and sports athletes and enthusiasts. Grab some oil it'll help you sleep...grab some muscle rub it'll ease those sore legs after a workout.

If you enjoyed this newsletter then please give it a like, share it amongst your connections and comment on any topics that have interested you. Thanks!