Quarter 1, 2020 - Personal Performance Review

I spent nearly 10 years working in Corporate on the management team of a division within a large multi-national organization before I launched out and became a tech entrepreneur. One thing about Corporate is that there are certain things that are consistent and predictable built in the systems of large organizations, regardless of what is happening in the world around them. One of those was board meetings and the related reports that were due at the same time (without fail) every quarter. Part of my role was to report to the board about the business performance of our division. It was one of the ways shareholders could get a sense of what’s happening with all the entities within the large organization that had so many different types of businesses.

My reports to the board would primarily focus on an assessment of the Business Performance versus pre-determined and agreed-upon goals, action plans, budgets, and overall strategy. We had performance indicators to guide us and highlight key objectives to achieve in every quarter. Now as I work on building my own business and training my team on setting goals and measuring performance, I make it a point to do my own Personal Business Performance Review. Albeit not a full business report this is a summary of my performance for Q1, 2020.

FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE:

• Revenue was 18% below budget
• Expenditure was 27% below budget
• Capex purchases on equipment & furniture for our office in Harare. Our office is equipped and fully functional now.
• Capex purchase on content creation equipment to document the work we will be doing.

CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE:

• Generated 27 leads and converted 6 into new clients in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
• Recorded 2 projects as repeat business from existing clients
• Recorded 2 Recommendations / Referrals
• Successfully conducted 2nd in-depth Industry Specific training with a Non-governmental organization. This time our training was on how to use drones for Disaster Planning, Management & Risk Mitigation and we did the training on location in a rural community. The highlight for me was training a group of 10 people in this rural community about drones. For all of them, it was their first time seeing a drone up close and through our intensive training over just 5 days, we trained them about the local drone regulations, rules of aviation, how to take off and land a drone safely and how to use the drone to create maps for data gathering. (Video on this coming out soon!)

INTERNAL PROCESS PERSPECTIVE:

• Read 3 books
• Did a 15km hike
• Reconnected with old friends
• Traveled to 3 countries, 7 Cities.
• Started training for my next certification.

LEARNING, INNOVATION & GROWTH PERSPECTIVE:

• Obtained my RPAS Pilot License (Yay!) I’m now a fully licensed & certified Drone Pilot.
• Co-Authored my first book called DRONE PROFESSIONAL 1 which became #1 Best Seller in the USA in its category. https://www.amazon.com/Drone-Professional-1-Louise-Jupp/dp/B084DL4SM7
• I became the first Zimbabwean to author a book on Drones and Drone Technology.
• Selected as 1 of 9 Finalists from around the world for the Unusual Solutions Drone Competition, represented Zimbabwe and the region. https://blog.werobotics.org/2019/10/16/meet-the-unusual-solutions-competition-finalists/
• Invited to Nairobi, Kenya, and Pitched to an international Jury, my concept on developing a network platform to Ethical Use of Drones. https://blog.werobotics.org/2020/04/07/discover-the-videos-of-the-unusual-solutions-competition-final-pitch-event/
• Connected with Drone Industry leaders in Kenya and started developing plans for collaboration on future projects.
• TV interview on Zimbabwe’s main Breakfast Show where I spoke about the local Drone Industry and what needs to be done to grow it.
• Featured on a Lifestyle and Motivation Show, where I shared about our company’s journey so far and what we envision for the future of the Drone Industry. Since this show aired on national television, I've been inundated with messages & calls from people who want us to teach them about drones or who just want to come and intern with us and be a part of what we are doing.
• Interviewed on a podcast with the leading online Tech magazine in the country where I spoke about Drones and the future of Education. https://www.techzim.co.zw/2020/02/podcast-on-drones-education-and-the-future-of-careers/
• I received an offer from investors in South Africa who heard me speak at a conference about our vision and after looking closer at the business, they wanted to buy us out completely even though we’re still a startup. Confirmation that we are on the right track. I declined the offer by the way. 
• Completed company registration to open another branch of our Drone Business in Johannesburg.

Overall it was a highly productive Q1, 2020 with a lot of great achievements and growth opportunities. I know the relationships created in these few months, through these experiences, will have a lasting impact for years to come. Q2, 2020 may not be as colorful with the COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc on the world but one thing is sure, regardless of what's happening, progress is a must.

-Summary of Q1, 2020

(Look out for my next report!)