As the year is drawing to an end and with my second child due to arrive in less than 24 hours, I have found myself with relatively little time for reflection in the past couple of days. However, the past year has included some major changes both professionally and personally, not least the last four months working at SOPHOLA. I want to look back at the last four months as well as forward into the next quarter and 2020 overall.

In terms of the past four months, the success and challenges with each project were:

AdScale

We set out to find partnerships with advertising agencies in APAC to use AdScale Enterprise to manage their clients’ accounts. We successfully onboarded one agency from Thailand, which helped us develop our processes and highlighted the need for better educational materials. Over the next quarter we are aiming to bring more agencies in and I will set out to create a more streamlined training process to cut down on how much time we need to spend on each one.

AdScale E-commerce

This new product, which is yet to get a full release on the Japanese market, will be one of the challenges for next quarter. Finding a way to successfully integrate this tool into Japanese ecommerce platforms and creating a streamlined sales funnel will be key to its success.

JME

The Japan market entry project to support foreign brands with their ecommerce launch on the Japanese market was launched in the beginning of October. This solution has evolved continually during this quarter as we have got feedback on what the pain points prospective customers are facing. We have already brought on customer already in the last quarter and will begin working with a second customer from January next year. We have a much clearer message now which will be necessary as this project will really need to ramp up over the next 8-12 months.

Changes and challenges for 2020

1. One area where additional development is necessary, particularly in the projects that I take a lead in, is in my communication with team members. In the next quarter I want to work on creating a more collaborative dialogue to identify issues, come up with creative solutions and create faster results. Ultimately, I want to make the best use of our individual talents and skill sets and continually question what we are doing to see if there are better solutions available.
2. Find a management style that combines my basic personality with what is best for my colleagues and results.
3. More big picture sales activity with the additional responsibility, risk and possible reward. Here we have some big developments coming in the next quarter, which I am looking forward to writing about on this blog over the coming months.

I am very excited about what is on the horizon with SOPHOLA. It will be a lot of hard work and the goals we have set ourselves for the next year will be challenging, but what we will be able to do in 2021 should we succeed is hugely motivating.

SOPHOLA, Inc.
Sebastian Benedikz