The HUB, and our role has evolved, beyond simply the lifecycle of services, supplies and rentals.

The Old Dog and Pony Show

If your company has been around the energy business for years, even perhaps decades, how do you stay relevant to the companies looking for your products and services? How do you keep that top shelf exposure when exploration and production companies are looking for assistance? One would think in an industry chock full of the salespeople pounding the streets and hanging in the local drinking establishments in downtown Calgary, that industry insiders would have a plethora of choices to turn to when they are in need of assistance.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

One of the biggest lessons we have learned in recent years is how many oil and gas professionals really don’t have a solid network of business associates they can easily turn to, to help take their business to the next level. We talk about how this industry was and continues to be founded on relationships, yet there seems to be huge gaps in our ability to source the right person, at the right time, particularly when we need them most. From an operator’s perspective, each have their go-to vendors in their hip pockets and the industry isn’t short on salespeople knocking on your door trying to sell you their wares. What is more distressing is the number of micro-juniors, juniors and even some intermediates, who constantly struggle with the ever-important capital raise dilemma, operational issues and fundamental business requirements versus just having to focus in on that next lucrative find below the soil.

And I guess it kind of makes sense. Many of these individuals are engineers and geologists by profession and have only sporadic business acumen, management depth and leadership training.

And the deck is kind of stacked against them as many of these individuals have never experienced the customer on the other side of the desk with super wild-ass expectations or unrealistic demands. Customers have a way of keeping us grounded and honest with ourselves on a daily basis. They push us to constantly strive for greater heights and improve upon everything we do. But what if your business doesn’t have customers, or the need to understand the customer’s perspective. That’s just one of the challenges facing oil and gas industry professionals as they to strive to improve their ROI and shareholder value.

We are just finishing up our 3rd year of operations with our flagship Oilfield HUB service. We initially punched into the market with the goal to help facilitate and connect buyers and sellers in the patch. The HUB, and our role has evolved, beyond simply the lifecycle of services, supplies and rentals. It now encompasses intangible human resources, business advice and management information services, not only from those companies participating in Oilfield HUB, but also from a group of inspired contributing editors on the pages of our Oilfield PULSE magazine and PULSE Interactive Newsletter.

We wanted to take this issue of Oilfield PULSE to acknowledge and thank all of our early adopters and innovators who believed in our cause and took the plunge with us to make both our Oilfield HUB online business community and our Oilfield PULSE magazine a huge success.

*Dog On It We’re Now 3 Years Old!

We have been truly blessed by the support from our client base since we launched Oilfield HUB in 2012. Did we get everything correct right out of the shoot? Unfortunately not! Have we listened and learned from our mistakes Absolutely! As we head into 2015, and our 4th year of operations, we wanted to take this issue of Oilfield PULSE to acknowledge and thank all of our early adopters and innovators who believed in our cause and took the plunge with us to make both our Oilfield HUB online business community and our Oilfield PULSE magazine a huge success. Each in their own right made us look at ourselves when we didn’t want to, challenged the services we are offering when they weren’t quite up to snuff, and questioned the support we are providing, or not, to come through those formative years even stronger and better prepared for the years ahead. To the small number of companies that we lost along the way, we hope to re-capture your attention and welcome you back to the tribe sometime soon. But thanks just the same! To all of our customers since inception, those that joined us in 2014, and especially to our growing list of VIP clients and community thought leaders, your continued support is always appreciated.

A heartfelt …… Thanks for your Business!

One last thought ………

I wrote this article about a month or so ago, and who would have thought the industry would now be facing $50 oil as 2015 begins. At these prices, every company, including our own, needs to operate leaner, meaner and more cost effectively! This certainly adds another huge element of uncertainty to capital budgets and operating incomes this coming year. The Oilfield HUB community has just surpassed 3,600 companies, so tap into the expertise and strength the HUB has to offer, and let’s collectively make 2015 the best it can be. We’re here to help all of our clients weather this storm!

 

*Dog on it  – early 19th cent. English meaning for God Damn It.

Kevin Turko
CEO
Leadstone Group
403.537.6561

 This article originally appeared in the  

January 2015 issue of Oilfield PULSE