Snap out of it and stop feeling sorry for yourself. I say this because every day I hear how bad things are going. Right now I am creating a video companion for a Pearson Prentice Hall textbook about entrepreneurship for high school and college students called How To Start and Operate a Small Business. The author, Steve Mariotti, is the founder of NFTE, the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship. I've already done video companions for over 40 college books but reading Steve's book and thinking about his target market put a smile on my face.
That smile caused me to snap out of it. Like so many people, I've had a strange dull feeling that perhaps my work isn't very important and that maybe I should just give up. The smile came to me because Steve's book reminded me of why I'm in business in the first place. We all must be in business to create and keep customers. Actually that is Peter Drucker's definition of business and I memorized it years ago.
When things get hard and you get discouraged, it is best to go out and talk to customers. When Don MacInnis did this, his customers told him exactly what new product they wanted him to develop. That product is now his number one seller.
Snap out of it and go talk to your customers.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Our Spiritual Mentor Died Yesterday
Sir John Templeton was our hero. He was an elegant Christian who practiced his faith and he put his money to work on what Bruce would call the fundamentals. John Templeton made his money as an investor and as the Wall Street Journal writes today, he was an optimist who invested enthusiastically when others were too pessimistic to put a dollar in the market. As Christians ourselves we understand the source of Sir Templeton's optimism on capitalism.
In 1972 Sir John Templeton put in place a way to recognize "a living person who has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works." His annual Templeton Award is a cash prize and always larger than the Nobel awards because Templeton felt that spiritual matters are more valuable to us than other topics of study.
We are proud that we have in our library two special episodes with Michael Novak, a Templeton Prize winner. We consider Novak an apologist for our work. While today it is very popular to praise the work of small business owners, when we started the series we were told by big shots in New York City that, "Nobody wants to be small." Novak explains why small business is crucial to a civil and prosperous society.
Sir John Templeton's life encouraged me and the scholarly work of Michael Novak helps me understand the value of my own small contribution to the prosperity of others.
To celebrate John Templeton's life, Bruce is working with a small cadre of mathematicians and engineers on, The Big Board for Our Little Universe. This is a teaching tool for math and science teachers and the tag line for it is: It's time to take God out of a box and put science in one. The goal is to show kids the bigness of God and the smallness of science. He wants kids to stop being afraid of science and to start seeing the vastness of God's creation.
In 1972 Sir John Templeton put in place a way to recognize "a living person who has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works." His annual Templeton Award is a cash prize and always larger than the Nobel awards because Templeton felt that spiritual matters are more valuable to us than other topics of study.
We are proud that we have in our library two special episodes with Michael Novak, a Templeton Prize winner. We consider Novak an apologist for our work. While today it is very popular to praise the work of small business owners, when we started the series we were told by big shots in New York City that, "Nobody wants to be small." Novak explains why small business is crucial to a civil and prosperous society.
Sir John Templeton's life encouraged me and the scholarly work of Michael Novak helps me understand the value of my own small contribution to the prosperity of others.
To celebrate John Templeton's life, Bruce is working with a small cadre of mathematicians and engineers on, The Big Board for Our Little Universe. This is a teaching tool for math and science teachers and the tag line for it is: It's time to take God out of a box and put science in one. The goal is to show kids the bigness of God and the smallness of science. He wants kids to stop being afraid of science and to start seeing the vastness of God's creation.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Change When Margins Get Too Low
There's a big disconnect for me when it comes to all the doom and gloom being peddled by the media about the national economy. There's not a parking place to be found when I go to the mall, and just the other day, I heard one grandmother complaining that the newest version of Wii was nowhere to be found in the entire state of Ohio. So, she was on a desperate hunt for the high-tech game (retails for $379) many states away. Yes, for a game. Truly, these are tough times when grandma is the hunter-gatherer for procuring what overindulged grandkids can't seem to live without. It just proves that where there's a will--or at least a willing pocketbook--there's a way.
It's also an underlying principle of our economy. If there is demand for a product at a price the customer is willing to pay, there will be sales. From heads of lettuce to houses, the market will act in its own best interest--distorting regulations notwithstanding. This doesn't mean that as the producer your margins may be smaller since the price of gas is up and this is driving the price of food up, too. If you can't pass increased costs for your current products on to customers, how do you find a way to get some of the cash that people clearly are spending at the mall or on Wii?
When Reid Pigman saw the profits being squeezed in his father's pilot school, he abandoned the school business and moved into the fixed base operation niche and now his company, Texas Jet, provides all the ground-based services required by aircraft owners and operators. If you're feeling the profit squeeze in your business, it may be time to make changes, find a new product, a new service or a new bundle of products and services that your customers will be happy to pay you for, and make your bottom line stronger as a result.
It's also an underlying principle of our economy. If there is demand for a product at a price the customer is willing to pay, there will be sales. From heads of lettuce to houses, the market will act in its own best interest--distorting regulations notwithstanding. This doesn't mean that as the producer your margins may be smaller since the price of gas is up and this is driving the price of food up, too. If you can't pass increased costs for your current products on to customers, how do you find a way to get some of the cash that people clearly are spending at the mall or on Wii?
When Reid Pigman saw the profits being squeezed in his father's pilot school, he abandoned the school business and moved into the fixed base operation niche and now his company, Texas Jet, provides all the ground-based services required by aircraft owners and operators. If you're feeling the profit squeeze in your business, it may be time to make changes, find a new product, a new service or a new bundle of products and services that your customers will be happy to pay you for, and make your bottom line stronger as a result.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Summer Interns Increase ROI
English philosopher Francis Bacon once said that "Young people are more fit for new projects than for settled business." It is summer so high school and college students need work, and chances are, your business' technology could use some updating, too.
While you and your older employees have learned to use the Internet to get work done, 16-20 year olds have used the Internet for play. That means they have experimented a lot and have probably discovered some tools and sites that you should know about. Technology is second nature to them and you could gain tremendous advantages simply by tapping into their computing knowledge to have them build databases or do web research for you.
Not only are today's young people technically savvy, they can be a cost-effective solution to help you with short-term projects in the business. Nicole Miller, the New York-based fashion house, and Mir, Fox & Rodriguez, a CPA firm in Houston have put interns to work, teaching them business principles that will serve them well in the future, as well as nurturing the next wave of talent.
Is there a project in your business that could tap into our youth's expertise and increase your return on the dollar you pay out to employees at the same time? Try a few summer interns. You'll be doing both of you a big favor.
While you and your older employees have learned to use the Internet to get work done, 16-20 year olds have used the Internet for play. That means they have experimented a lot and have probably discovered some tools and sites that you should know about. Technology is second nature to them and you could gain tremendous advantages simply by tapping into their computing knowledge to have them build databases or do web research for you.
Not only are today's young people technically savvy, they can be a cost-effective solution to help you with short-term projects in the business. Nicole Miller, the New York-based fashion house, and Mir, Fox & Rodriguez, a CPA firm in Houston have put interns to work, teaching them business principles that will serve them well in the future, as well as nurturing the next wave of talent.
Is there a project in your business that could tap into our youth's expertise and increase your return on the dollar you pay out to employees at the same time? Try a few summer interns. You'll be doing both of you a big favor.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
We Have Millions of Women Presidents
Today at Bloomberg.com you can read, "New York Senator Hillary Clinton is planning to concede the race for the Democratic presidential nomination and announce her support for Illinois Senator Barack Obama, her campaign said."
I'm not worried that little girls do not have a role model because even if Mrs. Clinton had become president, she would not have been first. Remember, there are about 10 million women in this country who are the president of their own company.
Much of the excitement surrounding her candidacy was that it was significant from both historical and role model perspectives. Indeed, it is no small thing that for the first time in our history, Americans were placing a woman in a position to become president. But what the public frenzy about Mrs. Clinton misses is that even if she had become president, she would not have been first. Our daughters—and sons—already have women presidential role models in the 10 million women in this country who are the president of their own company.
That’s why I was shocked to read in a USA Today article published in May 2008 that "Only 43 women have climbed the traditional ladder to become CEOs of Fortune 1000 companies in the last 35 years." It’s hard to imagine why so many women have successfully tackled the real issues of leadership in their own business—managing people, making payroll, tracking inventory, and keeping their taxpaying customers happy—yet aren’t seen as capable of successfully running America’s large businesses. This tells me that if you want to shatter glass, you should start by busting through the ceiling you built for yourself as has Vicky Carlson .
So when I read about the ‘tragedy’ of Hillary’s defeat, the last thing I feel is discouraged. The real business of keeping this country and economy strong is happening very nicely every day thanks to the hard work of women business owners and CEOs who know far more about leadership than Mrs. Clinton will ever know. She is irrelevant to the success or failure of our companies.
I'm not worried that little girls do not have a role model because even if Mrs. Clinton had become president, she would not have been first. Remember, there are about 10 million women in this country who are the president of their own company.
Much of the excitement surrounding her candidacy was that it was significant from both historical and role model perspectives. Indeed, it is no small thing that for the first time in our history, Americans were placing a woman in a position to become president. But what the public frenzy about Mrs. Clinton misses is that even if she had become president, she would not have been first. Our daughters—and sons—already have women presidential role models in the 10 million women in this country who are the president of their own company.
That’s why I was shocked to read in a USA Today article published in May 2008 that "Only 43 women have climbed the traditional ladder to become CEOs of Fortune 1000 companies in the last 35 years." It’s hard to imagine why so many women have successfully tackled the real issues of leadership in their own business—managing people, making payroll, tracking inventory, and keeping their taxpaying customers happy—yet aren’t seen as capable of successfully running America’s large businesses. This tells me that if you want to shatter glass, you should start by busting through the ceiling you built for yourself as has Vicky Carlson .
So when I read about the ‘tragedy’ of Hillary’s defeat, the last thing I feel is discouraged. The real business of keeping this country and economy strong is happening very nicely every day thanks to the hard work of women business owners and CEOs who know far more about leadership than Mrs. Clinton will ever know. She is irrelevant to the success or failure of our companies.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
The Chief Happiness Officer
The past few weeks have given us all plenty of reasons to be unhappy. None of us is without sadness over the devastating natural disasters in Burma and the earthquake in China. At the same time, so many nations and people are just plain angry about current events. The Arabs are mad because Israel is celebrating its 60th birthday. The U.N. is mad because the U.S. is delivering aid to Burma. Obama and many in the media and Democrat party are angry because Hillary will not give up the race for her party's nomination for president.
Regardless of the reason, being sad or mad is not the way to go to work everyday.
As business owners we set the tone of the workplace and we can make or break the attitude of those around us. And with all of the news making so many people sad or mad, it is harder than ever to stay upbeat and enthusiastic.
Anne Beiler, the founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels, hired her replacement and promoted herself to the position of Chief Happiness Officer. She doesn't really call herself that but when I asked her how she spends her time now that she is no longer responsible for the day-to-day operations, she said that her job is to make sure everyone is happy.
Another owner of a very large small business told me the same thing. Cathie Jao of Bridgecreek, a property development and management company, told me that her main job is to ensure the happiness of others.
My friends who are psychotherapists would say that Anne and Cathie have set themselves up for failure because none of us can make another person happy. I think the reason these women are multi-millionaires is that they have succeeded at doing the impossible.
Regardless of the reason, being sad or mad is not the way to go to work everyday.
As business owners we set the tone of the workplace and we can make or break the attitude of those around us. And with all of the news making so many people sad or mad, it is harder than ever to stay upbeat and enthusiastic.
Anne Beiler, the founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels, hired her replacement and promoted herself to the position of Chief Happiness Officer. She doesn't really call herself that but when I asked her how she spends her time now that she is no longer responsible for the day-to-day operations, she said that her job is to make sure everyone is happy.
Another owner of a very large small business told me the same thing. Cathie Jao of Bridgecreek, a property development and management company, told me that her main job is to ensure the happiness of others.
My friends who are psychotherapists would say that Anne and Cathie have set themselves up for failure because none of us can make another person happy. I think the reason these women are multi-millionaires is that they have succeeded at doing the impossible.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Partner Power
Our study of successful companies has taught us that founders who find the right partner find power. Without exception, partners tell us they never could have done what they have done alone. The thriving partnerships are like marriages. The partners admire and respect each other and defer to each other quickly, especially when someone wants to know about an area where the other partner is the expert.
Thriving partners know that the other guy is better at some things than he is. That's the whole point. You never want to be the partner of a guy who sees you as the sou chef. You want to partner with a person who knows you are better than he is at some things. You also want your partner to know that you know your own weaknesses so well that there is no way you could build a business alone.
In his book, The Illusions of Entrepreneurship, Scott Shane points out that the companies founded by more than one person have a greater chance at success than companies launched by an individual.
One of our favorite partnerships is Dave Young and Jodi Johnson who have built their business, Oberon, into a 500-person company in a few fast years! In past work together, they found out that their management styles and philosophies were almost identical. Marry that with complementary areas of expertise and profound trust and respect for the other, you have the makings of a powerful and extremely successful partnership.
Thriving partners know that the other guy is better at some things than he is. That's the whole point. You never want to be the partner of a guy who sees you as the sou chef. You want to partner with a person who knows you are better than he is at some things. You also want your partner to know that you know your own weaknesses so well that there is no way you could build a business alone.
In his book, The Illusions of Entrepreneurship, Scott Shane points out that the companies founded by more than one person have a greater chance at success than companies launched by an individual.
One of our favorite partnerships is Dave Young and Jodi Johnson who have built their business, Oberon, into a 500-person company in a few fast years! In past work together, they found out that their management styles and philosophies were almost identical. Marry that with complementary areas of expertise and profound trust and respect for the other, you have the makings of a powerful and extremely successful partnership.
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