- “Instead of being ‘heads down’ we should be ‘heads up’ so we can spot trends” This is according to Josh Linkner, the Founder of ePrize, a venture capitalist, and now bestselling author of Disciplined Dreaming. If you don’t stop and look around you, you miss the big picture – and you can’t look ahead. Are you taking time to look “up” in your day?
- “I have no good ideas. I ‘steal’ them from my staff.” Said by Duane Jebbett, CEO of Rowmark, a plastics maker from Ohio. The point here is NOT about taking credit for your employees’ ideas. It’s actually the opposite — it means to empower your staff to think and solve problems on their own. So, are you encouraging your employees to come up with good ideas? And do you adopt their ideas, or do you ignore them because they are not your own, as if their thinking doesn’t count?
- “Get comfortable marketing on the Splinternet.” The ‘Splinternet’ refers to the splintering Internet, meaning … people increasingly get access to content and to your brand using multiple devices and multiple platforms. So said Shar VanBoskirk of Forrester Research. For more, read from the Forrester blog: Proof the Splinternet is Real and The Splinternet Means the End of the Web’s Golden Age. The critical question is: are you customizing your content, products and marketing messages to be seen and experienced by your customers no matter the device (computer, iPhone/iPad, BlackBerry, Android) and no matter the platform (Web browser, Facebook, XBox)?
- “Technology has enabled small companies to do amazing things,” says Phil Simon (pictuted above, second from right), a technology consultant who helps companies optimize their use of technology, and author of The New Small. Phil’s comment reinforces a refrain regular readers of this site know well. Technology has the power to give small businesses bigger reach and bigger profits. Is there some repetitive low-value-add activity that you could automate? Have you even looked around lately to see what technology solutions will help your business be more efficient, or operate faster or cheaper?
- “When a business has mojo you want to be associated with it.” Bo Burlingham, author of Small Giants: Companies That Choose To Be Great Instead of Big, went on to liken business mojo to charisma that a person might have. Mojo makes your business seem attractive and desirable. People want to work in it, they talk about it, they think of it when it’s time to buy. Does your business have mojo (charisma)? What would give it mojo — a fresh brand identity, or a unique twist to your product, or something else?
- “Stop trying to get people to like you – instead care about THEM.” This quote is courtesy of Keith Ferrazzi, author of Never Eat Alone. He emphasizes showing others how you can help them when you communicate or interact. When you write emails or approach a sales prospect, are you emphasizing what you can do to help THEM succeed — or is it all about you?
- “Buying a killer domain name in our industry was important.” This was said by Seth Newman, President of Envelopes.com, in the context of a session on constraints to growth. Getting an easy-to-remember, single word domain name was one of the growth strategies for Envelopes.com. According to Newman, the company paid $400,000 for the domain name and rebranded the company (it previously was called Action Envelopes — not nearly as memorable). Are you prepared to invest and make bold moves to grow?
- “Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. Balanced people don’t change the world.” This is by Chris Guillebeau (pictured above, right), author of The Art of Non-Conformity. Chris’s point wasn’t to deliberately work yourself sick. Rather, work with a sense of urgency and embrace life and your work to the fullest, to the point that it satisfies you. If you are not satisfied, change it. Are you satisfied with the mix of time you are devoting to your life and to your business? If not, how would you change it?
- “Your employees can sense when you’re not engaged. It hurts your company.” That’s according to Mike Faith, CEO of Headsets.com and avowed customer service fanatic. He says you have to stay interested, energetic and involved. Are you as interested in your business today as you always were? Or have you checked out already? If so, find a way to get your excitement back.
- “Resistance to change is often just a lack of clarity. Ambiguity is the enemy of change. “ So says Dan Heath, co-author of Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard. He was referring to change in the context of organizational leadership and employees. It’s not that employees may not want to change. They may just not understand what change you want, or why, or how to go about it. Are you being as clear as you can be when explaining to your team what should change and why?
avril 18, 2011
10 Quotes To Examine Your Business By - SmallBiz Trends
avril 14, 2011
10 Personality Traits That Kill Entrepreneurship - American Express OPEN Forum
- Self-doubt. Don’t second-guess yourself. If you don’t believe in your business, who will? Worrying is a waste of time and energy.
- Anti-social tendencies. Even the best multi-tasker needs a solid team for support. If you don’t like working with people, or have poor intrapersonal skills, your business is unlikely to take off.
- Control issues. There’s nothing more detrimental to team spirit than a micromanaging boss. We know you want everything to be perfect, but so do your employees. Have a little faith in them or they might not stick around.
- Inflexibility. It’s important for every business to have a plan. But you don’t have to stick to every single detail. New companies stick out for being creative and spontaneous. If something goes wrong, you need to be able to re-evaluate and adapt.
- Power. You want to be a strong leader, but sometimes authority can backfire. Researchers say that bosses who are too powerful tend to have less productive teams. Employees feel too intimidated to share ideas or offer input—too much authority fosters an unhealthy business environment. Your employees don’t have to love you, but they shouldn’t be afraid of you.
- Lack of focus. Groupon had daily deals. Google had an amazing search engine. Every new business needs a focused mission to succeed. Eventually, you can expand your business (like Google did with mail, maps and more), but a lack of focus in the beginning will doom it. Neither consumers nor investors will get behind a business plan that’s all over the place.
- Competitiveness. You want to be the best. You can’t worry about the competition until you’ve proven you are a solid competitor. Entrepreneurs who spend more time worrying about rivals than worrying about their own jobs will hinder development.
- Perfectionism. In the beginning, you’re probably going to make mistakes. It’s how you learn. Failure can even be good, when it leads to new ways of thinking. If you obsess over everything that goes wrong, you might miss out on these new ideas.
- Close-mindedness. You may think you know everything, but, chances are, you don’t. No matter how sure you are, listen to advice from others. Even if your way ends up being best, you’re a better leader for being open to suggestions.
- Impatience. You’re anxious to get your product on the market and you can’t wait for your company to go public. But timing is everything. Don’t force your business to be ready to launch before it is. Give it time to properly develop, or it will crash and burn. The same goes for individual projects. Rushing through a task leaves more room for stupid mistakes.
via openforum.com
avril 14, 2011
Top 7 Secrets Steve Jobs’ Authorized Biography Could Reveal - Forbes
7. His Greatest Failures
Every book needs a selling point. How better to hype the release of iSteve: The Book of Jobs than to encourage Apple’s chief exec to talk about the product(s) or life choices that he considers to be his greatest failures?
Just don’t expect his failures to be recent. If Jobs is going to admit a mistake, it will not be one that could impact his life today.
6. Why He Really Sold Pixar To Disney (NYSE: DIS)
After numerous hit films, Jobs fought valiantly to ensure that Pixar would receive a fair share of box office profits. But when all was said and done, Apple’s leader gave up control of Pixar in exchange for more than $7 billion in Disney stock, as well as a seat on the board of directors.
Was this what Jobs wanted all along – a shot at Disney? Did he intend to sell Pixar all along? Or did he want to hold onto Pixar but ultimately decide that the deal was too good to pass up?
Here’s hoping that iSteve: The Book of Jobs will clear finally this up.
(To see Jae Jun’s column on how to find stock ideas, click here.)
5. Why He Attacked The Competition
In hyping the iPad, Jobs has pulled no punches in telling the world how he feels about other tablets. But why? His actions do not make any sense. Jobs is not one to quickly criticize the competition. Perhaps this book can provide some insight into why he attacks some competitors while ignoring the rest.
4. Why He Supports This Biography
Up until now, Jobs refused to authorize a biography about his life. According to the Detroit News, Apple has gone as far as to banish the works of John Wiley & Sons because the publisher had plans to release an unauthorized biography titled, “iCon: Steve Jobs, The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business.”
Why then, after all these years, has Jobs given his approval for a biography? Something tells me that if iSteve doesn’t reveal that information, its author, Walter Isaacson, will offer up his own reasons while promoting the book next year.
3. What Scares Him Most
Having survived a rare but curable form of pancreatic cancer, Jobs has faced an unfathomable horror. In his biography, I suspect that he will speak more openly about the ordeal and the things that scare him most, whether they relate to this disease, the prospect of death, or something else entirely.
2. Hints At Future Products
During his interviews with Isaacson, there’s a good chance that Jobs went into detail about the technology he loves and has experimented with, which could provide clues as to what Apple may be working on for the future.
(To see how to profit off of Ryan Mallory’s Swing Trades, click here.)
1. When It’s Time To Retire
The simple and most obvious answer is “never.” But nearly everyone has a breaking point. If Jobs has one, Isaacson’s interviews could provide a few clues. Just don’t expect them to be too obvious – Jobs would never do anything to put his company’s future in jeopardy.
via blogs.forbes.com
avril 13, 2011
Keeping Startup Costs Low with Online Resources - About.com
Branding: Spend the time, but not the money and do it yourself. A brand that people like and remember is an essential ingredient for a successful startup, but hiring a branding firm can be a big investment - one that you may not be able to afford up front. A quality branding firm might charge $20,000 to create a brand from scratch. Here’s the $20 do-it-yourself substitute: grab five creative friends, a case of beer, and a whiteboard. Block out a few hours and brainstorm brand values and name ideas - then get impartial feedback. Logo Design: Crowdsourcing sites like crowdSPRING.com give you high-quality professional design and more choices for less. CrowdSPRING has a community of hundreds of thousands of designers who compete with their design concepts. The site allows you to create a design contest for all kinds of print and web design projects including logo designs, websites, business cards, brochures, and more. Simply post your design project (for example, a logo), requirements, preferences, and prize amount (say, $500). Within a few hours, creatives from all over the world will start posting designs. The site allows you to interact and give designers feedback, ensuring that you get exactly what you’re looking for. Website: Do-it-yourself web design tools like Squarespace are perfect for entrepreneurs looking to build a sophisticated presence on the web without the expense of a web developer. Squarespace is a blog-like web design tool that is easy to set up, customize, and manage. Plans start at $20 per month and include hosting, analytics, and search engine optimization. If you’re tech-savvy enough to manage your own Facebook page, this won’t be a challenge. Publicity: Opening a store? Launching a website? Well, if you want anyone to know about it, you’re going to have to get the word out over the newswires. Check out BusinessWire, PRNewswire and PRWeb. Good publicity is priceless, but it’s not always free. For local press releases, go straight to the source and build relationships with local reporters and media outlets - and let them know what you’re up to. Need national coverage? Getting the word out nationally is going to take a lot more legwork - and it’s going to cost you. A publicist can really come in handy here, but if you can’t afford to hire someone to write and post your press releases for you, try writing them yourself. Email:Don’t hire an IT guy to set up your business email. With Google Apps, you don’t need software and you don’t need email servers. Once you’ve purchased your domain name, creating business email accounts for you and your team online is quick and easy. Set up takes just a few minutes. Like Gmail, your email is always safe and automatically backed up on Google’s servers and accessible from anywhere. Mobile apps for iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android are free and easy to set up. Phone Number and Voicemail: Who needs a landline? If your business is on the go anyway, you don’t have to spring for a business line right away. Instead, use Google’s nifty Voice feature and create a new phone number that forwards to your cell phone. Voicemails are automatically transcribed and emailed to you. Accounting: Accounting can be an intimidating task, but one that you can tackle on your own. Keeping track of invoices, payables, employee time cards, and your income statement has never been easier - or more affordable. The gold standard for accounting for small businesses is QuickBooks - and the new QuickBooks Online version is perfect for startups. QuickBooks Online starts at $12 per month and there’s no software to install. Because QuickBooks Online is cloud-hosted, all your data is secure and always backed up - and accessible from any Internet connection or mobile device. Tax: While certainty is not a word in the vocabulary of most startups, you can certainly count on taxes. TurboTax Online makes it easy to file your federal and state taxes by guiding you through your tax return with simple yes or no questions. The best part? You’re going to save hundreds on tax preparation. Legal: Don’t pay a lawyer thousands to file boilerplate documents. Do it yourself using the online templates at MyCorporation.com. MyCorporation guides you through a simple questionnaire to help you decide what type of entity to create (LLC, C Corp, etc.) and then creates custom documents and files the necessary forms with federal and state agencies for you. Intellectual Property: Need to trademark your brand name or logo? Save a lot of time and a lot of money by doing your own preliminary patent and trademark searches with the US Patent and Trademark Office’s online portal at Filing trademarks using their online system is not entirely intuitive, so download the step-by-step instructions and budget plenty of time to file online. The Copyright office is a separate site through the Library of Congress, Copyright.gov. Both sites accept major credit cards for filing fees, which range from $35 to over $1,000, depending on the type of filing.
avril 13, 2011
Follow Seven Rules for a Creative Startup Culture - Forbes
- Fuel passion. Every great invention, every medical breakthrough, every advance of humankind began with passion: a passion for change and for making a difference. With a team full of passion, you can accomplish just about anything. To promote passion, you need to develop a sense of purpose, promote collaboration, and have fun.
- Celebrate ideas. Many businesses give lip service to their celebration of innovation, but punish, rather than reward, risk-taking and creativity. In a creative culture, rewards come in many forms: money, yes, but great businesses also celebrate creativity through praise (both public and private), career opportunities, and perks.
- Foster autonomy. People and teams that can call their own shots are better able to produce valuable creative output, since requiring approval at every step kills the creative process. Granting of autonomy first requires extending trust. The key is to provide a clear message of what you are looking for, and then get out of the way.
- Encourage courage. Netflix, which is known for its creative culture, tells employees to “Say what you think, even if it is controversial. Make tough decisions without excessive agonizing. Take smart risks. Question actions inconsistent with our values.” Encourage team members to take creative risks without fear.
- Fail forward. Rather than characterizing something that doesn’t work immediately as a “failure,” position it as an experiment. These experiments can be called “failing forward,” because each one leads you one step closer to the perfect solution. The key is to fail quickly. Flush out ideas and let go of the ones that fail.
- Think small. When you want to foster big ideas, it’s important to have a strong sense of urgency, be nimble, and not afraid to embrace change. It’s easier to accomplish this in a small team, in a small local environment, before you try to extend it a much larger infrastructure. You will see results sooner, and be more able to overcome opposition.
- Maximize diversity. A diversity of thought and perspective fuels creativity and builds creative cultures. To connect with customers, for example, you need to understand the world from their perspective, not yours – this is one area where a diverse culture can make a huge difference.
via blogs.forbes.com
avril 8, 2011
10 Ways Consultants Can Offer Value to Their Clients - Business Consulting Buzz
Jeffrey Gitomer explains that there are 10 ways in which value can be perceived. They are…
1. Ease of doing business with you.
2. Ease of contacting you and anyone at your company.
3. Ease of use after purchase.
4. Increase in productivity for the customer.
5. Availability of service when the customer needs it.
6. Boost of customer morale after product/service is installed.
7. Reasonably priced (not cheap, not most expensive)
8. Additional profit to customer.
9. Assurance to the customer that there is a perfect fit.
10. Assurance that there is no risk in doing business with you.
avril 8, 2011
7 Ways to Jump Start Your Development - Lead Change Group
- Take responsibility. No one can do this for you. Not your parents. Not your spouse. Not your best friend. And not your employer. All of these people might be able to support you. However, none of them can do it for you. If you wait for your employer to offer assistance or to pay for the workshop, you might be waiting a long time. If you wait for your spouse to buy you the master class in photography you are interested in, you better be patient. Why must you do this for yourself, even for professional development? Because you are the person who benefits the most! Your development belongs to no one but y-o-u. If others offer assistance, dollars or opportunities, great – just don’t wait for that assistance to get started.
- Create a learning focus. Long before asking, “What did I learn today?” ask yourself, “What do I want (or need) to learn today?” Human beings are learning beings – in some ways we can’t not learn. But to intensify your personal development beyond happenstance or serendipity, you must be clear on what matters most right now. Create a monthly, quarterly and/or annual learning focus. Yes, of course there will be lessons learned at random times, but having this (possibly daily) focus will help you consciously and intentionally learn the skills and knowledge that is most important to your growth right now.
- Tie it to a powerful ‘why.’ Why do you want to learn? What value will you gain – be it personal satisfaction, pleasure or a leg up for the next promotion? Tie your learning focus to things that matter to you deeply. Reminding yourself of this why will help maintain your discipline, keep you motivated and improve the chances you keep learning.
- Connect everything together. Now that you have a clear picture of what you are focused on learning along with your powerful ‘why;’ connect everything you read, experience and observe to that learning goal. For example, I lead a group of leaders through the development of a new skill each month. As I prepare and facilitate the learning of those leaders, I am thinking constantly about that topic/skill. This allows my subconscious mind to see examples, lessons and connections I would miss otherwise. Once you have your learning focus in view ask yourself, “How does this experience/situation/blog post/conversation/you-get-the-idea relate to what I need to learn?” This filter will help you learn much more, much faster!
- Devote time. You can tell me (or yourself) that you want to learn and grow. But the real proof is in your focus and in your calendar. To build important and valuable skills requires you to invest energy, focus and money. And more importantly, you need to invest time. Getting on a serious personal/professional development plan will require you to invest your time differently. However busy you are, it is a matter of prioritizing your learning and growth higher on your list. Get used to it, and get going.
- Get help. The best in any field or endeavor don’t get there alone. And perhaps more importantly, they can’t stay there alone! Help could be in the form of workshops, mentors and more. But almost certainly the most important help will be in the form of coaching. The coaching you need might be formal or informal, internal to your organization or external, free or paid (or some of all of these). If you are serious about your personal and professional development, then make coaching part of your plan.
- Take action. All the good ideas in the world are great, but as long as they stay in your head, sit in your journal or remain on this page, that is all they are – ideas. Want to reap the benefits of developing yourself? Take action!
avril 8, 2011
8 Failure Avoidance Strategies for Every Startup - Young Entrepreneur
1. Buffer your funding requirements. Consider both the money you need before funding, and the size of investor funding requests. You should buffer the first by 50%, and the second by 25%. You will be amazed at how many items you forgot to cover, and how fast the cash disappears. Severe cash flow problems may not be recoverable.
2. Refine your strategy monthly. Assume your initial strategy will be wrong. Most startups I know have “pivoted” their target market several times during their rollout. So be alert and be flexible. Watch out for the unknown, such as an economic recession you hadn’t counted on, or a new competitor with deep pockets.
3. Reign-in expenses. The most important task of a startup CEO is to review every expense with a miserly hand BEFORE the money flows out. Do not delegate this task! Barter services and use equity to get things done for minimum cash. Make every effort to do things “in house”, rather than rely on outside services, accountants, and law firms.
4. Create intellectual property. Start early by registering your company, and reserving the name as your website domain name. Reserve the same names on the leading social networks and blogs. The patent process is far from perfect, but it’s a huge step ahead of no proprietary content. Also don’t forget trademarks and copyrights.
5. Make marketing and sales a priority. Every new startup needs to fight the urge to get the product out, and then start selling it. Do it in parallel, or the other way around, to keep from building the wrong thing. It takes leverage, effort and money to get in the public eye and stay there. Budget for it in time and dollars.
6. Find and use top-notch advisors. One or two “experts” (largely unpaid) who have “been there and done that” can head off many mistakes and suggest a calm recovery plan for the ones you make. Resist the ego urge to “go it alone” or to convince yourself that you are smarter than your competitors.
7. Temper theory with reality. There is no substitute for domain experience. No matter how well-educated you are, and how certain you are that you understand all the nuances of a business area, it is a good idea to work in a similar business for a few months to get a feel for the market and observe the unwritten rules before taking the plunge. This is especially true for students tackling their first venture.
8. Manage your time. It takes practice and effort to focus on the most important things first. In business, “most important” means time to market, customer service, low cost, and beating your competitors. It also means knowing when to delegate, when to rest, and reserving time for effective communication with your team.
avril 8, 2011
The 6 Advantages Women Entrepreneurs Have Over Men - American Express OPEN Forum
1. Social Networking. Let’s face it—women are natural networkers. They love to talk, mingle, and rub elbows. This is the very reason why husbands rarely ever manage the social calendar. In today’s business environment, mastering social media is mandatory, and the ladies absolutely have a leg up!
2. Intuition. They call it “women’s intuition” for a reason. Women in general can size up another person much faster than her male counterpart. In today’s ultra-fast paced business environment, you need the ability to quickly identify the allies and the enemies. Regardless if you are a male or female, you need to trust your gut.
3. Pain Tolerance. Okay, initially I would have said this is irrelevant. But after watching my children be born, there is no question that my wife can handle a lot more pain than I can. And I am not just talking physical pain, I mean emotional, too (have you seen how tough children can be on their mothers?). In business, there are a lot of painful moments. A lot. Women definitely have an advantage in this area.
4. Multi-tasking. Women are known for juggling many tasks at the same time and still being able to produce excellent results. Conversely, the guys are masters at focusing on one thing. Still, the advantage in today’s distracting environment goes to women.
5. Patience. Women inherently seem to have more patience. And in today’s business environment, patience is key! Aggressive business strategies are not paying off like they once did. Slow and steady wins the race in this category.
6. Listening. A friend of mine went to buy a new bed at a small bedding store owned by a husband and wife team. The female owner approaches my friend and asked all kinds of questions about why they needed a new bed, if they could fix their old bed, what else they were considering, etc. She asked questions and listened closely. She clearly showed that she cared about helping to meet their needs. My friend was moments away from buying any bed that she recommended. But just then, the frustrated husband on the sales team ran up and said “let me handle this.” Then he just tried to hard close the sale. He was pushy, telling them what he recommended and what they had to have. Guess what? The sale was lost the second he began speaking! They walked out. I am sure he blamed her, but it was him. The key is to ask questions and really listen. Quite frankly, any great sales person knows this, man or woman, it just seems that the ladies are naturally better at doing it.
via openforum.com
avril 6, 2011
Why Always Being Available Is Killing Your Business - American Express OPEN Forum
Here is how you get started.
- Tell your clients you will be on vacation for the next three days (even if you are just going to be sitting at home—after all, taking a break from the constant work is a vacation).
- During this time, turn off the phone and don’t respond to e-mail. Although you may be whining about this step now, just trust me on this. Do nothing related to work; just detach.
- Spend those three days doing something else—anything that doesn’t have to do with your business. Spend it with your family, play a round of golf, hit the beach or just clean the garage. But don’t sit and think about work!
- Repeat this process at least every couple of months.
via openforum.com
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