For What It's Worth

I remember one time debating whether I should continue a job I had or pursue one of my self employment ventures. I was talking to a prominent business owner in Ketchikan, Alaska one day while mulling over my options.

He looked at me and said, "I've found that the only person who will pay me what I'm worth is myself." I took that as a battle cry to pursue my self employment venture. And while that business was eventually profitable, the reality was that the dollars per hour weren't adding up to what I was making at my previous position.

One of the things I like to remind my clients is to take stock of your earnings. Is your business giving you what your worth?

This is not a strict dollar and cents analysis. Sometimes intangibles come into play in this decision making process. When analyzing what you are receiving from your business, think about:

* Flexibility - do you dictate your schedule or does your business dictate your schedule
* Stress - can you manage the responsibility of managing your business or does it create a level of stress that consumes you.
* Creativity - can you bring your ideas from concept to reality. Sometimes self employment enables this. Yet on the other hand, sometimes the lack of resources of having your own small business pales to the resources you may have had access to at another company.
* Team building - this is not a "cumbaya" moment here. For many small business owners, it is very empowering to be able to build your own team to meet the needs of your organization. When you work for someone else, having the level of success that can be borne from a synergistic relationship is often hampered by the fact that you usually don't have control over the choice of all of your team members. On the other hand, the resource issue comes into play here, as well. You may have better access to quality team members with a large organization that has already attracted some of the best and the brightest, while you may not have the resources to recruit those people with your own small business.

There is no way around it, determining value is a very subjective process. As you take stock of your what it's worth to own your own business, think of the intangibles. No matter what you assessment is today, remember you have the power to make tomorrow change for the better.

Challenges Everyday

Today I will be joining the Pfizer Transition Council as we work on our response to the Pfizer closings that will result in the reduction of over 600 workers up here in the North Country. The team I am working with is tasked with two major duties:
* Be prepared to assist workers looking for new opportunities for employment, with self employment being one of their options
* Assist existing businesses prepare for the market changes that are likely to occur due to this dramatic workforce reduction

While I am certainly concerned about the economic impacts of this closing, the reality is that this is just one challenge that existing small business owners have to face. As Garry Douglas, Executive Director of the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce, said at our first meeting, "Unfortunately, this is an area where we have some experience."

These market blips have happened before and, unfortunately, they are likely to happen again. Every day in business is a challenge and small business owners have an ongoing responsibility to prepare for contingencies in market changes. There will always be those business owners that are reactive; that is, they only deal with a problem when it arises. Many of them will come up with great strategies to deal with those situations and our office is prepared to provide them with assistance as they develop their plans.

I've written before that there is a certain Darwinian aspect to business survival. As he said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” The same holds true for small businesses.

Still, the best strategy is to follow the key advice that Stephen Covey identifies in his best selling book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." The small business owners that are proactive, that continually take measures to grow their markets and develop contingency plans so they are prepared for market changes are likely to be more successful. It is much easier to adapt to change if you are prepared for change.

The reality is that there will be new challenges everyday, so be prepared to adapt. Yet there will also be new opportunities for growth, so plan for that, as well!

Building Doors

When addressing the attendees at our open house yesterday, I used one of my favorite quotes from Milton Berle, "If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door." Many of the small business owners in that room have already started the construction of new doors in the North Country of NY.

While our clients in attendance were part of a very diverse group of small business owners, they all share a common trait of accepting responsibility for their own income generation. They aren't looking to the government or "the economy" to create their jobs, they are going out and creating their own opportunities.

It is this acceptance of responsibility for self determination that truly drives our economy. Furthermore, it is much more likely that these businesses will generate the innovation that will seed the opportunities of the future.

Each day as they operate, these small business owners are faced with many challenges as they try to sustain success. Yet they keep opening the doors to new opportunities every time it comes knocking and when it doesn't, they will be the first to start building new doors.

During my comments, I don't think I recognized them enough for what they contribute to our community. They are the engine that drives our economy. No matter how tough things may get, they keep on moving forward and developing new strategies to keep commerce in the North Country. Thanks for what you bring to our community and thanks for sharing your stories of success.

Open House at North Country SBDC

Today we are having an open house at the North Country Small Business Development Center (SBDC). We have invited our clients who are willing to share some insight on our counseling services so local stakeholders can get a better understanding of the depth of counseling that we provide to small businesses.

For those not familiar with what an SBDC does, the core to our services it to provide:

* Free and confidential, one on one business counseling
* Business training seminars
* Research assistance

We are part of a network of over 23 centers in the state of NY and over 1,000 centers in the United States. To find the center nearest to you, you can go to this website.

Association of Small Business Development Centers Website

As a former small business owner, it is easy to recognize the value of our services. While it is probably not the best thing to say that I made so many mistakes operating my businesses, the reality is that is true.

Yet the value we provide is that we can help our client from making the same mistakes we have made. We also share best practices to help small business owners from making mistakes and can be there to help any business owner troubleshoot specific business challenges. Of course, we don't make the decisions, that is the responsibility of the small business owner; but we certainly have a strong network of resources to provide the tools for our clients to make better informed decisions.

So if you happen to be in the Plattsburgh vicinity today, stop by our open house from 1:00 - 4:00 and join us. If you happen to be in business, get to know your local SBDC counselor and see what they can do to help your prosper!