Henry Ford once said, "If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." This simple little quote speaks volumes about optimism and pessimism.
On a macro level, pessimism is a huge threat to innovation. Dwelling on limitations rather than exploring possibilities will inevitably result in situations of lost opportunity. Yet on a microlevel, it is the pessimism of others that offers a market full of consumers to purchase the products and services from the great entrepreneurs who continually prove that things, once thought impossible, can be done.
Nothing in our economy is the be all, end all solution to problems we face in this world. Our solutions of today will never be the answer to all of the challenges we may face tomorrow. As long as there are problems, our free market economy will allow us to profit from generating new and better solutions to meet the needs of the marketplace. Thomas Edison once said, "There is way to do it better. Find it."
For innovation to reach the marketplace, there is a step beyond what can be done. Possibilities don't become realities until someone takes that bold action step and implements the action plan.
I would like to paraphrase Mr. Ford and say, "Whether you think you will, or think you won't - you're right." Imagining possibilities is no small task. Still, taking action and making those possibilities a reality is even a greater challenge.
Nothing can be more crippling to a business owner than inaction. Every day there are new challenges to face and new opportunities for growth. Each day there is a need for the leadership team to implement decisions to keep the business on the right course. While rash decisions can harm a business, so can a passive approach to business growth; or even worse, not responding to problems that demand attention.
In any organization there are those people who will only talk about what they won't do. A successful organization will always be led by someone who identifies what they will do. Not every action will produce positive results, but by taking action and monitoring results, the opportunities for success will be exponentially increased.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
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!
* 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!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, January 8, 2010
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!
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!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Holiday Rush
The holidays are approaching and many businesses are gearing up for their busiest time of the year. For some retailers, this is a make or break season. Obviously, I hope most make it!
With my previous bagel stores in NJ and Pennsylvania, the day before Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve were our two biggest sales days of the year. It is something that I never quite understood, as we never really set out to be busy on those days. During my tenure as a part owner, we didn't really develop any holiday themed specials, with the exception of making a red bagel dough and a green bagel dough and creating red/green marbled bagels for sale during the Christmas season.
In hindsight, I was guilty of not properly planning for the holiday season and I let some opportunities for profit maximization slip away. It would have been easy to develop some better holiday themed specials to garner more sales and profits out of the 500 or so customers that would come into our store each of those days. Sales were always good on those days, but could they have been better?
Why did I squander this opportunity? It is truly a lame excuse, but it stems from the first day before Thanksgiving that I experienced. We kept running out of bagels. I had my oven filled to capacity from 4:00 AM until 10:00 AM and I still kept running out of bagels. Some customers wouldn't wait and they would leave the store early. So the following years, my only focus was making sure that I didn't run out of bagels again. I was focusing too much on my operations and forgetting my responsibilities as a business owner to maximize our marketing efforts and set financial benchmarks for success.
It is this tunnel vision of focusing on one area of business development that often keeps small business owners from maximizing success during the holidays. Business owners need to be holistic in their management if they really want to have a successful holiday season. Keep a balance between developing marketing plans to get more customers, the operational plans to maximize your productivity during this season and measure the financial performance to ensure you are achieving financial success.
My hope is that more small business will reap the benefits of the holiday rush this year. It can be a hectic period for retailers, but it can also be very profitable. Make the best of it and have a joyful season!
With my previous bagel stores in NJ and Pennsylvania, the day before Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve were our two biggest sales days of the year. It is something that I never quite understood, as we never really set out to be busy on those days. During my tenure as a part owner, we didn't really develop any holiday themed specials, with the exception of making a red bagel dough and a green bagel dough and creating red/green marbled bagels for sale during the Christmas season.
In hindsight, I was guilty of not properly planning for the holiday season and I let some opportunities for profit maximization slip away. It would have been easy to develop some better holiday themed specials to garner more sales and profits out of the 500 or so customers that would come into our store each of those days. Sales were always good on those days, but could they have been better?
Why did I squander this opportunity? It is truly a lame excuse, but it stems from the first day before Thanksgiving that I experienced. We kept running out of bagels. I had my oven filled to capacity from 4:00 AM until 10:00 AM and I still kept running out of bagels. Some customers wouldn't wait and they would leave the store early. So the following years, my only focus was making sure that I didn't run out of bagels again. I was focusing too much on my operations and forgetting my responsibilities as a business owner to maximize our marketing efforts and set financial benchmarks for success.
It is this tunnel vision of focusing on one area of business development that often keeps small business owners from maximizing success during the holidays. Business owners need to be holistic in their management if they really want to have a successful holiday season. Keep a balance between developing marketing plans to get more customers, the operational plans to maximize your productivity during this season and measure the financial performance to ensure you are achieving financial success.
My hope is that more small business will reap the benefits of the holiday rush this year. It can be a hectic period for retailers, but it can also be very profitable. Make the best of it and have a joyful season!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Back to the Future
We plan to present a series of business training seminars in late October and early November in partnership with the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce and TD Bank. I was given the task to come up with four business development topics, so we had a discussion at a recent staff meeting.
We narrowed down our four topics down to:
* Writing an Effective Business Plan
* Financial Finesse
* Shout it Out Marketing
* Increasing Your Bottom Line
In our discussion, we talked about the need to focus on the basics of operating a sound business. There are certain fundamentals that can be applied to any business, at any point in time. We were all in agreement that all business owners should be able to benefit from attending this series, whether they are just starting out or have been in business for years. We believe these topics can be applied to any business, at an point in their life cycle.
I thought that coming up with a title was going to be a challenge. I explained that we want to be all inclusive, yet we want to show that this isn't just a "business basics" class. This series is geared towards those business owners who want to strive to be the best in their respective industries. Our goal is to have our attendees be the business leaders of tomorrow. Those who seize the opportunities of today and excel in making their businesses a little better each day.
One of our staff members, Andy Allison, suggested "Back to the Future." It is a very catchy title made popular by Universal Pictures movie series starring Michael J. Fox, Lea Thompson and Christopher Lloyd. Yet to me, this title succinctly captures what our series is really all about.
Sometimes in business we need to go back to the drawing board and look at what our goals are for the future. Time and time again I work with business owners who get so wrapped up dealing with the operational challenges of today that they lose focus of what they set out to achieve in their original business plans.
Business planning is not a one time exercise; it is a process that should continue into the future. If things are going as planned, it does no benefit to complain about what is wrong. Find new opportunities and set a course for your business to thrive. Establish specific goals and revisit your planning process on a regular basis to see if you are meeting the benchmarks you have set for your business.
Yet no planning process would be effective without looking at past trends. Yes, there are new opportunities for tomorrow, but past behavior tends to be a good predictor of future operations. There is a popular saying that the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing and expecting different results." Part of the planning process is to look at past trends, both in business financial performance and consumer spending habits to recognize the best opportunities to develop a more profitable future.
There also needs to be a self assessment that certain things in a business are not working as planned. Sometime your operations, pricing strategies and marketing need to change. Maybe you made an investment in inventory or plant equipment that is not generating the return on investment that was expected.
Of course, developing a more profitable future is not a passive exercise. You have to actively let your customers know about your business and it is within your realm of responsibility to develop a profitable business model for your operations. If something is not working as planned, create a new plan and actively work towards making things better.
Whether or not you plan to attend our training series, consider taking your business "Back to the Future." There are always opportunities to thrive in any economy. It just takes a good plan that recognizes the story of your past and focused vision for what you expect to see in the future.
We narrowed down our four topics down to:
* Writing an Effective Business Plan
* Financial Finesse
* Shout it Out Marketing
* Increasing Your Bottom Line
In our discussion, we talked about the need to focus on the basics of operating a sound business. There are certain fundamentals that can be applied to any business, at any point in time. We were all in agreement that all business owners should be able to benefit from attending this series, whether they are just starting out or have been in business for years. We believe these topics can be applied to any business, at an point in their life cycle.
I thought that coming up with a title was going to be a challenge. I explained that we want to be all inclusive, yet we want to show that this isn't just a "business basics" class. This series is geared towards those business owners who want to strive to be the best in their respective industries. Our goal is to have our attendees be the business leaders of tomorrow. Those who seize the opportunities of today and excel in making their businesses a little better each day.
One of our staff members, Andy Allison, suggested "Back to the Future." It is a very catchy title made popular by Universal Pictures movie series starring Michael J. Fox, Lea Thompson and Christopher Lloyd. Yet to me, this title succinctly captures what our series is really all about.
Sometimes in business we need to go back to the drawing board and look at what our goals are for the future. Time and time again I work with business owners who get so wrapped up dealing with the operational challenges of today that they lose focus of what they set out to achieve in their original business plans.
Business planning is not a one time exercise; it is a process that should continue into the future. If things are going as planned, it does no benefit to complain about what is wrong. Find new opportunities and set a course for your business to thrive. Establish specific goals and revisit your planning process on a regular basis to see if you are meeting the benchmarks you have set for your business.
Yet no planning process would be effective without looking at past trends. Yes, there are new opportunities for tomorrow, but past behavior tends to be a good predictor of future operations. There is a popular saying that the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing and expecting different results." Part of the planning process is to look at past trends, both in business financial performance and consumer spending habits to recognize the best opportunities to develop a more profitable future.
There also needs to be a self assessment that certain things in a business are not working as planned. Sometime your operations, pricing strategies and marketing need to change. Maybe you made an investment in inventory or plant equipment that is not generating the return on investment that was expected.
Of course, developing a more profitable future is not a passive exercise. You have to actively let your customers know about your business and it is within your realm of responsibility to develop a profitable business model for your operations. If something is not working as planned, create a new plan and actively work towards making things better.
Whether or not you plan to attend our training series, consider taking your business "Back to the Future." There are always opportunities to thrive in any economy. It just takes a good plan that recognizes the story of your past and focused vision for what you expect to see in the future.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)