Local and national business news for Wichita, Kansas.
Speaker argues against Wichita room-tax rebate for hotel Eight layers of government assistance is enough.
That was the message Friday from Bob Weeks, chairman of Tax Fairness for All Wichitans, as he spoke against what he calls a ninth layer — one to rebate 75 percent of the guest taxes collected at the Ambassador Hotel back to its developers for 15 years. His group urges a “no” vote on the issue Feb. 28.
Among the other eight layers that Weeks referred to were tax credits, tax-increment financing and sales-tax exemptions. Tax Fairness for All Wichitans spells out its opposition to the incentives at www...
Big Rural Brainstorm focuses on reviving Kansas towns The goal of a gathering in Newton this weekend is nothing short of this: to revive rural Kansas. And to do it with mostly volunteers.
The “mostly volunteers” criterion comes into play because about 75 percent of Kansas cities and towns are volunteer-run, according to Marci Penner, founder of the Kansas Sampler Foundation, a rural advocacy organization. That means they have no paid city manager, no paid chamber of commerce, no paid economic development organization.
Penner and the Sampler Foundation called them all to Newton’s new Meridian Center this weekend for a new event called the Big Rural Brainstorm, and at least 200 showed up...
Wichita State study: Many nonprofit groups not prepared to change leaders For Kevin Bomhoff, the findings of a recent Wichita State University study about the preparedness of nonprofit organizations to hand off leadership to the next generation is concerning.
Frankly, he says, many organizations aren’t prepared with proper succession plans, even as a large number of nonprofit groups are preparing for their top executives to retire in the coming years.
The study of 169 nonprofit organizations statewide shows that 72 percent of them have primary administrators who are nearing retirement, and yet many of those organizations don’t have a succession plan in place...
Cessna extends range of Citation Latitude Cessna Aircraft Co. on Friday announced it has extended the range capability of the planned Citation Latitude.
The aircraft — which is still in development — will now have a flight range of 2,300 nautical miles, or about 2,646 statute miles.
Cessna unveiled the Latitude last year at the National Business Aviation Association convention in Las Vegas. At that time, the range was expected to be about 2,000 nautical miles.
The plane is scheduled for first flight in mid-2014 and service entry in 2015...
Walmart will have space to fill in three area stores Walmart isn’t saying what might replace Fidelity Bank in three of the retailer’s Wichita-area stores after the bank lets leases for the locations expire over the next three to five months.
“Currently, we have no announcement plans to share regarding what will take the place of the banks being vacated,” Tara Raddohl, director of national media relations for Walmart, wrote in an email.
Fidelity plans to close the Walmart branches at East Kellogg and Greenwich, effective May 1, and at 29th and Rock in Wichita and 63rd and K-15 in Derby, both effective July 1, according to Al Sanchez, Fidelity’s senior vice president-marketing...
Top of the List: Office buildings Because of downtown development, two of the properties on last year’s office buildings list are missing from the 2012 list.
The building at 104 S. Broadway, No. 15 in 2011, is undergoing renovations to be the new Ambassador Hotel.
And the old Protection 1 Building at 120 E. First, No. 18 last year, is being converted into The Lux apartments.
Here’s a look at the top five buildings on this week’s list.
1. Bank of America Center
• Address: 100 N. Broadway, Wichita, Kan. 67202
• Leasing company/agent: Ruffin Cos...
Several Denver-Wichita flights canceled Several flights between Wichita Mid-Continent Airport and Denver International Airport on Friday have been canceled as the Mile High City deals with a major winter storm.
This morning’s Frontier Airlines Flight 1076 to Denver was been canceled, as is its Flight 1079 inbound to Wichita, which was scheduled to arrive about 2 p.m. Frontier Flight 1078, departing from Wichita about 2:30 p.m. is still listed as on time.
United Airlines has canceled its last two outbound flights, No. 5443 at 5:10 p...
Can Joyland be restored? Projects elsewhere have seen challenges, successes Restoring a historic amusement park is no easy task.
Yet that’s the work a Wichita high school student is spearheading, with the help of a few other committed individuals. A story in today’s Wichita Business Journal looks at what it would take for the group to successfully restore Joyland Amusement Park in south Wichita.
It includes some perspective from Jim Futrell, a historian with the National Amusement Park Historical Association, about the challenges the project could entail, and the reasons it could succeed...
Earnings, occupancy up at Wichita mall owner Simon Property Group Simon Property Group reported Friday a $1.02 billion profit in 2011, nearly twice its net income from 2010. Simon made a $610.4 million profit in 2010.
Fourth-quarter profits also were up, at $362.9 million per share in 2011, up from $217.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Funds from operations yielded earnings per share of $1.91, slightly higher than the $1.90 analysts had expected.
Indianapolis-based Simon (NYSE: SPG) owns a number of malls and shopping centers, including Towne East Square and Towne West Square in Wichita...
January job growth exceeds expectations; unemployment at 8.3% Job creation in the United States became more robust in January, as the country added 243,000 new positions, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday.
CNBC reports the job growth, which was greater than many economists had expected, helped to lower the nationwide unemployment rate to 8.3 percent. Job gains have mostly come from the services sector, though warehousing, manufacturing, mining and health care also added jobs.
Driving down K-15 in southeast Wichita, it’s easy to spot the new construction at Spirit AeroSystems.
Two expansions under way will give Spirit extra room to meet increases in 787 Dreamliner and 737 production.
The most noticeable of the expansions, the construction visible from K-15, will allow Spirit to add equipment to produce additional composite barrels of the 787’s forward section. Boeing said it will triple 787 production this year.
Zulma Toro-Ramos had to really lean on her niece to persuade her to become an engineer. Her niece is happy now, Toro-Ramos said, but it can be a tough sell.
It’s a battle that the dean of Wichita State University’s college of engineering is winning more often these days.
Toro-Ramos has become a major player in WSU’s effort to become an engine of economic growth, in addition to its traditional educational mission.
For anyone who loves a good steak, a juicy burger or a nice Sunday roast, these are anxious times.
Prices for beef, which have been climbing for months, hit a record high in December — an average of $5 a pound — and analysts predict they could climb 5 to 8 percent higher this year.
Beef prices are soaring for a number of reasons. Producers, who struggled with high feed costs and diminishing profits, began shrinking their herds roughly five years ago. Since then, demand from overseas markets has shot up — a record 11 percent of American beef went overseas last year, up from 8.7 percent in 2010.
Donning a safety helmet for a ride of less than 20 yards, coffee cup in hand, the computer pioneer wheeled a Segway into the conference room of Perceptive Software to thrilled applause.
This geek is still chic.
Steve Wozniak, the Wilbur to Steve Jobs’ Orville, brought the aura of Apple to a giddy audience of software engineers and computer scientists Friday morning in Shawnee.
A four-year blueprint for aviation programs that hastens the transition to a new air traffic control system based on GPS technology was given final approval by the House on Friday despite last-minute objections from organized labor.
The compromise agreement between the House and Senate authorizes $63 billion for Federal Aviation Administration programs through the 2015 federal budget year. It was passed on a 248-169 vote. Final Senate action is expected Monday, culminating a five-year struggle that included a partial shutdown of the FAA last summer.
Lawmakers said the legislation will provide certainty and stability to programs that are critical to the health of the commercial aviation industry, which accounts for about 5 percent of U.S. economic output.
Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. lender by assets, may sell all its offices as part of the company’s effort to cut costs, sparing only its headquarters in North Carolina and New York City.
“We are currently reviewing all of our properties across our portfolio, with the exception of Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte and Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park” in Manhattan, Kelli Raulerson, a spokeswoman, said Friday. The lender owned or leased about 120 million square feet in 26,910 locations at the end of 2010, mostly in the U.S., according to its last annual report.
Bank of America spokeswoman Diane Wagner said Friday afternoon she wasn’t sure what if any properties the bank owned in Wichita and didn’t have a “market-by-market breakdown.”
New York’s attorney general on Friday accused some of the nation’s largest banks of deceit and fraud in using an electronic mortgage registry that he said puts homeowners at a disadvantage in foreclosures while saving banks more than $2 billion.
Democrat Eric Schneiderman sued Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo over their use of the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc., or MERS, claiming the banks submitted court documents containing false and misleading information that appeared to provide the authority for foreclosures when there was none.
The lawsuit also names the registry operator, MERSCORP Inc. of Virginia.
Boeing’s Dreamliner launch customer, All Nippon Airways of Japan, had to cancel two of its first 10 flights between Tokyo and Frankfurt, Germany, the new jet’s first long-haul route that opened on Jan. 21.
The glitches on the early long-haul flights follow a relatively smooth introduction of the Dreamliner into domestic service in Japan and on short-haul flights to China.
ANA spokeswoman Jean Saito said the airline canceled the Jan. 26 flight out of Frankfurt “due to a malfunction of the flaps system” on the airplane.
Some folks are lifelong rural Kansans. Others live in rural spots by choice.
The challenge, said Marci Penner, is figuring out how to ramp up the lifeblood in the state’s smallest communities by attracting tourists, businesses and new residents – all vital to keeping rural Kansas alive.
That’s the focus of a two-day meeting starting at 11 a.m. today at the Meridian Center in Newton. The meeting – dubbed “Big Rural Brainstorm” – will use an out-of-the-box, free-discussion approach to finding solutions to issues facing rural Kansas towns, many of which have aging populations and are led by volunteers.
OKLAHOMA CITY – A Boeing spokeswoman said Thursday that it is too early to know whether the U.S. Air Force’s planned postponement of a program to upgrade the cockpits of its C-130 aircraft will reduce the number of jobs the company plans to move from California to Oklahoma City.
The Boeing Co. announced plans in 2010 to move about 550 employees from Long Beach to Oklahoma City, with about 230 of those to work on the C-130 Avionics Modernization Program as part of a contract with the Air Force. The rest were to work on similar upgrades to the Air Force’s B-1 aircraft.
About 110 of the jobs associated with the C-130 upgrades have been filled, Boeing spokeswoman Jennifer Hogan said.
Bombardier Learjet is cutting 23 jobs in its service center and outsourcing the work elsewhere, and the Machinists union is crying foul.
The union has filed a grievance with the company, arguing that moving the work violates its labor contract with the company. It also is questioning whether the change violates the agreement Bombardier Learjet made with the state of Kansas in order to secure millions of dollars in bond financing.
A Department of Commerce spokesman says it does not.
Waste Management, the Wichita area’s third-largest trash hauler, has bought Lies Trash Service, the second-largest.
The sale was effective Wednesday, said David Lies, who was vice president of Lies Trash Service.
The former company’s 42,000 residential and industrial customers will see no difference in service, according to a statement from Waste Management. Routes and schedules will stay the same. The company didn’t say in the statement what would happen to trash fees.
The two Wichitans picked last week to participate in the Pipeline entrepreneurship grooming program are young but experienced leaders who are pursuing ventures that are months old.
Mark Allen, 42, president and founder of Enertech, and Brandon Shuey, 37, president and founder of FlipHound.com, are the latest crop of entrepreneurs from Wichita for the year-long entrepreneur fellowship.
But unlike the past eight Wichita entrepreneurs who preceded them, Allen and Shuey will be part of the program’s first class to include entrepreneurs from Nebraska and Missouri. Over the next year, Allen and Shuey will delve into topics such as market validation and financing with 10 other entrepreneurs from cities such as Omaha, Kansas City and St. Louis.
A piece of Wichita’s automotive history is headed for the auction block in May and to a possible future as a retail and entertainment hub in the shadow of Intrust Bank Arena, its owner hopes.
Jim Thorn, 79, is stepping away from one of Wichita’s oldest businesses, the 113-year-old Cowie Electric shop at 230 S. Topeka, once home to a battalion of auto mechanics that could fix just about anything – until computers took over cars.
The store at 230 S. Topeka, the building just to the north at 222 S. Topeka and an adjoining parking lot – about 22,000 square feet of buildings and land – will be sold.
One winner of a prestigious scholarship wants to become a music producer, the other a benevolent landlord.
The winners of Wichita State University’s Fran Jabara scholarship in entrepreneurship are Joseph McNorton, a senior at Topeka’s Seaman High School, and Brittan Smith, a senior at Salina Central High School. The awards are worth $20,000 a year for four years.
The Jabara scholarship is one of the most prestigious at WSU and one of the largest entrepreneurship scholarships nationally.
According to the Chinese zodiac, 2012 is the Year of the Dragon. I – along with my fellow members of the Wichita Independent Business Association (WIBA) – might contend that 2012 should be the Year of the Small/Independent Business.
It is recognition way overdue. After all, the Small Business Administration reports that small businesses, which they define as an independent business having fewer than 500 employees:
Sen. Jerry Moran and U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo are asking the Secretary of the Air Force to study whether Boeing’s closure in Wichita will create a national security issue.
“We write to inquire about any potential degradation of our national security because of this action,” Moran and Pompeo wrote in a letter last week to Michael Donley, the Air Force secretary.
Boeing announced Jan. 4 that it planned to close its defense facility in Wichita by the end of 2013.
Cybertron International, based in Wichita, has acquired the Bill Guy Technology Solutions, another Wichita firm, as the computer builder expands its managed services division.
The purchase price was not disclosed. The deal should be final in February, but Bill Ramsey said Tuesday that his business moved last weekend to the Cybertron location at 4747 S. Emporia.
Ramsey, owner of the Bill Guy, becomes Cybertron’s chief technology officer. No jobs will be cut in the deal.
Finding the perfect investor can be a Goldilocks-type challenge. Here's how one company found that 'just right' investor.
Here's a tale of a business that was looking for the "just right" buyer. This manufacturing company in the aerospace industry was lost and had wondered completely off the growth track.
This company had developed a strong track record of supplying metal component systems for the big aircraft engine manufacturers, such as Pratt & Whitney. One of the aircraft they provide parts for is the FA-18. The previous owner, in his advancing age, began to manage the business for cash and delayed investment. Although the business had many strategic growth opportunities, it was never able to pursue them due to the previous owner’s mindset and personal goals. The management team became frustrated with their inability to grow the business. Their best option was to find new owners that had the appetite and ability to invest in profitable growth.
As a variety of financial buyers (e.g., private equity groups) and strategic buyers looked at the business, they realized the problem: the business required significant investment in its plant and equipment to continue to serve its customers. The previous owner had not maintained the business well enough to support sustained growth. In addition, there were some investments required to maintain environmental standards. One by one, many of the interested buyers dropped out of the bidding.
The eventual buyers, who partnered with our firm, were two former entrepreneurs who had previously built and sold a successful environmental services business. They were comfortable with investment required to meet environmental standards, and they were able to quantify the capital that was required to transform the business into a growing company. They agreed to pursue a bid for the company, and developed a plan for incremental capital investment.
Because the other bidders had walked away, the two entrepreneurs were able to buy the company for substantially less than the initial asking price. Now, the new owners are investing in growth, including possible acquisitions. As a result of the new investment, customers have increased their activity with the company and committed more orders to the business. The investors are now looking at new acquisitions, and plan to continue to target companies that may be unattractive to those unwilling or incapable of taking a longer term view and can be acquired at a reasonable price.
Do you have a story of a company who found or is looking for the right investors? Share it with us at karlandbill@avondalestrategicpartners.com.
Finding the perfect investor can be a Goldilocks-type challenge. Here's how one company found that 'just right' investor.
Here's a tale of a business that was looking for the "just right" buyer. This manufacturing company in the aerospace industry was lost and had wondered completely off the growth track.
This company had developed a strong track record of supplying metal component systems for the big aircraft engine manufacturers, such as Pratt & Whitney. One of the aircraft they provide parts for is the FA-18. The previous owner, in his advancing age, began to manage the business for cash and delayed investment. Although the business had many strategic growth opportunities, it was never able to pursue them due to the previous owner’s mindset and personal goals. The management team became frustrated with their inability to grow the business. Their best option was to find new owners that had the appetite and ability to invest in profitable growth.
As a variety of financial buyers (e.g., private equity groups) and strategic buyers looked at the business, they realized the problem: the business required significant investment in its plant and equipment to continue to serve its customers. The previous owner had not maintained the business well enough to support sustained growth. In addition, there were some investments required to maintain environmental standards. One by one, many of the interested buyers dropped out of the bidding.
The eventual buyers, who partnered with our firm, were two former entrepreneurs who had previously built and sold a successful environmental services business. They were comfortable with investment required to meet environmental standards, and they were able to quantify the capital that was required to transform the business into a growing company. They agreed to pursue a bid for the company, and developed a plan for incremental capital investment.
Because the other bidders had walked away, the two entrepreneurs were able to buy the company for substantially less than the initial asking price. Now, the new owners are investing in growth, including possible acquisitions. As a result of the new investment, customers have increased their activity with the company and committed more orders to the business. The investors are now looking at new acquisitions, and plan to continue to target companies that may be unattractive to those unwilling or incapable of taking a longer term view and can be acquired at a reasonable price.
Do you have a story of a company who found or is looking for the right investors? Share it with us at karlandbill@avondalestrategicpartners.com.
How you use technology not only reflects on you personally, but also on your company and its reputation.
We now have the possibility to be connected continually: text messages, emails, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn… all of which can be accessed from our smartphones, our iPads, our computers. And yet, for the first time in our history, we are not in charge of our technology. Technology is in charge of us. How many people have you almost bumped into this year because they (or you!) were texting while walking? How many times have you responded to a work email while you were supposed to be having dinner with your spouse? How many times have you written something you regretted in an email because you were in a hurry and clicked send without thinking? Technology is an incredible tool— but only when it is controlled.
1. Disconnect from work when you leave the office.
Thanks to smart phones and laptops, business owners are now able to be on call 24/7. While I love that I can go to a doctor appointment and continue to work from the waiting room, I also find it drains my energy to be connected non-stop in one way or another. I am in my office 10 to 12 hours per day. Remaining accessible beyond that directly affects not just the quality of my life, but also the quality of my decisions. I now choose to disconnect in every way when I have leave the office for the evening.
2. When it's for personal reasons, use Twitter, Facebook, and the like after hours.
At many companies, employees have the freedom to do personal things like check Facebook during the day. This may seem like a cool thing to allow when courting new hires, but the result is reduced efficiency for businesses and employees. Deadlines that were once set in stone are now moving targets that can always "be finished at home," resulting in longer time for project completion. I do not allow these kind of blurred borders at my company. My employees are expected to complete all work in the office, and personal activities like texting, Tweeting, and Facebook are limited to personal time. Many technology addicts mmay be thinking they would never want to work at my company, but consider the benefits of the "work belongs at work" mindset: my employees go home on time every night, have a rich life outside of the office, and come back refreshed and ready to make huge inroads for our business the next day. Preventing burnout, and thus hanging on to valuable contributors, is my highest priority.
3. Keep email concise and complete, and off your screen.
Email is a great way to correspond with someone, both because it is fast and less obtrusive than calling, but when we fail to control our use of it, it diverts focus away from actual projects being worked on. We are constantly scanning for the red ball to pop up and provide us with a new distraction. We have become addicted to responding, and doing so quickly—at all costs. Think I am exaggerating? How many times have you sent an email to someone asking several questions only to receive his reply minutes later answering only one of the questions? Now consider how many times this happens to you each day, and all the follow-up emails this lack of thoroughness generates! I have made it a rule to re-read all emails twice before responding, and then to double check that my response answers the entire inquiry. And most importantly, I close my email box when I am working on other things, so that I can give 100 percent to the task at hand.
4. Work-related texts and Tweets should be quick, but right.
In business, it is important not only to be fast thinking, but also to be able to fully develop ideas. Pertinent questions must be asked and clear paths charted in order to problem-solve and grow. Today's technology users have yet to strike a balance between rapidity and complex communications. A customer expecting instant feedback does not want to get a half-baked answer. They want to be answered quickly, but also correctly. Business partners expecting to be answered at midnight are still in need of impactful solutions rather than impulsive ones. I try to separate my tools into categories. Emails are for fully developed ideas, texts are for quick practical information, and the phone is still my best tool when I need to get a deal done.
5. Interaction is not engagement.
With all of the great communication tools we have, it is easy to assume being omnipresent is all that's needed to generate success for your business. A company's Facebook page may be an indicator of how many people know about a brand, but in the age of technology, that does not always translate to how many people care about that brand. I think about my company's communications with our customers in every format as a means of engagement, not just a fleeting interaction. Putting it in traditional terms: as a business, having a thousand "first sales" is great, but you will survive and thrive only with repeat business. Technology can help us make the first sale, but it is how we use it that will bring the customer back for more.
Technology is a powerful tool, but only as powerful as the mind in control of it. As a business owner, you must be especially aware of this, because how you use technology not only reflects on you personally, but also on your company and its reputation. Consciousness is the first step to regaining control so that technology can work for rather than against you.
How you use technology not only reflects on you personally, but also on your company and its reputation.
We now have the possibility to be connected continually: text messages, emails, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn… all of which can be accessed from our smartphones, our iPads, our computers. And yet, for the first time in our history, we are not in charge of our technology. Technology is in charge of us. How many people have you almost bumped into this year because they (or you!) were texting while walking? How many times have you responded to a work email while you were supposed to be having dinner with your spouse? How many times have you written something you regretted in an email because you were in a hurry and clicked send without thinking? Technology is an incredible tool— but only when it is controlled.
1. Disconnect from work when you leave the office.
Thanks to smart phones and laptops, business owners are now able to be on call 24/7. While I love that I can go to a doctor appointment and continue to work from the waiting room, I also find it drains my energy to be connected non-stop in one way or another. I am in my office 10 to 12 hours per day. Remaining accessible beyond that directly affects not just the quality of my life, but also the quality of my decisions. I now choose to disconnect in every way when I have leave the office for the evening.
2. When it's for personal reasons, use Twitter, Facebook, and the like after hours.
At many companies, employees have the freedom to do personal things like check Facebook during the day. This may seem like a cool thing to allow when courting new hires, but the result is reduced efficiency for businesses and employees. Deadlines that were once set in stone are now moving targets that can always "be finished at home," resulting in longer time for project completion. I do not allow these kind of blurred borders at my company. My employees are expected to complete all work in the office, and personal activities like texting, Tweeting, and Facebook are limited to personal time. Many technology addicts mmay be thinking they would never want to work at my company, but consider the benefits of the "work belongs at work" mindset: my employees go home on time every night, have a rich life outside of the office, and come back refreshed and ready to make huge inroads for our business the next day. Preventing burnout, and thus hanging on to valuable contributors, is my highest priority.
3. Keep email concise and complete, and off your screen.
Email is a great way to correspond with someone, both because it is fast and less obtrusive than calling, but when we fail to control our use of it, it diverts focus away from actual projects being worked on. We are constantly scanning for the red ball to pop up and provide us with a new distraction. We have become addicted to responding, and doing so quickly—at all costs. Think I am exaggerating? How many times have you sent an email to someone asking several questions only to receive his reply minutes later answering only one of the questions? Now consider how many times this happens to you each day, and all the follow-up emails this lack of thoroughness generates! I have made it a rule to re-read all emails twice before responding, and then to double check that my response answers the entire inquiry. And most importantly, I close my email box when I am working on other things, so that I can give 100 percent to the task at hand.
4. Work-related texts and Tweets should be quick, but right.
In business, it is important not only to be fast thinking, but also to be able to fully develop ideas. Pertinent questions must be asked and clear paths charted in order to problem-solve and grow. Today's technology users have yet to strike a balance between rapidity and complex communications. A customer expecting instant feedback does not want to get a half-baked answer. They want to be answered quickly, but also correctly. Business partners expecting to be answered at midnight are still in need of impactful solutions rather than impulsive ones. I try to separate my tools into categories. Emails are for fully developed ideas, texts are for quick practical information, and the phone is still my best tool when I need to get a deal done.
5. Interaction is not engagement.
With all of the great communication tools we have, it is easy to assume being omnipresent is all that's needed to generate success for your business. A company's Facebook page may be an indicator of how many people know about a brand, but in the age of technology, that does not always translate to how many people care about that brand. I think about my company's communications with our customers in every format as a means of engagement, not just a fleeting interaction. Putting it in traditional terms: as a business, having a thousand "first sales" is great, but you will survive and thrive only with repeat business. Technology can help us make the first sale, but it is how we use it that will bring the customer back for more.
Technology is a powerful tool, but only as powerful as the mind in control of it. As a business owner, you must be especially aware of this, because how you use technology not only reflects on you personally, but also on your company and its reputation. Consciousness is the first step to regaining control so that technology can work for rather than against you.
Genius sometimes just means not realizing that something is impossible.
A college student arrived a few minutes late for his final exam in mathematics. The room was quiet, with everyone working hard, and the professor silently handed him the test. It consisted of five math problems on the first page and two on the second. The student sat down and began to work. He solved the first five problems in half the time, but the two on the second page were tougher. Everyone else finished the exam and left, so the student was alone by the end of the time period. He finished the final problem at the last second.
The next day he got a phone call in his dorm room from the professor. “I don’t believe it! You solved the final two problems?”
“Uh, yeah,” the student said. “What’s the big deal?”
“Those were brain teasers,” the prof explained. “I announced before the exam that they wouldn’t count toward your final grade, but you missed that because you were late. But hardly anyone solves those problems in so short a time! You must be a genius!”
“Genius” sometimes means just not realizing that something is impossible.
Some days you have have to wonder how you’ll do all you have to do. You'll ask whatever made you think that you could challenge the incumbent players in your industry, let alone create a company that could one day be worth something. Those days are inevitable, but they pass. And when they do, you're usually left with a sense of pride that you have greater capacity for achievement than you realized.
Every successful entrepreneur faced doubts, both within and without: Steve Jobs was fired from Apple. Fred Smith of Fedex was told his blueprint for overnight delivery was wildly impractical, and Jack Bogle of the Vanguard Group was told his idea for a financial services company owned by its shareholders was doomed to failure.
The only antidote is to believe in yourself and your idea–but mainly in yourself. After all, every business plan is wrong in its original form: A good part of entrepreneurial genius is being able change quickly. Jennifer Hyman of Rent the Runway, for example, originally thought her business was about saving frugal women money on their workday wardrobes. After watching one of her customers try on a couture gown, though, she realized she was in the business of helping women realize their Cinderella fantasies. Ideas change, but the entrepreneurs don't.
And what gives entrepreneurs the ability to pull off the impossible, is belief. Belief leads you to ask “what’s possible?” and then follows that question with “what else is possible?” You have to do this in your business, if you intend to survive. A positive attitude, creativity and determination combine to create genius.
Former First Lady Nancy Reagan recounts a story about the genius of the Greatest Generation. “Once, at the University of California, a student got up to say that it was impossible for people of her generation to understand the next generation of young people.
‘You grew up in a different world,’ the student said. ‘Today we have television, jet planes, space travel, nuclear energy, computers...’
“When the student paused for breath, Nancy said: ‘You're right. We didn't have those things when we were young. We invented them.’”
Mackay’s Moral: What could you accomplish if no one told you it was impossible?
Genius sometimes just means not realizing that something is impossible.
A college student arrived a few minutes late for his final exam in mathematics. The room was quiet, with everyone working hard, and the professor silently handed him the test. It consisted of five math problems on the first page and two on the second. The student sat down and began to work. He solved the first five problems in half the time, but the two on the second page were tougher. Everyone else finished the exam and left, so the student was alone by the end of the time period. He finished the final problem at the last second.
The next day he got a phone call in his dorm room from the professor. “I don’t believe it! You solved the final two problems?”
“Uh, yeah,” the student said. “What’s the big deal?”
“Those were brain teasers,” the prof explained. “I announced before the exam that they wouldn’t count toward your final grade, but you missed that because you were late. But hardly anyone solves those problems in so short a time! You must be a genius!”
“Genius” sometimes means just not realizing that something is impossible.
Some days you have have to wonder how you’ll do all you have to do. You'll ask whatever made you think that you could challenge the incumbent players in your industry, let alone create a company that could one day be worth something. Those days are inevitable, but they pass. And when they do, you're usually left with a sense of pride that you have greater capacity for achievement than you realized.
Every successful entrepreneur faced doubts, both within and without: Steve Jobs was fired from Apple. Fred Smith of Fedex was told his blueprint for overnight delivery was wildly impractical, and Jack Bogle of the Vanguard Group was told his idea for a financial services company owned by its shareholders was doomed to failure.
The only antidote is to believe in yourself and your idea–but mainly in yourself. After all, every business plan is wrong in its original form: A good part of entrepreneurial genius is being able change quickly. Jennifer Hyman of Rent the Runway, for example, originally thought her business was about saving frugal women money on their workday wardrobes. After watching one of her customers try on a couture gown, though, she realized she was in the business of helping women realize their Cinderella fantasies. Ideas change, but the entrepreneurs don't.
And what gives entrepreneurs the ability to pull off the impossible, is belief. Belief leads you to ask “what’s possible?” and then follows that question with “what else is possible?” You have to do this in your business, if you intend to survive. A positive attitude, creativity and determination combine to create genius.
Former First Lady Nancy Reagan recounts a story about the genius of the Greatest Generation. “Once, at the University of California, a student got up to say that it was impossible for people of her generation to understand the next generation of young people.
‘You grew up in a different world,’ the student said. ‘Today we have television, jet planes, space travel, nuclear energy, computers...’
“When the student paused for breath, Nancy said: ‘You're right. We didn't have those things when we were young. We invented them.’”
Mackay’s Moral: What could you accomplish if no one told you it was impossible?
Most would say you'd have to be crazy. But this Chinese gadgetmaker proves being crazy can make you $100 million a year.
In a contest with a giant, you might think that you can't win. And in some ways, you'd be right, as the David versus Goliath image is overplayed. A small or medium business that tries to compete with Starbucks in mass marketing upscale coffee will likely lose. Think your tire start-up will outsell Goodyear, Michelin, or Firestone? Good luck.
But it's still possible to compete with a massive power and carve out enough out of a market to make a good business without having to sell your first born (and those of everyone in your company) for enough cash to fund your ad campaign. Look at what Leader International, a Chinese-based company that sells Android tablets, is pulling off.
Not even the Motorolas and Samsungs of the world have shaken the Apple iPad out of first place, so what can a newcomer do? How about sell enough tablets through the likes of K-Mart, Sears, and the Home Shopping Network to expect to move 500,000 units this year for $100 million in revenue?
According to Vice-President of Sales Gary Bennett, Leader's strategy was never to become a top-tier player. "In this business, Apple has 80 percent of it, maybe 75," he says. "Then you have the Samsungs, Motorola—the second tier." Following far behind are Android tablet manufacturers that skimped on materials, used smaller screens, and made other compromises to compete on price.
Leader decided that there was an opportunity in the middle. "Our tablet is the same size as the iPad," Bennett says. "It uses the same [10-inch] panel that the iPad I and iPad II use. We use the same chip set in the iPad I, which is the single core Cortex chip." The body is brushed aluminum, rather than the black plastic you can find with many lower-end vendors. Each unit also comes with a case included. "Cosmetically-wise, we're trying to take a page from the TV business: Make your product look different and stand out on the shelf." Customer service is U.S.-based instead of outsourced overseas.
Not only does higher quality help make the products stand out, but it lowers the return rate, which would otherwise eat into profitability. Returned units do get refurbished, but the company sells them in China at a discount. Doing so in the U.S. would undercut pricing.
Better quality also made the unit attractive to K-Mart, Sears, and HSN, which was key. "To try and build a brand nowadays, you're going to have to spend $30 or $40 million a year," Bennett says. Leader didn't have that kind of money to invest. But selling through major names became a replacement.
"The trick is keeping in the monthly rotations," Bennett says, referring to the ads and fliers that retailers use to woo customers. "You try to be part of their ad planning at least once a month. If you can get in more often, that's great." And, contrary to a common view, he says that Leader does not pay co-op money to the retailers to get featured. Instead, the manufacturer offers a compelling price point.
Leader does sacrifice the mid- to long-horizon product planning that large companies undertake. That is become of the thin margins it makes on its products. (Leader tablets sell to retailers for about $200.) "What we do better is faster decisions and we can make product changes," Bennett says. "All last year, [our retailers] would make suggestions on how to make the product better. They see all the competitors. Our company reacted and that's how we got the Sears and K-Mart business and HSN business. A lot of times the bigger companies just don't move as quickly, and a lot of times when they have a product plan, they stick with it."
By listening to the retailers, Leader could create a product that the buyers wanted to promote. And that opened the doors the company needed.
Most would say you'd have to be crazy. But this Chinese gadgetmaker proves being crazy can make you $100 million a year.
In a contest with a giant, you might think that you can't win. And in some ways, you'd be right, as the David versus Goliath image is overplayed. A small or medium business that tries to compete with Starbucks in mass marketing upscale coffee will likely lose. Think your tire start-up will outsell Goodyear, Michelin, or Firestone? Good luck.
But it's still possible to compete with a massive power and carve out enough out of a market to make a good business without having to sell your first born (and those of everyone in your company) for enough cash to fund your ad campaign. Look at what Leader International, a Chinese-based company that sells Android tablets, is pulling off.
Not even the Motorolas and Samsungs of the world have shaken the Apple iPad out of first place, so what can a newcomer do? How about sell enough tablets through the likes of K-Mart, Sears, and the Home Shopping Network to expect to move 500,000 units this year for $100 million in revenue?
According to Vice-President of Sales Gary Bennett, Leader's strategy was never to become a top-tier player. "In this business, Apple has 80 percent of it, maybe 75," he says. "Then you have the Samsungs, Motorola—the second tier." Following far behind are Android tablet manufacturers that skimped on materials, used smaller screens, and made other compromises to compete on price.
Leader decided that there was an opportunity in the middle. "Our tablet is the same size as the iPad," Bennett says. "It uses the same [10-inch] panel that the iPad I and iPad II use. We use the same chip set in the iPad I, which is the single core Cortex chip." The body is brushed aluminum, rather than the black plastic you can find with many lower-end vendors. Each unit also comes with a case included. "Cosmetically-wise, we're trying to take a page from the TV business: Make your product look different and stand out on the shelf." Customer service is U.S.-based instead of outsourced overseas.
Not only does higher quality help make the products stand out, but it lowers the return rate, which would otherwise eat into profitability. Returned units do get refurbished, but the company sells them in China at a discount. Doing so in the U.S. would undercut pricing.
Better quality also made the unit attractive to K-Mart, Sears, and HSN, which was key. "To try and build a brand nowadays, you're going to have to spend $30 or $40 million a year," Bennett says. Leader didn't have that kind of money to invest. But selling through major names became a replacement.
"The trick is keeping in the monthly rotations," Bennett says, referring to the ads and fliers that retailers use to woo customers. "You try to be part of their ad planning at least once a month. If you can get in more often, that's great." And, contrary to a common view, he says that Leader does not pay co-op money to the retailers to get featured. Instead, the manufacturer offers a compelling price point.
Leader does sacrifice the mid- to long-horizon product planning that large companies undertake. That is become of the thin margins it makes on its products. (Leader tablets sell to retailers for about $200.) "What we do better is faster decisions and we can make product changes," Bennett says. "All last year, [our retailers] would make suggestions on how to make the product better. They see all the competitors. Our company reacted and that's how we got the Sears and K-Mart business and HSN business. A lot of times the bigger companies just don't move as quickly, and a lot of times when they have a product plan, they stick with it."
By listening to the retailers, Leader could create a product that the buyers wanted to promote. And that opened the doors the company needed.
Is $3.5 million for 30 seconds of fame worth it? These businesses are putting it all on the line during Super Bowl XLVI.
Some make you laugh, others (attempt to) make you cry. Others, well, they're forgettable.
It's all part of the fun at the Super Bowl, where brands spend upwards of $3 million for 30 seconds to capture the world's attention. "More than a game, the Super Bowl is a cultural event, a truly American spectacle, and the ads are very much a part of the experience," notes Advertising Age's digital editor, Michael Learmonth. To be sure, airtime in between downs will be dominated by the big players: Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and GM are steadfast Super Bowl advertisers. But the little guys are taking a shot, too. Here's a look at ads from seven (smaller) brands taking a run at prime time.
Hulu
Hulu's debut Super Bowl spot, starring Will Arnett, features the Arrested Development star trying to break into the Hollywood "H." The thrust of this ad spot teaser is social media: Viewers are encouraged to tweet with the hashtag #mushymush and urged to follow @HuluPlus on Twitter. Founded in 2007 in Los Angeles, the video-on-demand service sold a 27 percent stake to Disney in 2009. In 2011, the company made a reported $420 million. Also of note: The ad was directed Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the trendy Boulder-based advertising firm whom you may recall from Inc.com's 2011 Worlds Coolest Offices.
GoDaddy
This year, GoDaddy has gone meta. The Web-hosting service was founded in 1997 in Scottsdale, Arizona, by Bob Parsons, and sold in July 2011 for $2.25 billion to investors. After years of Super Bowl ads that drew attention—and ire—for featuring scantily clad models promoting the company's Web-hosting service (the GoDaddy Girls), the company has turned the attention inward. In the ad, Jillian Michaels, the actress and fitness guru, is painting a nude young women with the company's new product: a ".co" suffix for URLs. "Who won't notice a hot model in body paint?" she says.
CareerBuilder.com
Every Super Bowl has at least one advertising controversy: Will CareerBuilder.com be the company that receives that inauspicious award in 2012? The online jobs portal, which was founded in Chicago in 1995 by Rob McGowan, earned nearly $600 million in revenue in 2010, according to the latest data available. Its ad this year features chimps wearing suits and ties terrorizing a young man working a dull 9-to-5 office job, rehashes a similar theme from last year when Chimps (also in suits and ties) locked the actor in his car in the company parking lot. In 2011, one Chicago zoo even mounted a campaign against the company to remove the ad, fearing that the commercial would inspire people to buy the chimps as pets (remember: they're an endangered species).
Kauffman Foundation
"The next great entrepreneur is out there. Will it be you?" asks the non-profit entrepreneurship foundation's first Super Bowl ad. The 30-second spot reportedly cost less than $400,000 dollars to make, and will air in only four major markets (racking up not all, but a sizeable portion of the nearly 172 million anticipated Game-Day viewers). The Missouri-based group was founded in the 1960s by local entrepreneur Ewig Kauffman, whose mission was to foster start-ups and encourage innovation.
Oikos Yogurt
Stoneyfield (and also partner Dannon) are touting their line of Greek yogurt in a 30-second commercial starring actor John Stamos and a lovely lady counterpart that will reportedly air during the third quarter of the game. This is the first time a yogurt brand has paid the hefty price tag for a Super Bowl spotlight. The New-Hampshire based Stoneyfield was founded in 1983 by entrepreneur and organic farmer Gary Hirshberg.
Priceline.com
Dubbed the “Negotiator's Last Deal," Priceline's ad features actor William Shatner—as usual—trying to save a family of vacationers from "paying too much" on travel. But unlike other ads, (spoiler alert!) Shatner doesn't survive this dramatic mission. The commercial marks the real end to Shatner's 14-years as the Connecticut company's spokesman. "One of the challenges we face is that Bill is so awesome and so closely associated with Priceline that we needed to grab back consumers' attention," Priceline.com Chief Marketing Officer Brett Keller told Advertising Age recently. Priceline was launched in 1998 by digital entrepreneur Jay Walker.
Blast from the Past: Apple, 1984
For small companies looking to make a statement in 30 seconds or less, Apple set the bar in 1984. Back then, Apple was still a growing company looking to shake up the tech world and break IBM's hold over the market. Directed by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner), Apple's Super Bowl spot, which announced the imminent release of the Macintosh computer, looked more like a sci-fi movie than a commercial—a runner throws a sledge hammer through a giant screen that was mesmerizing hundreds of people. It's arguably one of the most memorable commercials in advertising history.
Is $3.5 million for 30 seconds of fame worth it? These businesses are putting it all on the line during Super Bowl XLVI.
Some make you laugh, others (attempt to) make you cry. Others, well, they're forgettable.
It's all part of the fun at the Super Bowl, where brands spend upwards of $3 million for 30 seconds to capture the world's attention. "More than a game, the Super Bowl is a cultural event, a truly American spectacle, and the ads are very much a part of the experience," notes Advertising Age's digital editor, Michael Learmonth. To be sure, airtime in between downs will be dominated by the big players: Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and GM are steadfast Super Bowl advertisers. But the little guys are taking a shot, too. Here's a look at ads from seven (smaller) brands taking a run at prime time.
Hulu
Hulu's debut Super Bowl spot, starring Will Arnett, features the Arrested Development star trying to break into the Hollywood "H." The thrust of this ad spot teaser is social media: Viewers are encouraged to tweet with the hashtag #mushymush and urged to follow @HuluPlus on Twitter. Founded in 2007 in Los Angeles, the video-on-demand service sold a 27 percent stake to Disney in 2009. In 2011, the company made a reported $420 million. Also of note: The ad was directed Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the trendy Boulder-based advertising firm whom you may recall from Inc.com's 2011 Worlds Coolest Offices.
GoDaddy
This year, GoDaddy has gone meta. The Web-hosting service was founded in 1997 in Scottsdale, Arizona, by Bob Parsons, and sold in July 2011 for $2.25 billion to investors. After years of Super Bowl ads that drew attention—and ire—for featuring scantily clad models promoting the company's Web-hosting service (the GoDaddy Girls), the company has turned the attention inward. In the ad, Jillian Michaels, the actress and fitness guru, is painting a nude young women with the company's new product: a ".co" suffix for URLs. "Who won't notice a hot model in body paint?" she says.
CareerBuilder.com
Every Super Bowl has at least one advertising controversy: Will CareerBuilder.com be the company that receives that inauspicious award in 2012? The online jobs portal, which was founded in Chicago in 1995 by Rob McGowan, earned nearly $600 million in revenue in 2010, according to the latest data available. Its ad this year features chimps wearing suits and ties terrorizing a young man working a dull 9-to-5 office job, rehashes a similar theme from last year when Chimps (also in suits and ties) locked the actor in his car in the company parking lot. In 2011, one Chicago zoo even mounted a campaign against the company to remove the ad, fearing that the commercial would inspire people to buy the chimps as pets (remember: they're an endangered species).
Kauffman Foundation
"The next great entrepreneur is out there. Will it be you?" asks the non-profit entrepreneurship foundation's first Super Bowl ad. The 30-second spot reportedly cost less than $400,000 dollars to make, and will air in only four major markets (racking up not all, but a sizeable portion of the nearly 172 million anticipated Game-Day viewers). The Missouri-based group was founded in the 1960s by local entrepreneur Ewig Kauffman, whose mission was to foster start-ups and encourage innovation.
Oikos Yogurt
Stoneyfield (and also partner Dannon) are touting their line of Greek yogurt in a 30-second commercial starring actor John Stamos and a lovely lady counterpart that will reportedly air during the third quarter of the game. This is the first time a yogurt brand has paid the hefty price tag for a Super Bowl spotlight. The New-Hampshire based Stoneyfield was founded in 1983 by entrepreneur and organic farmer Gary Hirshberg.
Priceline.com
Dubbed the “Negotiator's Last Deal," Priceline's ad features actor William Shatner—as usual—trying to save a family of vacationers from "paying too much" on travel. But unlike other ads, (spoiler alert!) Shatner doesn't survive this dramatic mission. The commercial marks the real end to Shatner's 14-years as the Connecticut company's spokesman. "One of the challenges we face is that Bill is so awesome and so closely associated with Priceline that we needed to grab back consumers' attention," Priceline.com Chief Marketing Officer Brett Keller told Advertising Age recently. Priceline was launched in 1998 by digital entrepreneur Jay Walker.
Blast from the Past: Apple, 1984
For small companies looking to make a statement in 30 seconds or less, Apple set the bar in 1984. Back then, Apple was still a growing company looking to shake up the tech world and break IBM's hold over the market. Directed by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner), Apple's Super Bowl spot, which announced the imminent release of the Macintosh computer, looked more like a sci-fi movie than a commercial—a runner throws a sledge hammer through a giant screen that was mesmerizing hundreds of people. It's arguably one of the most memorable commercials in advertising history.
As our business grew, I started neglecting my family and friends--and no advice seemed to help bring balance. That is, until I read this passage.
Is attaining balance really possible in an entrepreneurial environment? Over the past six years I have struggled to achieve some semblance of balance when it comes to managing both my business with my personal life. I have read several books, and sought counseling from wise sages. None have been able to provide me with a sound strategy to achieve some semblance of balance in my life.
This got me thinking, is balance in a start-up entrepreneurial environment really possible?
The reason why I bring this up is because one of my good friends from childhood has cancer. I went to see him a few months ago and he had just finished chemotherapy, and was recovering. Prior to that meeting, I hadn't seen him for about a year.
As I spoke with my friend and reflected on how short life is, I began to think about that factors that caused me to not contact him in the last year. What it came down to was myself becoming so immersed in the success of my business that I completely lost touch with him. This got me thinking: With all of the technology we have today to simplify, streamline, and generally make our lives easier, why I can’t achieve some semblance of balance in my life?
First let's consider: what precisely do I mean by balance? In my case, it's managing the growth and success of my business alongside my relationships with my wife, kids, family, and friends.
With a good deal of self-reflection I can honestly say that I am not successful in achieving balance. I always feel like I should or could be doing more with my business, my family, and my health. Is this just the plight of the entrepreneur, to constantly become so focused on something such that you lose sight and interest in all other things. This can't be it.
After researching the subject and looking at strategies ranging the gamut from dedicating specific times out the month to family, friends, and health, to performing yoga three times a week, the best advice I read came from a book of fiction, Suzanne's Diary to Nicholas, by James Patterson.
Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you're keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls—family, health, friends, integrity—are made of glass. I you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered. And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life.
That's outstanding advice. Most entrepreneurs are deeply passionate about their work and vision for their companies. The reason why we work so hard is to be able to share it with our loved ones. If we do not take the time to cherish those relationships then all of this hard work will be for naught. As you focus on growing your business and the everyday challenges that come along with that goal keep in mind the phrase above.
For my foodies and wine lovers thinking about how to better balance career and personal life, try one of the most well balanced red wines I've ever had in my life, the Lions Drift Pinotage. It's clear, bright ruby red color encourages reflection while its full body and long finish, that includes hints of blueberry pie sprinkled with cinnamon, inspires enjoyment and a sense of balance.
As our business grew, I started neglecting my family and friends--and no advice seemed to help bring balance. That is, until I read this passage.
Is attaining balance really possible in an entrepreneurial environment? Over the past six years I have struggled to achieve some semblance of balance when it comes to managing both my business with my personal life. I have read several books, and sought counseling from wise sages. None have been able to provide me with a sound strategy to achieve some semblance of balance in my life.
This got me thinking, is balance in a start-up entrepreneurial environment really possible?
The reason why I bring this up is because one of my good friends from childhood has cancer. I went to see him a few months ago and he had just finished chemotherapy, and was recovering. Prior to that meeting, I hadn't seen him for about a year.
As I spoke with my friend and reflected on how short life is, I began to think about that factors that caused me to not contact him in the last year. What it came down to was myself becoming so immersed in the success of my business that I completely lost touch with him. This got me thinking: With all of the technology we have today to simplify, streamline, and generally make our lives easier, why I can’t achieve some semblance of balance in my life?
First let's consider: what precisely do I mean by balance? In my case, it's managing the growth and success of my business alongside my relationships with my wife, kids, family, and friends.
With a good deal of self-reflection I can honestly say that I am not successful in achieving balance. I always feel like I should or could be doing more with my business, my family, and my health. Is this just the plight of the entrepreneur, to constantly become so focused on something such that you lose sight and interest in all other things. This can't be it.
After researching the subject and looking at strategies ranging the gamut from dedicating specific times out the month to family, friends, and health, to performing yoga three times a week, the best advice I read came from a book of fiction, Suzanne's Diary to Nicholas, by James Patterson.
Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you're keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls—family, health, friends, integrity—are made of glass. I you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered. And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life.
That's outstanding advice. Most entrepreneurs are deeply passionate about their work and vision for their companies. The reason why we work so hard is to be able to share it with our loved ones. If we do not take the time to cherish those relationships then all of this hard work will be for naught. As you focus on growing your business and the everyday challenges that come along with that goal keep in mind the phrase above.
For my foodies and wine lovers thinking about how to better balance career and personal life, try one of the most well balanced red wines I've ever had in my life, the Lions Drift Pinotage. It's clear, bright ruby red color encourages reflection while its full body and long finish, that includes hints of blueberry pie sprinkled with cinnamon, inspires enjoyment and a sense of balance.
Sometimes, "perfect" can be a problem. Here's how to make your company more nimble.
We have a common saying in my company: You can either be slow and perfect or fast and good. Perfect a month from now usually misses the mark; the world changes too fast, leaving you not perfect, but rather perfectly late.
You may fall, of course; you do run the risk of making more mistakes this way. But what's most important is how quickly you pick yourself back up–and what you learn from the experience.
This idea of "fast and good" is crucial for small business owners who are constantly striving to be more adaptive and more nimble. When you're running a small business, you don't have months and months to get everything right. By the time it's perfect, it'll be obsolete. In order to stay relevant in the market, you have to be able to try things, take risks and be flexible enough to adapt quickly to change.
Here are five ways to take your company from "slow and perfect" to "fast and good."
1. Take Advantage of Mistakes
There's experience and then there's learning. The difference is that learning hurts. The next time something goes wrong, find a way to make sure it doesn't happen again: Break down what happened and figure out exactly what you could do differently. Then put your safeguards in place right away, before the same thing happens again.
2. Clarify Your Expectations
If part of your corporate culture is going to be to speed up the pace, you have to know what's "good enough." If there are members of your team who aren't comfortable with anything short of "perfect," help them to establish "good enough" as their new equilibrium.
A faster pace also means you'll reach your outcomes faster than you're used to. By figuring out ahead of time what constitutes "good enough," you'll know when you've arrived–and can move on to the next goal.
3. Be Intentional
To say yes to the things that will really impact your bottom line, you need to figure out when you're going to say "no." Start off each week by identifying three to five things that you need to have accomplished by Friday afternoon. Say to yourself: If nothing else gets done this week, I will deem this week a success if I get x, y and z done.
You can't do everything–but if you're preemptive and realistic, you can control what falls by the wayside rather than constantly scrambling.
4. Open Lines of Communication
As you increase your speed of operation, you'll inevitably depend more upon members of your team more. To avoid potential hang-ups, give them a heads up whenever you realize you'll be needing their input, approval, or time. When you're moving forward quickly, err on the side of keeping them too informed rather than underinformed.
5. Focus on Effectiveness
I too often see people who are so busy being "productive" that they're not effective. When you're flying at a million miles an hour, make sure you're doing things to move forward, rather than just moving to move. Ask yourself constantly: How does this task get me closer to my end goal?
I'm not promising you a bruise-free path ahead. But if you follow these tips, you'll be able to pick up the pace at which your company operates, making you both more nimble and more adaptive.
Sometimes, "perfect" can be a problem. Here's how to make your company more nimble.
We have a common saying in my company: You can either be slow and perfect or fast and good. Perfect a month from now usually misses the mark; the world changes too fast, leaving you not perfect, but rather perfectly late.
You may fall, of course; you do run the risk of making more mistakes this way. But what's most important is how quickly you pick yourself back up–and what you learn from the experience.
This idea of "fast and good" is crucial for small business owners who are constantly striving to be more adaptive and more nimble. When you're running a small business, you don't have months and months to get everything right. By the time it's perfect, it'll be obsolete. In order to stay relevant in the market, you have to be able to try things, take risks and be flexible enough to adapt quickly to change.
Here are five ways to take your company from "slow and perfect" to "fast and good."
1. Take Advantage of Mistakes
There's experience and then there's learning. The difference is that learning hurts. The next time something goes wrong, find a way to make sure it doesn't happen again: Break down what happened and figure out exactly what you could do differently. Then put your safeguards in place right away, before the same thing happens again.
2. Clarify Your Expectations
If part of your corporate culture is going to be to speed up the pace, you have to know what's "good enough." If there are members of your team who aren't comfortable with anything short of "perfect," help them to establish "good enough" as their new equilibrium.
A faster pace also means you'll reach your outcomes faster than you're used to. By figuring out ahead of time what constitutes "good enough," you'll know when you've arrived–and can move on to the next goal.
3. Be Intentional
To say yes to the things that will really impact your bottom line, you need to figure out when you're going to say "no." Start off each week by identifying three to five things that you need to have accomplished by Friday afternoon. Say to yourself: If nothing else gets done this week, I will deem this week a success if I get x, y and z done.
You can't do everything–but if you're preemptive and realistic, you can control what falls by the wayside rather than constantly scrambling.
4. Open Lines of Communication
As you increase your speed of operation, you'll inevitably depend more upon members of your team more. To avoid potential hang-ups, give them a heads up whenever you realize you'll be needing their input, approval, or time. When you're moving forward quickly, err on the side of keeping them too informed rather than underinformed.
5. Focus on Effectiveness
I too often see people who are so busy being "productive" that they're not effective. When you're flying at a million miles an hour, make sure you're doing things to move forward, rather than just moving to move. Ask yourself constantly: How does this task get me closer to my end goal?
I'm not promising you a bruise-free path ahead. But if you follow these tips, you'll be able to pick up the pace at which your company operates, making you both more nimble and more adaptive.
A five-time entrepreneur makes the case for launching a company in Silicon Beach. He's not the only fan.
Los Angeles is the capital of small business in the United States, according to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa, at a reception earlier this month for Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalists. L.A., dubbed "Silicon Beach," has become a breeding ground for successful Internet and advertising companies. I have a theory about why.
I moved to L.A. (from Chicago) 13 years ago, in the midst of the dot-com boom, to build an online advertising company, L90/adMonitor. In addition to warm weather and beautiful beaches, I found a very creative, innovative talent pool of agile thinkers. I think it was behavior bred from Hollywood, an industry that's highly competitive and constantly innovating. We had a great ride with the company. And we didn't raise venture capital money until our IPO.
A huge contributor to the company's success was the wealth of creative and innovative talent in L.A. While during the dot-com boom there was a lot of competition for talent and people tended to job hop, I didn't find that to be the case in L.A. The loyalty and consistency of the team created a culture that was hard to beat.
For my next start-up, I tried Northern California. I started StrongMail Systems, an enterprise software company with very different engineering, sales, and marketing talent needs. Enterprise software requires longer-cycle, hard-core engineering rather than dot-com development, which is more creative, and has quicker cycles. After raising money from Sequoia Capital, I decided to move the company to Silicon Valley, to be closer to the resources and partners we needed. But I found a very different, and less conducive culture in Silicon Valley. One that was filled with a lot of talent, but also was highly-competitive, less loyal, and focused almost exclusively on technology. Everywhere I'd go, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, I heard people talking about starting new companies or technologies. It was quite the bubble.
For my fifth start-up, I chose L.A. After hiring a management team and CEO to run StrongMail, I moved back to L.A. to start the Rubicon Project, an advertising technology company. My vision was a perfect mix of Silicon Valley technology and Silicon Beach creative advertising thinking. Why'd I pick L.A.? First, I learned that because of Hollywood, Madison Avenue has spoken the same language as those in L.A. for many years. The industry, by contrast, doesn't speak C++, Java, or SOA.
In addition, it turns out, venture capitalists are more active in L.A. than ever before. Venture capitalists often tell me they spend one-third of their time in L.A. As a result, the area (also including Orange County) is the fourth largest recipient of venture capital in the U.S. after Silicon Valley, New England, and New York; it had nearly $2 billion invested in 2011, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association.
No wonder. There have been a lot of hugely-successful exits in L.A.: Overture's $1.7billion sale to Yahoo!; MySpace for $580 million to News Corporation; Business.com to R.H. Donnelly for $345 million; Shopzilla to E.W. Scripps for $525 million; and LowerMyBills.com to Experian for $330 million. Now, IPO rumors surround eHarmony. These companies created an entrepreneurial ecosystem of talent and capital.
And many of these companies survived the dot-com bust. I believe it's because, like Chicago, my hometown, there wasn't initially easy access to venture capital in L.A. and entrepreneurs had no choice but to build profitable business models from the start. That discipline is still ingrained in L.A.'s entrepreneurial culture. It's about businesses that work, not businesses that venture capitalists will buy into.
Last, but not least, are the people in L.A., the ones I noticed when I first got here. I'm a strong believer that team and culture are what make the difference between a good company and a great one. The talent pool in L.A. is deep, creative, agile, well-balanced, and loyal. Oh, and I am writing this at the beach in January…
A five-time entrepreneur makes the case for launching a company in Silicon Beach. He's not the only fan.
Los Angeles is the capital of small business in the United States, according to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa, at a reception earlier this month for Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalists. L.A., dubbed "Silicon Beach," has become a breeding ground for successful Internet and advertising companies. I have a theory about why.
I moved to L.A. (from Chicago) 13 years ago, in the midst of the dot-com boom, to build an online advertising company, L90/adMonitor. In addition to warm weather and beautiful beaches, I found a very creative, innovative talent pool of agile thinkers. I think it was behavior bred from Hollywood, an industry that's highly competitive and constantly innovating. We had a great ride with the company. And we didn't raise venture capital money until our IPO.
A huge contributor to the company's success was the wealth of creative and innovative talent in L.A. While during the dot-com boom there was a lot of competition for talent and people tended to job hop, I didn't find that to be the case in L.A. The loyalty and consistency of the team created a culture that was hard to beat.
For my next start-up, I tried Northern California. I started StrongMail Systems, an enterprise software company with very different engineering, sales, and marketing talent needs. Enterprise software requires longer-cycle, hard-core engineering rather than dot-com development, which is more creative, and has quicker cycles. After raising money from Sequoia Capital, I decided to move the company to Silicon Valley, to be closer to the resources and partners we needed. But I found a very different, and less conducive culture in Silicon Valley. One that was filled with a lot of talent, but also was highly-competitive, less loyal, and focused almost exclusively on technology. Everywhere I'd go, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, I heard people talking about starting new companies or technologies. It was quite the bubble.
For my fifth start-up, I chose L.A. After hiring a management team and CEO to run StrongMail, I moved back to L.A. to start the Rubicon Project, an advertising technology company. My vision was a perfect mix of Silicon Valley technology and Silicon Beach creative advertising thinking. Why'd I pick L.A.? First, I learned that because of Hollywood, Madison Avenue has spoken the same language as those in L.A. for many years. The industry, by contrast, doesn't speak C++, Java, or SOA.
In addition, it turns out, venture capitalists are more active in L.A. than ever before. Venture capitalists often tell me they spend one-third of their time in L.A. As a result, the area (also including Orange County) is the fourth largest recipient of venture capital in the U.S. after Silicon Valley, New England, and New York; it had nearly $2 billion invested in 2011, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association.
No wonder. There have been a lot of hugely-successful exits in L.A.: Overture's $1.7billion sale to Yahoo!; MySpace for $580 million to News Corporation; Business.com to R.H. Donnelly for $345 million; Shopzilla to E.W. Scripps for $525 million; and LowerMyBills.com to Experian for $330 million. Now, IPO rumors surround eHarmony. These companies created an entrepreneurial ecosystem of talent and capital.
And many of these companies survived the dot-com bust. I believe it's because, like Chicago, my hometown, there wasn't initially easy access to venture capital in L.A. and entrepreneurs had no choice but to build profitable business models from the start. That discipline is still ingrained in L.A.'s entrepreneurial culture. It's about businesses that work, not businesses that venture capitalists will buy into.
Last, but not least, are the people in L.A., the ones I noticed when I first got here. I'm a strong believer that team and culture are what make the difference between a good company and a great one. The talent pool in L.A. is deep, creative, agile, well-balanced, and loyal. Oh, and I am writing this at the beach in January…
How do people think outside of the proverbial box? They know how to view things more expansively. Here's how.
A few years back our litigation team was faced with a seemingly insurmountable task: how to defend our client’s trademark rights against a Fortune 500 company with a massive litigation budget. They had the facts on their side. Moreover, they had money. Worst of all, they had a gaggle of lawyers that just made the case down right unpleasant. In spite of this, as luck would have it, they were missing one very crucial thing that they had never learned in law school. Something big firm life had failed to teach them. Quite simply, they were limited in their thinking to that which was rather than that which could be.
Looking beyond conventional defense methods, we deconstructed every element of the case until we discovered a plan to turn the tables. In trademark law priority of use is everything. Whoever is the first to use a specific trademark typically wins an infringement case, especially where the trademarks as well as the goods and services of the parties involved are very similar if not identical. At any rate, the other side had priority of use. The trademarks were very similar. The services were almost identical. We might as well just throw in the towel, right? Wrong!
In thinking beyond the realm of traditional defenses, we wondered what if we could find someone else who had priority of use associated with their own trademark that preceded that of the opposing party? What if we could find this mythical entity and purchase their rights to their trademark, thus acquiring their earlier priority rights as compared to those of our opponent? Could it work?
Well, not only could it, it did. After a brief search we found a small company in a Midwestern state that miraculously had been using the same trademark as our opponent for more than 50 years. They were considering closing their business already when we arrived and bought them out for a fraction of what it would have cost to defend the case in court. After acquiring their trademark rights including the priority of use date prior to that of our opponent’s first use date, that gaggle of lawyers quickly moved from shooting at fish in a barrel to being the fish in the barrel. The case settled within days.
How did we do it? How can you? Sometimes when you are losing in a game you have to stop playing by the rules, switch it up, and change the game itself.
People often speak about thinking outside the box, but how do you really do it? What does it mean to be limited to inside the box as opposed to being outside? The key is to define the box in any given situation and then to seek alternative, often unconventional solutions that would be considered beyond the norm.
When you are faced with a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, train yourself to not merely focus on the specific issue at hand but also think more expansively about all of the reasons and the paths that led to the issue. Consider every possibility and hypothetical alteration of that reality along the path, never being dismissive of anything. When you do this, alternative solutions will often materialize giving you options you did not see when narrowly focusing on a specific issue.
Here are a few tips that we have learned along the way that have aided us in getting outside the box:
1. Identify the issue.
2. Determine whether a regular or typical solution to the problem exists.
3. If one does, you’re done. If no, map out everything that went into creating the issue. In this aspect, be expansive. Include everything possible.
4. Once you start mapping out the issue more completely, start looking for ways to address the situation in one of the more outlying areas that was not considered previously.
5. Never dismiss a possible solution on the basis, “It simply cannot be done.” Consider everything. Go through every possibility until you know for a fact it can or cannot be done.
This is exactly the way we won the case referenced above. If we thought inside the box our thinking would have been:
1. Can we defend on the grounds the trademarks are not similar? No.
2. Can we defend on the grounds the trademarks are used on different goods and/or services? No.
3. Do we have priority of use? No.
In thinking outside the box we began looking at how did the opponent acquire their trademark rights they are now asserting against us? Could we acquire trademark rights that are superior to theirs? We could if there was another company out there using the same trademark as our opponent before they did that would be willing to sell it to our client for a reasonable price. Well, let’s see if we can find one. And we did.
Teach yourself to look at problems more expansively. Never be dismissive of a potential solution before you have thoroughly thought it through. Think outside the proverbial box.
How do people think outside of the proverbial box? They know how to view things more expansively. Here's how.
A few years back our litigation team was faced with a seemingly insurmountable task: how to defend our client’s trademark rights against a Fortune 500 company with a massive litigation budget. They had the facts on their side. Moreover, they had money. Worst of all, they had a gaggle of lawyers that just made the case down right unpleasant. In spite of this, as luck would have it, they were missing one very crucial thing that they had never learned in law school. Something big firm life had failed to teach them. Quite simply, they were limited in their thinking to that which was rather than that which could be.
Looking beyond conventional defense methods, we deconstructed every element of the case until we discovered a plan to turn the tables. In trademark law priority of use is everything. Whoever is the first to use a specific trademark typically wins an infringement case, especially where the trademarks as well as the goods and services of the parties involved are very similar if not identical. At any rate, the other side had priority of use. The trademarks were very similar. The services were almost identical. We might as well just throw in the towel, right? Wrong!
In thinking beyond the realm of traditional defenses, we wondered what if we could find someone else who had priority of use associated with their own trademark that preceded that of the opposing party? What if we could find this mythical entity and purchase their rights to their trademark, thus acquiring their earlier priority rights as compared to those of our opponent? Could it work?
Well, not only could it, it did. After a brief search we found a small company in a Midwestern state that miraculously had been using the same trademark as our opponent for more than 50 years. They were considering closing their business already when we arrived and bought them out for a fraction of what it would have cost to defend the case in court. After acquiring their trademark rights including the priority of use date prior to that of our opponent’s first use date, that gaggle of lawyers quickly moved from shooting at fish in a barrel to being the fish in the barrel. The case settled within days.
How did we do it? How can you? Sometimes when you are losing in a game you have to stop playing by the rules, switch it up, and change the game itself.
People often speak about thinking outside the box, but how do you really do it? What does it mean to be limited to inside the box as opposed to being outside? The key is to define the box in any given situation and then to seek alternative, often unconventional solutions that would be considered beyond the norm.
When you are faced with a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, train yourself to not merely focus on the specific issue at hand but also think more expansively about all of the reasons and the paths that led to the issue. Consider every possibility and hypothetical alteration of that reality along the path, never being dismissive of anything. When you do this, alternative solutions will often materialize giving you options you did not see when narrowly focusing on a specific issue.
Here are a few tips that we have learned along the way that have aided us in getting outside the box:
1. Identify the issue.
2. Determine whether a regular or typical solution to the problem exists.
3. If one does, you’re done. If no, map out everything that went into creating the issue. In this aspect, be expansive. Include everything possible.
4. Once you start mapping out the issue more completely, start looking for ways to address the situation in one of the more outlying areas that was not considered previously.
5. Never dismiss a possible solution on the basis, “It simply cannot be done.” Consider everything. Go through every possibility until you know for a fact it can or cannot be done.
This is exactly the way we won the case referenced above. If we thought inside the box our thinking would have been:
1. Can we defend on the grounds the trademarks are not similar? No.
2. Can we defend on the grounds the trademarks are used on different goods and/or services? No.
3. Do we have priority of use? No.
In thinking outside the box we began looking at how did the opponent acquire their trademark rights they are now asserting against us? Could we acquire trademark rights that are superior to theirs? We could if there was another company out there using the same trademark as our opponent before they did that would be willing to sell it to our client for a reasonable price. Well, let’s see if we can find one. And we did.
Teach yourself to look at problems more expansively. Never be dismissive of a potential solution before you have thoroughly thought it through. Think outside the proverbial box.
As part of Facebook's IPO filing, founder Mark Zuckerberg praised the concept of the "hackathon." Could something similar benefit your company, even if you're not in tech?
The word "hacker" has an unfairly negative connotation from being portrayed in the media as people who break into computers. In reality, hacking just means building something quickly or testing the boundaries of what can be done…. The Hacker Way is an approach to building that involves continuous improvement and iteration. Hackers believe that something can always be better, and that nothing is ever complete. They just have to go fix it—often in the face of people who say it’s impossible or are content with the status quo.
Hackers try to build the best services over the long term by quickly releasing and learning from smaller iterations rather than trying to get everything right all at once.
How does Facebook put this hacker ethos into practice and instill these ideals in its employees? Hackathons, says Zuckerburg. "To encourage this approach, every few months we have a hackathon, where everyone builds prototypes for new ideas they have. At the end, the whole team gets together and looks at everything that has been built. Many of our most successful products came out of hackathons, including Timeline, chat, video, our mobile development framework and some of our most important infrastructure like the HipHop compiler."
A hackathon is an intriguing idea to drive talent towards risk taking, experimentation and, dare I type it, even fun. But can it work in firms that lack hackers, meaning those in older school industries that produce physical goods or analog services rather than code? Sure, says writer and entrepreneur Glen Stansberry in an American Express OPEN Forum post recently, explaining that a "hack day" might be a great idea for your business as well for several reasons:
It's exciting and morale boosting. "The event itself was far more exciting than I thought it would be," says Stansberry of his company's hack day.
It teaches the skill of shipping. "Shipping–as defined by Seth Godin–is defeating resistance and delivering a product, even if the product isn't perfect."
Having a hack day project "out there" gives you something to start improving. "When our Hack Day was done, we had something that was, in all honesty, pretty terrible," Stansberry admits. "But that's not the important part. The important part was the psychological boost of knowing that it was out there, and it's driven us to improve it daily."
If you think you need to be in the tech biz to reap these same benefits, think again. Nearly all business have a problem or project that you team could tackle for a hack day, according to Stansberry:
Most likely there's a new idea, or some aspect of your business that needs some serious work. A hack day is a perfect opportunity to tackle it. The important thing is that you take a day to make a minimum viable product and release it. So the question for you is this: what can you do to improve your business in a day? What can you build or re-work in a day that will allow your team to feel the success of shipping?
Could borrowing the concept of Facebook's "hackathon" benefit your business?
As part of Facebook's IPO filing, founder Mark Zuckerberg praised the concept of the "hackathon." Could something similar benefit your company, even if you're not in tech?
The word "hacker" has an unfairly negative connotation from being portrayed in the media as people who break into computers. In reality, hacking just means building something quickly or testing the boundaries of what can be done…. The Hacker Way is an approach to building that involves continuous improvement and iteration. Hackers believe that something can always be better, and that nothing is ever complete. They just have to go fix it—often in the face of people who say it’s impossible or are content with the status quo.
Hackers try to build the best services over the long term by quickly releasing and learning from smaller iterations rather than trying to get everything right all at once.
How does Facebook put this hacker ethos into practice and instill these ideals in its employees? Hackathons, says Zuckerburg. "To encourage this approach, every few months we have a hackathon, where everyone builds prototypes for new ideas they have. At the end, the whole team gets together and looks at everything that has been built. Many of our most successful products came out of hackathons, including Timeline, chat, video, our mobile development framework and some of our most important infrastructure like the HipHop compiler."
A hackathon is an intriguing idea to drive talent towards risk taking, experimentation and, dare I type it, even fun. But can it work in firms that lack hackers, meaning those in older school industries that produce physical goods or analog services rather than code? Sure, says writer and entrepreneur Glen Stansberry in an American Express OPEN Forum post recently, explaining that a "hack day" might be a great idea for your business as well for several reasons:
It's exciting and morale boosting. "The event itself was far more exciting than I thought it would be," says Stansberry of his company's hack day.
It teaches the skill of shipping. "Shipping–as defined by Seth Godin–is defeating resistance and delivering a product, even if the product isn't perfect."
Having a hack day project "out there" gives you something to start improving. "When our Hack Day was done, we had something that was, in all honesty, pretty terrible," Stansberry admits. "But that's not the important part. The important part was the psychological boost of knowing that it was out there, and it's driven us to improve it daily."
If you think you need to be in the tech biz to reap these same benefits, think again. Nearly all business have a problem or project that you team could tackle for a hack day, according to Stansberry:
Most likely there's a new idea, or some aspect of your business that needs some serious work. A hack day is a perfect opportunity to tackle it. The important thing is that you take a day to make a minimum viable product and release it. So the question for you is this: what can you do to improve your business in a day? What can you build or re-work in a day that will allow your team to feel the success of shipping?
Could borrowing the concept of Facebook's "hackathon" benefit your business?
It's a mistake to refuse an apology to angry customers. Here's how to get really good at saying 'I'm sorry.'
Years ago when working for a large corporation I attended a meeting that was hosted by our corporate counsel and loss prevention department. The gist was to educate all of us on the pitfalls of saying "I'm sorry" when dealing with a customer service issue or complaint. Their concern was that this might be considered an admission of liability. After several of us voiced a concern we were finally told that we could tell upset customers that "we were sorry for how they felt."
This new direction was one that I was very uncomfortable with, but to this day I remember the rigid interpretations and shake my head and smile. It seems that some corporate staffers like to create policies that deal with a statistically small number of people. So we see these policies developed due to the 2 percent but applied to everyone.
So I am going to share to share a very brief view on unhappy customers. First we all know the statistical impact on our reputations by the customer who is unhappy with our service, as well as those that are happy. Needless to say those that are unhappy are much more likely to share their bad service story than those that are satisfied. But there is a group that is often overlooked. This group starts out unhappy but is ultimately so overwhelmed by your recovery that they become customers for life.
Recovery and its strategy in service is key to successful customer service. For all you linear thinkers out there the first step should always be to get it right the first time and meet expectation. But we all know that doesn't always happen. When it doesn't, we need to recover. Done the right way, the customer who has the experience will tell a story. Not how bad their initial experience was but the story of how well they were treated, respected and cared for in the recovery.
So here are some steps to consider:
I make an effort to speak to every customer that has a bad experience, it means a lot to them and it helps me in both establishing expectation in our marketing and sales as well as identifying process problems and applying a proactive approach.
I gather as many facts as I can then call and ask the customer to tell me their experience. Do not call and tell them you have all the facts and what you will do. Let the customer tell you their story.
I Apologize! I actually and sincerely convey my regret that we failed them and accept responsibility.
I offer more than one option to resolve their issue, putting them in control.
I follow up when the recovery is complete and insure we met the recovery expectation.
This model has helped to me to maintain a very high customer service standard, especially when the inevitable error occurs.
What are your recovery methods?
It's a mistake to refuse an apology to angry customers. Here's how to get really good at saying 'I'm sorry.'
Years ago when working for a large corporation I attended a meeting that was hosted by our corporate counsel and loss prevention department. The gist was to educate all of us on the pitfalls of saying "I'm sorry" when dealing with a customer service issue or complaint. Their concern was that this might be considered an admission of liability. After several of us voiced a concern we were finally told that we could tell upset customers that "we were sorry for how they felt."
This new direction was one that I was very uncomfortable with, but to this day I remember the rigid interpretations and shake my head and smile. It seems that some corporate staffers like to create policies that deal with a statistically small number of people. So we see these policies developed due to the 2 percent but applied to everyone.
So I am going to share to share a very brief view on unhappy customers. First we all know the statistical impact on our reputations by the customer who is unhappy with our service, as well as those that are happy. Needless to say those that are unhappy are much more likely to share their bad service story than those that are satisfied. But there is a group that is often overlooked. This group starts out unhappy but is ultimately so overwhelmed by your recovery that they become customers for life.
Recovery and its strategy in service is key to successful customer service. For all you linear thinkers out there the first step should always be to get it right the first time and meet expectation. But we all know that doesn't always happen. When it doesn't, we need to recover. Done the right way, the customer who has the experience will tell a story. Not how bad their initial experience was but the story of how well they were treated, respected and cared for in the recovery.
So here are some steps to consider:
I make an effort to speak to every customer that has a bad experience, it means a lot to them and it helps me in both establishing expectation in our marketing and sales as well as identifying process problems and applying a proactive approach.
I gather as many facts as I can then call and ask the customer to tell me their experience. Do not call and tell them you have all the facts and what you will do. Let the customer tell you their story.
I Apologize! I actually and sincerely convey my regret that we failed them and accept responsibility.
I offer more than one option to resolve their issue, putting them in control.
I follow up when the recovery is complete and insure we met the recovery expectation.
This model has helped to me to maintain a very high customer service standard, especially when the inevitable error occurs.
The ability to sell at the highest level is the result of genetics. But this doesn't mean you can't be a sales star.
I recently had a conversation with John Asher, the CEO of the sales training firm Asher Training, where he cited research that at least 50 percent of success in sales is directly related to natural talent. "Some people simply don't have the innate talent to be successful in sales," he explained.
What's really interesting, though, is that he says the true sales stars–the 4 percent with the most innate talent–are responsible for selling 94 percent of the goods and services. I've heard other, less dramatic, statistics, but either way: there's no question that sales stars book the bulk of every company's sales.
On the surface this might seem discouraging. After all, if only a very few people can sell well, what are the chances that you are one of them?
It turns out it's not that cut-and-dried. Not every sales job or sales situation is the same. Some require the outgoing, driving personality that most people associated with professional sales, but just as many sales jobs favor people who are introverted and detail oriented.
What Are You Selling?
For example, if you want to sell semiconductor design services to high-tech companies, you'd better be able to think and act like a engineer, because otherwise none of your buyers will even talk to you. Give a typical "sales pitch" and you'll be laughed out of the building.
The importance of finding the right match for your personality becomes clear when sales stars move from one type of sales job to another.
According to Howard Stevens, CEO of the sales research firm Chally Worldwide, sales stars often see their success rates plummet when they're assigned to a different type of products. He characterizes sales stars as "savants," who are optimized for a certain type of sales behavior and who are worse-than-average performers in another environment. "Companies often lose a lot of sales and money when they wrongly assume that selling talent can be moved around arbitrarily."
The trick to becoming a sales star is to match your personality to the type of sales that you're attempting to do. This is true whether you sell full time, or whether selling is just part of your job.
When to Hire Outside Help
For example, entrepreneurs who start companies are often very good at selling ideas to investors–but often not so good at reselling established products to existing customers. That requires a different personality, which is why smart entrepreneurs delegate ongoing sales activities to other people.
Once you've found the area of sales where you can shine, then you can start thinking about sales training and coaching to improve your performance. On the other hand, if you're trying to sell in a way that's unnatural to you, no amount of sales training is going to work.
The ability to sell at the highest level is the result of genetics. But this doesn't mean you can't be a sales star.
I recently had a conversation with John Asher, the CEO of the sales training firm Asher Training, where he cited research that at least 50 percent of success in sales is directly related to natural talent. "Some people simply don't have the innate talent to be successful in sales," he explained.
What's really interesting, though, is that he says the true sales stars–the 4 percent with the most innate talent–are responsible for selling 94 percent of the goods and services. I've heard other, less dramatic, statistics, but either way: there's no question that sales stars book the bulk of every company's sales.
On the surface this might seem discouraging. After all, if only a very few people can sell well, what are the chances that you are one of them?
It turns out it's not that cut-and-dried. Not every sales job or sales situation is the same. Some require the outgoing, driving personality that most people associated with professional sales, but just as many sales jobs favor people who are introverted and detail oriented.
What Are You Selling?
For example, if you want to sell semiconductor design services to high-tech companies, you'd better be able to think and act like a engineer, because otherwise none of your buyers will even talk to you. Give a typical "sales pitch" and you'll be laughed out of the building.
The importance of finding the right match for your personality becomes clear when sales stars move from one type of sales job to another.
According to Howard Stevens, CEO of the sales research firm Chally Worldwide, sales stars often see their success rates plummet when they're assigned to a different type of products. He characterizes sales stars as "savants," who are optimized for a certain type of sales behavior and who are worse-than-average performers in another environment. "Companies often lose a lot of sales and money when they wrongly assume that selling talent can be moved around arbitrarily."
The trick to becoming a sales star is to match your personality to the type of sales that you're attempting to do. This is true whether you sell full time, or whether selling is just part of your job.
When to Hire Outside Help
For example, entrepreneurs who start companies are often very good at selling ideas to investors–but often not so good at reselling established products to existing customers. That requires a different personality, which is why smart entrepreneurs delegate ongoing sales activities to other people.
Once you've found the area of sales where you can shine, then you can start thinking about sales training and coaching to improve your performance. On the other hand, if you're trying to sell in a way that's unnatural to you, no amount of sales training is going to work.
Don't be too focused on your product--because if you're not building a community for it, it may never get off the ground.
When you are first starting your business, it can seem as if there are an infinite number of items on your to-do list and not enough hours in the day. While it's important to put in the necessary time to build out your product or service, there is a danger in being overly focused.
As an entrepreneur you have to immerse yourself in the communities that revolve around your business. I've met a number of entrepreneurs who built their vision, but were confused why users did not come flocking once their site was live.
Case Studies: Building Community
For instance, if you're a tech startup building a fitness web application, then you should work on becoming major contributors in both the tech and fitness communities. Fitocracy—which makes fitness more engaging and addictive through game mechanics and social reinforcement—is a perfect example. In less than 16 months, co-founders Brian Wang and Dick Talens were able to create a community of more than 200,000 members—without spending any money on marketing. They openly told their own fitness stories to existing online fitness communities; they also contribute regularly on blogs and forums with fitness tips and other thoughts. The two of them were able to create a loyal following quickly by relating to others, offering solid advice and creating friendships with in the community.
Another great example is founder Kellee Khalil, of wedding inspiration site Lover.ly. Prior to moving to New York, Kellee worked to help build her sister's wedding-focused public relations company. The two of them spent years in the trenches together, learning about the industry from top to bottom. This enabled them to form close relationships with an incredible number of people in the wedding space; when Kellee started her own company, the community was more than happy to help.
Networking Goes Both Ways
It's important to realize that being part of the community is not just networking. You need to focus on building real relationships: Be authentic in your desire to contribute. Remember it's a two-way street and you should always offer to help out the others in the community.
You'll see that:
You will get a more honest and realistic view of the industry that you're working in when you spend time with others in the community.
Members in the community will gladly provide you with feedback and help you continually improve your product or service.
When you launch your site, make changes to your product, or offer a new service, you will have a base set of supporters that will want—and be able—to help you.
As you continue contributing to the growth of the community, you will start to establish credibility. It will be easier for you to start conversations with others you may need in the future.
Now of course, being a contributor to your industry's community will not make up for an inferior product or service. But it's a key step that you shouldn't procrastinate on. Relationship building can be exhausting, especially in the beginning—but you will find that the payoff for your business and personal growth will be invaluable down the road.
Don't be too focused on your product--because if you're not building a community for it, it may never get off the ground.
When you are first starting your business, it can seem as if there are an infinite number of items on your to-do list and not enough hours in the day. While it's important to put in the necessary time to build out your product or service, there is a danger in being overly focused.
As an entrepreneur you have to immerse yourself in the communities that revolve around your business. I've met a number of entrepreneurs who built their vision, but were confused why users did not come flocking once their site was live.
Case Studies: Building Community
For instance, if you're a tech startup building a fitness web application, then you should work on becoming major contributors in both the tech and fitness communities. Fitocracy—which makes fitness more engaging and addictive through game mechanics and social reinforcement—is a perfect example. In less than 16 months, co-founders Brian Wang and Dick Talens were able to create a community of more than 200,000 members—without spending any money on marketing. They openly told their own fitness stories to existing online fitness communities; they also contribute regularly on blogs and forums with fitness tips and other thoughts. The two of them were able to create a loyal following quickly by relating to others, offering solid advice and creating friendships with in the community.
Another great example is founder Kellee Khalil, of wedding inspiration site Lover.ly. Prior to moving to New York, Kellee worked to help build her sister's wedding-focused public relations company. The two of them spent years in the trenches together, learning about the industry from top to bottom. This enabled them to form close relationships with an incredible number of people in the wedding space; when Kellee started her own company, the community was more than happy to help.
Networking Goes Both Ways
It's important to realize that being part of the community is not just networking. You need to focus on building real relationships: Be authentic in your desire to contribute. Remember it's a two-way street and you should always offer to help out the others in the community.
You'll see that:
You will get a more honest and realistic view of the industry that you're working in when you spend time with others in the community.
Members in the community will gladly provide you with feedback and help you continually improve your product or service.
When you launch your site, make changes to your product, or offer a new service, you will have a base set of supporters that will want—and be able—to help you.
As you continue contributing to the growth of the community, you will start to establish credibility. It will be easier for you to start conversations with others you may need in the future.
Now of course, being a contributor to your industry's community will not make up for an inferior product or service. But it's a key step that you shouldn't procrastinate on. Relationship building can be exhausting, especially in the beginning—but you will find that the payoff for your business and personal growth will be invaluable down the road.
After all the tears and sweat you've poured into making yourself successful, you'd let these little oversights wreck your financial security?
The worst mistakes you may be making with your money aren't the ones you think you're making. Forget about the thing everyone talks about, which is investing smarts. Its practical effect is overrated. Believe me, it doesn't matter that you aren't getting a piece of Facebook's IPO. (The number of people who got rich of tech IPOs is dwarfed by the number who lost money in them.) Who cares if the only thing you think when you see an ETF is WTF? The lousy investing record of most individual investors only proves that a little knowledge, more often than not, is a dangerous thing.
Every financial planner will tell you that the most tragic money mistakes have to do with elementary safeguards that go overlooked or unused. They take no investing expertise to fix and are easy to take care of—until they become irreversible and potentially devastating. Here are four of them. If you are looking for a late starting 20120 financial resolution you can actually keep, resolve to polish off all four of these. And do it this weekend.
Not saving for retirement – Far too many business owners miss the opportunity each year to make a contribution to an IRA or SEP or solo 401(k) simply because they don’t think of it. If you have of these plans, confirm that you’re making the maximum contribution. (And don't forget: if you are 50 or older, you may get to make a higher contribution than everyone else.) If you and your spouse contribute to IRAs, check with your CPA to find out if you can make a contribution for 2011—yes, 2011. You have until April 16, 2012 to make your contribution for 2011. If you don't have an established plan, there is a chance that you can fund a company plan or an IRA for 2011 in a few simple steps. Call your CPA or financial planner today.
Not being insured – You probably already have coverage within your company to account for any type of scenario that could happen at work, but what about on the personal side? Call your insurance agent or financial advisor and have them review your current policies. In my experience, most clients who do so find an opportunity either to upgrade inefficient coverage or do away with a policy that no longer serves its purpose. At the very least, you’ll go identify what you've actually insured. Property and casualty insurance—which includes home, auto and umbrella liability—is a competitive business; there’s no reason to pay above market prices for below average protection.
Sloughing off your taxes – Don’t rush around to get your CPA everything at the eleventh hour and leave your tax filing until the deadline. It's a sure way to miss possible deductions. Call your CPA today and ask him or her to send you a tax organizer or set a meeting to sit down with them this month to be sure you have everything gathered. If you don’t have a CPA, talk to colleagues or your financial advisor about finding someone that fits your specific needs. Having a qualified professional prepare your taxes is typically worth the price and you might end up saving on taxes simply by having a fresh set of eyes review your situation.
Forgetting about beneficiaries – If you own a 401(k), any type of IRA, an insurance policy, a Transfer-On-Death (TOD) account or Payable-On-Death (POD) account, review your beneficiaries. More often than not in my experience, clients forget to update their beneficiary designations to reflect the changes in their lives. Call the financial institution that provides your statements and confirm with them that you have the proper beneficiaries listed on your accounts. Often clients are stunned to find out that they their estate—or worse, an ex-spouse—would have been the only heir to their life's work. Better for you to find this out now than for your heirs to learn it after you're gone.
Accomplish these four things and you'll have done a year's worth of good for your personal financial health. And you'll still have most of 2012 ahead of you.
Nick Cosky, CFP contributed to this article
After all the tears and sweat you've poured into making yourself successful, you'd let these little oversights wreck your financial security?
The worst mistakes you may be making with your money aren't the ones you think you're making. Forget about the thing everyone talks about, which is investing smarts. Its practical effect is overrated. Believe me, it doesn't matter that you aren't getting a piece of Facebook's IPO. (The number of people who got rich of tech IPOs is dwarfed by the number who lost money in them.) Who cares if the only thing you think when you see an ETF is WTF? The lousy investing record of most individual investors only proves that a little knowledge, more often than not, is a dangerous thing.
Every financial planner will tell you that the most tragic money mistakes have to do with elementary safeguards that go overlooked or unused. They take no investing expertise to fix and are easy to take care of—until they become irreversible and potentially devastating. Here are four of them. If you are looking for a late starting 20120 financial resolution you can actually keep, resolve to polish off all four of these. And do it this weekend.
Not saving for retirement – Far too many business owners miss the opportunity each year to make a contribution to an IRA or SEP or solo 401(k) simply because they don’t think of it. If you have of these plans, confirm that you’re making the maximum contribution. (And don't forget: if you are 50 or older, you may get to make a higher contribution than everyone else.) If you and your spouse contribute to IRAs, check with your CPA to find out if you can make a contribution for 2011—yes, 2011. You have until April 16, 2012 to make your contribution for 2011. If you don't have an established plan, there is a chance that you can fund a company plan or an IRA for 2011 in a few simple steps. Call your CPA or financial planner today.
Not being insured – You probably already have coverage within your company to account for any type of scenario that could happen at work, but what about on the personal side? Call your insurance agent or financial advisor and have them review your current policies. In my experience, most clients who do so find an opportunity either to upgrade inefficient coverage or do away with a policy that no longer serves its purpose. At the very least, you’ll go identify what you've actually insured. Property and casualty insurance—which includes home, auto and umbrella liability—is a competitive business; there’s no reason to pay above market prices for below average protection.
Sloughing off your taxes – Don’t rush around to get your CPA everything at the eleventh hour and leave your tax filing until the deadline. It's a sure way to miss possible deductions. Call your CPA today and ask him or her to send you a tax organizer or set a meeting to sit down with them this month to be sure you have everything gathered. If you don’t have a CPA, talk to colleagues or your financial advisor about finding someone that fits your specific needs. Having a qualified professional prepare your taxes is typically worth the price and you might end up saving on taxes simply by having a fresh set of eyes review your situation.
Forgetting about beneficiaries – If you own a 401(k), any type of IRA, an insurance policy, a Transfer-On-Death (TOD) account or Payable-On-Death (POD) account, review your beneficiaries. More often than not in my experience, clients forget to update their beneficiary designations to reflect the changes in their lives. Call the financial institution that provides your statements and confirm with them that you have the proper beneficiaries listed on your accounts. Often clients are stunned to find out that they their estate—or worse, an ex-spouse—would have been the only heir to their life's work. Better for you to find this out now than for your heirs to learn it after you're gone.
Accomplish these four things and you'll have done a year's worth of good for your personal financial health. And you'll still have most of 2012 ahead of you.
Don't get called out on faulty numbers or assumptions. Take it from Dan Osit, co-founder of Ignighter, and create projections for best, worst, and modest scenarios.
Don't get called out on faulty numbers or assumptions. Take it from Dan Osit, co-founder of Ignighter, and create projections for best, worst, and modest scenarios.
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