Archive for the 'Entrepreneurship' Category

Teach others what you’ve learned

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on January 20, 2012
in Entrepreneurship and Inspirational and Motivational
. 0 Comments

Since those whom we manage look to us for guidance, we should think of ourselves as teachers.  We teach others what we have learned so that knowledge can be leveraged through their performance.

And don’t be afraid to show your passion for your ideas. Allowing employees to see passion and conviction in our words, actions and style is a good thing, and it’s also contagious.

The market is a rude place, indifferent to our very existence let alone whether we succeed or fail. Perfection has never been attainable by mere mortals. Excellence is possible, but only those with high standards are capable of achieving it and only as a result of positive critical evaluation of our own efforts and those we manage.

Humans work best when they know that there is a safe harbor; where redemption is available to those who fail while trying their best and where they will be encouraged to continue to take initiative in the quest for excellence.

This week on my radio show I talked with Terry Neese, President and CEO, the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women, about National Mentor Month and the work she does mentoring women business owners in Afghanistan and Rwanda. Take a few minutes to click on the links below and listen to our conversation. Terry’s work is truly inspiring!

Celebrating National Mentor Month with Terry Neese

You might be a mentor without knowing it with Terry Neese

Check out more great SBA content HERE!

Small business success fundamentals for 2012

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on January 16, 2012
in Entrepreneurship and Management Fundamentals
. 0 Comments

Don’t worry – this column isn’t about resolutions; resolutions are optional.

This is about fundamentals that have served businesses since humans decided to trade with each other instead of taking what we wanted by force.

Focusing on these ten fundamentals will help you have the maximum opportunity to find success in 2012.

  1. Cash is still King. Managing the relationship between accounts payable and accounts receivable is as essential to survival for your business as breathing is to you.
  2. Declare war on excess inventory. Don’t let one piece of inventory spend a night under your roof unless it’s turning or paid for.
  3. Convert non-performing assets to cash. What things were worth last year has no bearing on what they’re worth today, and they will be worth less tomorrow. If it’s not being used, cut it loose.
  4. Employees spend most of your cash. Ask them to identify ways to find efficiencies and maximize margins. Install these into the new year’s budget and operation.
  5. Review all operational steps and eliminate, or fix, inefficiencies. My friend, Michael Stallard, recommends the four “Ws,” “What works, what doesn’t, what do we stop and what do we continue.”
  6. Outsourcing is a best practice. Call a planning meeting and ask this question about every task in your operation: “Must this be done in-house?” Everything that does not directly “touch” a customer is a non-core competency and a candidate for outsourcing.
  7. Keep your banker informed about business opportunities AND challenges. The title of the shortest book ever written is “Loan Officer Courage.” An uninformed banker is a scared banker and you’ll never get help from a scared banker.
  8. Success burns cash. Prepare a financial projection that anticipates at least 10% growth in sales this year. See how that impacts your cash requirements due to increases in inventory, A/R, etc., and start thinking about how you will fund this growth (see #7, above).
  9. If you don’t have a banking relationship with an independent community bank, start one this week This is not a banking alternative – it’s a small business financial fundamental.
  10. Every customer and prospect has expectations that are changing faster than ever before. Keep asking what they want and deliver what they say. Remember, you get to decide what you do; customers decide how you do it.

Focus on the fundamentals, plan for success and grow your small business in 2012.

I talked more about these 10 business fundamentals today on my radio show. Take a few minutes to download or listen now.

Six success fundamentals for 2012 with Jim Blasingame

Four more 2012 success fundamentals with Jim Blasingame

Check out more great SBA content HERE!

Beware the many faces of fear

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on December 13, 2011
in Business planning, Entrepreneurship and Future thinking
. 0 Comments

Anyone who has contemplated forsaking the perceived, if not real, security of employment to start a small business has come face-to-face with the fear of failure.

Indeed, countless would-be entrepreneurs have discontinued their self-employment pursuits for fear of losing too much-the risk being just too great.

But if you pushed through these concerns and actually became a business owner, you know that this isn’t the last time you’ll experience fear. And time will teach you that fear can actually be a good thing.

But if you pushed through these concerns and actually became a business owner, you know that this isn’t the last time you’ll experience fear. And time will teach you that fear can actually be a good thing.

Remember these two things about fear: It’s a shape-shifter, capable of appearing in many forms. Successful entrepreneurs learn how to recognize and deal with fear it in all of its shapes.

Let’s take a look at some of the manifestations of fear, followed by what each one might sound like.

First on the list is the mother of all fear - unremitting, cold sweat, cottonmouth fear in its default entrepreneurial shape: “What if I can’t cut it as an owner?”

Terror: “What if I’m buying the wrong business?”

Fright: “What if I order all of this stuff and no one buys it?”

Panic: “What if my pricing for this bid is too high-or worse-too low?”

Dread: “I hate it when I have to fire an employee.”

Trepidation: “I need a business loan; what if the bank won’t let me have it?”

Anxiety: “How will I ever be able to compete with the Big Box competitors?”

Shock: “What do you mean our best customer signed a contract with a competitor?”

The best way to minimize-if not eliminate-these fears is through performance. But performance only happens when you use the fear-fighting tools: awareness, knowledge, experience, training, planning, preparedness, decisiveness and execution.

Armed with the fear-fighting tools, fear can become manageable and a productive stimulus that actually can create opportunity. But if you don’t use these tools, the fear you feel is probably well founded and giving you good advice.

The only way to make sure your fear is a motivator and not an immobilizer is through performance. And small business performance only happens when you’re armed with the fear-fighting tools.

The fear-fighting tools help you replace fear with its archenemy, total confidence.

Check out more great SBA content HERE!

Balancing our work and life

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on November 25, 2011
in Entrepreneurship and Inspirational and Motivational
. 0 Comments

Work is essential as the activity that delivers the things necessary for our survival as humans. Beyond survival, work is the lever of our intellectual curiosity and the blessing that has produced civilization.

Congratulations, civilization, because many small business owners love what they do so much that they actually don’t think about it as work – or that they would ever stop.

Alas, facing that indictment, this business owner would be guilty as charged.

B.C. Forbes (1880-1954), founder of Forbes magazine and grandfather of Steve Forbes, said, “I have known not a few men who, after reaching the summit of business success, found themselves miserable upon attaining retirement.”

Is Mr. Forbes warning us about retirement or the dangers of a life without balance? If the latter, consider this Blasingame Small Business Principle: “The work we love can morph from blessing to curse if it exists without balance.”

If you love your work, congratulations; but simultaneous with that love, make sure you also love whatever can counter-weight your work to balance the scales of your life: golf, tennis, knitting, or — and this is a big one — your child’s ball game.

Research shows that balancing our beloved work with other interests enhances physical and mental well-being, and actually increases productivity. And it makes us much more interesting and desirable to be around.

Balancing work and life is easier for employees than it is for an owner because they’re typically concerned only with their assignments. But when the proverbial “buck” stops on the owner’s desk, it’s loaded up with all of the challenges and opportunities facing every aspect of the business. And even if you’ve acquired the ability to take all of this in stride, “all of this” quite simply just takes a lot of time.

Consequently, achieving balance requires conscious intention, plus a little bit more. Finding the right combination of work and balance in the life of a small business owner requires the execution of at least three of the things that we use to achieve success in our businesses: planning, scheduling, and discipline.

The virtue of having a business or financial plan is self-evident. But we should be just as disciplined about a plan that balances work with other interests. Otherwise, paraphrasing Mr. Forbes, we may become miserable upon retirement.

Surely, the recipe for happiness includes work, relationships, and experiences that create memories.

Make sure your memories aren’t just about work.

I talked with Jim Harter, Chief Scientist for Gallup’s international workplace management and wellbeing practices and author of Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements, about achieving balance in life both personally and professionally. Click here to listen or download our conversation.

Check out more great SBA content HERE!

Celebrating 14 years

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on November 17, 2011
in Entrepreneurship and Inspirational and Motivational
. 0 Comments

If you will allow me, I would like to talk about a couple of milestones, of which we’re kind of proud: the 14th anniversary of The Small Business Advocate Show and the 12th anniversary of this publication.

On Monday, November 17, 1997, I began broadcasting the Small Business Advocate Show for two hours, Monday through Friday. Since the first day, the program has been nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio. In January 1998 we began simulcasting on the Internet, and in 1999 began offering multiple Internet on-demand streaming options. If you were streaming content before Microsoft had a media player that makes you a pioneer.

This Thursday will be my 3,641st live broadcast since we began - including all the holidays - even when I was on the road. I’ve conducted almost 14,500 live interviews with small business experts and entrepreneurs, and next week I’ll broadcast my 15th consecutive live Thanksgiving Day show. When you hear me talking about making sure that you’re passionate about the business you start, now you know that I practice what I preach.

From the beginning, my primary programming goal was to focus on the fundamentals that are important to successfully starting, operating and growing a small business, and to make all of the things we do available to you for free. On that last note - the free one - I must say thanks to our outstanding corporate partners, without whom the free part would not be possible.

Along the way, we’ve received a number of awards and recognition forour work on behalf of small business. All were accepted in honor of our heroes, small business owners.

Also, this week we celebrate the 12th anniversary of The Small Business Advocate NEWSLETTER. This week’s edition, Volume XII, Issue 1, represents the 625th consecutive weekly issue, all delivered compliments of my small business, Small Business Network, Inc. and our sponsors. Thanks for being a loyal subscriber.

Finally, thank you for your support, comments, critiques, many words of encouragement and especially the honor and privilege of being your advocate. I’m already looking forward to our next year together.

Nothing I do as The Small Business Advocate is about me - it’s all about you, my heroes: small business owners, regardless of where you live on planet Earth.

I talked more this week about my 14 years on The Small Business Advocate Show - Jeff Zbar even turned the tables on me today and interviewed me! Click on one of these links to listen or download:

Celebrating 14 years of The Small Business Advocate Show with Jim Blasingame

What does it take to survive as a small business owner? with Jim Blasingame

The 14th anniversary of The Small Business Advocate with Jeff Zbar

For more great SBA content, click HERE!

Listen to your spirit

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on October 5, 2011
in Entrepreneurship and Inspirational and Motivational
. 0 Comments

Do you think about the force that drives your protoplasm around; the keeper of your courage; the only thing that’s different about identical twins?

You know – your spirit.

Everyone should be conscious of their spirit, but it’s essential for entrepreneurs.

In Eternal Echoes, the late John O’Donohue spoke to entrepreneurs: “When you open your heart to discovery you will be called to step outside of your comfort barriers; you will be called to risk old views and thoughts. But your spirit loves the danger of growth.”

Let’s consider a few of John’s words.

Discovery: As a small business owner you “open your heart to discovery” every day. You discover that vision, hard work and planning have produced a new customer, a little more profit, or that you just might make it another year.

Sometimes discoveries aren’t pleasant: An employee doesn’t show up, equipment breaks down or you lose a customer.

Challenging discoveries are no respecter of businesses, large or small. But they hit a small business harder because there are fewer spirits, bodies and assets to absorb the shock.

John O. would say your success lies in the ability to “open your heart to discovery.” Do you dread problems, or can you turn a challenge into an opportunity? The answer to that question may depend on how well you discover and use the power of your spirit.

Comfort Barriers: These offer protection, but they also hold you back. The same wall that protects you from the world can also keep you from engaging the world.

You may have fewer surprises and dangers inside your comfort barriers, but opportunity is a camper; it likes to be outside. Listen to your spirit when it tells you to step outside your comfort barriers and camp out with opportunity.

And remember this wisdom from John Shedd, “A ship in the harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships were built for.”

Growth: O’Donohue said our spirit “loves the danger of growth.” Sometimes growth can be dangerous, but more often, not growing is riskier.

You can either be courageous or a weenie. Your spirit sees the power of courage in the marketplace, while the weenie in you sees the chance of failure. Your spirit says, “Let’s make something happen,” while the weenie in you craves comfort. Knowing how to manage these two forces is crucial to success in small business.

Listen to your spirit, trust it and leverage that force.

Click here to listen or download more of what I have to say about listening to and leveraging your small busiess spirit.

Check out other great SBA content HERE!