During President Obama’s 2010 State of the Union speech he identified a number of issues that I give him high marks for. Here is my list:
Tax incentives for new hires: The president proposed tax credits for new hiring by businesses. This is a great idea, but it’s about a year late so he needs to get this passed right away.
Free trade: He included the need for more free trade agreements, including the one with Columbia that has been stuck in Congress for years. He’ll have to fight forces in his own party to get this done.
Energy: I give President Obama a high-five for proposing more nuclear power in America’s future, plus more drilling for our sovereign oil and gas deposits. Again, he’ll have to deal with his own folks to make this happen.
Iran: Mr Obama fired a shot across the bow of Iran; I have already predicted he would get a chance to make good on this stance in 2010. If I’m right, we won’t have to wait long to see if Obama has the stones to back-up his rhetoric with action.
Recently, on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, I talked about all of these issues. Take a few minutes to listen and let me know what you thought about this speech. Listen Live! Download, Too!
Here’s an interesting fact: If you’re an American small business owner, 95% of your prospects live outside the U.S. Of course, there was a time when that stat meant little to most small firms. But in the 21st century, the Internet brings the world to your virtual doorstep.
Yes, if you sell something online to a customer in another country, that counts as exporting. And Internet sales is a great way to develop a crawl-walk-run exporting strategy. But when you’re ready to start thinking more in bulk and less in onesies, you’ll be happy to learn that there are organizations that are standing by to make full-fledged exporting almost as easy for a small business as selling on eBay.
Recently, Doug Barry joined me on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, to discuss how to develop and execute a comprehensive exporting plan with help from the government organizations, including prospecting, execution and the financial elements (like you getting paid). Doug is Director of Marketing and Communications for the U.S. Commercial Service, the global business solutions unit of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce. He is also a very important member of my Brain Trust.
Take a few minutes to listen to this conversation and let us know what we can do to help you execute your exporting plans. Listen Live! Download, Too!
One of the tolls the Great Recession has taken on small business owners has been the tendency to allow ourselves to be overcome with doubt about our abilities as managers and leaders. But perhaps even more painful is doubt about who we are and what we stand for as entrepreneurs.
- When nothing seems to be working, “How could I let this happen?”
- When sales aren’t coming in fast enough, “Why can’t I fix this?”
- When there isn’t enough cash to fund the operation, “This is my fault.”
- Waking up at 2am, “Who am I fooling? What made me think I could actually be a real business owner?”
For small business owners there is a paradox inside of the emotion of doubt: If we never had doubts about our entrepreneurial intentions, excellence would not be possible. Doubt is part of the crucible effect that helps us create a stronger entrepreneurial alloy as we forge self-analysis with vision, planning and execution. Paradoxically, doubt, like fear, can be an immobilizer if we allow it to become personal. Consequently, small business owners must leverage doubt as a motivator.
Recently, on my small business radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, I talked with Brain Trust member, John Dini. John is a world-class business coach and mentor to hundreds of small business CEOs in his work with The Alternative Board organization. In our discussion, John talked about how doubt has gained some traction among business owners as a result of the tough economy. Take a few minutes to listen to this interview. Listen Live! Download, Too!
Also, a while back I wrote a poem titled “Victory over Doubt.” You might benefit from reading it today.
And, as always, be sure to leave your own thoughts.
The world is definitely changing, isn’t it? The recession of 2009 has business managers thinking that flat is the new up in terms of growth, and as for accounts receivables, 90 days is the new net 30.
So if I were to suggest that you should “have your head in the clouds,” in the past you would have asked why I would encourage you to disconnect from reality. But today, that suggestion would be quite to the contrary because having your head in the clouds in 2009 is actually a very real way for your small business to gain a competitive advantage. Let me explain.
If you haven’t already heard it, let me introduce you to a new term: cloud computing. Get used to it because cloud computing is going to become as ubiquitous as terms like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and social media.
In truth, cloud computing isn’t all that new. The early term was ASP, which stands for Application Service Provider (also ISP, for Internet Service provider). These were the first developers of processing power that a customer could access over the Internet without having to own it and install it on his or her desktop or server. The next generation of this highly efficient way to leverage technology was – and still is - called software-as-a-service, or SaaS for short. But more and more, as acquiring processing power offsite (think mobility) becomes the norm rather than the exception, we’ll think of this kind of leverage as cloud computing.
If you’ve ever sent an instant message, you’ve worked in the clouds. If you’ve ever made a transaction in that virtual marketplace called eBay, you’ve conducted cloud computing. and if you’ve managed a community on any of the social media sites, you’re a cloud-head.
Cloud computing is a pretty intuitive way to think about managing your work and life in cyberspace, isn’t it? But it’s more than intuitive; for small businesses, cloud computing is the next generation of thinking about gaining a competitive advantage. The more you can acquire processing power on-line, the less you have to capitalize that power because, virtually by definition, cloud computing comes with incremental delivery, on-demand availability and pay-as-you-go pricing. No muss, no fuss and turn around on a dime – just what small businesses need.
Recently, on my small business radio program, The Small Business Advocate show, I talked about this topic with a real, live cloud computing expert, Maia Sisk, Director, Product Management, IBM Lotus Online Collaboration Services (lotuslive.com), and a member of my Brain Trust. Take a few minutes to listen to what Maia has to say about what is to become such an important way of thinking about how you leverage your business model and your precious capital. And be sure to leave a comment.
How do you like being able to log-in to the World Wide Web and “go” anywhere, “talk” to anyone, see anything and pretty much do anything that’s possible in cyberspace? Me, too. In fact, as someone who once made a living using an ink pen, carbon paper, an Underwood Five typewriter and the U.S. Postal Service, the things we can do today on the Internet are nothing short of magic.
But what would you say if I told you that there are forces around the world that are plotting to wrest control of the Internet from the currently successful stewards of this great global democratizer? What if I told you that one of these forces is the United Nations? That’s a nightmare thought, right?
Well, it’s true. The U.N. and various governments around the globe are apoplectic at the fact that the private sector, not governments, are primarily managing the Internet. They believe that, by definition, Internet governance should be handled by governments. God help us if that ever happens.
In the past year or so there have been several Internet Governance Forums (IGF) around the world, and there will be others next year, where interested parties come together to debate how the Internet will be managed (read: controlled) in the future. Every commercial entity on the planet should be participating in this very important debate. Businesses cannot afford to let the Internet fall into the hands of organizations like the U.N.
Recently I discussed this issue on my small business radio program with someone who has been working tirelessly on behalf of the marketplace in general and small business in particular. Steve DelBianco has attended all of the IGF events and, while there, has made the case for unfettered access to the Internet by commercial users. Steve, vice president for corporate affairs at the Association for Competitive Technology, filed a report about the IGF progress on my show, and I urge you to listen to my conversation with him, to maintain your awareness of this debate and to support those organizations, like Steve’s, that represent us there. And don’t forget to leave a comment.
It is difficult to comprehend the level of incompetence of our federal government – at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, including both parties – regarding the way, over several decades, it contributed to setting the stage for our current economic nightmare. It’s just as difficult to imagine the level of greed of certain people and organizations on Wall Street and in the financial sectors that have contributed to our current financial nightmare.
And it’s difficult to see how companies like GM, Ford and Chrysler couldn’t affect necessary changes that would allow them to avoid the structural nightmare they’ve created for themselves and their stakeholders which, frankly, we now know includes every American.
Here on Main Street, we’re inheriting the whirlwind that has been created by this incompetence, greed and denial. And yes, to some extent, we have a level of responsibility to accept ourselves. But be that as it may, I think it’s time for Main Street – small business owners in particular – to take back our marketplace and our economy from people who have had the power, but not the judgment or values, to be so influential in our lives. And I think it’s time for small business owners to get mad.
Yes, anger is not usually a productive emotion, but in this case I think anger is appropriate and actually can be beneficial. Anger can help us never forget what this completely avoidable financial meltdown is going to cost us. And since I’m convinced that small businesses will lead the U.S., and, therefore, the world out of this recession, a little anger can help small business owners resolve to fight a little harder to survive, continue to add value to every transaction and take our leadership role in the marketplace more seriously in the future.
Recently on my small business radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, I vented my feelings about this anger idea. It made me feel better and it might do the same for you if you listen to what I said. And be sure to let me know if you agree or not in the comments section.
