Archive for the 'Innovation - Creativity' Category

Rest in peace, Steve Jobs; we’re glad you knew us

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on October 18, 2011
in Future thinking, Innovation - Creativity and Leadership
. 0 Comments

Peter Meyer is a global business consultant. In his work, and as a frequent guest on my radio program, my friend Peter has proposed that the highest possibility of entrepreneurial success comes from identifying a customer desire first and then creating a solution. Let’s call this the Meyer Model: Solution follows desire.

For almost all entrepreneurs, Peter’s idea about entrepreneurial pursuits is absolutely the right one. But in our universe there is a microbeam of entrepreneurial energy for which the Meyer Model just doesn’t work, and we should all thank our lucky stars for that.

You probably didn’t know Steve Jobs, but he knew you. The iconic co-founder of Apple, too soon taken from us, knew what you wanted before you knew you wanted it. Let’s call that the Jobs Model: Desire follows solution.

To be sure, there have been others like Jobs. Indeed, the Jobs Model could be named for geniuses like Bell, Edison or Marconi. But, as Peter points out in Creating and Dominating New Markets (Amacom 2002), for every one of these successful visionaries, there are thousands who failed with a solution in search of a problem. Their failure wasn’t because they weren’t entrepreneurial enough; they just used the wrong model. This will be on the test: For all but a tiny number of entrepreneurial geniuses, the Meyer Model – customer problem first, then solution – is the high-percentage play.

Understanding these odds, it’s easy to see that most of us should focus our entrepreneurial energy as Peter recommends, rather than try to be like Steve, Alexander, Thomas or Guglielmo. But here’s good news: You can follow the Meyer Model and still be like Steve.

Steve was an innovator. You are too, but to really be like Steve, you must never stop innovating. Steve was customer focused like you; it’s just that you ask customers what they want first. Steve was on an uncompromising quest for excellence. Of all the things we know about Jobs that you should and can emulate, this has to be on top of the list – always seek excellence.

The world is a better place for the entrepreneurial energy of Steve Jobs. But that doesn’t make your efforts any less important. In the aggregate, more success and contribution has been achieved because entrepreneurs like you followed the Meyer Model: Ask what customers want, then create and deliver that.

Rest in peace, Steve Jobs; we’re glad you knew us.

I’ve talked with several guests on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show about Steve Jobs’ legacy from technology to entrepreneurship to medicine. Click here to listen to our tributes.

For more great SBA content, click HERE!

Reinvention or extinction - the choice is yours

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on April 20, 2011
in Future thinking and Innovation - Creativity
. 0 Comments

If you’ve spent at least a few years as a small business owner, it’s a safe bet that you’ve discovered that you must keep reinventing your business.

All of this reinvention can never stop because every day the 21st century marketplace becomes less like a destination and more like a moving train. Indeed, the Hobson’s choice for a small business is reinvention or extinction.

Let’s talk about reinventing your business, yourself and the fact that there should also be a balance between the two.

In his book, Creative Approaches for the Cost Effective Organization, Steven Martin says there are five generations of business growth:

1. Work – the entrepreneurial stage.

2. Sell – focus on sales growth and market share.

3. Cut – focus on efficiencies to drive the bottom line.

4. Buy – quire assets to reach the next level.

5. Think – all actions are proactive.

It’s almost a natural law that a successful business will reinvent itself along these five generational lines. And since each growth step requires a different kind of manager, be sure to reinvent yourself.

Unfortunately, there is no corresponding natural law to help keep your personal reinvention matched up with, and parallel to, that of your company. Consequently, keeping your personal intellectual growth in sync with your business requires constant attention and honest self-analysis.

Personal reinvention doesn’t mean you go from being a surveyor to a surgeon. It means that instead of being intimidated by technological advancements, you actually become a visionary expert on how to leverage new capability.

It means you go from knowing nothing about how an earthquake or a military coup d’etat on the other side of the planet could affect your business six months from now, to being pretty good at identifying local, as well as global, threats and opportunities.

Perhaps the best example is when you’re able to delegate tasks that you once trusted only yourself to do to the capable staff you’ve hired.

Sometimes circumstances require you to reinvent yourself whether you’re ready or not. When that happens you can choose to be a whiny victim or embrace the change. But remember this: Only owners who lead change can run and grow successful businesses in the 21st century.

I’ve talked with several guests about reinventing yourself and your business on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show.  Click here to listen.

Build strategic alliances for sales growth

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on April 12, 2011
in Business planning and Strategic alliances
. 0 Comments

There are three management disciplines which, while not new, have a heightened level of importance for success in the 21st century: Leveraging technology, networking and building strategic alliances.

No doubt you’ve become more proficient with the tech stuff. And who isn’t a better networker today than 10 years ago? But can you say you’ve nailed the partnering thing?

When small businesses come to the end of their resources of people, assets, technology, cash and credit, they have to do something as primordial as when Og asked Gog to hold the chisel while he carved out his new stone invention that looked a lot like a donut. They have to seek alliances.

Answer these questions: Is your business growth hampered by a lack of people, capital or other assets? Would you like to bid on a request-for-proposal (RFP) that has specifications beyond your company’s ability to perform? Are you reluctant to ask a large customer about their future plans for fear that your organization may not be able to step up to the answer? ___(Your lament here)___.

If any of these – or variations thereof – are way too familiar, consider one or more of these three alliance examples, in descending order of formality.

Partner
A partner relationship is more formal and typically longer term. Regardless of how it’s structured, in general, all partners have a vested interest in the success of the entire enterprise. Think of two business owners buying a commercial duplex and sharing the space because neither has the cash or credit to swing the deal alone. Most partnerships are best organized with the help of an attorney.

Sub-contractor
By definition, a sub-contractor becomes a contractual participant you bring in to help fulfill a larger project for which you are the lead vendor. Unlike a partner, a sub expects to get paid for delivery of work or products regardless of how the project turns out.

Strategic alliance
Here’s an informal strategic alliance example. Let’s say a jeweler, florist and photographer join forces to produce a marketing/advertising campaign for brides that represents all three brands. After the campaign is executed and paid for, the participants may have no further connection.

Before giving up on a project because you don’t have the in-house resources, look around for ways to create alliances that could allow you to take advantage of that opportunity.

If Og the caveman can create an alliance, you can too.

I talked more about the 21st century business practice of creating alliances this morning on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show. Take a few minutes to listen and leave your best practices on creating strategic alliances.

How good are you at building strategic alliances? with Jim Blasingame

For more information on building alliances to grow your business, click here: Strategic Alliances.

What is a blog anyway and why should small business care?

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on February 17, 2010
in Cashflow - Credit - Collections, Communication, Innovation - Creativity, Online strategy and Online technologies
. 1 Comment

A blog is the contraction for web log; it’s a 21st century way to easily and inexpensively publish your ideas online. With a blog you can connect with others who read what you wrote, have a point of view or question and begin a “thread” of comments about that topic.

By this point on the social media time continuum, many people think that defining a blog is such an elementary task that it’s tantamount to describing a computer. Those same social media elites should know that here in the real world, where Main Street small businesses live, most people actually have many un-Tweeted thoughts.  But none of the foregoing diminishes the fact that small business owners should be connecting more online with their customers, present and future, and one of the best ways to do that is through a blog.

Small business owners typically don’t appreciate how much they are world-class experts on their industry and product applications, including what not to do. They also too often don’t realize how much their customers want and need to hear that kind of information.  And what about that “I can’t write” excuse? Well, it pains me to say that their customers would rather hear from a get-to-the-point person they know than from some smart-alecy wordsmith like me.  Then there is that “I don’t have time” excuse. Once your platform is set up, blogging doesn’t take much time, it costs virtually nothing and the ROI can be enormous.

Recently, on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, I talked with a long-time member of my Brain Trust, Karen Cortell Reisman. In the two segments below we talk about blogs, how they work and what the value is for a small business. Karen is President of Speak For Yourself®and a world-class expert on customer communication. Take a few minutes to listen to our discussion and, as always, leave your comments.

What is a blog, anyway?: Listen Live! Download, Too!

What would a small business blog looks like: Listen Live! Download, Too!

A small business strategic plan for leading change

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on January 28, 2010
in Business planning, Customer Care, Franchising, Future thinking, Innovation - Creativity, Strategic planning and e-Business
. 1 Comment

Most of us allow our minds to swing back and forth between dealing with the reality we see in front of us and nostalgia for the way things were. In the marketplace, spending too much time with the latter half of this pendulum swing is an indulgence at best, and dangerously delusional at worst. With change happening more rapidly than ever before, this increased velocity is challenging even when we like the new stuff, but it can be paralyzing when we don’t.

It’s a fool’s errand to just take the direct hits from the rapid-fire changes the world aims at our small businesses. Sustained success in our light-speed world requires developing a plan that identifies and establishes practices that help us anticipate change, manage it and actually lead with it.

Recently on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, I talked with change expert, Rich Horwath, about developing a strategic plan that will set your business up to function effectively regardless what the world and the marketplace throws at you. Rich is a new member of my Brain Trust, founder and president of the Strategic Thinking Institute and author of four books including his latest, Deep Dive.

Take a few minutes to listen to our conversation, and let us know about your plan for leading change. Listen Live! Download, Too!

Reinventing your small business - and maybe yourself

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on January 26, 2010
in Customer Care, Future thinking, Innovation - Creativity, Leadership and Marketing - Branding - Advertising
. 0 Comments

Change is no different today than it was millennia ago.  A computer is just a fancy wheel.  But what is different about our modern times is the velocity of change. That’s what’s taking our breath away and causing paradigms to shift right in front of our eyes.  This reality is why for some time now I’ve been saying to small business owners that it’s okay to fall in love with what you do, but not with how you do it.  In the 21st century, the change paradigm is as simple as it is Darwinian: reinvention or extinction.

I talked about this idea with Brain Trust member, Joyce Weiss, who joined me recently on my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show. Joyce is the founder of Joyce Weiss Training & Development LLC - a Best Practices Certified Company and author of Full Speed Ahead and Take the Ride of Your Life!

Joyce takes us through the process of identifying when the old way isn’t working, how to reinvent and re-brand, and what role the customer has in all of this. Take a few minutes to listen to our conversation and tell us how you’ve reinvented your business and its owner. Listen Live! Download, Too!