Archive for the 'Trade Secrets' Category

Small business victory over doubt

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on October 23, 2009
in Entrepreneurship, Government, Innovation - Creativity, Inspirational and Motivational, Leadership, Online technologies, Trade - Imports - Exports, Trade Secrets and e-Business
. 1 Comment

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 evolution of small business dreams

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on March 6, 2009
in Cashflow - Credit - Collections, Entrepreneurship, Finance - Accounting - Taxes, Government, Home-based business, Innovation - Creativity, Inspirational and Motivational, Just-In-Time Inventory, Lawsuits, Management Fundamentals, Marketing - Branding - Advertising, Online technologies, Sales - Sales Management, Start-up, State and Local, Trade Secrets, Uncategorized, Universal health care and e-Business
. 0 Comments

The British playwright, William Archer (1856-1924), once remarked to a friend about how a “perfect plot” had played out to him and “evolved” in a dream one night. He saw “the whole thing, from beginning to end,” and when he awoke, put pen to paper.

Small business owners know about this kind of dream. It begins with what I call the founding dream, which is the first time an unconscious entrepreneurial inclination pops upon our consciousness radar screen.

At first a founding dream may be barely perceptible. And when one is remembered for the first time upon waking, the awareness is often more troubling than remarkable: What does this mean? What do I do with this?

But if the mind and the spirit are receptive, a founding dream “evolves” into more than a blip on the radar. Subsequent dreams become less impressionistic and more real. Animated dreams come next. Your nocturnal entrepreneurial visions play out with an actual cast of characters - sometimes in Technicolor.

Now you’re well aware of, and more comfortable with, your small business dreams and you start to do a little day dreaming. Day dreaming is the first step in the due diligence process - the research. You start asking lots of questions: What if….? How do I…? Where does this…? Who can…? When should…?

Ultimately, as the answers to these questions are revealed and accumulate, you begin to make your entrepreneurial dream become reality; you actually start living the dream of owning your own business. At this point the start-up dreams will stop. Since you’re now living your dream, why dream about it, right?!

Your founding dream now has a name, address, phone number and a tax ID number. It has “evolved” into the “perfect plot” for your small business.

The power of small business trade secrets

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on February 11, 2009
in Cashflow - Credit - Collections, Innovation - Creativity, Intellectual property, Legal and Trade Secrets
. 0 Comments

Forgive me, because I know you’ve heard me say this many times before, but we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto. We’re in the 21st century, and things here are different. And nowhere is this truth more evident than in the world of intellectual property (IP). You know: patents, trademarks, service marks, licensing, copyrights and trade secrets.

One of the cool things about 21st century IP is how easy it is for small businesses to create and leverage it. Unfortunately, too many small business owners get the idea that they don’t own intellectual property because they don’t have a big brand trademark like Nike’s swoosh, or they don’t have patented inventions, like Research In Motion’s Blackberry. But that’s like thinking you can’t cook a delicious steak on the grill at home because you don’t own a restaurant.

The truth is small businesses - including yours - create intellectual property all the time, just not always the flashy kind. One of the best examples of small business IP is a trade secret. This is anything that you’ve developed or discovered that gives your business a competitive advantage. It could be a delivery system or an inventory management scheme. It could be as simple as a finely-tuned payroll-to-revenue ratio, or as elaborate as a customer relationship management program that you’ve created for the way you want to track sales development and customer service.

Either way, it was created by you, your business is leveraging it and, therefore, it’s an asset that belongs to you - which means you should recognize that it has value and should take the necessary steps to protect it.

Recently, I talked about how to value and protect your trade secrets on my small business radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, with Brain Trust member and intellectual property attorney, David Dawsey. David’s firm is Gallagher and Dawsey, based in Columbus, Ohio. I think you will benefit by taking a few minutes to listen to what this expert has to say. And be sure to leave your thoughts on this topic.

Small business asset ratio: tangible vs intangible (IP)

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on February 9, 2009
in Business planning, Cashflow - Credit - Collections, Copyrights, Entrepreneurship, Finance - Accounting - Taxes, Globalization, Government, Innovation - Creativity, Inspirational and Motivational, Intellectual property, Legal, Management Fundamentals, Patents, Start-up, Trade Secrets, Trademarks and Service Marks and e-Business
. 0 Comments

Around the turn of the century, I ran across a study that was conducted to look at changes in the way businesses leveraged assets to execute their business model between the 1970s and the 1990s. Reading the results of that survey was an “Aha!” moment for me, and it contributed significantly to my thinking about how we would do business in the 21st century.

Study author and intellectual property attorney, Kenneth Krosin, found that in the late 1970s, corporate assets amounted to about 70% fixed assets, like buildings, equipment, tools, fixtures, inventory, etc., and about 30% intangible assets, a/k/a intellectual property (IP), such as patents, trademarks, licensing and trade secrets. But the big news in this study was that by the end of the 20th century, those asset category percentages had essentially inverted. By 1999, businesses were leveraging around 70% IP, and only 30% were assets that had serial numbers, stock numbers or an address.

Welcome to the Digital/Information Age.

In the speeches I deliver to small business owners around the country every year, I describe the findings of the Krosin study so I can poll the audience about how they’re leveraging IP. My unscientific findings show that, while most small businesses are not quite leveraging IP to fixed assets at a 70:30 ratio like the big businesses in the Krosin study, most are leveraging IP more every year and fixed assets less.

Besides the types of intellectual property - patents, etc., - there are two categories of IP: 1) the kind that someone else creates, for example, the patented software you license to use on your computer; and 2) the kind that a business creates for itself, like a delivery scheme developed internally that reduces fuel costs, which is often employed as a trade secret.

In the 21st century, it doesn’t really matter who creates the IP your small business is leveraging, as long as you’re continually finding new ways to do so. I believe that any small business that isn’t leveraging IP more and tangible assets less is headed for extinction.

I’m happy to report that Kenneth Krosin (foley.com) has become a member of my Brain Trust and has joined me several times on my small business radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, to talk about IP and small business. I think you’ll enjoy my most recent interview on this topic with Ken. And don’t forget to leave a comment.

Small business success through life-long learning

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on February 5, 2009
in Cashflow - Credit - Collections, Continuing education, Economy: National and Global, Entrepreneurship, Government, Home-based business, Human Resources, Innovation - Creativity, Inspirational and Motivational, Lawsuits, Management Fundamentals, Online technologies, Organizational strategies, Patents, Start-up, Trade Secrets, Uncategorized, Universal health care and e-Business
. 0 Comments

In the second century B.C., the Roman statesman, Cato, began learning Greek at the age of 75. When asked why he was undertaking such a challenging educational enterprise at his advanced age, he replied, “This is the youngest age I have.”

No matter what we do, no matter where we go, owner or employee, and now more than ever before, we must continue to study, train and learn. Everyone in your organization. Everyone. Everyday. Life-long learning.

Are you feeling threatened, maybe even frightened these days with all of the economic challenges, plus the changes brought on by the advent of the information age? Me, too. Sometimes it seems we’re like Alice - running as hard as we can just to stay in one place. And in our Wonderland, everything is changing so fast that what we learned today may be obsolete tomorrow.

The irony is that the thing that is creating so much potential for anxiety is also the thing that can help you stay competitive: Technology. Specifically, the unprecedented wealth of information available on the Internet.

When I feel threatened by all of the new knowledge and capability that’s emerging, I just make a point to learn something new everyday, with emphasis on social media and e-commerce, or how my industry is adapting to the virtual marketplace. Anything. And when I acquire that new understanding or capability, I smile like Alice’s Cheshire Cat because learning makes me feel stronger, as if I’ve gained a little ground in the marketplace. Maybe today I put the heat on a competitor. Advantage: Me.

Give it a try. The only thing better than your garden variety smile is one that comes from knowing that you just got a little smarter. And remember the wisdom of the statesman: This is the youngest age you have.

Recently, on my small business radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, I talked about this topic with e-learning expert, Anita Rosen, author of “e-Learning 2.0,” and one of our outstanding Brain Trust members. Take a few minutes to listen to what this smart lady had to say. And, of course, be sure to leave a comment.

Small business and the right growth strategy

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on December 19, 2008
in Banking - Investors - Capital, Cashflow - Credit - Collections, Economy: National and Global, Entrepreneurship, Government, Innovation - Creativity, Intellectual property, Management Fundamentals, Online technologies, Patents, Start-up, Trade Secrets and e-Business
. 2 Comments

“A man’s gotta know his limitations.” This is the wisdom of Inspector Harry Callahan, the detective played by Clint Eastwood in the “Dirty Harry” movies. Small business owners can learn a lot from Harry.

A friend of mine says, “if you’re not green and growing, you’re ripe and rotten.” He means that every business is headed in some direction, either up or down. For small businesses, moving up involves a lot of challenges because we often don’t have enough critical mass – capital, equipment, organizational talent, distribution, etc. – to take the next growth step on our own. So how do we still grow in the face of this limitation reality? Two ways:

1. Grow organically, which means one tiny step at a time by being a frugal manager, limiting debt and leaving as much of the profits in the business as possible, in the form of retained earnings.

2. Create strategic alliances, which could include financial, organizational or market partners who have something you need, such as capital, talent, contacts or a distribution network.

The first one is the more conservative option, but an excellent one. The second option is more aggressive and requires more sophistication on many levels, but can produce many advantages. Actually, most small businesses that find long-term success do so by blending both of these strategies to varying degrees over the life of the company.

Recently I interviewed two different experts on this topic: Gary Harpst is a management expert who helps companies develop growth strategies that work for them and author of “Six Disciplines Execution Revolution”, and Dave Morse, who is CEO of Location Based Technologies and PocketFinder- whose business model requires them to develop national and international alliances. Unless you like being ripe and rotten, take a few minutes to listen to my conversation with these guys on my small business radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show. And be sure to leave a comment or a question.
For Gary Harpst:
For Dave Morse: