The Mind of a Small Business Owner

Leadership - Band of Brothers Style

2008-05-20T20:24:14Z

I've used the fantastic Band of Brothers series in a leadership lecture before and I still love it. Watch this video and see, especially in the first few minutes, how Captain Winters (the red-haired guy) gets his men to advance on the village under extreme conditions.

It is amazing to me, every time I read or see a depiction or hear a story of men under fire. How do they do it? Why do they do it? Part of it is pure leadership - these men see a leader and follow him. More important is not just that he leads, but that they know him. And trust him. Why else would a man get out of the relative safety of a ditch and run into machine gun fire? They trust their captain.

Can we say that about the people under us? Will they do the nasty parts of their jobs willingly? Do you lead them into that nastiness? Do they trust you, know you, and believe you'd only ask them if it was best for them, the company, and, especially in their eyes, for you?

Restarting the Blog - New and Old School!

2008-05-14T14:57:30Z

Been very slack on the blogging lately - kind of stuck in my world of trying to work hard as a doc, not able to spend as much time as small business guy. But this blog by Perry Noble cracked me up and I had to share it with you. I just love thinking of how new technology has changed our lives - and we don't even appreciate it!

Finding Ideas for Your Startup

2008-05-05T17:09:14Z

How do budding entrepreneurs find ideas for their business? Scouring the internet? From the masses of garbage emails ("Work from Home - earn millions!") that hit the inbox?

Scott Shane who is a professor of entrepreneurial studies at Case Western (now that is a title!) has written a book, "The Illusions of Entrepreneurship", which addresses this. He states that only 1/3 of entrepreneurs systematically searched for an idea for their new business. 70.9% responded that their interest wasn't a "one-time thing," but instead, developed over time. And they found them in their own previous industries in many cases (55%). Shane suggests that ". . . most entrepreneurs come up with new business ideas by noticing gaps and problems in how customers are being served, while working for someone else."

I suggest that a lot of entrepreneurs might be smart - they know and, hopefully, love the industry they're in, but want to do it themselves. It may be they think they can do it better than what they've seen, as Shane suggests. Or it might be that they want more independence in what they themselves do - more autonomy, more responsibility, more direct input into the success of the company.

And they stay in the business they know.

Smart, right?

Well, only if they have a passion for their new business, not just comfort. Not if they are trading one job in an industry (widget analyst) for many, many jobs (widget analyst and budget analyst and accountant and lease negotiator and manager and HR specialist and and and . . .)

You still have to do it for the right reasons, not matter how you find it.

Creating a Well-Oiled Machine

2008-05-02T17:07:35Z

Taking a page from The E-myth series by Michael Gerber is this article from StartUp Nation.

Set processes; make it so any dufus can train or maintain, and you make your life so much easier!

Bonus - I Don't Think So!

2008-04-30T20:57:23Z

I don't like bonuses. Sorry, all you employees out there.

Bonuses remind me of Clark Griswold in Christmas Vacation, dejectedly plinking the diving board of his miniature pool, hoping against hope that his Christmas bonus, which he's gotten every year, will come to cover the down payment on his real-size pool.

The reason I don't like bonuses is that they become an expectation rather than a reward. No matter how you do, many businesses give bonuses at a programmed time each year - usually cash, usually related to your level in the company.

How about this - don't pay for breathing and not getting fired, pay for success! Scheme bullet points for employees that, if met, help both the employee and the business. It can be as simple as reading a book on business (any of the Patrick Lencioni books will do!). But they don't have to be that specific. Give a smart person a general, yet worthy goal, such as "Increasing revenue to X dollars this six months" and they'll figure out a way to do it. Whether its improving their customers' satisfaction, working more efficiently, staying longer when needed - whatever it takes, they'll do it to create success for the business and, in turn, for themselves.

If some of these goals require more than one employee or more than one department to accomplish, it creates an entirely different dynamic. Get everyone to create success for the business as a team and life is sweeter for the employees and the owner.

And don't call it a bonus!

30 Days to Live

2008-04-27T16:21:36Z

Suppose you only had 30 days to live - how would you act? What would you do differently?

The leaders at my church have been reading a book called "One Month to Live" by Kerry and Chris Shook that asks that very question. Each day is a short chapter addressing a specific issue one might want to address in the little time you have left.

Our pastor, Jon McClarnon, started to address this issue as well today, and will continue to do so for the next few weeks. He showed a video of a young women with metastatic breast cancer who really does know she has only a bit of time to live. Seeing her viewpoint was pretty powerful stuff.

As for me, though, the first chapter in our book asks a simple question - Without thinking too hard, what are five things you would do today if you knew you only had 30 days to live? The first two on my mind and on my notebook were 1) Quit working and, 2) Sell the gym.

I think a lot of people would want to quit work immediately - almost a no-brainer. Selling the business is a bit more difficult. I wouldn't want my wife to have to deal with a start-up business she has no real knowledge of nor passion for. That's the main reason. I wouldn't want her to deal with the financial problems as well, given the others she would have. But I wouldn't want the worries for the little time I have left either.

The natural follow up - why not act that way now? This is asked several times in the book and by Pastor Jon today about various actions you might take with only 30 days to live yet don't do now - speaking to those who've hurt you, improving your relationship with God, family, friends among others. In this case, why not sell the gym now? What's different? I guess I presume I'm going to continue to live and make it a success but that certainly isn't assured. We are only given today, after all. A job is different - the business can continue without me. My business isn't like that.

This book and the discussions we have every Thursday morning about it make me think about the role of the gym in my life - how important is it, how important should it be, etc. It changes the entrepreneurial vision, that's for sure!

Meetings Suck!

2008-04-22T14:08:11Z

I hate meetings!

Let me be more specific - I hate meetings or parts of meetings which are useless. Which, unfortunately for the way business is conducted in America, is most of them.

I had meetings last night from 5:00 PM to 8:15 or so. The quality, necessary content probably could have been done in 30 minutes. The rest was formatted and useless. Its not the fault of the "meeting callers," - its what they've done and what they'll continue to do. That doesn't mean I have to like it.

Patrick Lencioni of the Table Group, previously mentioned in this blog in relation to his "Three Signs of a Miserable Job" book, has another great business book called, "Death By Meeting." In it, he asks the question, "Which would you rather attend - a movie or a business meeting?" Obviously, we know what answer he expects. The reason, he says, that we would rather go to a movie is that is has conflict, protagonists and antagonists, and an exciting conclusion. Meetings don't. They are uninspiring recitations of formulaic crap - usually.

PL says we need to create healthy conflict in meetings. How much more fun would my meeting become if one member said to another, "You know, Jack, I think you are wrong and here is why". Jack, knowing this person respects and admires him, accepts the comments and comes back with his viewpoint. There is conflict, yet the underlying respect and admiration make it healthy, not the emotional drama that some meetings turn into (see Lencioni's "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" to learn about healthy and unhealthy teams).

How do you change meetings? I don't know or I would sure have tried it by now. I think I need to re-read "Death by Meeting" and institute what PL talks about in the back. Or else I will have a minor stroke if subjected to such a series of meetings in the future!

Relating to Others

2008-04-20T18:05:39Z

How do you relate to others? In other words, do you get energy from being alone, being with a small group of close friends, or being in the midst of a large group?

People who are energized by being at a party with a large number of people, many of whom they don't know, are people who can naturally engage potential customers. They can jump out at a stranger and engage them immediately. They have the ability to get their product or service in front on strangers without seeming forced or salesy.

That's not me.

I'm more in the group that needs a break after being with a large group. It is mentally, even physically taxing for me to be in a crowd. I need some decompression time to rest after an experience like that. It extends to meeting and greeting - I'm not good at it and when I try to do it, it is hard for me.

So when I'm at a business function where I'm to be pitching my business, it is challenging for me to present the benefits of my gym to people I know need it. I'm not a natural, and it isn't something I think can be learned or developed. I need to find situations where I'm more at home. I am more comfortable being an expert and speaking to, rather than interacting with, with a group. So meetings and seminars are a better marketing choice for me. Chamber After Hours are much less attractive, much more taxing, and much less successful for me.

How about you? How do you relate? Does it match your marketing strategy?

Survey Results - The Most Important Qualities for a Leader

2008-04-19T13:04:58Z

The results are in!

As I had mentioned a while ago, I posed the question "What is the most important quality for a leader?" on LinkedIn Questions. The survey is complete, with 37 responses. Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond. Some great answers. Some folks couldn't keep their answer to just one quality, while others' responses were too vague to categorize, so the numbers below don't add up to 37. I've tried to place the responses in larger categories if I could to group them a bit better. Here's the list with number of responses:

1. Integrity - 5

2. Visioncasting - 4

3. Ability to listen - 4

4. Development of Employees - 4

5. Emotional Intelligence/Self Awareness - 3

6. Ability to Delegate/Trust Employees - 2

7. Intelligence - 2

8. Passion - 2

9. Resourceful - 1

10. Thinks Outside the Box - 1

11. Rational - 1

12. Confronts Difficulty - 1

13. Love - 1

I always like studies or surveys that agree with what I think (don't we all?), so I like this one. I've always considered integrity to be the cornerstone of leadership. As Tom Sherwin commented, "If your followers don't believe you, it doesn't matter what you say. If they see you behaving badly it won't matter what you ask them to do. If they do not hear you speak-up to those in power how are wrong, they will not respect you." Mark Taylor said, "I find it impossible to respect a leader without it and impossible not to respect a leader with it."

The number of people who referred to listening skills surprised me at first, but the more I thought of it, the more I realized that a great leader listens, while an average or poor one doesn't, and both have a tremendous effect on the team. Its the ability to listen, provide an outlet for expression for the members of the team, yet still "steer the ship" in the direction necessary that embodies a great leader. Everyone needs to have a say and felt listened to and respected, but be OK if their ideas aren't followed all the time.

I really liked a comment by Steven Smith. He said, "The ultimate leadership skill is learning how to be a better leader by following other situational leaders rather than presuming you are always the best equipped to lead." How excellent is that concept? One person is not always the best equipped for a certain situation. The true leader realizes who he needs to use for each situation, who has what skills required for particular items on the job, and gets that person to buy in by "Following from Above." Bill Hybels talks about "Leading from Below," how employees can help lead their superiors. Well, why not follow from above?

One of my favorite comments came in trying to distinguish leaders and managers. Bruce Carroll - "Many of the other qualities often associated with leaders are actually qualities of good managers. These include listening, planning, decision making, delegating, empowering -- the basic skills to get tasks accomplished through others. Most truly exceptional companies combine a visionary leader with a group of one or more exceptional managers."

Great stuff, folks! I really enjoyed the responses.

What should my next question be?

New Reading Material

2008-04-16T20:27:33Z

In the hopes of improving personally and professionally, Clay and I are reading a book called "The 7 Triggers to Yes". The idea behind the book is to refute the idea that, as Aristotle taught, logic and reasoning should convince anyone. Instead, author Russell Granger points to newer evidence that our emotions control the vast majority of our decisions. Our reasoning, higher level brain doesn't typically get involved in routine decisions.

So as "salesman," (or influencers, or leaders - we all fall into those categories, if not true salesmen), we need to identify the triggers that get peoples' emotional decision-making to go in our favor. The triggers he describes:

Friendship
Authority
Consistency
Reciprocity
Contrast
Reason Why
Hope

I've just finished the intro and the friendship trigger section. This one is what you might expect: liking the person trying to influence you is critical, how to identify with your "partner" (as Granger calls the person we're trying to influence) and make him identify with you, the use of mirroring in attitude and dress. Pretty standard sales stuff in this section. I'm anxious to hear about the rest, though.

I've always considered reason to be the key. If I construct a good enough argument, who could resist? Yet people do, time and time again. I'm hoping this gives me some insight I haven't gleaned before.

Seeing What You Believe

2008-04-14T20:03:39Z

Sometimes, one sees what one wants to see rather than what is really there.

That's a common concept in medical literature. It is a much more valid study if, for example, the surgeon who is testing a certain operative procedure on his patients is NOT the one who asks their follow up questions or examines them after the surgeon's procedure being studied. Because a surgeon has a vested interest (usually subconscious, sometimes overt) in making "his" procedure work so he sees what he thinks in his patients rather than what is there.

The same thing can happen in business. We can believe our customers love us - if we don't ask. Or don't listen to what they are really saying. We have to be ruthless in pursuing the truth from our customers, or we run the risk of losing them because we refused to see what we weren't providing for them.

I began thinking about this today when I got lost. In the town I've lived in for 8 years. On a street I travel on several times per week. I was trying to get to the post office to mail my taxes and went through a neighborhood I haven't been in before. But I got dumped out on a street I go up and down a lot - my gym is on it, I work at an outpatient center on it once a week or so, etc. So, I turned left, just like I thought. I went through two major intersections thinking I was going the right way before I realized I was going the opposite direction I needed to. Looking back, I so expected to be traveling west that my mind "saw" the intersections as if I was going west. But, I wasn't.

I can see what I believe to be true. Can you?

Togetherness

2008-04-12T18:43:51Z

Worked out at our gym today. Clay was running in a 5K run (and finished!) so Michael Hazel, our part-time trainer, was there doing some paperwork while I got started. Then, Clay came in from the run and Robbie, one of our high school golf clients, came in to work out with Michael. I was doing my interval cardio work on the bike next to Robbie, who was running on the treadmill with Michael manning the controls. We were all talking in between gasps and I realized when I was done that the time had gone by much quicker than usually. My 20 minute cardio, which normally feels like 40 when I'm working out by myself, seemed to go by so much faster. And it seemed easier, even though I know I worked just as hard if not harder (can't have the owner looking weak in front of my employees and a customer!).

It emphasizes something I think we all know. Hard things are made easier if you do it with a group. That's the dynamic that our franchise is betting on - guys doing hard workouts together. It creates a built-in support center for the guys. And it makes them work harder, to avoid embarrassment in front of their buddies.

The more I thought about it, the more I thought so many things are that way. For instance, tomorrow morning at our mobile church, a group of us will unload our truck and set up the four theaters we use for our church service. It isn't brutal work by any means, but a bit tedious and repetitive. But doing it with a group of great folks, like the Heinzerlings, Youngs, Parhams, Coopers, Stokes, and of course, Pastors Jon and Jeff among others, makes it fun and valuable.

How about small business? Is that why websites and forums like StartUp Nation are so popular - so that the usually fairly lonely entrepreneur can connect? To find others who have the same struggles that starting a small business brings? Or all we all just looking for answers to specific questions?

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Update on the LinkedIn survey question ("What is the most important quality in a great leader?"). I'm over 30 responses. Summary on the way next week.

Golf Galaxy

2008-04-10T18:09:30Z

Doing a little appearance at Golf Galaxy tonight for their Callaway Night. Should be fun - talk to golfers, try to show them how we can make them better, maybe make a few contacts. We've done this once before. Luckily, we keep getting invited because the manager is one of our satisfied customers!

2008-04-09T16:51:45Z

I've been exploring LinkedIn lately. At first, it just seemed like another social networking site with an emphasis on business, a bit different in that way than Facebook for example. I was invited initially by my GM, Clay Garland, who is becoming the master of all things networking related. I haven't done too much with it until recently when I read in another business blog about LinkedIn Answers, where people propose questions and get the vast universe of LinkedIn folks to respond. I read a few of them, posted a few responses myself and really enjoyed the interaction and the information I saw.

So I decided to propose a question myself: "What is the most important quality for a leader?" I posted the question yesterday before a meeting and by the end of the meeting 3 hours later, I had over 15 replies. I now have 28 and it is a great read to go through the answers and see how people think about this topic. Man, there are some smart people out there!

Anyway, I'm going to post a follow-up here on the blog when all responses are in (the question stays up for 7 days) with some highlights and my take on the responses.

Good stuff!

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A shout out to J Mac, my pastoral good buddy from True North Church, who put the "Free Hugs" video from YouTube into his blog after seeing it on mine. That video still is cool to me! And the back story is even better - read more about it on the YouTube site for the video.

Your Story

2008-04-08T16:36:29Z

We all have a story.

I'm talking about a life story. Not just what you've done in your life ("I was born in Podunk, Wisconsin with 2 brothers, yada, yada, yada"). No, the story I mean is what you are. What drives you. What motivates you. What you live for.

If you're a proud father, it might be your kids. Everything in your life revolves around your family. (I wish we had a few more of those in this world, particularly among men). Picture the guy on the seat next to you in the plane with a laptop screensaver of his kid, so excited to talk about his 2 year olds' latest adventure, and how he left his business meeting early and is racing home to be with his family.

Or, if you're a newlywed, its your new spouse - what she wants, how he acted toward you this morning, what the plans are for the weekend. Turning down going out with the boys to be with her instead - something I certainly didn't do enough of in my younger days.

In the business world, we all know people, usually men, whose story is money. That's it. It doesn't matter how they get it or who they hurt, as long as they get more. Or power. People - again, usually men - who trample on anyone to "get ahead".

The story that guides our lives is so important. It makes every decision we make much clearer and easier. Should I buy that new home? How does it fit with my firm belief that family is first? Or, my lifetime of intentional, aggressive saving for retirement; or to give to others? When we're young, we may not have a defined story. And that's a shame, because having a story makes our lives so much more purposeful. Striving "to succeed" isn't a story, its a flail. And that's how a lot of young people live.

As we age, our story gives our lives purpose. If God is the central focus of my life, I can judge how I'm doing every day by whether I've pleased my father with the actions and decisions of the day. If I live to be an entrepreneur, a creator, a "business artist," what have I done today to succeed in that line of life?

So, what's your story? What are the values and beliefs that guide your every step today and tomorrow? If you don't have one, get one! (especially if you are younger than me). If you can't articulate yours but think you have one, try to write it down and then revisit it periodically.

I'm Back!! - Again!

2008-04-07T19:10:02Z

Great blog post on Church of the Customer featuring a awesome video that I'll share with you below:

I'm Back!!

2008-04-07T14:40:00Z

Back from vacation and ready to go - I think!

A few things I've thought of over my vacation:

What's the increase in awareness of Stephen Curry now compared to before the NCAA tournament started
Why is Billy Packer still the lead analyst for CBS college basketball?
(In honor of the upcoming April 15th tax deadline): Why does the government feel they have a right to tax non-cash related transactions (prizes of boats/cars, or, in my case, the granting of partnership in a business merger)?
Why are some blogs so good (Seth Godin) and others so bad (this one?)?
What is the value of the different social networking sites? Are some better for some purposes than others?
Who actually reads this blog?

Beaching It

2008-03-31T08:03:56Z

Just so you know, I'm ignoring adding to my blog intentionally - I'm at Myrtle Beach with the family and am getting away from all things work related. I only have the computer on so I can check out the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel online to find out the latest happenings in Badger-land.

Vacation - one of the benefits an owner who hires a great general manager can afford!

Google Indexing - How Scary Is It?

2008-03-27T17:52:07Z

I just read an incredible blog by Anita Campbell in her blog, Small Business Trends. Here's the meat of her post:

Today I am at a conference called “Search Engine Marketing Made Simple,” where I’ll be discussing business blogging.

I’d like to share with you an important lesson I learned this morning. The lesson is: Google indexes blog posts incredibly fast. And that’s yet another good reason to write a blog for your business.

Geoff Karcher, owner of the Karcher Group which is putting on today’s conference. put up a blog post this morning as an experiment. He wrote the post about the phrase “search engine marketing made simple experiment.”

The goal was to see how quickly that post would be indexed and rank for that phrase.

I suspected it would take very little time for Geoff’s blog post to be indexed in Google. But I was thinking a day or two.

But it was a lot faster! It took just 4 minutes. Four minutes from publishing a blog post, to appearing in Google’s index. Geoff published his post about an hour ago.

Later during our working lunch session we will be discussing the experiment.

I think if it proves nothing else, it demonstrates how having a business blog in your site can help you get indexed in the search engines incredibly fast.

4 minutes! Are you kidding me? Its almost scary. Next, Google will know what I'm thinking about writing before I write it.

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Side note - my General Manager, Clay Garland, has taken up a post in the blogosphere. Take a look at the Claydog's blog here.

Egg Drop Marketing - Part Deax

2008-03-26T16:42:26Z

Gotten a couple of responses about the difference in marketing of my church's Egg Drop last Saturday (True North Church of Garner, NC) and our gym's marketing efforts. My buddy Jess, web guru, gave a few that you can see in his comments. The one that I completely ignored in my comments but should have put #1 is that God recognizes lion chasers. Jess, myself, and our pastors are finishing a book called "In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day" by Mark Batterson. He spends the book relating biblical stories and personal experiences that convince him that God wants us to take risks, to chase lions instead of cowering from them.

It may not seem like a huge risk, but trust me, this Egg Drop was a big risk for our church. If it had turned out poorly, our church would have suffered greatly in many ways. But I believe that God appreciates taking risks if done for the right reasons. And this was, certainly, done for the right reasons - to reach the community with an event for them and to share our church's joy in Easter with those surrounding us.

Does God love entrepreneurs, then? Believe me, new business owners take risks! I believe that if a person feels the skill set he has been given or developed matches entrepreneurship and he or she has the courage to step out and do it, that God does honor that and love it. I also believe that if someone enters the entrepreneurial world strictly to make a killing or to profit from others, God does not honor that. Maybe that is one of the main reasons so many small business fail - people get in them for the wrong reasons, into areas that don't match their passions or skills, and God doesn't give his blessing to that process.

I'm embarrassed I didn't mention this as a reason for the success of the Egg Drop compared to our occasional struggle to market - because God helped us. I think it can be that simple.

Jess has gotten the video up on Google video. Very, very cool!