BMC Blog

Friendship

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:36:00 -0400

Friendships are an important part of business!! We may not think of that often but I am not sure you can actually survive without them. And I am not just talking about the business surviving. We pay attention to marketing, finance, management, distribution, and other business issues. And for sure, any entrepreneurial endeavor is a challenge with frequent ups and downs and setbacks. Friends are critical to weather the storm (and grow, learn, have fun, be a better human, etc. etc.) And as we learned from youth, you have to be a friend to have a friend. Do not overlook the all important human side of the equation for success - both in business and our personal life. To my friends, I thank you for who you are and participating in life with me, both business and personal.

People

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:33:00 -0400

When it comes right down to it - it is all about people in business. We use terms like B2B, B2C to signify a customer market but in reality there is no B2B. It is always P2P. People to People. And those people are different than you are in marginal ways or in very significant ways. So we need to understand them. We need to figure out there needs. And they may be totally different than ours. I am amazed by the complexity of human beings. 6.8 billion of us and we are changing every day. This is true as individuals and it is true corporately. Every day we change as individuals for good or ill. Every day the pool of people in our world changes by hundreds of thousands with births and deaths, job changes, location changes and much more. No day is like another with humanity. And in that constant change is the opportunity to try and create a life and make a living. Simple thoughts - complex execution!

Women Entrepreneurs

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:21:00 -0400

Recent stats indicate that more than 50% of new businesses started are done so by women. As a father of two daughters, I am very pleased by this. It means that they will have the potential for opportunity of their own making. Is a business started by women any different than one started by a man? I don't know. I am going to run a poll on my linked in site to get people's take. Are there different goals, different motivations, different ways of doing things? What do you think?

Leadership

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:30:00 -0400

I recently put out a poll on my Linkedin site asking "what is the most important factor to business success." It came down to "Leadership" and "great people or teams" with Leadership winning. The poll is still open ... feel free to add your opinion and thoughts. Poll Leadership is a key ingredient, there is no doubt about it. But what does that mean? Is leadership for the 21st Century different than leadership was in the 20th Century? Are there new skills needed, new information applied and taken into account, a new culture to be considered, and really a new way of doing things? I would have to say "yes." It is a very dynamic and changing world. Leadership models are changing as well. Things like integrity, trust, and committment don't go away for leaders. Those need to remain no matter the times. But a number of other factors do potentially change - and that change may be for the good and create significant opportunity. How are you at creating a vision, using socail networking tools, creating a "tribe," taking into account a workplace that is not based on an industrial model but on the value and engagement of the individual? Do you have the information available to leverage and lead your team in the best possible way? You can. The opportunity exists. And I would argue this is just not for large businesses. In fact, this is what can give small business a huge competitive advantage. What can stop good leadership with a great functioning team with a well defined and useful product or service? Sounds like a winning combination to me whether the company is three people or one hundred. If you want to talk about this, happy to chat.

Think and do

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 09:06:00 -0400

I have been reading the economic predictions for the future. It appears challenges continue to lie ahead. A jobless recovery and even "the recovery" itself is going to be flat or a bit of a continuing roller coaster. So what is - may remain for sometime to come (years). What are we to do? Giving up is not an option. We have got to figure out how to make this work in spite of the challenges. Certainly there will be pockets of growth. Other sectors will feel a continuing decline. If there ever was a time to be thinking - now is the time. It won't be easy. Capital will be very difficult to come by. But everyone is really in the same boat. And most boats have been battered and have taken on water. So think and do. This is probably the economic world we have for some time to come. Let's make the best of it. Think and do!

How long does it take to start a business?

Sat, 27 Mar 2010 08:12:00 -0400

I often think that businesses could be started a lot faster than what they are. But it does take time and for a while you are dancing all alone. And people watch. And you wonder and then the temptation is there to quit. Finally someone joins the dance but others don't seem to follow - a good time to think quitting again. But just maybe it will catch on. Watch the three minute video. There is something to be learned from this about human behavior (and business).

Music Festival

Do you need a website?

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 13:41:00 -0400

If you are considering starting a business, do you need a website? If you have a business, do you need a better website? Of course, it depends. What is your product or service? Who is your market? How do you communicate now? Are you simply trying to push a message or are you looking to have a conversation? Do you have repeat customers and the potential to form a "tribe" or is your business purely transactional with no thought of ongoing relationships? What is the competition doing? Is your business totally local or do you have the potential to have a broader reach? What are customer expectations for your industry or niche? These and many more are the factors you should weigh to come to a decision about this issue. Know that websites can be inexpensive for some types as compared to the past. Last question - can your business afford not to have one?

Who Are You?

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 10:56:00 -0400

You are a unique human who has a unique compilation of gifts and abilities. There is a good chance you have not fully identified those yet. Many (most?) never do. I am convinced it takes a whole lot of experimenting, challenges, failure, perseverance, desire, collaboration, conflict, frustration, time and energy to figure it out. I do believe there are assessment tools that can be helpful with the identification process as well. Certainly some are much more helpful than others.

This is worth figuring out. Symptoms of not figuring it out are: boredom, frustration, feeling out of place, lots of energy with little results, hating what you do, well we all know what this feels and looks like don't we.

But what if you do figure it out? What if you know what your strengths, gifts and abilities are and you choose to use them and apply them? And what if on the other hand you know what your weaknesses are and you choose to do less of that and let others who are good at it do it? What if you started a business using your strengths? What would that look like? It is no guarantee of success. But it certainly moves you down a path of being more useful to yourself and society. Find your strengths (over the years). Take the risk! We all benefit from you pursuing those and letting others pursue theirs. Take the risk!

The Human Component

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:58:00 -0400

A great product or service are important to the success of a business. As vital are the human components. You. Your partners. Your employees. What can happen in a business? Leadership stagnation, Business Drift, Partnership Failure, Team Dysfunction and Leadership Misalignment - all of these can kill a business as quick as a bad product or service. We can help you with these challenges. Don't be a stagnant leader! Don't let your business drift without focus! Don't let your business suffer because of partnership challenges! Don't let your teams suffer with dysfunction! Don't put leaders or others in roles that they are not "wired" for. All of these "don'ts" can be turned into positives. On this one (this blog), drop me an e-mail. We can help. phil@BuildingMyCompany.com

Books

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:54:00 -0400

So you have a business or are thinking of starting one. Great! It is or will be one of the great challenges in life that you may undertake. As I tell my kids, "keep your thinking cap on!" One way to keep the cap on is to read, read and read some more. There are a lot of smart people out there. Some of them write books and pass on their knowledge and wisdom. And if you buy their books, they write more and pass on more of what they know.

I can't encourage you enough to be a reader. I am amazed on how many business owners never seem to pick up a good book to read. It is their loss and ours. And for some of you, perhaps you should be writing one for the rest of us!

Change, Challenge & Opportunity

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:17:00 -0500

My great, great grandfather immigrated from Sweden to the United States in 1881. He was 35 years old. Like most, he never set foot in Sweden again but carved out a life for he and his family in a new land with new opportunities. No matter if immigration is part of your recent heritage or not, we all are in a sense now carving out our life in a "new land." Things have changed radically in the last two years. Change is now a part of the economic landscape we deal with, today, tomorrow and perhaps the rest of our lives. And this is not slow change. It is fast and accelerating change! Don't just hang on. Somehow we have got to learn to carve out a new life in this new country much like people did before us. Many started businesses when they got here because they were outside of the existing economic system. Such may be the case for you as well.

Treat your Ideas with Respect

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:25:00 -0500

I am guilty of not doing what I am going to encourage you to do. And I am learning the lesson myself, hence I feel free to pass it along. Too often we come up with good (or great) ideas and we do not treat them with respect. We disparage them. We do shoddy work to promote them. We package them in a way that says "I am not good or useful or worth real consideration. Let's treat our ideas with the respect they deserve. Present them well. Package them well. Do right by your ideas and there is a chance they may do right by you.

Business Plans and Start-ups

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:39:00 -0500

I heard a speaker talk about business plans and its relationship to start-ups this past weekend. He was advocating axing them and focusing on the business at hand. Further, he stated, that they are often imposed on us by someone that has never started a company. I am sympathetic to his thoughts. Planning is essential to start-ups. Decisions though are often made based on new data and changing circumstances and understanding. So I believe planning or better stated creative strategic thinking is essential - but often it is informal and not documented. Of course, if someone requires 'the plan" for you to access capital, you have to jump through the hoops. But I would not recommend putting together the 20 - 30 page formal plan for yourself before you get started. Think like crazy - talk to lots of people - get input - but jump in! No plan is ever executed perfectly because there is just so much change and dynamics in the start-up process. Another speaker said it well - a birthing room has pain, it is bloody, there is lots of movement and action - you are birthing a company. The well organized, things laid out perfectly, and implemented according to a specific plan is the cemetery. Be part of a company birth - expect lots of ongoing challenges and dynamics that you will need to respond to. Often quickly.

Start up Weekend

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:12:00 -0500

I attended an event this past weekend called Start-up Weekend. Started by a couple of guys in 2007, it is focused on trying to help people start a company in a weekend. It rolls out like this.... pitch on Friday evening... 8 of 18 pitches were chosen by the total group to move forward. People self selected their teams of interest and then on Saturday worked from 9 to 9 to move the budding companies forward. This continued Sunday until the "companies" then presented at 3:00. Amazing progress was made!

Can you start a business in one weekend? I don't know, but they certainly got close. It is now up to the individuals with the original concept to drive it on forward. The event also had some good speakers, good food and the opportunity to meet some great contacts and network. It was a very busy but useful weekend! Pursue your dreams!!

The Numbers

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 10:48:00 -0500

Entrepreneurship is about markets. Finding that niche. Finding that new solution that a segment of society is looking for. Part of the market analysis are the numbers. Those numbers can be parsed in so many ways: geographic, demographic, interests, income, culture, and many more. Macro numbers can be useful in the consideration but they also often (almost always) need refinement to get to a position that accurately reflects your markets. So with some hesitation I post the following website. http://www.usdebtclock.org/ It is chock full of macro numbers. And I am not sure that anyone really understands what it all means and how it all integrates together to define the opportunity and what appear to be substantial risk. But, none the less, they are worth reviewing. So take a look at this comprehensive one page site with running totals of multiple factors that gives impressions of the world we live in. Take a few minutes with it. As always, open to any thoughts that you have. This site is far more than just U.S. Debt. It is very comprehensive and worth looking at.

Friendly Customer Service

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:30:00 -0500

What brings people into a business? What brings them back? Here is one thing. Friendly customer service! I stop at a Biggby's Coffee on Plainfield Ave. in Grand Rapids Michigan frequently. The owner, Jason, is constantly friendly with every customer that walks through the door or pulls up to the drive through. Observing him, he knows a large percentage of customer names as well. They are repeat customers and part of the reason for the repeat is great customer service and friendly customer service. "How is your day going?" Jason and his crew want to know. It makes a difference in his business. How about your business? Can "friendly" or "great customer service" be used to describe your business? People are looking for it. Let them find you!

What do you really need?

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 09:41:00 -0500

What really will it take to start your own business? What is it you really need? If you already have your own business, what will it take to succeed? What is it you REALLY need?

I appreciate any thoughtful responses? You can post a response here or e-mail me at phil@buildingmycompany.com. I really would like to hear what you are thinking!!

If you were going to start a business

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:14:00 -0500

If you were going to start a business, what would you start? To answer that question I think you have to ask yourself, who are you? What are you passionate about? What floats your boat? What would you do if money were not an issue? How can you make that product or provide that service in a new, fresh and unique way? Really push yourself on this! What is it that you have unique interest and abilities for? Where do you see a need? What can you do that is one in 100,000 people? What types of other skills are needed to make this work (nobody has all the talent and skills necessary)?

These questions, of course, work for the job world as well. If you are in a job, you are selling your time to provide a service to someone else (your employer). Is what you are doing a good fit for you? A recent report came out saying that it is, in fact, possible to die from boredom. Don't let that happen to you !! Find your niche!! Even if you have to struggle and fail numerous times to do it. The struggle is worth it. If you were going to start a business, what would you start?

New Industrial Revolution

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:33:00 -0500

The February issue of "Wired" magazine is absolutely worth reading with emphasis on the cover story about the "New Industrial Revolution." Written by Chris Anderson, who authored "The Long Tail" and other interesting books (and is Editor of Wired), the article describes the opportunities that exist for someone with a great product idea being able to launch it without the major investment of the past. The last 10 years have laid the social network digital platform. The next 10 years will be using that platform in ways that convert to mass collaboration and creation of new physical products. Great wealth creation has taken place in the cyber world by unleashing the crowd. Anderson's proposition is that we are on the verge of great wealth again being created in the physical world by unleashing the crowd. The foundation is now in place for people to take advantage of it. The foundation is now in place for you to potentially take advantage of it. This phenomena is probably only about three years old or less and brought about because of changing conditions which Anderson describes. A contributing cause was the recent the global meltdown.

For a place like my home state of Michigan, which has lots of creative, technically inclined people who are no longer working at manufacturing companies, this could be a game changer. If you have a product idea, you can design, prototype, manufacture, deliver it in a fraction of the time, at a fraction of the cost and in smaller lot sizes than what existed with the traditional model. Pick up the magazine. Read the article. A new Industrial Revolution is potentially upon us and it will look and feel nothing like the old one.

I would appreciate your comments on here especially if you have read the article. What was your take?

Small Towns and Change

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:19:00 -0500

I just had an interesting discussion with a friend of mine about how the Internet changes business (already has so significantly). I am wondering about small town and rural America. How does it survive? There is no doubt that macro changes are happening to those communities. And in spite of optimism, some will never come back. Look at history. Even over the last hundred years there are many "ghost towns" because of changing technology or changing markets. Mines close. Factories close. The train stops going through town. The freeway is put in a mile from town. Things produced are no longer sought after. The list is endless to the constant economic changes that impact the viability of communities. Some communities, of course, become more viable with a change. It is not always a lose.

So how do we survive? I think it comes down to the minds we have been given to come up with new products, services and strategies that are positive for a community. Except for things like the dust bowl or hurricanes (and as we know earthquakes), most of change is human driven. Encarta and Wikipedia wiped out the market for hard cover encyclopedias. Jobs were lost. Craigslist is a deep and ongoing trauma for newspapers. E-mail makes snail mail seem obsolete. Transportation advances changes all the rules. The carnage and reinvention continues. Somewhere in all this change is opportunity. Significant opportunity. I did not state that it would not be painful. Please see past blog on "Failure." But we must move forward - not with blind optimism - but with real innovation. This is true of the urban areas as well as small town, rural America. We live in great and challenging times. Macro changes are occurring. In five years, we are more than likely going to be very amazed on the path we have trod. Keep your thinking cap on!!