"Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage."
It's amazing that the words of a writer who died almost 127 years ago have such application to today's business world. To me this quote sums up the challenge that haunts entrepreneurs or employees who stick their neck out with a new idea, product or concept. Surely we must listen to trusted colleagues, friends and advisors and give their feedback sober consideration. However, at some point we are all going to be criticized for an idea or decision. It takes courage to persevere!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Opportunities Within Problems
The following is taken from business coach Marc Corsini..
Last week, I talked about the pressing need for a “new” formula for success. The business environment has changed drastically; we simply cannot continue to sell using the same old techniques that worked before. The stark reality is this: It is two to three times harder to be successful in this tsunami economy. So I challenged everyone to throw out last year’s playbook and embrace this new reality. Then meet it head-on with new and improved techniques and more of them.
Now I want to perhaps shock you into a newer, more positive attitude about all this. I’m encouraging you to stop focusing on the problems we face in this economy. All too often these days, conversation centers on the negative. People are asking things like “How’s your business doing in the worst economy since the depression?” or “Did you see that Any-Co is laying off 140 employees?” or “Have you noticed that two more stores on Main Street have closed their doors?”
Sure, it’s disturbing. Frightening, even. And we can’t ignore it. But we have to look at all this in a healthier, more productive way.
Stop focusing on the problems and the things you can’t control! That is not time well spent. These days, your time is even more valuable than ever since you’re going to have to work harder to achieve your goals. Yes, we’re in challenging times, but your most pressing concerns should not be what’s wrong at your company, the stagnation of the industry you serve, the anemic economy, the problems with health care, etc.
I have a better idea.
Look for (and then act on) opportunities within the problems. I guarantee you that some of these problems are opportunities in disguise. Some might be dressed in absolute shambles, but look beneath the guise, and, chances are, you’ll find something you can work with.
For instance, times are tough, but housing prices are low. Is now the time for you to buy? (The same holds true for cars.) People are being laid off; I’ll bet there are people out there looking for jobs, and they have just the talent your company needs. Business is slow; take the time to train your people and improve your processes. Then take time for yourself so you can get in better physical shape or enrich your spiritual life.
Reverse-engineer the problems, and you’ll find opportunities everywhere. Of course, you need to be able to recognize the opportunity of an opportunity. Let’s lighten things up with some witty indications of how opportunities might appear:
I say this: “Opportunity knocks; it doesn’t lean on the doorbell. You have to be listening for it; better yet, you need to be expecting it.”
Doug Larson said, “Sometimes opportunity knocks, but most of the time it sneaks up and then quietly steals away.”
And Boyd Chissum takes it a step further with this: “Even when opportunity knocks, a man still has to get up off his seat and open the door.”
Albert Einstein said this: “In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.”
Ken Lintz put the same idea this way, saying: “An obstacle is often an unrecognized opportunity.”
Charles Swindoll cautions, “We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”
Ann Landers advises something similar: “Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.”
Finally, know this: Opportunities are never lost; someone will take the one you miss.
SUMMARY
Turn problems into opportunities. Rethink how you view trouble. Look for the opportunities within the predicaments. It takes leadership, creativity and innovation to train your brain to focus on the opportunities instead of the setbacks…especially these days. But you can do it. It’s the healthy, productive way to move forward in these challenging times.
Last week, I talked about the pressing need for a “new” formula for success. The business environment has changed drastically; we simply cannot continue to sell using the same old techniques that worked before. The stark reality is this: It is two to three times harder to be successful in this tsunami economy. So I challenged everyone to throw out last year’s playbook and embrace this new reality. Then meet it head-on with new and improved techniques and more of them.
Now I want to perhaps shock you into a newer, more positive attitude about all this. I’m encouraging you to stop focusing on the problems we face in this economy. All too often these days, conversation centers on the negative. People are asking things like “How’s your business doing in the worst economy since the depression?” or “Did you see that Any-Co is laying off 140 employees?” or “Have you noticed that two more stores on Main Street have closed their doors?”
Sure, it’s disturbing. Frightening, even. And we can’t ignore it. But we have to look at all this in a healthier, more productive way.
Stop focusing on the problems and the things you can’t control! That is not time well spent. These days, your time is even more valuable than ever since you’re going to have to work harder to achieve your goals. Yes, we’re in challenging times, but your most pressing concerns should not be what’s wrong at your company, the stagnation of the industry you serve, the anemic economy, the problems with health care, etc.
I have a better idea.
Look for (and then act on) opportunities within the problems. I guarantee you that some of these problems are opportunities in disguise. Some might be dressed in absolute shambles, but look beneath the guise, and, chances are, you’ll find something you can work with.
For instance, times are tough, but housing prices are low. Is now the time for you to buy? (The same holds true for cars.) People are being laid off; I’ll bet there are people out there looking for jobs, and they have just the talent your company needs. Business is slow; take the time to train your people and improve your processes. Then take time for yourself so you can get in better physical shape or enrich your spiritual life.
Reverse-engineer the problems, and you’ll find opportunities everywhere. Of course, you need to be able to recognize the opportunity of an opportunity. Let’s lighten things up with some witty indications of how opportunities might appear:
I say this: “Opportunity knocks; it doesn’t lean on the doorbell. You have to be listening for it; better yet, you need to be expecting it.”
Doug Larson said, “Sometimes opportunity knocks, but most of the time it sneaks up and then quietly steals away.”
And Boyd Chissum takes it a step further with this: “Even when opportunity knocks, a man still has to get up off his seat and open the door.”
Albert Einstein said this: “In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.”
Ken Lintz put the same idea this way, saying: “An obstacle is often an unrecognized opportunity.”
Charles Swindoll cautions, “We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”
Ann Landers advises something similar: “Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.”
Finally, know this: Opportunities are never lost; someone will take the one you miss.
SUMMARY
Turn problems into opportunities. Rethink how you view trouble. Look for the opportunities within the predicaments. It takes leadership, creativity and innovation to train your brain to focus on the opportunities instead of the setbacks…especially these days. But you can do it. It’s the healthy, productive way to move forward in these challenging times.
Monday, July 13, 2009
How To Talk Cash Flow With Vendors
Communication is essential, but so is good judgment...
When the going gets tough, even the tough stick their heads in the sand sometimes. For example, when a small business grapples with its cash flow and can’t pay vendors on time, the boss might be inclined to ignore the problem in the hope that it will go away on its own.
Usually it won’t – and the ostrich-like behavior will only make the situation worse.
Eric Siegel is an adjunct lecturer in management at Wharton School and president of Siegel Management, advisors to middle market growth companies. He offered some advice on how to talk about money with vendors during recessionary times.
“I think communication is normally a good thing,” says Siegel, noting that some of us have a tendency to duck unpleasant calls and discussions, which, he says, only antagonizes people.
“So, with some exceptions, it’s a good policy to take calls from vendors about their invoices and sometimes even preempt their calls.” On the one hand, Siegel recommends telling the vendor that – for example – you’re in a tight cash flow period and will need to switch from paying every 30 days to a 45-day schedule. That sort of proactive communication, he says, “will win friends and help with the bonding of vendors.”
On the other hand, he says, “You shouldn’t use that as a blanket policy. There could be adverse implications.” A crucial vendor could decide they don’t want to take the risk that you’ll go out of business and leave your bills unpaid. They may insist on shipping COD instead.
What to say to vendors – and when to say it – is a question of culture and climate, says Siegel. Before picking up the phone to talk turkey with a vendor, ask yourself what kind of relationship you have with them. Are there feelings of trust? “If so, “ he says, “sharing financial information can be useful.”
When cash is tight and you don’t know what to tell your vendors, Siegel recommends a three-step process:
1. Understand the issue that needs to be addressed. You owe money, but your customers might not be making their payments; or you lost a big customer; or business has fallen off across-the-board. Whatever the need is, be sure you can articulate it.
2. Know what you want to achieve in order to address the need. Better payment terms from the vendor? A discount? Free delivery? Keep a specific goal in mind.
3. Have a communication strategy. Now that you know what you want to achieve, think about how to express it. There’s no single surefire method. Again, it will depend on your relationship with the vendor. How do you normally communicate with them? Casually? Formally? By phone? Email? Face-to-face? Stick with what makes you – and your vendor – comfortable.
“There’s a head-in-the-sand reflex with vendors,” says Siegel. “And it’s rarely a good idea. Communicating is always good, but how much you communicate is based on who you are, who the vendor is and your relationship.”
When the going gets tough, even the tough stick their heads in the sand sometimes. For example, when a small business grapples with its cash flow and can’t pay vendors on time, the boss might be inclined to ignore the problem in the hope that it will go away on its own.
Usually it won’t – and the ostrich-like behavior will only make the situation worse.
Eric Siegel is an adjunct lecturer in management at Wharton School and president of Siegel Management, advisors to middle market growth companies. He offered some advice on how to talk about money with vendors during recessionary times.
“I think communication is normally a good thing,” says Siegel, noting that some of us have a tendency to duck unpleasant calls and discussions, which, he says, only antagonizes people.
“So, with some exceptions, it’s a good policy to take calls from vendors about their invoices and sometimes even preempt their calls.” On the one hand, Siegel recommends telling the vendor that – for example – you’re in a tight cash flow period and will need to switch from paying every 30 days to a 45-day schedule. That sort of proactive communication, he says, “will win friends and help with the bonding of vendors.”
On the other hand, he says, “You shouldn’t use that as a blanket policy. There could be adverse implications.” A crucial vendor could decide they don’t want to take the risk that you’ll go out of business and leave your bills unpaid. They may insist on shipping COD instead.
What to say to vendors – and when to say it – is a question of culture and climate, says Siegel. Before picking up the phone to talk turkey with a vendor, ask yourself what kind of relationship you have with them. Are there feelings of trust? “If so, “ he says, “sharing financial information can be useful.”
When cash is tight and you don’t know what to tell your vendors, Siegel recommends a three-step process:
1. Understand the issue that needs to be addressed. You owe money, but your customers might not be making their payments; or you lost a big customer; or business has fallen off across-the-board. Whatever the need is, be sure you can articulate it.
2. Know what you want to achieve in order to address the need. Better payment terms from the vendor? A discount? Free delivery? Keep a specific goal in mind.
3. Have a communication strategy. Now that you know what you want to achieve, think about how to express it. There’s no single surefire method. Again, it will depend on your relationship with the vendor. How do you normally communicate with them? Casually? Formally? By phone? Email? Face-to-face? Stick with what makes you – and your vendor – comfortable.
“There’s a head-in-the-sand reflex with vendors,” says Siegel. “And it’s rarely a good idea. Communicating is always good, but how much you communicate is based on who you are, who the vendor is and your relationship.”
Monday, July 6, 2009
Ten Commandments from Entrepreneurial 'Evangelist' Guy Kawasaki
Here are some innovative, yet practical ideas for any business. - JH
Published : June 10, 2009 in Knowledge@Wharton
When Guy Kawasaki talks about business innovation, as he did recently at a University of Pennsylvania technology conference, he brings more than 25 years of major-league experience to the conversation -- a background that the good-humored investor and entrepreneur calls "my checkered past." After getting a psychology degree at Stanford and an MBA at UCLA, the Hawaii-born Kawasaki became the second software "evangelist" at Apple Computer, where his job from 1983 to 1987 was to convince people to create software for the Macintosh. Kawasaki fondly recalls his colleagues at Apple as visionary, driven and "arguably the greatest collection of egomaniacs in the history of California -- though the record has subsequently been broken by Google."
After leaving Apple, Kawasaki started his own companies in addition to becoming an author, consultant and venture capitalist. His books include The Macintosh Way, Rules for Revolutionaries, Selling the Dream and, most recently, Reality Check. Now 54, Kawasaki listens to pitches from start-ups regularly at his venture capital firm, Garage Technology Ventures. Its portfolio includes technologies ranging from logistics outsourcing to renewable energy, though he admits the firm hasn't yet had its breakout hit -- its own Apple or Google. In 2008, Kawasaki launched Alltop, a free Web site that uses RSS feeds to aggregate, by topic, the latest stories from thousands of web sites and blogs. His blog, "How to Change the World," is among the most visited business strategy sites.
At Penn, he spoke at a conference marking the 20th anniversary of the Executive Master's in Technology Management (EMTM) program, offered by Penn Engineering and co-sponsored by Wharton. His talk, titled "The Art of Innovation," amounted to a 10-point manifesto on how to make something of value for customers. Along the way, he invoked funny and revealing examples that included everything from obsolete ice-delivery men to beach sandals that open beer bottles.
The following is a summary of Kawasaki's "Ten Commandments":
1. Make meaning, not money. "As venture capitalists," Kawasaki said, "we deal with many companies, and often they come in [saying what] they think we want to hear: that they want to make money. It's been my observation that most companies founded on this concept of making money pretty much fail. They attract the wrong kind of co-founders and early employees." Rather, he says, entrepreneurs should focus on making their product or service mean something beyond the sum of its components -- and the money may very well follow. He noted how Nike made its aerobic sneakers for women into more than just "two pieces of cotton, leather and rubber, manufactured under somewhat suspect conditions in the Far East." With smart advertising about how women traditionally have been measured and judged, Nike "turned $2.50 of raw materials into something that stands for efficacy and power and liberation. They are making meaning with shoes. Great companies make meaning." Certainly, Apple has done that with the Mac, iPhone and other devices.
2. Make a mantra, not a mission statement. Bland, generic company mission statements -- about "delivering superior-quality products and services for our customers and communities through leadership innovation and partnerships" -- serve no one but the consultant brought in to develop them, Kawasaki said. Instead, keep it short and define yourself by what you want to mean to consumers. Nike stands for "authentic athletic performance." FedEx is about "peace of mind." To get everyone internally and externally on the same page, explain why your organization exists and how it meets customers' needs and desires.
3. Jump curves. Innovating is harder than just staying a little bit ahead of competitors on the same curve. "If you're a daisy-wheel printer company, the goal is not to introduce Helvetica in another point size. The goal is to jump to laser printer," he said. That's easier in some businesses than others. Kawasaki noted how in the days before refrigeration, the ice industry consisted of ice harvesters in cold climates using horses, sleighs and saws to collect ice outdoors during winter months. Ten million pounds of ice were shipped in 1900 that way, he said. Then came "Ice 2.0" -- factories that could freeze ice anywhere and an ice man who would deliver it to establishments and homes. Finally came "Ice 3.0": home refrigerators.
Of course, none of the ice harvesters got into the ice factory business, and none of the factories got into the refrigerator business. That's because "most organizations define themselves in terms of what they do," he said, "instead of thinking 'what benefit do we provide the customer?' True innovation comes when you jump curves, not when you duke it out for 10% or 15% better."
4. In product design, "roll the DICEE." That's an acronym. "D" is for deep, which to Kawasaki means thinking about features that go beyond the norm. One of his favorite "deep" ideas: Fanning Reef sandals, which have a bottle opener built into the sole. "I" is for intelligence, as seen in the design of Panasonic's BF-104 flashlight, which uses batteries of three different sizes to accommodate the random mix of extra batteries many people have around the house. "C" is for complete -- or being not just a product, but including support and service. The first "E" is for elegance: Beauty matters, according to Kawasaki. "Companies should have CTOs -- chief taste officers," he said. The second "E" is for emotive. "Great products generate strong emotions: Think Harley Davidson, Macintosh."
5. Don't worry, be "crappy." This doesn't mean ship a bad product, but "your innovation can have elements of crappiness to it," Kawasaki said. Twitter has a litany of flaws, but it is changing people's habits. The first Mac had plenty of room for improvement, but it made a statement about the future of personal computing, and it did not need to wait.
6. Polarize people. Try to be all things to all people and you often ship mediocrity, Kawasaki said. The boxy Toyota Scion xB looks ugly to some people but very cool to its devotees. TiVo became popular while maddening the advertising industry.
7. Let 100 flowers blossom. Borrowing from Chairman Mao, Kawasaki said you never know where the flowers will emerge, so let them grow. Innovations may attract unexpected and unintended customers. Think of Avon Products' Skin-so-Soft cream, which became popular as a mosquito repellent. Rule one, he said, is "take the money. Rule two: Learn who's buying your product, ask them why and give them more reasons. That's a lot easier than asking people who aren't interested 'why not,' and trying to change their minds."
8. Churn, baby, churn. Always improve. Listen to customers for ideas. That's difficult, Kawasaki said, because an innovator or entrepreneur must often ignore the advice of naysayers and "bozos" who say it can't be done. Once it is done, and the product reaches the hands of customers, it's time to start listening to their feedback. "Once you ship, then you flip," Kawasaki said.
9. Niche yourself. Find your place, Kawasaki urged. He showed a simple X-Y graph, with the usual four quadrants mapping the variables "Uniqueness" and "Value." A product or service does not need to be unique if it delivers value. That, he said, is how Dell won market share selling computers. In the lower left quadrant of his X-Y graph he placed many of the me-too dot.com companies of the late 1990s that were low value and uninspired. But in the upper-right quadrant were high value, unique products and services. They included the online movie-ticketing service Fandango and the Clear card that can speed passage through airport security. "The upper-right-hand corner is the holy grail of marketing," he said. "It's where meaning is made, it's where money is made, it's where history is made."
10. Follow the 10-20-30 rule when pitching to venture capitalists. That means no more than 10 PowerPoint slides, a limit of 20 minutes for the pitch, and using a 30-point font size in the presentation (to keep it simple). The goal of such pitches isn't to walk home with a check, he said, it's to "not be eliminated" from consideration.
Kawasaki added one bonus point for innovators -- and a mea culpa. "Don't let the bozos get you down," he said, trotting out some well-worn statements from technology naysayers, such as IBM chairman Thomas Watson's assertion in 1943 that the total worldwide market for computers was "maybe five" (computer historians question the authenticity of the unsubstantiated quote), and Western Union's inability to see a use for the telephone. These companies were trapped by thinking about what they already did, rather than what could be done next. Ignore them, Kawasaki said. Nevertheless, he admitted he was a "bozo" himself once. In the mid-1990s, he was offered a chance to interview for the CEO position at Yahoo. He declined. He saw the web as just another thing to do with a computer modem, and a web index as having limited value. "By my calculation, this decision cost me $2 billion."
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
"When you've finished changing, you're finished."
This quote from Benjamin Franklin rings as true today as it did in his era. We have ideas to help businesses adapt to today's environment. Let us help you make it happen!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)