Showing posts with label Entrepreneurship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Entrepreneurship. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Starting Your Own Business? SCORE.org May be of Assistance
Starting Your Own Business?
SCORE, Counselors to America's Small Business is set up to Help YOU!
Free and low cost seminars available across the USA. Free Counseling is available 24/7 at www.score.org
The Santa Barbara and Los Angeles Chapters have been especially active lately and LA
is offering one of their great "almost Free" services next week.
An all-day workshop that is an ideal starting point for the start-up entrepreneur and new business owner looking for answers. To be held at the LA Area Chamber of Commerce this thursday April 2, 2009.
Hear a panel of working professionals cover topics such as finance, accounting, insurance, marketing and legal. This workshop is an ideal starting point for anyone starting a new business.
In one six hour session you can obtain information you'll need to get your business off to a proper start. This could take you five appointments or more in different parts of town to accomplish. All this and more is covered in an informal setting where you are encouraged to get your questions answered. A must-attend for any aspiring entreprenuer.
Cost is only $40.00 and you can Save $5.00 by pre registering.
Limited Seating. Pre-register here to save your seat and $5.
Missed this one? Not a problem, visit SCORE.org for info and to find the chapter NEAR YOU.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Jack Smith, of Collaborative Strategies, Inc., a World President's Organization member: 10 Thoughts for Business Leaders in 2009
Ten Thoughts For Business Leaders in 2009
.
1. Face, understand, and share the brutal facts (including the realistic worse case).
2. Be bold, (i.e., wake up every morning and ask: What is the boldest, most aggressive action and/or decision I could make today?).
3. Focus, protect, and plan around your strengths (e.g., key people, capabilities, and customers).
4. Prune everything that is weak, marginal, or unprofitable.
5. Have a six month supply of cash on hand or in clear view (at a minimum).
6. Raise and/or reset your expectations of employees and suppliers (e.g., hours worked, breadth/depth of responsibility, performance metrics, terms, etc.). Note: Use these difficult times to re-orientate your thinking and make your business stronger.
7. Communicate with and inspire/energize your people and your customers (e.g., positive recognition costs nothing and your ability to help absorb anxiety is greater than you think). Note: Get out of your office and on the phone!
8. Don’t think you have to go through it all alone. Most of the very successful CEO’s I know place considerable importance on having people outside of the firm that they can confide in.
9. Know that the years 2011, 2012, and beyond are likely to be some of the best years yet for your business in terms of growth and profitability (if you manage effectively in 2009).
10. Money has never been and will never determine who you are. You are…how you treat your family, friends, employees, business relationships, and what you do for charity, community, and our country.
Lastly, a favorite quotes for these times:
“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.” -Bertha Calloway
.
1. Face, understand, and share the brutal facts (including the realistic worse case).
2. Be bold, (i.e., wake up every morning and ask: What is the boldest, most aggressive action and/or decision I could make today?).
3. Focus, protect, and plan around your strengths (e.g., key people, capabilities, and customers).
4. Prune everything that is weak, marginal, or unprofitable.
5. Have a six month supply of cash on hand or in clear view (at a minimum).
6. Raise and/or reset your expectations of employees and suppliers (e.g., hours worked, breadth/depth of responsibility, performance metrics, terms, etc.). Note: Use these difficult times to re-orientate your thinking and make your business stronger.
7. Communicate with and inspire/energize your people and your customers (e.g., positive recognition costs nothing and your ability to help absorb anxiety is greater than you think). Note: Get out of your office and on the phone!
8. Don’t think you have to go through it all alone. Most of the very successful CEO’s I know place considerable importance on having people outside of the firm that they can confide in.
9. Know that the years 2011, 2012, and beyond are likely to be some of the best years yet for your business in terms of growth and profitability (if you manage effectively in 2009).
10. Money has never been and will never determine who you are. You are…how you treat your family, friends, employees, business relationships, and what you do for charity, community, and our country.
Lastly, a favorite quotes for these times:
“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.” -Bertha Calloway
Friday, January 9, 2009
Larry Melby, Thoughts from an Entrepreneur, "I smell a Rat"
Larry, Please give us your thoughts on this Economic Meltdown.
Larry ran a successful staffing firm for many years and he has
been an advocate for special needs employees as well as a delegate
to the White House Conference on Small Business.
The first thing that I feel has often been left out of the discussion is that the people in charge of dealing with this mountain of debt were piloting the plane when it hit the mountain. Yet we put them in charge of raising bigger mountains. It does not make sense to me. Back in the spring of 2008, I heard about the derivatives problem and it was then pegged at $62 tri. (Is that the abbreviation of ‘trillion’?) I cannot comprehend that amount of money as it is over 4 times our Gross Domestic Product. I also never understood derivatives. It seemed to me like a huge gambling program played by the rich.
Now we find that while everybody was watching their chips, the bank vanished.
Back in 1998, there was the unraveling of Long Term Capital Management. I would have thought that regulators would have put some controls in place at that time, but obviously, they didn’t. This is an even further concern since we have had both the republicans and democrats in charge of the regulators since then. Who is watching the regulators?
Does anybody know what will happen when these derivatives do unravel? Who is going to be left holding the bag and how will it be decided?
For some time it has seemed that we have too many insiders in charge of their own industries. The financial melt down just confirms that. Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch’s all have their fingerprints on the mortgage crash. I have to believe that if I could see this crash coming before 2005, when I sold my house, then these people who were paid to know should have known. I smell a rat, but like LTCM in 1998, there is little movement toward an investigation and indictments. The most plausible reason is that without these rating agencies, fund managers would have to do real research and they don’t want that responsibility. You still have to believe, however, that if I knew that the rating agencies were complicit with the mortgage bundlers in creating AAA ratings, then these “Masters of the Universe” knew. It is obvious that they were also fairly certain that they would not get into any trouble. I read late last spring, although I can’t remember where, that a manager at one of the rating agencies told his workers that they would all “be rich and retired” before the bubble burst. I also read, but did not bookmark, that when asked about a mortgage rating from Fitch’s, “What will happen if real estate prices go down?” The answer was, “Our models don’t allow for that.”
Finally, what about sharpening our intuition, or as you put it, watching for the tiger? With this, my being a living troglodyte really shows. The most important thing that business people can do now is to limit their debt. Our firm was the only one in our industry that did not factor our receivables. I always thought that running your company on borrowed money made the banker your partner. A partner who did not share your goals and didn’t care about you or your people—truly the tiger. It shows now, when perfectly good companies are having their loans called. Our company’s cash management plan called for using a line of credit in the summer, when sales were expanding and paying it off when sales slowed and receivables caught up at the start of the new year. Another aspect of our company’s cash flow was that all of the bonuses were paid on collections, not sales. The bonuses shrank by half for every 30 days that a debt went unpaid and were zero after 90 days. (Bonuses also made up half of the compensation for all of our salaried people.) This put the people in charge of sales also in charge of collections.
Here is my advice for those who survive this downturn:
o Pay down your debts so that any time you borrow it is for an increase in activities that will generate the additional funds needed to repay the debt and you know exactly when you will repay.
o Discipline your customers to a 30 day or less pay cycle. You are not their banker and you can not afford them as a customer if they think you are. If you have the best service, they will be back.
o Orient your entire work force, especially salespeople, to the idea that the money has to get into the bank before you can use it.
Larry ran a successful staffing firm for many years and he has
been an advocate for special needs employees as well as a delegate
to the White House Conference on Small Business.
The first thing that I feel has often been left out of the discussion is that the people in charge of dealing with this mountain of debt were piloting the plane when it hit the mountain. Yet we put them in charge of raising bigger mountains. It does not make sense to me. Back in the spring of 2008, I heard about the derivatives problem and it was then pegged at $62 tri. (Is that the abbreviation of ‘trillion’?) I cannot comprehend that amount of money as it is over 4 times our Gross Domestic Product. I also never understood derivatives. It seemed to me like a huge gambling program played by the rich.
Now we find that while everybody was watching their chips, the bank vanished.
Back in 1998, there was the unraveling of Long Term Capital Management. I would have thought that regulators would have put some controls in place at that time, but obviously, they didn’t. This is an even further concern since we have had both the republicans and democrats in charge of the regulators since then. Who is watching the regulators?
Does anybody know what will happen when these derivatives do unravel? Who is going to be left holding the bag and how will it be decided?
For some time it has seemed that we have too many insiders in charge of their own industries. The financial melt down just confirms that. Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch’s all have their fingerprints on the mortgage crash. I have to believe that if I could see this crash coming before 2005, when I sold my house, then these people who were paid to know should have known. I smell a rat, but like LTCM in 1998, there is little movement toward an investigation and indictments. The most plausible reason is that without these rating agencies, fund managers would have to do real research and they don’t want that responsibility. You still have to believe, however, that if I knew that the rating agencies were complicit with the mortgage bundlers in creating AAA ratings, then these “Masters of the Universe” knew. It is obvious that they were also fairly certain that they would not get into any trouble. I read late last spring, although I can’t remember where, that a manager at one of the rating agencies told his workers that they would all “be rich and retired” before the bubble burst. I also read, but did not bookmark, that when asked about a mortgage rating from Fitch’s, “What will happen if real estate prices go down?” The answer was, “Our models don’t allow for that.”
Finally, what about sharpening our intuition, or as you put it, watching for the tiger? With this, my being a living troglodyte really shows. The most important thing that business people can do now is to limit their debt. Our firm was the only one in our industry that did not factor our receivables. I always thought that running your company on borrowed money made the banker your partner. A partner who did not share your goals and didn’t care about you or your people—truly the tiger. It shows now, when perfectly good companies are having their loans called. Our company’s cash management plan called for using a line of credit in the summer, when sales were expanding and paying it off when sales slowed and receivables caught up at the start of the new year. Another aspect of our company’s cash flow was that all of the bonuses were paid on collections, not sales. The bonuses shrank by half for every 30 days that a debt went unpaid and were zero after 90 days. (Bonuses also made up half of the compensation for all of our salaried people.) This put the people in charge of sales also in charge of collections.
Here is my advice for those who survive this downturn:
o Pay down your debts so that any time you borrow it is for an increase in activities that will generate the additional funds needed to repay the debt and you know exactly when you will repay.
o Discipline your customers to a 30 day or less pay cycle. You are not their banker and you can not afford them as a customer if they think you are. If you have the best service, they will be back.
o Orient your entire work force, especially salespeople, to the idea that the money has to get into the bank before you can use it.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
A Message to Small Business Owners & Employers from Al Walsh
A Good Word for “Little Consultants”
Options to consider when seeking focused talent.
Consulting has it’s place in the world - “Get in, get the job done, get out!”
The street is awash with large consulting firms. They have their place, but be careful. I was invited a while back to interview with one of these biggies. What an eye-opener! All they cared about was who I knew in the business-world, and how I might parlay those contacts into business for them. They didn’t give a hoot what my business capabilities were. Not a single question about my expertise arose. When I didn’t throw them any big names, their interest faded rapidly. Keep that in mind the next time you’re contemplating using a “biggie” consultant.
Businesses, especially small ones, have a love/hate relationship with consultants. On the one hand, they would love to have focused assistance from time-to-time (assistance that they can utilize and then kick out when the job’s done). On the other hand, they cringe at the thought of paying the fees. The utilization of consultants basically comes down to a cost/benefit trade-off. It’s a circumstance- by- circumstance decision. Consultants are used when there’s a need to supplement internal talent. You small business people have the highest aversion, but you also have the greatest need. Small companies operate with lean teams, thus the knowledge-base is more limited. Small contributions by consultants can reap huge rewards. Your team can use a focused supplement from time to time. Wise use of consultants can be a huge boon.
Which brings me to the main theme of this blog. You have options! There are very capable people out there who are available at very reasonable and negotiable rates, and who provide high-quality work, but don’t get considered either because they aren’t in the “biggie” consulting firms or because they haven’t yet established street name-recognition; which is a laborious and slow process. They’re out there, they’re not hard to find in this electronic age, and very likely they’ve already approached you for work.
Most of these “little consultants” come out of the corporate world, where their prior focus was internal; taking care of business for their employers. They were doing what they were supposed to do; and now they can do the same for you.
If you want some focused help, and you’re having a panic-attack over the potential cost, you need to take the “little consultants” into consideration.
They’re hungry, and they’re highly-motivated to please. If you make a reasonable offer (don’t be too greedy), they’ll “jump through hoops of fire” for you. They’ll want to use you as a reference when they’re done - so they’ll do everything within their power to satisfy you. I’ve known a number of these people over the years. They’re quiet, competent, capable folks who are focused on providing quality service. Unless you’re hiring a sales consultant, do you really want one who’s main focus is on selling?
Most business people with any experience can sniff out a “BS-er” pretty quickly, so interview your consulting candidate and feel them out. You’ll be able to tell pretty quickly whether or not they know their stuff.
Your aversion to consultants will change once you tap the “hidden” talent that’s out there. Give the “little consultants” a chance.
Al Walsh is a Los Angeles area "Unrepentant Capitalist"
CAREER ROLES:~ CEO - V.P. - CFO - COO - Entrepreneur~ Executive Committee & Board Member~ Partner and Advisor to CEO's, COO's & Boards~ Multi-Disciplined Consultant & Contractor
Options to consider when seeking focused talent.
Consulting has it’s place in the world - “Get in, get the job done, get out!”
The street is awash with large consulting firms. They have their place, but be careful. I was invited a while back to interview with one of these biggies. What an eye-opener! All they cared about was who I knew in the business-world, and how I might parlay those contacts into business for them. They didn’t give a hoot what my business capabilities were. Not a single question about my expertise arose. When I didn’t throw them any big names, their interest faded rapidly. Keep that in mind the next time you’re contemplating using a “biggie” consultant.
Businesses, especially small ones, have a love/hate relationship with consultants. On the one hand, they would love to have focused assistance from time-to-time (assistance that they can utilize and then kick out when the job’s done). On the other hand, they cringe at the thought of paying the fees. The utilization of consultants basically comes down to a cost/benefit trade-off. It’s a circumstance- by- circumstance decision. Consultants are used when there’s a need to supplement internal talent. You small business people have the highest aversion, but you also have the greatest need. Small companies operate with lean teams, thus the knowledge-base is more limited. Small contributions by consultants can reap huge rewards. Your team can use a focused supplement from time to time. Wise use of consultants can be a huge boon.
Which brings me to the main theme of this blog. You have options! There are very capable people out there who are available at very reasonable and negotiable rates, and who provide high-quality work, but don’t get considered either because they aren’t in the “biggie” consulting firms or because they haven’t yet established street name-recognition; which is a laborious and slow process. They’re out there, they’re not hard to find in this electronic age, and very likely they’ve already approached you for work.
Most of these “little consultants” come out of the corporate world, where their prior focus was internal; taking care of business for their employers. They were doing what they were supposed to do; and now they can do the same for you.
If you want some focused help, and you’re having a panic-attack over the potential cost, you need to take the “little consultants” into consideration.
They’re hungry, and they’re highly-motivated to please. If you make a reasonable offer (don’t be too greedy), they’ll “jump through hoops of fire” for you. They’ll want to use you as a reference when they’re done - so they’ll do everything within their power to satisfy you. I’ve known a number of these people over the years. They’re quiet, competent, capable folks who are focused on providing quality service. Unless you’re hiring a sales consultant, do you really want one who’s main focus is on selling?
Most business people with any experience can sniff out a “BS-er” pretty quickly, so interview your consulting candidate and feel them out. You’ll be able to tell pretty quickly whether or not they know their stuff.
Your aversion to consultants will change once you tap the “hidden” talent that’s out there. Give the “little consultants” a chance.
Al Walsh is a Los Angeles area "Unrepentant Capitalist"
CAREER ROLES:~ CEO - V.P. - CFO - COO - Entrepreneur~ Executive Committee & Board Member~ Partner and Advisor to CEO's, COO's & Boards~ Multi-Disciplined Consultant & Contractor
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Anand Subramaniam Suggests Creativity and Radical Product Innovation in 2009
When, where, why etc and finally how does a firm manage new product development, innovation, create blue ocean strategies and ensure success from the whole process.. well it depends !!.
At present, I am consulting for an organisation in Asia and here is the framework / roadmap I am using.
1. Organizing for product development (PD)
2. Knowledge Management in PD
3. Product development strategy and performance
4. Leadership and creativity in PD
5. Creativity and Design Management and Business Performance
6. . Product development in a global context
7. Networks and alliances in PD
8. Radical product innovation
9. Product development process
10. Product development in services and software
11. Marketing, users and product development
12. Entrepreneurship and PD
At present, I am consulting for an organisation in Asia and here is the framework / roadmap I am using.
1. Organizing for product development (PD)
2. Knowledge Management in PD
3. Product development strategy and performance
4. Leadership and creativity in PD
5. Creativity and Design Management and Business Performance
6. . Product development in a global context
7. Networks and alliances in PD
8. Radical product innovation
9. Product development process
10. Product development in services and software
11. Marketing, users and product development
12. Entrepreneurship and PD
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