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Tips for Finding the Right Community
One of the best parts about becoming a business owner is the “freedom”. We take the leap of faith with dreams of flexible work schedules, executive decisions, self-dictated income and freedom from the shackles of reporting for duty at someone else’s beck and call. The only thing we think we’ll miss is the steady paycheck and the group health insurance. But what many will find after a period of time is that the days are typically longer, pay is lower, less steady and freedom has its price. This is normal when you’re a start-up.
What many of us don’t anticipate is how little we appreciated the interaction with peers – the sense of community that comes with being a member of something bigger with other people. Sole-ownership can lead to the sense of living on an island and as humans and specifically women, we are inherently social beings. Business ownership can be counter-intuitive to what makes us feel connected.
So where should you begin to find your tribe? As business owners, we’re chiefs of our own tribes, to find a group to belong to is the exact opposite of business ownership. But as members of a community, it’s critical that we play both leader in our own domains as well as team player in the big community sandbox. As a woman does it make more sense to join a local chamber of commerce or a women’s business organization? What about the multiple women’s networking or peer groups? The options for women are endless and every day there’s a new group of women, matrons, mavens, ladies, broads, you name it – they’re out there.
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August 14, 2009
Turn Risk into Opportunity
Close your eyes and picture a risk. Is the picture in your mind’s eye a danger or an opportunity? Few of us realize that risk is not necessarily something bad, and in fact can lead to something wonderful. Another common misconception about risk is that it is all or nothing. Either you can control all of the outcomes of a decision or you can control none of them.
For budding entrepreneurs or early-stage enterprise leaders, this misconception can be paralyzing. Yet the most effective leaders are those that embrace risk and manage it towards the most positive outcome.
In truth, the knowledge and control you have over the factors included in risk are always on a spectrum. Especially in these times of economic upheaval, the degree to which you can know and control all that is knowable and controllable depends on the tools you have available at the time of decision making. And the knowledge you have will never be complete because no one, you included:
- Knows the future except in hindsight.
- Can ever know everything because everything and anything is subject to change without notice.
- Has enough time to identify and evaluate all options and choices.
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July 31, 2009
Follow Your Dreams, Get Business Advice
At SCORE I meet with many women who are thinking of going into business. I recently met with a woman who wanted to open a bakery because everyone loved her cookies. She was newly divorced, had a chunk of cash and dreamed of opening a bakery. “My friends and family all love my cookies and my recipes are special.” She had no business background and knew nothing about running a business. I asked if she had ever worked in a bakery. No,but she often went to a little French bakery near her home. Asking if she had researched the cost of opening a bakery (a sneaky way to start talking about the business plan) she said “no”, but she had a substantial chunk of cash. When I asked if she knew the hours involved in running a business her face lit up as she said she needs little sleep. This was a trick question on my part as I knew she had not experienced the hard labor involved in running a bakery.
Bottom line, I suggested she go to our SCORE all day workshop on how to start your own business and to spend 6 months working in a bakery learning the trade of running a bakery. With that she explained that she had come to be supported in her dream and that I didn’t understand her plan. Needless to say, she was not one of my repeat SCORE clients. Two parts to any business: the art or craft of the business (how to bake) and and the art of running a business (business experience or know how). Unfortunately, she had neither and was not willing to learn. Before you open a business take inventory of your skills and use SCORE to help with the art of running a business. What is your story about starting your business? You can learn the hard way, but why? Come see SCORE. That is why we are here.
Betty Otte, SCORE Orange County
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July 28, 2009
Successful Business Growth in Tough Times
The business world can learn a lot from gardeners. Gardeners are masters at nurturing growth. They know when to plant a seed to ensure the external environment is ripe for new opportunity. They know how to care for the emerging organism so it begins to grow and withstand challenging conditions. They know when to prune, often cutting out the strongest branches to enable sunlight in to foster more growth that better fits the environment. And they know that they must step back at times, assess their progress, and identify things that inhibit the organism from reaching its full growth potential.
CEOs also need to periodically take stock of their employees to ensure that growth is possible. Times of turbulence offer companies the opportunity to look at their talent pool and identify what the company needs to achieve its future goals. If your future goal is to become the leading supplier of the latest technology widgit, for example, ask yourself if your current employees have the right technical skills to achieve new innovations in widgitry? Does your management team have the strategic vision to both identify and pursue new widget markets as well as to help expand the current ones?
If the answer is yes, then the question you now need to ask is what can I do to help my employees continue to be their best? The reason that continued investment in your people is so critical is that the talent wars continue to survive and thrive. If you don’t invest in keeping your human assets and building upon their strengths, you can be sure your competitors will invest in recruiting them.
If your answer is no–you don’t have the right employees to help you grow into the future. Now is the time for you to make adjustments to your bench.
Even the strongest performers can’t help you achieve your company’s goals if their strengths are not in the areas your future organization needs. Often, this is a very difficult decision for leaders. Most emerging organizations tend to hire for the skills needed at this very moment. And many founders develop strong loyalties to those who were there “from the beginning.” When the organization moves forward or in a different direction, leaders may fail to make the needed talent changes. This can be detrimental to your organization. And it may be a disservice to those valued employees whose skills were right at one point in time, but who may not reach their full potential because they’re no longer a fit at your company.
If your strong performers can help drive the company into the future, be sure to invest in them. If they cannot, or their expertise lies in an area your future organization doesn’t need, take a cue from the gardeners. Prune systematically and fully with a vision of the future. Help your root-bound talent replant in an environment that will nurture their growth. And provide the necessary nutrients to foster the growth in your own organization to achieve its full growth potential.
Elaine Eisenman, Guest Blogger
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July 24, 2009
Be Proactive, Find Business Oppurtunities
I’ve always wondered why anyone would want to “keep their nose to the grindstone.” Taken either literally or figuratively, it’s a dangerous thing to do.
While the literal danger is easy enough to figure out, the figurative may need some explaining.
In times of challenges, companies are often guided to go back to the basics; “keep their heads down” and focus on the here and now. While doing the one thing you do best, and doing it better than anyone else, seems to make sense, it’s also a great way to miss out on both opportunities and new competitors.
That’s because the phrase “turbulent times” doesn’t translate into “everything is standing still.” Your savvy competitors are probably very busy. They’re looking for opportunities being driven by the changes happening in the marketplace. They’re looking for ways to innovate, leap frog, if not eliminate, the industry leaders, and perhaps even change the industry all together.
One great example of not standing still is Ray Anderson, the founder and former CEO of Interface Carpets. Preparing for a motivational speech on the company’s approach to the environment, Ray realized the most he could say for what his carpet company was doing was “following the law.”
Instead of accepting that as acceptable, he started to look for different ways of doing things. What he found was his own passion to change how things were done, a passion that ultimately led to becoming a pioneer in the industry. A pioneer that created the industry of the green office, streamlined its costs, increased customer loyalty, and jump-started employee morale.
Well ahead of regulations and his competitors, Ray implemented strategies for waste reduction, recycling, and energy efficiency. And in the process his sales went up 49 percent and he created a new benchmark for his competitors.
I recommend companies continually scan their environment for opportunities. Turbulent times bring unique challenges that can become industry-changing innovations if you remember to keep your head up and constantly look and think about what is not only in front of you, but also on either side and coming up behind! After all, keeping your nose to the grindstone, simply results in a disfigured nose…
Elaine Eisenman, Guest Blogger
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July 17, 2009
The Value of a Positive Attitude
The other day I was reading an article about ridding yourself of the negative voices in your head. We have all read such articles — “I don’t deserve this or that,” “I’ll never be as pretty as my friend” and other such self defacing thoughts. I had many sales women on my sales team who came on as, what I called, shooting stars. They sold everything in sight only to drop from the heavens a month or so later. This being an example of “I don’t deserve to be successful, rich, good….” Pick your poison.
Then shortly after reading the article I was talking to a woman at SCORE who’s company was going through bad times. We went through the standard routine of cutting back payables, collecting receivables, etc. but I noticed she was doing this with a very positive attitude. I was a bit surprised as many clients we now see at SCORE are very serious and worried. I asked how she was able to go through this difficult time for her company and maintain her positive attitude. Her answer: “I have a Happiness Filter which filters out negative thoughts.” Never thought of negative thoughts being blocked by a Happiness Filter and loved the concept. Was she being unrealistic and a bit Pollyannaish? I don’t think so as she had a good handle on what needed to be done, but she used her Happiness Filter to keep her moral and productivity up. Seemed like a great idea to me. Do any of you have a Happiness Filter? I’m working on keeping mine in 24 hour operation. No more bad dreams day or night for me!
How is your Happiness Filter doing?
Betty Otte, SCORE Orange County
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July 14, 2009
Nominate Yourself Today
BusinessWeek presents the fifth annual “Best U.S. Entrepreneurs 25 and Under” contest. The goal is to identify companies that both demonstrate a clear potential for growth and establish the talent of the young folks behind them.
The 25 best companies will be featured on the Small Business Channel on October 9 and viewers will be able to vote for their favorite. The top five most voted companies will be announced November 9. All company co-founders must be 25 or under to qualify for. Nominate yourself today.
Entry Deadline: August 16, 2009
SCORE Association
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July 13, 2009
Adjust for Changing Times
One of the most difficult aspects of leadership in times of uncertainty is to not only adjust to new realities yourself, but to get your entire organization to as well.
Uncertainty comes about because of change. And the world is going through tremendous change right now. What happens next is anyone’s guess, but it is widely accepted that we will not be going back to business as we knew it. Capital markets are clamping shut. Regulations on industries and companies are becoming stricter. And companies that don’t adjust, won’t survive. That’s reality.
But it is also an opportunity. Companies and their CEOs need to be realistic about the changes they need to make today to play in the business world of tomorrow. No matter how hard you wish for things to fall into place, that wish will not come true. The only possibility for success is for you to take control of all that you can control. If access to capital was part of your short-term strategy, what changes can you make to be less dependent on external funding? What product changes will you need to make to adhere to future, stricter environmental regulations?
Being realistic now will allow you to be proactive, which in turn will make it that much easier to emerge stronger from the current turbulence and ready to face the future…successfully.
Elaine Eisenman, Guest Blogger
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July 10, 2009
Motivation Tips for CEOs
While Helen of Troy’s face launched a thousand ships, it’s your face, as CEO, that’s capable of launching a thousand anxieties. Especially in times like these, your employees are looking to you for clues. In the absence of direction from you, they will piece together theories and those theories will always tend toward the negative.
I’m often asked about the advice I give to CEOs for leading in times of uncertainty. Whether the organization is large or just emerging, the advice I give is the same:
- Communicate: Early and often
- Motivate: Be the organization’s cheerleader
- Deal: Be realistic and honest
Communicate: In the Absence of Information, Theories & Conspiracies Abound
During times of uncertainty or turbulence, the CEO’s role is to minimize that uncertainty as much as possible. This means being as open and honest as possible about what you know and don’t know. And being equally transparent about what you can say and what you can’t. Nothing fuels anxiety as much as a multitude of closed door meetings and sudden changes in the ways things are done. But veiled information as well as information shared prematurely, damages trust. Once shaken, trust is not something a CEO can regain quickly or even completely.
Motivate: Make C-E-O Stand for Chief Energizing Officer
Have you noticed that the first word your employees think after you say “cost containment” is “layoffs?” Even the mere thought of layoffs kills morale and halts productivity to a point where layoffs may become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Instead, encourage and motivate your team to find ways to make your organization stronger right now. Engage them in problem-solving on how best to insure your company’s ongoing competitive strength. Ask for good ideas to identify unnecessary costs and new ways to delight customers. Being an active part of the solution is a double win for you—you’ll strengthen the organization and keep employees thinking in a positive direction.
Don’t forget about your own motivation and demeanor as well. Our bodies are remarkable conduits of stress. If tension, anxiety, or angst emanate from you, it will be absorbed by your employees.
Elaine Eisenman, Guest Blogger
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July 3, 2009
For Legal Issues, Always Hire an Expert.
In the long run it takes an attorney less time to research the issue as they deal with these issues daily. If you do not know a lawyer who specializes in the legal issue you need help with contact the local Bar Association for a referral. In most cases you will get a free hour of consultation so that you can determine if the lawyer can help you and if you have a comfort level.
- Always interview more than one lawyer for any case.
- Always get a price for services in advance and always cap legal fees if possible.
- Never pay a retainer unless absolutely necessary.
- If possible get legal services on a contingency basis.
Always know that if the lawyer wins or loses he/she gets paid. Each situation is different do your homework and understand all the options that you have.
Wishing you business success!
Julie Brander, New Haven SCORE
View posts by Julie Brander
June 4, 2009
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