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A Woman’s Perspective On Building A Business

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Yes, this is the new home of Business Performance Coaching of sbishere.com Thanks for visiting!

This Business Week article draws distinctions about women and how they build businesses. I think the observations are valid based on my own coaching experience but it is not just women who are starting a business because they want control over their lifestyle, wanting more freedom, flexibility, and control.

For example, they [women] manage growth so that they have more freedom, work three to four days a week, or choose not to have employees added to their responsibility of having a family at home. Or they might not borrow a large amount of money and instead grow their business slowly and organically—in many cases, on purpose. Via Rethinking How Women Build Businesses

Perhaps it’s my unique perspective as a business coaching practitioner. The women I have known in business have always been more focused on their roles (wife, mother, entrepreneur) and responsibilities and building a business to garner more flexibility than a traditional job.

Women Are Pragmatic and Tenacious Visionaries

I absolutely find it a joy to coach women in business. They always have a clear vision of the results they want and are naturally pragmatic.

Men Tend To Dream of the Possibilities

I am seeing more men beginning to think about lifestyle control and options when building a business. In my experience men are the dreamers and less pragmatic than women.

I am not saying that the way women approach business is better than the way men develop a business - it is just different. Just like anything, there are always exceptions to every assumption.

I have to say that men could take a page from the womens’ playbook - being more pragmatic - and it would be very potent and powerful combination. Just think about it, dreamer, possibilities, pragmatic visionary.

Sincerely,

Greg Balanko-Dickson

Live Large! Because you deserve the best out of life.

Small Business Wake Up Call? Odds are Better in Las Vegas!

I have been thinking a lot lately about business metrics and how we entrepreneurs measure business success. I have been writing online since 1998 and generally consider myself to be relatively successful online. In the last month or so I have started to look at all my activities more objectively. Specifically, I have been asking myself:

“What has been the Return-on-Investment (ROI) of all my marketing and sales activities?”

What I did not expect was that my mind set toward this topic needed a reboot, system re-install, and attitude adjustment.

Addicted to (Mostly) Meaningless Statistics

I discovered that the interactive nature of blogs and the plethora of online social media tools had lured me into the online ‘conversation(s)’ and slowly began to measure my success by simply being involved in the ‘conversation’.

This started a dangerous tendency toward counting blog comments, subscribers, and visitors i.e. (mostly meaningless) blog and web site statistics as an success indicator.

Subsequently, I have decided that I need to apply more practical and meaningful business success metrics. For example, I am thinking about tracking new customers, serious sales leads, or new revenue as meaningful business success metrics.

Online Businesses Need to Use More Stringent Business Success Metrics

I feel a bit sheepish admitting to my lapse of applying more practical, stringent, and revenue generating metrics (i.e. statistics) to monitor the effectiveness of my marketing and sales activities. Then I remembered this post titled It’s Time to Stop Surviving and Start Thriving, an except:

The Greatest Risk of Business Failure Lies Between Years Two to Four… there is more risk to the owner of a business between the years of two to four than a startup… 38% of those who made it past the second year, closed by the end of the fourth year… we cannot ignore the reality that after six years 62% of the businesses that started six years earlier ceased to exist.

The Odds are Better in Las Vegas

A 38% chance of succeeding in business past the sixth year is not that great. In some cases entrepreneurs would be better off taking their chances in Las Vegas. In his book, Jump Start Your Business Brain, Doug Hall shares the probability of winning a game in Vegas:

• Slots: 32%
• Horse Racing 41%
• Blackjack (as usually player) 45%
• Roulette 47%
• Blackjack (perfect strategy and card counting) 50%

He goes onto to say that 68% of the people who gamble play the slots, which have the lowest probability of winning. Doh! Via It’s Time to Stop Surviving and Start Thriving

Didn’t Realize I was such a Gambler

If horse racing, blackjack, and roulette yield better odds than starting and owning a business for six years, I think it is time we entrepreneurs wake up and get real. Start measuring all marketing and sales activities using better measurements:

• Ratio of Dollars Generated compared to amount invested.
• Value of time invested in versus the profit created.
• Number of new customers by type of marketing and sales activity.

I am sure there are other measures and key performance indicators, but this would be a good place to start. In my case, I discovered that my best ROI was generated by:

• E-Mail Newsletter, which I mistakingly discontinued a few years back.
• Podcast, again something I stopped doing.
• Referrals, fortunately, my clients still love me and referrals are priceless.

I gave myself a kick in the ass and am in the midst make small incremental changes to restore those previously successful and profitable strategies. Here is my question for you:

“What are you doing to correct your falsely held belief, assumptions, and flawed tactics that are not generating profitable, measurable results?”

The Secret to Business Success: Diligence

Everyone enters into self employment for different reasons. It is a tough but rewarding road to travel. There are numerous challenges along the way. If you have ever written a business plan or run a business for a long time, you know there are days that are just plain depressing. Do not lose heart! There is light at the end of the tunnel. In the meantime, you will need a full measure of entrepreneurial strength and diligence.

The Merriam - Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary states that diligence is the attention and care legally expected or required of a person (as a party to a contract)

No doubt you will enter into a number of contracts over the life of your business, so this is an important concept. I have to admit that there are days when I do not ‘feel diligent’ and it is tempting to take a short cut. I have found that the shortcuts are really the longest trips, sometimes.

The above definition states ‘the attention and care legally expected or required’ which infers compliance with a set of standards of corporate behavior. Here is a short list of areas that have an expectation of diligence from business owners: Read more

Update: Dramatic Shift In The Make Up of Small Businesses

I have written a lot about demographics and yet I still find that I am making observations and drawing distinctions and today is no different.

20 Million Solo-Entrepreneurs

Perhaps I am a bit late coming to the solo-entrepreneur party, nonetheless the shift to single person businesses is significant. Read more

Seth Godin: Remarkableness

Everyone should listen to this. Seth is brilliant because he agrees with me.

For a decade I have said your customer does nor care about you!

You have everything you need to succeed in business! Yes, That Means You!

You might be thinking - you do not even know me, my history, or who I am!? How can you possibly claim such a bold statement?

Yes, we each look, act, and think differently. I can say this because I know myself and in truth we are not that much different. I know you can succeed because you were born with the very innate abilities, capabilities, capacity, and power to succeed. Yes.

You can have, be, and do anything.

Right this moment - I know that you know - how to succeed because you have been successful before. You have manifested or created something you wanted - from thin air. Read more

Gaining a Foothold: Patience, Pesistence, and Commitment

In an entrepreneurial landscape where people write books with titles like Instant Income, Millionaire Mind, and You Will Make Money While You Sleep is the story of a husband and wife team that did it slowly.

“It takes a long time to gain a foothold. We worked for 3 years without a salary, and eight years until the company had a positive net worth.” That patience has paid off, thanks to calculated risk, trust, and a mother’s fabulous recipe. Via A Brownie Fairytale

It is a great story that illustrates how important a strong vision, long-term business plan, and belief in a product - the difference it makes to the success of business. I can just imagine telling their family that they have plans to build a business around Grandma’s brownie recipe, uh huh.

What would you have said to them? Would you have thought they were nuts? Think about it, how many brownies do you have to sell just to pay the bills?

What do you think makes the difference and allows someone to build a business around a brownie?

SCORE Small Business Resources

Business Opportunities Weblog pointed me to new Online Resources for Entrepreneurs.

These added sections offer valuable information, tips and interactive workshops to help small business owners achieve success. Technology for Your Business, Learn Online, and Disaster Prep and Relief.

Business Myth Busted: Starting a Franchise is Safer Than Starting Your Own

This just might wake you up. Michael Gerber the guru of the Turn-Key Revolution wrote a book, The E-Myth Revisited. On page 8 of his book he states:

“…according to studies conducted by the U.S. Commerce Department from 1971 to 1987, less than 5 percent of franchises have been terminated on an annual basis, or 25 percent in five years.

Compare that statistic to more than 80-percent failure rate of independently owned business, and you immediately understand the power of the Turn-Key Revolution in our economy, and the contribution that the Business Format Franchise has made to it and the future success of your business.” Page 8, The E-Myth Revisted.

Today a client pointed me to an article at CNN Money titled Risk/Reward: Executives who think it’s safer to buy a franchise than start a business need to think again. That got my attention, look at these findings:

“Anyone looking for reliable data on failure rates of individual franchise units faces a tough challenge, because the franchise industry uses a weird definition of “failure.” Consider: If your business sank so deeply into the red that you were forced to give up on it and eat your losses, wouldn’t you call that a failure? Most would…

When a franchisee doesn’t prosper–indeed, loses his shirt–what usually happens is that the franchisor simply takes back the unit (without reimbursing the hapless franchisee one dime) and sells it to somebody else.

As long as the shop doesn’t close its doors, it isn’t a “failure” as the International Franchise Association defines the word. That is why, when asked for the failure rate of franchised businesses, the IFA says it is 5% a year. Wow! Just 5%! Sounds as if making money on a franchise is practically a sure thing!

Time for a reality check: The scant research that exists suggests that, as risky as starting an independent business is, buying a franchise is an even bigger roll of the dice. In the early ’90s Timothy Bates, a professor at Wayne State University, studied Census Bureau data on 20,000 new enterprises and found that 38% of franchise units failed over a four-year period, vs. 32% of independent startups. In some industries the gap was much greater. In retailing, for instance, 45% of franchised units lasted less than four years, while just 23% of independent retail stores flopped. Via Risk/Reward

Another Insight

The article at CNN makes another great point. Apparently, Bates calculated his statistics on business failures the same way the IFA does - so if you took out the number of franchisees who gave back the franchise (and lost their shirt) to the franchisor - the failure of franchises would be even worse.

Implication: Going It Alone Just Might Be Safer

I highly recommend that you read the article because it really lays it out quite well.

“buying a franchise too often ensnares would-be entrepreneurs in the worst of both worlds: You get all the financial exposure, headaches, and stress of business ownership–but someone else collects royalties on every nickel that comes through the door, not to mention fees for marketing, fees for this, fees for that, more fees for anything you can imagine (and some stuff you can’t); and all the while, the franchisor dictates virtually every detail of what you can do, including what kinds of signs you can put up, how you price your wares, how much overtime you can pay your employees, and who’ll be your suppliers. Violate the agreement, even in some tiny particular, and the franchisor can–and often will–snatch your franchise back.” Via Risk/Reward

Ouch! How’s that for stickin’ it to the man?

Statistics Prove What Entrepreneurs Have Always Known

Most entrepreneurs I know would rather take a risk on themselves than get locked up in a franchise that controls your every move - plus it is less risky - this is big news!

Plus it confirms the trend of the last decade - the number of new startups in Canada and the US have grown substantially. As I wrote in Chapter 23 of my book, Tips and Traps for Writing an Effective Business Plan:

In the last eight years entrepreneurial activity in the United States has grown from 7,200,770 businesses to 20,038,163 (according to the 2000 census). A 2005 study by Frank N. Magid Associates found that 76 percent of small business stated that they wanted to grow their businesses significantly. In Canada the number of self-employed persons has doubled since 1976 to 2,412,700 (Statistics Canada, January 2004.) The trend is clear: self-employment and small business is well entrenched in North America and growing strong.

Be Careful Buying a Franchise

Obviously, you need to proceed very carefully when buying a franchise or buying a business. I think this news will be encouraging to many entrepreneurs.

Always use caution when using statistics to justify a business decision. Statistics should not replace common sense, a good business plan, or your experience.

When you come right down to it, the major factor in the success of your business is - you!

Beyond the Dream…

I read this quote and could really relate to it. So simple and profound.

“The trouble for most people is they don’t decide to get wealthy, they just dream about it.” - Michael Masterson

Dreaming and thinking about being wealthy or anything else for that matter, will not move you closer to the goal.

I have to decide to go “get it”. Answer and act upon these questions:

• What have you been thinking or dreaming about?
• Have you made up your mind to actually do something about it?
• What could you do today to demonstrate that you have decided to get wealthy?
• Have you been thinking about…. Getting fit? Spending more time with your family? Working less?
• Who can you share your decision with and provide you with positive support and feedback?

Whatever your dream, move from thinking and dreaming and make decision to become it, or as the Nike commercial says “Just do it.”

Dreams are great. Just remember to shift out of dream mode and actually do something, make a decision, and take action. Then you will have moved “beyond the dream”.

Congratulations!

Live Large!

Good Business Decisions and Have More Fun

I have always been amazed how easy it is to make really good, bad decisions:

• Business Decision: Can you let go of the good things?: I was thinking about how easy it is to make really quick decisions that can turn out to be not so good.

What is one decision I made recently which at the time seemed like a good decision, but turned out to be a really good example of a bad decision?

I found out when this happens to me, it is often because I am so personally invested in the outcome (something I really want) that I cannot see the traps and distraction.

Sometimes, I just need to lighten up:

• 13 Ways To Have More Fun And Get Things Done!: Here are thirteen suggestions on how you can have more fun AND get more done.

How about you? When was the last time you had a lot of fun?

Are You an Alpha Mom?

Is the term Alpha Mom endearing or insulting to you Moms out there? In an interview in USA Today, the originator of the ‘Alpha Mom’ term was interviewed:

There may be moments in Constance Van Flandern’s day when she’s got a BlackBerry in one hand and one of her two kids in the other.

That is her Alpha Mom moment. She ought to know: She created the label to describe moms such as herself. Via USA Today

What I find ironic is that the USA Today article was written by a male reporter (Bruce Horovitz). Just a small, tiny disconnect with the content of the article they wrote. Were no women reporters available? Gimme a break. How does that make you feel ladies?

In my world, multi-tasking Moms is not news.

The female entrepreneurs I have met always had great influence on their families buying decisions, are strong role models, and yes they can hold a Blackberry and a child at the same time.

Personally, I was surprised that USA Today would use this type of an anecdote:

Among the first big marketers to chase Alpha Moms: video game company Nintendo, which is trying to expand its market beyond hard-core gamers. Via USA Today

Marketers have always been cognisant of the fact that Mom’s have a great deal of influence on the buying preferences and decisions of their families. Is this now coming forward because someone created a label?

What do you think Moms? Is this term endearing, sexist, or just a sign of the times?

Eight Deadly Sins of Self Employment & Business Startup Assistant

So today on the menu for your small business edification I have…

• Eight Deadly Sins Of Self-Employment, Or Would You Hire You?: How is it that a reliable, hard-working and experienced employee can, as an owner, become your company’s greatest liability?
• Canada Business Startup Assistant: This list will provide you with links to both Federal and Provincial startup business resources available online. So don’t be surprised when you click a link and it asks you to choose a province before forwarding you to the right page.

If you are starting a Canadian business follow the Canada Business Startup Assistant for links to 100’s of government business resources and information online. If you feel like you are loosing your edge, take a look to see if you are committing any of these Eight Deadly Sins Of Self-Employment.

Live Large!

Starting a Business and Most Important Part of a Business Plan

I keep forgetting to link to my blog posts on SmallBizUnplugged and BizPlanHacks, Doh! Here you go:

• The Most Important Part of The Business Plan
• Staring a business? How to Find Out How Marketable Your Company, Product Or Service Actually Is

I will try to remember and create this post everyday. I wish there was a more automated way to do this, by inserting an RSS feed but it borks and does not display properly and is inconsistent as these blogs are using the typepad/six-apart application. I cannot figure out why it is borked and have better things to do with my time.

Anyone know of a easier way than inserting an RSS feed of posts? Enjoy!

Live Large!

Study: No Link Between Charisma and Business Performance

A University of Pittsburg study of 128 CEO’s found no correleation between charisma and business performance.

How’s that for a counterintuitive fact?

There is hope for the geeks, quiet spoken, and introspective business owners. Hurray!

Reach Your Goal: Get clear, create clarity, and know what problem you want to solve.

From one of the world’s wealthiest and least known men. Alas, he is no longer with us.

“To solve a problem or to reach a goal, you don’t need to know all the answers in advance. But you must have a clear idea of the problem or the goal you want to reach.” - W. Clement Stone

Stone “In 1960, Stone teamed up with Napoleon Hill to author Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude” and then by himself, wrote the The Success System That Never Fails.

I can still get Stone to mentor me, I just added that book to my Amazon cart and by reading that book I can get his help.

So can you, if you will.

Live Large!

The Other E Myths

I have always been quite awed by the writings of Dave Pollard, in The Other E Myths, Dave once again makes great observations. He puts into words my own thoughts about Michael Gerbers E-Myth.

Dave makes mention of Natural Enterprise as an alternative to Gerbers approach. I will have to read more of Dave’s work over the last three years and Natural Enterprise.

I think I should look up Dave and say hello because I have developed a similar approach in helping my clients develop an authentic/organic approach to business growth. Plus he seems like a cool Canadian.

If you are looking for a different approach to developing and growing your business and have time to read Dave’s seminal works, you will get a bunch of ideas and learn a bunch at the same time.

Live Large!

I’m Hero, Are You?

I started playing around with entrepreneurship since the age of 21. I always knew I would be in business, it just took me decades to sort out what I wanted to be when I grew up.

Being an entrepreneur was not encouraged despite the fact that my father and grandfather were both entrepreneurs.

I am noticing that entrepreneurship is becoming cache’ and getting an unusual amount of good press.

Entrepreneurs are the Heroes of the World

I did not say it, that comes from Cato’s Letter:

The amazing fact is that entrepreneurs and innovators and businesses have turned luxuries that not even kings could afford into low-priced everyday items at you local store. That is the best defense of capitalism. Via The Entrepreneurial Mind

Just look around at the health, the wealth, the technologies, the opportunities, and the food on your plates. Could any of that have been possible for a king or a queen 200 years ago?

Entrepreneurs are the heros of ur world. Despite the risks, the hard work, the hostility from society, the envy from neighbors, and state regulations, they keep on creating, they keep on producing and trading. Without them nothing would be there. Via PDF Cato’s Letter

There is just way to many great quotes to include them all here, download the right page PDF and read it for yourself.

Be advised that the Cato Institure is a Libertarian, non-profit public policy research foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C.

The content is great, albeit self-serving essay on the value that entrepreneurship brings to society and I am a proud entrepreneur? Are you?

Let’s Hear it for the Entrepreneurs

Back on February 7th I saw this trailer and then my buddy Andrew reminded when he wrote about it in Entrepreneurship and it’s Real Value and pulled these quotes from the trailer:

“Without the entrepreneur, economies are barren. They are dead.”? George Gilder, Author of Wealth and Poverty.

“I learned risk without knowing it is risk. Taking risk is actually dashing into hope. You’re just dashing into the future and hoping that it’s going to be better.”? Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong entrepreneur.

“You put your butt in the corner, you’d be surprised what you can achieve.” Brad Morgan, Morgan Composting.

“Sometimes they’re the most common resources that we walk over, that we ignore, that we even are perhaps repulsed by, that become the source of wealth, the source of jobs, the source of prosperity.” Rev. Sirico, President of the Acton Institute.

There is no question that the people who put it together know what they are doing as far as movie production.

I went back to view the trailer again and remembered why I liked the movie - it states in a clear and succinct way the value that entrepreneurship brings to the world.

Then I remembered what made me cautious - it is produced by Action Media which appears to be part of the “Action Institute - For The Study of Religion and Liberty.”

My Personal Viewpoint

The trailer itself and the concepts presented therein seem sound enough but I run the other way when people mix business and organized religion. This is my personal viewpoint and you are welcome to disagree with me - I have seen numerous good people attempt to mix their religion and business. Unfortunately every one that I knew, failed.

View the Trailer and Decide for Yourself

I invite you to view the trailer and do your own research on the Action Institute and decide for yourself. I invite debate and discussion on the issue of business and religion.

Just remember, I stated my position up front, please do the same if you decide to comment and step into the discussion.

The trailer makes some great points about the value of entrepreneurship.

Live Large!

Greg Balanko-Dickson

Just Four Steps to Success, Scary

I heard a story about an Australian entrepreneur who once lived on the streets and yet became a multimillionaire. I do not remember his name, however I do remember his story.

A reporter asked him to what he attributed his success.

His answer, “Living on the streets,” he went on to explain you learn to adapt quickly. One day he decided to live his life based upon four simple principles. Every day he would examine his activity in the context of these four principles. They are:

1. Did I keep it simple today?
2. Did I have a sense of desperation?
3. Did I solve any problems today?
4. Was today profitable?

He would then score himself a maximum of 25 points for each of the four areas. The combined total would allow him to track his progress, monitor his attitude and set up steps for tomorrow to improve. I like to think that he always felt hopeful, even in the most stressful and bleak times. Because he always had a plan and was always moving forward.

To me these four simple steps are both simple and profound.

In our culture the word ‘desperation’ has a negative connotation that implies failure. His point was that he learned how to make desperation work for him. A sense of extreme urgency. A very great need to accomplish something.

What would happen if every day, you used these four principles to measure yourself?

Soon, it wouldn’t matter what other people thought or said. Because you would be crystal clear who you are, why you do what you do and whether or not you made any progress and what you are going to do to improve. This level of accountability is significant. It is not for the faint of heart.

I Have Learned to Beware of My Own Self-Induced Fog

I feel uncomfortable with using this approach when I am more interested in staying in my own self induced fog and having my own pity party.

They have also been very instrumental in helping me get moving. I am confident that if you live by these four principles, honestly, you will grow and become more than you are today. Isn’t that neat?

Live Large!

Greg Balanko-Dickson, LPBC

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