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Why Independent Businesses Must Do More Than Donate

October 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Next month, it will be four years since I became the Business Liaison Chair for Responsible Growth for Northcross (RG4N).

I chose to get involved because I am a business owner, a small business activist and I live and work in the area.

Last night was the VIP opening of the more neighborhood-sized WalMart on Anderson Lane in Austin, Texas. The RG4N board was invited and several of us went including the original President, Paige Hill.

Our efforts to stop the supercenter were not about size as much as about the impact of that size. That impact includes traffic, litter, security, safety issues for those with disabilities, crime, air and water quality. It was also about the impact on locally owned stores that do not fare well with a big box, especially a WalMart, nearby.

This store, while not perfect, does some good things. I look forward to continued dialogue with the store manager, Scott Gray, on behalf of my fellow business owners from the area.

As Jason Meeker, our Vice President and Communications Chair said, RG4N hopes that people will realize that if things are going on that they don’t think are good for the neighborhood, they should voice their concerns. And, if they work together, they can make a difference.

Independent businesses are parts of our neighborhood. We could not have accomplished what we did without Alamo Drafthouse North, Discount Electronics, Encore Music, Genuine Joe’s Coffee, Kids N Cats, Scandinavia Contemporary Design, Thunderbird Coffee, Zingers and others. They did not just locate their businesses in the neighborhood they were actively engaged in what was going on. And these were the names that my fellow neighbors and board members thanked when we were being interviewed by the media.

What should that tell other independently owned businesses? That these businesses made friends for life. Those who live in the neighborhood see that businesses located in the neighborhood care. They are engaged.

It should also tell every owner that the role of business in neighborhoods should be more than giving donations to the local school or scout group. That’s good, but there’s more to do.

You chose that location for your retail or service business. Now choose to be involved in its future.

What can you do?

  1. Be a small business activist.
  2. Join your local Neighborhood Association or Home Owners Association if you can. There may be several in your area so look around. In Austin, there is a list of all known active associations at the Austin Neighborhood Council. Most have a membership category for businesses.
  3. Read the local neighborhood paper, join and participate in the online neighborhood association discussions or at least stay informed by talking to customers, those who live in the neighborhood, and owners of other local businesses.
  4. If there is something that will affect your neighbors, get involved. Offer places for them to meet or put out literature.
  5. Help recruit other local businesses that might not have heard about what their “community” is trying to do.

This way you give yourself some control over what happens. Besides, independent businesses can do things that chains and larger businesses can’t without getting permission from a corporate office which may or may not understand.

I know you are busy. So am I. This is not too much to ask. Your future is on the line here, too.

So, just do it. You’ll feel like you are part of something special. You will be. You’ll have a special kind of network. One in which there is give and take and people care about people. One that is about more than prospects and sales.

Finally, tell other businesses what you did. Together, you and your neighbors can keep your community the best it can be for everyone. After all, this is your “business neighborhood”, too. What happens to them effects you.

What have you done lately?

Filed Under: Community Activism, Networking, Small Business Advocacy Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

4 Parts to a Platinum Customer Profile System

October 21, 2010 By 2 Comments

There are 7 potential customer types you could have. But you should have only the best, the Platinum Customer. They give you money and a lot more.

If you aren’t satisfied with the value of your current customers, make better choices by setting up a Platinum Profile™ identification system. This is more than just “target” or “niche” marketing. The four parts of a Platinum Profile™ are demographics, psychographics, behaviors, and geography.

The right profiling system will give you a way to improve your sales process and avoid those radioactive waste prospect/customers who are out there. It will also give you a metric to judge how well your message is working: if it attracts the right prospects great; if not, fix it asap. That makes the effort to set up this system a money maker and mind saver.

The hardest part is coming up with the profile in the first place. You can put the results into most sales programs (ACT!, Salesforce.com, etc.). You can use the profile to be more specific with your salespeople about who to focus on. An added advantage is that it also makes it easier to communicate who you really want to work with to your strategic allies and other people in your networks.

In addition to setting up the profile, it’s critical to understand how a customer buys. There are 7 steps no matter what the purchase. Some are longer; some are shorter. Some are more important, some less depending on many factors.

I recommend using 7 steps in your sales cycle as well. These do not have an absolute one-to-one correlation with the customer’s buying cycle. But each must happen for the best kind of sale, a platinum sale, to take place. No matter what, the customer has to go through their version of the buying cycle in order for any sale to take place. What happens when they don’t? They DIY it, Do-It-Themselves, or DNAAs, Do Nothing At Alls, two ever present competitors. (More on this at my previous post on Ghost Competitors.).

I did a presentation on this topic for “Meet Here Mornings” at CoSpace coworking space in Austin, Texas, last week. I will be doing a shorter version next week for a local chamber. For those of you who can’t come,  I thought I would share the slides. If you need help or have questions, email me at T-R-I-P-L-E-T-T@ b-s-c-u-s-a.com.

Do you have a system for being proactive when it comes to identifying the best customers for your business? What system do you use?

Filed Under: Business Management, Networking, Planning & Vision, Sales Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Getting Real About Who’s a Small Business

September 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I’ve said for years there’s a problem. The issue of the Bush tax cuts just points this out in spades.

I saw Keith Olbermann’s Countdown program, “Small in Name Only” on MSNBC on September 22, 2010, about the “kooky” (their word not mine) definition of small business. It isn’t weird, it’s just flexible as the Small Business Act intended it to be. Maybe it needs work. I certainly think so.

This is what the SBA (Small Business Administration) says on the FAQs page of their website. You can check me out on this.

“Size standards define the maximum size that a firm, including all of its affiliates, may be to participate in federal government programs that are reserved for small businesses. The Small Business Act states that in determining what constitutes a small business, the definition will vary from industry to industry to reflect industry differences accurately.”

It then goes on to say to read the Small Business Size Act. If you follow the link, you get this:

“The SBA defines a business concern as one that is organized for profit; has a place of business in the U.S.; operates primarily within the U.S. or makes a significant contribution to the U.S. economy through payment of taxes or use of American products, materials or labor; is independently owned and operated; and is not dominant in its field on a national basis. The business may be a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or any other legal form.”

There’s part of my problem. The Countdown show maintains that when it comes to  taxes,  a small business designation is only for “pass through” entities (sole proprietorship, partnership, S corp) and then points out how ridiculous this is. But that statement about legal entity status does not pass the SBA test. Or, at least part of it.

The SBA goes on further to say:

“These size standards apply to SBA’s financial assistance and to its other programs, as well as to Federal government procurement programs when there is a benefit available to qualifying as a small business concern.  Also, the Small Business Act states that unless specifically authorized by statute, no Federal department or agency may prescribe a size standard for categorizing a business concern as a small business concern, unless such proposed size standard meets certain criteria and is approved by the Administrator of SBA.”

The expert that Olbermann brought in to comment really didn’t give a full picture of how federal agencies, including the IRS, are supposed to define “small business”. So why was there no slide of it to give viewers that definition?

Why was no one at the IRS not asked to comment? Better theatre I guess.

Why didn’t the IRS want to comment? Have they screwed up in their definition of “small”? Probably not. Smart tax attorneys found a way to take advantage of that definition.  Other small business owners and I used to joke that if you had a business that was the smallest in your NAICS code, the government defined you as a small business. That would make Chrysler a small business.

Not the only time either that “small” has big consequences. It’s been proposed that venture firms that own part of “small business” be eligible for the really one and only government grant, the SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research Grant). Now, that is really weird and in my view and others it’s also totally unfair!

In other words, just because you say you are “small” does not by government standards say you are. Of course, these definitions refer to programs for small businesses including procurement and loan guarantee assistance. Shouldn’t a federal definition be the same across all areas of government including taxes? I always thought so or how can anyone keep up with being an on again off again small business.

Where is the IRS on all this? Nowhere to be seen. Odd. For years, the IRS director just around tax time would go on record saying that the regulators would be on the lookout for small businesses because we were all out to cheat the government. Maybe these men and women were thinking of the businesses like Bechtel and Price Waterhouse Coopers that were labeled by Olbermann as  “small businesses”. By whose definition? Be specific. Where are they getting their definition? Let’s see it!

I am not saying I am for reducing taxes for the wealthiest. I am saying check your facts before you get out the tar and feathers. I’ve been a moderator (for KUT radio’s nationally syndicated show “The Next 200 Years”)  and there are rules even for commentators.

If you would like to read more about the size standards and judge for yourself about who the heck people are talking about, here are some useful links.

And, if you don’t think that’s confusing enough, the states have their own definitions by statute. In Texas, a small business is defined in Vernon’s Civil Statutes as under 100 employees. That said, if you look just at the latest statistics on the number of firms in the Austin Metropolitan Statistical Area, there are 35,129 firms under 500 employees. About 880 of them have from 100-499 employees. That’s 2.51 % of that total; pretty close to the 3% people are yelling about. And, this percentage holds true in most MSAs where I can find numbers. (These particular numbers are provided by the nonpartisan LMCI division at the Texas Workforce Commission.)

Some of those 880 are probably making a lot than $250,000 in order to support the overhead of that number of employees. And, unlike the commentator would lead one to believe, I’ll bet they are not all Republicans. I could be wrong on that and I can’t exactly check. But, it would seem reasonable given the bigger small business owners I have met are not from just one party. (Some of their spouses have even served as Democrats in the legislature and elsewhere.)

What good can come out this mess? Maybe, the powers that be will get real and come up with a definition that actually and accurately defines who we small businesses really are. How about media people being a help to solve the problem instead of exploiting it. Yes, there are some who don’t quality for the term. Then change the tax laws and stop stomping on small business as a whole.

Finally, you never even talked to one of us to see our take on this issue of definition and taxes. Call me, Mr. Olbermann. I’ll talk to you about what it’s like to be a very small business owner who pays taxes, meets payroll, and provides for health insurance for staff for over 20 years.



Filed Under: Community Activism, Government Legislation, Research, Small Business Advocacy, Small Business/Entrepreneur History Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Austin Small Business Summit, Now What?

August 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I wrote a post in April about Austin’s March Small Business Summit.

What is Austin City Manager Marc Ott doing about the Small Business Summit Resolution?

I have not seen City Manager Marc Ott’s proposed budget. I am curious to see if he followed Council’s directive and included anything about how the City will try to address the needs and wants expressed by the 40 business representatives that were part of the original Summit.

According to the resolution that passed in June, Ott has 120 days to come back to Council with a report and policy recommendations to enhance the City’s effort to facilitate growth of locally-owned businesses.

That means there may be nothing in the budget. If his budget passes, it looks like it will mean higher sales and property taxes (and they wonder why we aren’t  hiring or buying).

If you are a business owner  in Austin, you also should want to know if there is anything in it for you.

It is not only the City’s responsibility to take action of course. Those of us who are the visionaries behind those businesses have responsibilities, too.

As for this visionary, I would like to know what, if anything, the City can and wants to do along with a time frame so I can see how it will affect my plans.

Part of the reason, is that like many other businesses, I find that sometimes the City  becomes my competitor by offering goods and services that are already competitively available from me or other locally-owned for-profit businesses.

Where is the call to see if these goods and services for local businesses already exist?

I would like to see the City see what is out there and how it can engage in promoting those locally-owned businesses first before deciding it has to be our 800 pound competitor. I saw some requests on the list and heard some at the Summit that I know companies in the Austin area already provide and I would be happy to help identify them.

Let’s keep local money circulating locally. That’s just good business and appropriate economic development. If we do, that means that hard-working City staff can focus on what they do best. There will be no need for the City to hire because local businesses will do the hiring. That’s what they keep asking us to do. The City can help us do that.

Because we are local businesses we have had to make payroll, pay taxes, and fulfill our regulatory obligations. We really do know how to better serve other businesses than any well-meaning bureaucrat ever will. (Before I started my business 28 years ago, I was a bureaucrat so I know.)

What can the City do for your business to make it stronger?

Filed Under: Business Management, Community Activism, Government Legislation, Small Business Advocacy Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Networker Magazine Remembered: Overtime Article Reprised

August 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Austin, Texas’ small business and entrepreneurial history is long and full. There were special support meetings called “Satellite Network Meetings” all over town and even in Round Rock long before there were Meetups and Bootstrap groups.

And, there was The Networker, a small monthly publication especially for women. From June 1980 to its last issue in August 1987, I wrote, managed or was its editor. We covered politics, interesting women, events around town, the arts, business, sports, education, healthcare, and jobs. We covered issues from the ERA to “Should women fear computers?” And, yes, that was the title of an article. We covered women magicians like Judy Wilkes and Valerie Cordell, early aviators like Pearle Ragsdale, truck racer Shawna Robinson, women firefighters and women at war. Young and old, of all colors, creeds, and backgrounds were included in our news.  We even did some interesting articles about men including Cactus Pryor and cartoonist Ben Sargent.

The Networker was originally a City project that came out of what I believe to be Austin’s  first networking event, the Austin Women’s Network Brunch, sponsored by the Austin Commission on Women (then called the Austin Commission on the Status of Women). The brunch was an outgrowth of the 1979 Women’s Conference.

We soon became a non-profit corporation and moved away from control of the City. The magazine’s slogan was “The Paper Texas Women Read”. And, they did. In its heyday, it had several thousand paid subscribers and  a circulation of 7000 readers without ever receiving any City funding.

In 1984, then mayor Ron Mullen declared July 17 as Networking Day and “called on all citizens to recognize the contributions made by The Networker in promoting equality of opportunity in the job market” and presented us with our first proclamation. Awesome!

Putting it together was an all volunteer effort except for the typesetter and printer. I feel very privileged to have worked with a very talented group of women including Meg Wilson, Nadea Gizelbach, Billie Passmore, Mary Margaret Navar, Lu Russell, Martha Hartzog, Beverly Scarborough, Brenda Trainor, Mary Bird Bowman, Leslie Geballe, Beverly Larkham, Theresa Feschek, Fancharm Gibson, Mary Wheeler, and Barbara Brown.  There were some great men associated with us as well including Austin historian Ed Van De Vort, Joe Stengel, Craig Meurer, and photographer Dan Diener.

But the most fun was working with my mother, Jane Dinsmoor. It was her fault I was there anyway because she suggested I write for The Networker. I did. The column was called “After Image”.

Then she suggested I become The Networker’s Managing Editor since I was such a good nag. She meant that sincerely and with great pride. So I did.  I must have done ok because I became the Editor. I can tell you The Networker gave me the best education into how Austin works and how to network.

Besides giving me motherly advice, she wrote a wonderful column called “Overtime” each month and “People” where she interviewed well known and less well known women including architect Judy Brown, international storyteller Helen Handley, Eleanor Richards (Gov. Ann Richards mother-in-law and politico herself), and scholar Dorothy Hartshorne. Much of the snail mail we got or the comments made to me in public were about her articles. I was very proud of her, too.

August 5th would have been her 92 birthday. With great affection, admiration and thanks, I want to reprise one of her best loved articles, “The Cockroach”. A “fitting” subject as she would say for summer in Texas. Enjoy.

If you have memories of those Satellite Meetings, The Networker or other activities that helped spur small business or entrepreneurial development in our area, please share it.

———————–

Overtime
by Jane Dinsmoor

from The Networker, Vol 2, Issue 1, January/February 1981

Wishful Thinking: A Pied Piper to get rid of cockroaches. Photo by bixentro.

In Austin it is now perfectly within the bounds of good manners to discuss the common roach. I’m glad. Silent emotional storms of that magnitude are the pits. True, whole generations of ladies lived their lives denying the existence of both diarrhea and roaches, but those ladies are known as forebearers. In the North one still refers to the critters as “Building Beetles. . .Water Bugs. . .not Roaches, you know.”

According to my dictionary, “roach” is short for “cockroach” which is “any one of a family of insects; especially a small brownish or yellowish species found in kitchens, around water pipes, etc.”

The only thing correct about that definition is the etc., and I need a new Austin-type dictionary. Actually a roach is any of a thundering herd of other similar insects. Their colors are best described as repellent roach brown, repellent roach black, etc. And smallish? The smallish-est you have to worry about weighs in at 15 pounds. You can tell a little one because it’s only carrying two sacks of potatoes.

But to continue. . .it is ridiculous to think that anyone ever went out looking for a roach! “Found,” indeed. They pop out of drains anytime anyone turns on the water; they pose majestically on toilet tanks; they stampede across the kitchen floor at night; they appear with the desert at any meal to which guests have been invited. Give me a quick-moving Southern guest who can stomp a roach off the rug and never spill the syllabub.

My dictionary also states that the word “cockroach” is an “alteration of the Spanish word ‘cucaracha’”. . .and what does that do to international relations? But there are also German cockroaches. My friend the exterminator told me so. We have had many, many, of these discussions over coffee as we waited for the fog to settle so we could count casualties. “Yoicks!” says he. “Yoicks!” says I. “I think it’s safe for you to have house guests now. . . if they come right away.”

He also told me you never get rid of roaches. . .just keep them at bay. I know what he means. They kept me at bay for the first three months I was in Austin. My greatest triumph came when, at the height of the battle, I lashed out, connected, and kicked a big one smack in the head!

Keep roaches at bay indeed! Light up the Tower! Give me my spray, my swatter, and my good right foot! I will overcome!

Photo link for bixentro.

Filed Under: Community Activism, Networking, Small Business/Entrepreneur History Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mayor White’s Views on Bringing Neighbors & Businesses Together — the Role of the State

July 31, 2010 By 2 Comments

There must be a better way. And, I went tonight to see if I could find someone to lead the way.

I was invited by Bijoy Goswami of Bootstrap Austin to attend an event sponsored by the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) in Austin that was billed as an “Intimate Conversation with Bill White”. Bill White, former mayor of Houston, is running against Rick Perry for Texas Governor this fall. It turns out that White is an honorary EO member.

Former Houston Mayor Bill White is running for TX Governor

It was intimate as promised. I was about two feet away from the man who started by saying that he was pleased to be here for this “job interview” which brought some chuckles. In his prepared remarks, he said if he were “hired”, he would run the state like a customer-centered business. He would focus on what people want, not what the state wanted to “sell”. Sounds pretty good.

When Q&A time came, I asked Mayor White a question about how he viewed the state’s role in something that is near and dear to my heart: the role of government especially in hard economic times when there are tough decisions to be made.

I referred to what the state should do when you have warring factions and differing interests when it comes to economic development and property rights. I should know. I have spent three years of my life focusing with a great group of people, my neighbors and fellow business owners from Responsible Growth for Northcross, an organization that was formed to try to keep our neighborhoods livable and our independent businesses sustainable against WalMart, the biggest corporate giant since the Roman empire.

In addition, during that fight I found my own city government allied against us instead of being neutral or acting as a facilitator. I also saw them take a more appropriate role over a similar redevelopment issue with a neighborhood  in the university area that did not have Allandale Neighborhood Association’s reputation of fighting changes that it felt would destroy the quality of life and the safety and well being of those who live there. The outcome of this fight was viewed by all as a precedent for the future of other neighborhoods in other parts of Austin and in other cities that faced this dilemma of redevelopment vs. retention.

White’s response to my question about economic development controversies

Perhaps Mayor White misunderstood my question about the state’s role in this aspect of economic development. First he asked me if I wanted the truth. I said “yes”. Then, he said that he did not think that the state should take sides but should let this be decided locally. I appreciate his honesty because I do believe he really does feel that way.

I agree that the state should not take sides in this kind of issue although in Texas, Austinites frequently feel like the District of Columbia, that there is a lot of “Austin-bashing” when it comes to legislation that only applies to us.

But, I disagree on the “no role” to play. What I hoped he would say is that he thought, like a well managed business, that the state should take the higher road and seek ways for the parties to get to know each other and arrive at some mutually agreed upon points so they can reduce the mistrust and anger and get something done.

White says he is a doer. I thought he would want to do something. Guess I was wrong. Texas has an $18 million shortfall. To get through this, we all need to cooperate and find a way that neighbors and businesses large and small, local and recruited can be heard and have a mediator, even an ombudsman to discuss things safely.

For a few years, Texas did have a small business ombudsman under the Department of Economic Development. Not that this lone person got involved in these kinds of issues, but maybe they should have. Of course, with just one person to cover the whole state, that was probably not reasonable. But, maybe as White touted when talking about his accomplishments in Houston, one person could focus on finding others to help out and together they could get things done.

What I think the government’s role should be in economic development controversies

How do I view government’s role? What is my expectation? It is one based on my experiences. I worked for the state before starting a business. I have worked on political campaigns. I have helped with voter registration and for years kept these forms available and visible for anyone who came to our offices. I have walked door to door. I have been a delegate to local, state and national summits. I have been and am a small business activist.

I don’t believe in big government. I don’t believe in small government either. I do believe in adequate government, enough to do the job and that there are some issues that require a 40,000 foot view just as it takes a 40,000 foot view to run a successful business.

In regard to the issue of economic development, I believe we need to attract business. We also need to retain, sustain and grow our local businesses while protecting the integrity and safety of neighborhoods. We have limited resources and we will be borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. Maybe though, Peter and Paul could agree to share and play nice if there were someone setting the rules and guiding the process. Someone who had that vision. I am not sure White is any different than any of the other politicians current and past.

I do have one hopeful memory to draw on. When the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law twenty years ago this week, there were a lot of mad and confused people. Some thought it was the end of  business as we knew it, businesses would go bankrupt trying to comply, and that the goals were unattainable and unreal. The Governor’s Office on People with Disabilities with support of  Governors Ann Richards (D) and later George W. Bush (R) and under Virginia Roberts, its wonderful executive director, brought together a charter group of businesses to create the Governor’s Business Leaders Network. My company was part of that charter group. We were all volunteers. Together, we came up with ideas that we could disseminate to our peers and make this transition easier and better for all. I am proud of what we did. I think this is a good pattern to follow.

Call me Goldilocks if you like but fairy tales have lessons to learn in them. And, if you remember, Goldilocks did find things that were just right because she kept looking. (Yes, there was some damage along the way.) Well, nothing is perfect.

What is your opinion?

How do you think we could build a better Texas for us all; something neighbors and businesses could live with and coexist? Maybe we can give whoever becomes governor some better ideas. I’m game are you? It might even help out other parts of the country or the world.

I want to thank Mr. Goswami for the invitation. I learned a lot and was inspired to raise some issues that I think need to be considered before we vote in November.

Filed Under: Community Activism, Government Legislation, Small Business Advocacy Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Business Owners Should Celebrate April 1st

April 1, 2010 By 2 Comments

Fool having fun at the Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival in Waxahachie, Texas.

It’s April 1, April Fool’s Day, a day to be silly and cut loose. A must for those of us carrying the weight of being the nation’s economic engine because we have a small business. I could get into talking about “running out of gas”, “not running on all cylinders”, “breaking down”…but I will resist the temptation.

This is also a special day for me. It’s the day my business partner and husband proposed 28 years ago. He may have been hedging his bets, but I fooled him. I said “yes”.

So this post is dedicated to Daniel’s wonderful sense of humor and the recognition that all work and no play makes every business owner pretty dull and likely to end up at 45th St & Lamar in Austin, Texas, aka Austin State Hospital, formerly the insane asylum.

In his honor, I would like to recommend that on this day, every business owner do something fun. Here are some suggestions:

1. Go fly a kite – literally. You can. You’re the owner. Just leave. Wouldn’t that surprise everyone? Or climb a mountain inside a building at Austin Rock Gym. No wonder people think Austin is weird. (You missed the Austin Kite Festival but you can get ready for next March.)

2. CDB, a great book to read and giggle over. Also recommended  Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation and Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim, and Other Flubs from the Nation’s Press
 (think about it a minute). My mother also had a wicked sense of humor and came up with a prize winning article on the cockroach. I think I will save that to share with you on a really down day.

3. Plan your pun. Coming soon the the O Henry House is the Austin Pun-Off on May 22. Yesterday’s pun: The end of March, Halt.

4. I wish I could tell you to work on your spam recipe for the Spamarama, another Austin treat? But, we don’t hold it anymore. Maybe we could if you found something truly useful to do with the stuff. As a vegetarian, I am out of the hunt but there have been some really noxious concoctions — including the Spamarita  — never touch the stuff myself.

5. Make birthday preparations for Eeyore’s big 47th birthday, April 24th. Dress appropriately — as silly as possible and recycle it for Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival April 10-May 31, north of Austin in Waxahachie.

6. Play golf — miniature golf. Everyone knows that deals are made on the golf course. Nothing’s more relevant for small business than to play small golf. I make no apologies to those of you who think this is silly -— of course it is but for 15 years this was our clients favorite event. We still have a few mini golf places here. Peter Pan on Barton Springs Road is still my favorite, dinosaur and all.

We take our owner selves entirely too seriously sometimes — at least I do. The next time someone from the media or the Mayor’s Office asks me why Austin is such a great place to start, run, or grow a small business I’m going to say that is because we are such fools. I mean it!

Have a great day and please add your own foolish thoughts, action items and what have you. And, thanks Daniel for 28 wild years.

If you have something silly to add or a favorite foolish folly, please add. Today, really LOL.

Filed Under: Health and Wellness Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

22+ Reasons Your Small Business Is Keeping You Up at Night

February 16, 2010 By 1 Comment

Owner's unrest

News 8 reporter Harlan Schmidt interviewed me about why Austin is a good place to start a business. I told him it was Austin’s “can do & it’s ok to fail” culture. And it is also about the fact that we have a highly educated population which means we can learn from our mistakes.

Then he asked me what needs to be done to improve our ability to sustain businesses. After all, it is not about starting — anyone can start one. It is about keeping it going — although not necessarily growing as large as, say Dell.

What I said and what I meant very strongly was, we, as small business owners, need to take our share of responsibility and not just look to the government for help. They can help by not forcing us into the model that they use for big business. We are not just a big business that has not grown. We are unique.

(That is also how I feel about healthcare. We need to act responsibly about what we eat, drink, and do with our bodies. After all, like owning a business, our bodies belong to us.)

So why don’t we take better care of our businesses? Maybe it’s  because we are too stressed out. What keeps us up at night, affects our health, and our business? I think it could be the “Magic 22+”.

As small business owners we are the investor, the manager, and frequently the employee. We have to oversee the future and plan ahead. That’s the investor/owner. We have to learn from others and past experiences to manage tasks and all areas of the business. That’s the manager. We have to deal with the present. We end up doing things ourselves because we have to or want to. That’s the employee. So those are three reasons to have insomnia.

Every business, no matter what size, has seven parts to it.

  1. Operations
  2. Sales
  3. Administration (including personnel, regulatory compliance, facility management)
  4. Books and Records Management
  5. Financial/Fiscal Management (taxes, projections, funding, financial plans)
  6. Marketing
  7. Long Term Vision (business plans, strategic alliances)

When people first start a business, they concentrate on the first two only  — “what I have to sell” and “how I am going to deliver it”. Then reality sets in. They realize that a small business is more than “making the donuts” and selling them (borrowing a line from an old Dunkin Donuts ad). And, they begin to worry.

Keeping those seven areas going and assuming the three responsibilities that go with them is mind boggling. That’s 21 reasons for bad dreams.

You can stop there if you are looking for causes for nightmares and tossing and turning, unless you want to add the whole reason for doing this — to improve your quality of life, i.e.,  to have some sort of life with friends, family, and fun as well as the time and freedom to enjoy it. That’s 22.

The “+” comes from the fact that usually you have many requests than just one for your time and energy from those who are close to you.

Time passes slowly when you have things on your mind.

I wish I could tell you the older the business the less the sleepless nights. I can’t. Because, I haven’t even mentioned the challenges that can cause prematurely gray hair, dark circles under the eyes, and lack of energy. These are due to changes in:

  • Technology (Internet, social media and other new ways that make your way obsolete)
  • Economic (which we are all dealing with)
  • Social (how people act, expectations, fears)
  • Regulations (your government at work — sometimes for you; sometimes not in your best interest)
  • Environmental (“green” and sustainability, regulations, goals, and mishaps)

Now that I have depressed you completely, what can you do? Well, you can recognize that every other small business owner you meet is an insomniac, too. Misery loves company. It automatically gives you something to talk about when you are at those networking events. Everyone likes to complain.

You can do something positive, however.

  1. Don’t try to do all the roles simultaneously. But know which one takes precedence. This also helps you be clearer with your goal — plan it, manage it, do it.
  2. Make sure you spend at least 10% of your time each month (more if you are just starting) in your Owner/Investor Hat. Look at the future you want to create. Look at the implications of what you are doing in light of the other six areas of the business. Make sure you have considered and accounted for repercussions.
  3. Recognize and accept you cannot be good at all things. Take an inventory of your own strengths and weaknesses. Get help where you need it — even if it is only temporary to get you over the hump. At the Business Success Center, we find most owners hate either taking care of books or sales. We step in, provide the process, fix things, run that area of the business to get the kinks out of the process, train the owner, and give it back shiny and ready for the owner or an employee to step in and take over. Maybe something like that would work for you. See what support is out there that you can tie into.

Good luck and pleasanter dreams.

I am collecting a list of  small business mistakes — “Mistakes I made that other owners should watch out for”. Mine was hiring someone who I knew had trouble spelling. She sent out a letter with our corporate name, Diener, Triplett & Associates, Inc. with “Associates” abbreviated. You can guess how. Maybe she was trying to tell me something. Fortunately, I now have a great speller, Marsha, and she checks me. Good Advice: Always get other eyes to look at what you send — even by email.

How about sharing your bloopers? Totally confidential. You might save another owner a lot of grief and sleepless nights. And you can learn from others who were willing to admit they messed up.

Owners unrest photo courtesy of flickr.com/livyann
Time passes photo courtesy of flickr.com/danielhedrick

Filed Under: Business Management Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Fox TV Interview on WalMart at Northcross in Austin

February 3, 2010 By 1 Comment

It’s been a long fight as Fox 7  Reporter Rudy Koski pointed out in this interview with me and people who were pro or anti a big supercenter in the center of Austin at Northcross Mall.

Are people tired of it? Some are. Almost five years is a long time to keep volunteers working together on an issue.

This interview story was not my first choice for 15 seconds of fame, but I was glad to be asked to respond as a business owner who offices next to the WalMart site and as Business Liaison Chair for Responsible Growth for Northcross (RG4N). I learned a lot in the process and so did people on both sides of the issue. Now, RG4N and I will wait and see how it goes. We could all live happily ever after or there could be more black empty holes and store fronts — including WalMart. I promise you, I will be watching closely.

I am glad I took part in the democratic process. It reassured me it is ok to dissent with anyone even if it is unpopular. It is a messy process. I may not agree with everyone on each side, but I will defend their right to speak and I expect them to defend mine. And, I saw this up close and personal.

There  is still a WalMart going in on streets that are not designed to handle the traffic, security issues must be paramount going forward because of homes and schools nearby, and air and water quality need to be addressed before it is too late.

Northcross Mall is now Northcross strip center. It was not doing well before, maybe it will do well now. Maybe it will all work out.

Some good things happened. Neighbors met neighbors from other neighborhoods and worked with them to have a say about a future that seemed pre-destined because of the powers in charge. Neighbors worked directly with the people behind the independent businesses that make our area unique. They saw them as people who were just as interested and committed to  the health and well being of our area as they were. Equally important, finally the City of Austin recognized us as a united group, the Northcross IBIZ, an Austin Independent Business Investment Zone, that also had rights and that they had responsibilities to protect. (Read my related post and another related post by the  Austinist.)

Being a business owner not just about sales and the bottom line. It  is also being an activist for your community and your business — even in tough times.

Next time someone asks “will you serve? “, say yes. It will change your life and the lives of others.

What are you doing to “serve”?

Filed Under: Community Activism, Small Business Advocacy Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Podcast: State of Texas Business Today

January 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

How are we doing? Since there is no legislature in session, the Governor will not give a state of the state address this January. So Ben Philpott of KUT radio (90.5FM) asked some of us who are living through it to give our perceptions.

The interview, entitled “Their State of the State”,  is worth a listen. You’ll hear what I, the Comptroller’s representative RJ Desilva, and others have to say about how well Texas business is doing.

Basically, we all independently think that things are pretty static but teetering and could go either way. We do think that things will eventually break — just when is anyone’s guess — we’re hoping the log jam breaks in 2010 which would mean a good state of the state address in 2011.

Personally, I hope people who have not lived through a downturn keep positive and don’t make a “knee-jerk”, too quick response. It is not necessary to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

After you listen, tell me what you think. Do you agree with us or not? What are you experiencing in your business and what do you hear from your customers?

I am going to be putting your comments and current stats and trends in my own state of small business post coming soon.

Filed Under: Business Management, Financials, Research, Sales Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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