Showing posts with label entrepreneurship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label entrepreneurship. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Endeavor to Persevere

"When nothing seems to help, I look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps 100 times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet, at the 101st blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it, but all that had gone before." -Jacob A. Riis
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Creating a community

Lynn sold her business. She had to. Her husband? Lung cancer, early retirement, no more insurance. So she needed a real job with real benefits.

It's not that she didn't have a real job. She taught dance. For fifteen years she ran Lynn's Academie of Dance. But that's not enough of a real job to pay the bills for a family, for insurance.

So she sold the dance school.

On Saturday they had a recital. Forty-five girls, from 4 to 18.

It was probably like many dance recitals in many places.

But here's Lynn's legacy. Many dancers weren't built like dancers. Not like the ballet dancers you see in the Joffrey. Not like the hip hop dancers in the videos, not like the tap dancers in the shows.

They are pretty much built like the kids you see in the ordinary classrooms in the ordinary schools in the ordinary towns. Some of them live with Down's Syndrome. Some of them live with numbers on the BMI that are higher than recommended. In skin color, in distance from nose to toes, they varied. One of them even had white hair.

And all of these kids (and 5 adult students) flew. They spun, they tapped, they leapt, they laughed. Their pieces told stories. They leaned on each other. They lifted each other. Even for a non-dance observer, there was something happening that was, well, special.

And near the end, they did their own thing. They wrote their own tribute to Lynn, with their bodies, they wrote. Together the kids created. The older kids led the little ones on and off, carefully. And they danced with abandon, with passion. And they each went to her as the piece finished for one last touch.

Lynn hired teachers to teach from her heart. She allowed in kids who none of us would imagine could walk straight, let alone dance. And every single one of them flew straight from the stage to our hearts.

In fifteen years, Lynn Kuti created a community of young people that cared and created and did better than they dreamed. And in the meantime, they danced.

Small business people can do that, can create communities.

You can do that.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

The work of their hands

They were giving us furniture. For our church. Beautiful furniture. The kind of furniture you find in hospitals or coffee stores or waiting areas in malls.

It wasn't because we are a church, really, but because five days out of seven they use part of our parking lot. And they have meetings in our building sometimes. And we don't charge. And so the management gave us some furniture.

It wasn't management, however, that brought the furniture across the parking lot. It was three of the people who made the furniture, three of the people who crafted the sofas and chairs.

They carried it in like they cared, like they were proud of what they had made. They looked around, as if they wanted to be sure this would be a good home.

They looked at the furniture already in the room, the furniture being replaced. And then they began to tell us that we could replace the covers on that as well. "Recovery," one of them said. "It can all be reused." It says that on the website, in the promotional material...but he really believed it. "1988," another one said, having turned the chair upside down. "That was some of the first of that kind." She was pleased that it had lasted well.

They laughed with us, helped us see what we could do with the old stuff, talked about how to treat the new stuff.

For these workers from Wieland, this wasn't a commodity, this was their life. They had poured themselves into this furniture. They cared about how it would be used, how it would add value to someone else's life.

They loved the work of their hands. It mattered.

I was humbled that day. And challenged. To care that much.

--------------------------
Jon Swanson is your customer, presenting every day perspectives in a new way. He was a regular contributor to the Great Big Small Business Show podcast, as the Entrepreneurial Chicken. Jon is the author of the best small business post ever.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

As much as they do

The advertising is already starting. It's Olympics time. During the next two months we'll get tired of all the advertising. Everyone will be doing an athletics theme, a rings theme, a Chinese theme, a five-interlocking coffee stains theme. I know that sounds a little cynical, but I don't mean it that way. In fact, all those ads could be part of changing your life.

The Olympics is a collection of stories of hope, of overcoming insurmountable odds, of underdogs, of longshots. (In a sense, it's like a meeting of small business owners.)
What always happens to me during this three month period every few years is to be convicted. I wonder whether I care about anything as much as these athletes care about their event.

  • Do I concentrate on details of anything as much as a sprinter thinks of how her fingers are placed right before the starting gun?
  • Do I practice the basic routines of anything the way a distance runner stretches and lifts weights and eats and rests?
  • Do I focus on the finish line or any deadline as much as the marathon runner?
  • Do I build toward success one life at a time the way a weightlifter adds weights?
  • Do I look for diversity the way an all-around gymnast or decathalete works?
  • Do I build solid handoff relationships the way that relay teams focus on passing the baton?
Rather than getting even more depressed by our lack of athletic ability, train like an Olympian this summer.

Pick just one of these areas to work on for the next three months. Use every Olympic commercial you see or hear as a reminder to work on that area. Trim distractions out of your life for just this time.

Having done that, we'll be able to watch the competition this year and cheer for ourselves, knowing that we have written another chapter in the story of unlikely people doing amazing things.

----------------------

Jon Swanson is your customer, presenting everyday perspectives in a new way. He was a regular contributor to the Great Big Small Business Show podcast as the Entrepreneurial Chicken. Jon is the author of the best small business post ever.


Wednesday, June 18, 2008

UK award for young rural entrepreneurs

Last year, I fell in love with the Young Rural Entrepreneur award. It's back!

Emma Blane gave us an update:

It may interest you to know that Lycetts and the Field have just launched the award for 2008, again offering £10,000 to the winner, who can demonstrate the requisite entrepreneurial spirit by running a company that is either based in the countryside or is making a sustainable contribution to the rural economy.

The award is open to rural entrepreneurs under 35. Entries will be welcomed till 4th August and nominations can be submitted by or on behalf of an individual who meets the awards criteria. For further information and to enter, please visit www.thefield.co.uk.

If you have any questions please send me an email - emma.blane@lycetts.co.uk
I still love it! Imagine adapting this idea to your own region to support entrepreneurship and build a better connection to young entrepreneurs especially.

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Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Audio: Paying for college with Chris Penn

Financial aid expert Chris Penn shares his insight on scholarships and loans, with some special considerations for small towns and for small business owners. Chris also tells us why your credit score is a bigger consideration this year.

this is an audio post - click to play

Links Chris mentions:


Where to find Chris:

[Photo of Chris Penn by C.C. Chapman on Flickr. Used under a Creative Commons License.]

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Monday, June 16, 2008

Get on the telephone

I live and work in a town of just about 10,000 people. Fairfield, Iowa. Wonderful town. Quirky, interesting, small, remote, quiet (except for 35 trains that rumble through daily). County seat for a county with maybe 12-13,000. We’re 4 hours from Chicago, Kansas City and St. Louis. We’re 1 hour from any town of more than 25,000 people. The nearest airport is a commuter airport that’s at least 95 miles away.

Our town has survived the farming crisis in the early 80’s, a few recessions and economic downturns, manufacturing layoffs and even grown in property valuations and jobs during this because of A. diversity in our job base. B. some really smart business leaders here; C. some significant changes in the telecommunications industry, nationally and globally.

That’s right. Global changes in the telecom industry, most notably the ending of monopolies here in the US and overseas, has brought hundreds of jobs to little, remote, Fairfield, Iowa. (Caveat: it’s not the only reason Fairfield has survived and grown. But it’s the one I’m most familiar with and it’s the one that can be connected to the most changes in Fairfield.)

Up until the mid-1980’s ATT held a monopoly on local AND long-distance telephone services. The local part of our service was delivered with ‘bell operating companies’. And the long-distance part was handled by Ma Bell, ATT. It’s hard to imagine it these days with all the competition and options for making a long-distance phone call. But that’s the way it was until Judge Greene’s order to ATT to divest itself of its bell operating companies and then to open up its network to…competition, from the likes of Sprint and then MCI and also resellers.

Long story.

Lots of change and turbulence and new competitors with new services.

And that all meant opportunity. And a company here in Fairfield took that opportunity to resell ATT long-distance services. The thinking of the founder was he’d sell it out of …where?...yes, his bedroom/office. Quietly, he’d make enough to support his family. That’s all he wanted.

And as more of his friends and neighbors wanted to do the same with him, seeing the opportunity, he soon had a company of 6 people. He expected to make enough money to buy Australia, as he’d tell us; just the 6 of him. He was a dreamer and look what happened.

I was the 13th employee. Lucky 13. 7 years later there were 700 employees…in a town of 10,000. We had offices opening around the world. I opened our office in Germany. (What a story!) Our network operations center was here in Fairfield, for a worldwide telecommunications company.

(Interesting cultural clash. Our rural electric cooperative had a routine of regular maintenance on the weekends during off-peak hours. But for other parts of the world, and our customers who lived and worked there…these weren’t off-peak hours…)

We were pulling in employees from 2 other states as well as bringing in outside contractors to come work in a little town, far, far away from bright lights and big cities.

The company crashed and burned in bankruptcy discussed in the Wall Street Journal. (Hey, no one’s perfect.)

But all those people who eventually were laid off used their newly acquired skills to populate other companies in the area, either existing companies or startups. There spawned another surge in a new, more diversified, economy for the community.

And during this time, the internet became a force for business. This company was the first and only company at the time to allow for service orders to be entered and provisioned over the internet from the comfort of our independent sales agents’ home offices. (They expected to buy Fiji…)

That's a huge advantage for attracting sales agents, improving cash-flows from faster conversion of orders and cutting personnel costs from manually entering orders.

And changes again in the telecom arena helped another company start and thrive here. That company was Conference Calls Unlimited. From little Fairfield, remote Fairfield, we competed against national brands and their services using the changes in telecommunications and the opportunities they presented: long-distance calling, toll free calls, toll calls, email, collaboration with web conference services, VOIP, chat, hosted service applications like Basecamp and payment-processing through online merchant accounts. We used 3rd party answering services at the beginning and before that an online answering service that emailed the voicemail as an enclosure.

And then we used blogs and podcasts and YouTube videos to help spread our message. Oh, and websites, too! All made possible by changes in telecommunications.

And we hired great people. Our neighbors and friends and those we knew that delivered great service every day.

And there’s your advantage. It's our advantage, really, as businesses in rural, smaller, areas. As residents or rural communities we have the added advantage of working side-by-side with our neighbors and friends and maybe even family. That’s a huge factor for commitment, loyalty, dedication, passion. And we have all the advantages of access to a global marketplace through these changes in telecommunications without the high rents, high mortgages, high salaries and high overhead from being located in a larger city.

Not everyone is going to start a ‘telecom’ company. Even fewer will want to run a company of 700 employees 6 years after opening.

But the open infrastructure of telecom now with more and cheaper bandwidth becoming available, more calling services and options, more free hosted applications that allow any startup or small business from ANY location to reach millions in a professional and inexpensive manner is the great playing-field leveler for small business in general and in particular for small business in rural communities.

Get on the telephone. Your world's waiting for you.

About the Author: Zane Safrit’s passion is small business and the operations’ excellence required to deliver a product that creates word-of-mouth, customer referrals and instills pride in those whose passion created it. He blogs about health care issues each Monday at http://zanesafrit.typepad.com. There on the sidebar is a list of blogs and resources to educate yourself on the health care challenges you face, I face, we all face together. He also writes on small business, word of mouth, marketing, branding, innovation, and failure.

He previously served as CEO of Conference Calls Unlimited.

[Photo of Fairfield Art Walk by Zane Safrit, used by permission.]

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Discussion: How to offer help and gain a customer

Our friend Bob Sawyer, Pixels and Code, has a great question for discussion. How do you offer to help without offending?

I came across a web site last night that is in dire need of help. This is a landscape supply company. The site was built in 2002. Aside from being poorly coded (the owner even apologizes on the home page to users who experience "text overlapping some images" - they've tried to fix the problem but failed, apparently) - the site loads slowly, breaks in some browsers, etc. The order form does not work, and they send users off-site to calculate their own shipping before returning to complete the order process. Lastly, the site is not optimized for search engines.

I could go on. There are problems aplenty and they're all relevant to the success of the company's web presence. My wife and I are actually planning to order from them, but we're going to have to call and place the order over the phone because their web-based order system is so buggy.

So my question is, how do I approach the owner in such a way that I offer my help in fixing his site, without offending him? If you had a web site that you built from scratch yourself, and someone approached you saying, "you know, you've done an OK job here, but it could work so much better, and I can do that for you?" would you be offended?

Now, obviously, I'm not going to call him and say, "Dude, your web site stinks!" But would even the idea that someone called and said, "I'd like to help you improve your web site" and followed with the laundry list of things that could be improved upon make you more or less interested in taking the caller up on their offer?

Thanks for the assist!

Cheers,
Bob
How would you start that discussion? What would you ask, and what would you say?

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Monday, June 09, 2008

How to start a business today

If you know how to blog, podcast, share photos online, and basically use social media tools, you could start a business today.

Dress professionally.
Get a pad of paper and a pen.
Go to a business.
Ask questions.

This is where the magic happens. Ask them what they are doing to reach out and connect with customers. What are their problems? How are they communicating online? Can they update their own site? What are their goals? What is causing them the most pain right now?

The idea is to ask questions, important business questions, around what social media tools have the potential to do. If you are following Chris Brogan's series of Social Media Starter Moves for ..., then you can pick up additional business uses for these tools.

For more ideas about how to create these questions, read Communicate: Ask Better Questions.

I tested this approach myself. The target was small businesses. The product was an online workforce solution, just as mystifying as social media stuff, I promise. Asking questions turned out to be the single most effective way to help business people understand the benefits and commit to using our solution.

Questions naturally lead the conversation to the value you add by helping reach those goals. If you can help a small business person alleviate pain, they will do business with you.

Can you adapt this same model to other businesses?

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

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Saturday, June 07, 2008

More than just another small business

Just (adverb): merely, only.
Usage: a way to acknowledge insignificance.
Example: I'm just a small business owner. I've just got one employee. It's just a small town.

We all use it. We use it all the time.

We are in the middle of a conference, listening to the speaker, hearing great wisdom and success. We think, "But I'm just a...."

We are talking at a family reunion and rich uncle Dave from New York asks us if we have any plans for the future. We shuffle our feet and say, "No, I guess I'm just going to ..."

We are reading a terrific explanation of marketing our business, and it sounds wonderful. But then we look at our workspace in the back bedroom and think, "I just don't..."

I hear it. I hear it all the time.

And I want to shake someone.

Next time you are feeling insignificant about where you live or where your business is or how much experience or education you have, try an experiment:

Before you respond to whoever is asking the question, think about the one employee you do have who no one else would take a chance on. Think of the four customers you do have who think that your service is amazing because you remembered their birthdays. Think of the time you looked around and realized how much you love seeing a fawn in the backyard. Think about the time that you were felt so integrated into your community that when that house caught on fire you wept and then ran to help.

Think about all that and then say, "I have the privilege to be..."

If the other person is listening at all, they will stop and think, "I wish I cared that much."

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Jon Swanson is your customer, presenting every day perspectives in a new way. He was a regular contributor to the Great Big Small Business Show podcast, as the Entrepreneurial Chicken. Jon is the author of the best small business post ever.



Thursday, June 05, 2008

Helping small towns and small businesses

Interested in what I do? I help small towns and small businesses.

Small Towns - Getting things funded and getting things done

Every small town feels the pinch of trying to do more within the budget. Grant funding can help bridge the gap, but it takes time, writing skill, and coordination to develop grant proposals that get funded. Once a project is funded, who will take on the project? Existing staff members already have more than enough to do without chasing down the details of one more big thing.

I help small towns to prioritize needs, consider the budget ramifications, and put together applications. Then I help carry out projects by doing the calling, writing and emailing and other work to see it through to completion. I've worked with towns ranging in population from 25 to 12,000 and projects up to $1.3 million.

Tourism Businesses - Getting connected

Tourism businesses need connections to survive. When customers are far away, maybe even around the world, how can small businesses connect to them? Developing an effective internet presence requires a clear business position, good writing, and careful layering of information. It also requires up to date knowledge of the constantly changing internet tools. Who has time to add that into running a business?

I help small business people to define their business, tell engaging stories, and develop connections with customers through the internet. I help them to translate their own ideas into the right words to target exactly the right customers and paint a picture in their mind of their ideal experience. I keep up with technology and make it easy for people to use these tools in their business, without chasing all the latest shiny technology toys. Small business people from Oklahoma to Africa have chosen to work with me to reach new people and build their businesses.


Small Businesses - Getting feedback

Every business runs into problems. From the idea, through every stage of business life, problems and opportunities abound. For small business people immersed in day to day business, there is little time for reflection or idea generation. Sometimes, a short conversation or a long-term relationship with an outside person can make a huge difference in a business.

I help people think clearly about their business, evaluate options, and start building action plans. I help make connections with other resources and with a network of smart people. The experience I've gained working with retail, service, manufacturing, media and nonprofit organizations helps me to think differently, ask questions and generate useful ideas.


Getting Started

Call me at 580-430-6173 or email becky@smallbizsurvival.com to get started, together.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Apply the Simplified Marketing Plan to Online Tools

With 89,567* online tools for connecting, sharing, networking, etc., how do you ever prioritize and keep online socializing from taking over your work?
[*I made up that number, of course]

Our Friend Glenda Watson Hyatt set me to work on this topic, and explained what she meant via email:

My quandry is: I have all these tools - twitter, facebook, MyBlogLog, YouTube, flickr, ziki, Linkedln, stumble, digg and, of course, my two blogs - some of which I use way more than others. I would like to know how to integrate them effectively so that I am using them efficiently and maximizing benefits. How do I analyze which ones I should keep? Drop? Add?? How much time should I spend on each? Doing what? I mean could spend all day every
day using them, but that doesn't get my actual work done. Where do I draw
the line? And then how do other marketing strategies [ezines, article directories ] fit in?

Believe it or not, I have a plan. It's our Simplified Marketing Plan. Here's the outline:
  1. Name and describe each market
  2. Tell what methods you will use to reach them
  3. Establish the cost in time and in money
  4. Mesh this with your business plan
1. Know your markets.
If you haven't defined each of your markets, jump on that now. For a relatively simple consulting business, you might have several target customers. You might target small businesses for consulting, individuals for coaching, and larger corporations as sponsors for your blog or info products. Make sense?

For example, if Glenda offered disability issues awareness training and consulting, she might target medium size companies, their HR managers, and HR related organizations. (I'm making up this example about Glenda's business, so don't jump to any conclusions.) She'll need to find out where those people spend time online, and what services they need, want, and purchase.

You need to know about all those different customers so that you can develop the right compelling offer for each of them, in the next step.

2. Decide on methods.

Once you know your targets, you can develop a compelling offer to hook them. For example, when Susan Reynolds taught children's art classes, she developed an idea for a short drawing lesson for moms and kids together. It was a free sample, addressed the proper target (moms), and left a lasting impression. That's a compelling offer!

To get that offer in front of the right people, you need to use the right online tools. In step one, you should have learned where your targets are online. Then you use these online tools to share that offer when appropriate, and to position yourself as an expert.

Start with a list of the online presence tools you use right now. Ask customers which ones they have heard of, and which they use. Then expand out to some potential customers. Ask them the same things. Then visit other tools and see who is present. You goal is to come up with a list of online tools that have the potential to let you connect with customers, then build them into the plan.

Glenda might find that her targeted folks use the Society for Human Resources Management website, read a few specific blogs, participate on a few online forums, that most of them are on Facebook, and that a pocket of them are on Twitter. Given this short list, she can set goals and measures for herself on these specific tools. Yes, she can still play with other tools, use other networks for personal enjoyment, or just learn new things, but it doesn't count as part of working the plan.

I'm not suggesting you change how you act online; there is no need to be all sales and advertising all the time. Keep using these tools as a part of the community, not as an advertiser. Do let folks know what you offer; talk some about business, just so they'll know you are in business! In fact, I just solicited WP design quotes from Twitter, and I contacted one person directly because they announced they were in the business. It does pay to talk about yourself, in moderation.


3. Establish the cost in time.
Now we're getting somewhere! Of course, there isn't just one answer to this, so we'll have to make some guidelines and share some suggestions.

Your plan focuses on being sure to use the methods that reach potential customers, and to place your compelling offer in front of them.

If Glenda's targeted customers are using Twitter, terrific! She's already there, so she can add that to her marketing plan. Maybe she doesn't currently visit the forums she discovered by talking to customers, so she'll pick the most promising one and add it to her plan. Glenda has her own blog to include in the plan, along with the selected blogs frequented by her targets. Other tools not in her plan are considered outside of work, or personal time activities.

How much time? Well, put more time in on those tools that produce the best results. If you get most of your blog traffic increases from Twittering, you'll want to develop the habit of carefully promoting posts on Twitter. For less productive tools, give your self less time with them. No need to go hang out at MyBlogLog, if you can learn to update it in just a few minutes.

4. Mesh it with your plan.
I recommend you integrate these tools into your daily plan. You do have some kind of daily plan, don't you? No? Well, I would recommend you Focus on Your Income Producing Activities, including your online marketing tools. If you don't do anything else, do this!

You

How do you manage your online time? How do you allocate your efforts among the myriad of tools available? I'd love to hear your experiences.

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

Get the whole series by subscribing to Small Biz Survival.
New here? Take the Guided Tour.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Four Small Town Game Changers

Social media tools can be a great field leveler for small town professionals. I explained why we bother spending time on social networking at Liz Strauss' Successful Blog, and then offered some practical ways to get started at Chris Brogan's blog. Now, let's do a little show and tell. Here are four people living in small towns and making great use of social media tools.

Ted Demopoulos


Ted Demop
is the ultimate in effective internet presence from a small town. He lives in a rural area of Durham, New Hampshire, about 25 minutes drive from Maine, Massachusetts, and the ocean.

Go ahead. Google his name. But take a snack, because he is super-present online, from his books, his consulting, his speaking, and everything else. When he started blogging in 2004, he had concrete measurable results in less than 24 hours. His web site traffic quadrupled in less than a month because of his blogging. He was able to leverage it to sell speeches, training and consulting.


Ted says he would add that social media offers a huge benefit in learning from and networking with other similar small businesses in small towns that you'd never encounter otherwise.


"Amazing what a meat packer in central Saskatchewan can learn from an organic food store in Eastern Washington," Ted said, "and a practical joke/magic shop owner in upstate New York can learn from a car wash entrepreneur in Karamea New Zealand! (examples made up -- there are no car washes in Karamea!)"


Cody Heitschmidt



Cody Heitschmidt is based in Hutchinson, Kansas. Besides using blogging for his business, he's finding other important benefits to social media.

"I just like meeting people and seeing whats going on in there lives and broadening my mind through them," Cody said. "Not directly business related but valuable to my mental state."

He also uses Twitter to keep up with what is going on in the world, tech, business, and sports. Facebook is helping him to reconnect with friends from the past. To keep up with Twitter and Facebook and three email accounts, he coordinates through Digsby.

While the actual business or career networking is a smaller part, it has led to some business for him. But it's also enjoyable.

"Crap, it's just fun isn't it?" Cody said.

Britt Raybould


Britt Raybould is from a small town in Idaho. She works social media a little differently. Rather than trying to put herself out there with social media, she more often uses other people's social media to connect with them.

She finds potential partners and also friends. Living in a rural area means having a limited peer group locally, but Twitter helps her to maintain contacts with like-minded people in other places. She has also turned it into a way to learn new business skills, experimenting with WordPress, PHP, FTP, hosting, etc. Now she can offer those skills to her clients.

"I've had a few jobs come from Twitter and my blog, but in my case, I view it as a way to have conversations I wouldn't otherwise have," Britt said. "For all the business chatter about social media, I sometimes think we overlook that, at it's most basic, it's comparable to two neighbors chatting together over a fence."

Shawn Kirsch


Shawn Kirsch is going to change Elgin, North Dakota, forever. He's starting by using social media.

His online interaction from blogging and from Twitter have motivated him to take action in his town. He pitched a complete redesign to his local town's website, and now his local paper is wanting to establish a digital version of what they print every week. His church is also showing an interest in having a website. Now he's writing a column called "Everyman Tech" for the local paper. By writing about the Spurs on his blog, he got noticed by the administrator and picked up by www.projectspurs.com.

"I've had more unique ideas, that are both feasible and potentially life altering, than I ever would have had without Twitter, and I owe it all to the inspiration my Twitterbuds give me throughout the day," Shawn said on Twitter.

Shawn has lots more to say, in a guest post by him to complete this series of four articles.


You


What's your story? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

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Thursday, May 15, 2008

Book II

For the second time, I'm going to be featured in a book. First was Ted Demopoulos, who interviewed me for What No One Ever Tells You About Blogging and Podcasting. Now I'm joining several of my friends, like 275 of them) in contributing to The Age of Conversation II: Why Don't People Get It?

Following the lead of Jon Swanson, here's a little of what I contributed:

I have a blog, but I've been meaning to set up an email newsletter, to do better at posting to my store's blog, and to find the right way to do text messages to customers. But I have a dozen other pressing projects that I know will improve my business and affect my bottom line. I need to get a new sign, reevaluate my pricing model, change the air filter in the air conditioner, and finish an important contract. It's going to take a lot to make me be interested in anything...

Want more? The whole book, with all 200+ contributions, will be out later in the year.

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Tuesday, May 13, 2008

What to do when your business is being squeezed out of existence

Here's some insight into a business being squeezed out of existence. Professional photography: portraits, weddings, and studios.

If everyone has an awesome digital camera, who needs a professional photographer?
How long can a professional keep charging $55 for an 8x10 print, when I can get one printed online for under $5?
Can enough customers afford a $4,000 base wedding package to sustain a business?

Authors and pro photographers Shawn, Pamela & Gavin Richter have written a fine justification of their expertise and cost at Why are Professional Photographers so expensive? The problem is that a justification like this, no matter how well received by your professional peers, is not a solution to a fundamental shift that undermines your business.

Let's brainstorm. You're smart. How can you help the professional portrait photographer survive as a business? Anything is fair game, from minor tinkering with pricing to a complete re-engineering. The comments are yours.


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Tuesday, May 06, 2008

When NOT to be a Sole Proprietorship: Forming an LLC or S Corp

Sole proprietorship is the simplest form of business, but it also has some disadvantages. So for this installment of the Small Biz 100, I'll talk about some of the situations where you don't want to be a sole proprietorship and what types of business you might want to form.
Note: All of this discussion is specific to small businesses in the USA.
Note 2: More info on when TO be a sole proprietorship is in the Checklists for starting your first business post.

When not to be a sole proprietorship


If any of these factors apply, then it's time to look at other forms of business:

Ownership - if you want to bring in a partner
Liability - if you have the type of business where you are more likely to be the target of a lawsuit
Taxes - if you are going to do so well financially that taxes are going to be an issue
Investment - if you want to be able to bring in other people in an ownership position
Selling - if you want to sell the business and make it easy to transfer to new owners


Other business structures


If any of those qualifiers applied, or you have other reasons, you can start your business with a different form. If you've already started your business, you can convert to another form at any time.

Above sole proprietorships, the two most reasonable forms are LLC or S Corp. These two share some benefits:
  • Both offer some liability protection for owners (if the company is sued, you are not personally liable, usually).
  • Both types can have multiple owners.
  • Neither type requires a separate tax return.
  • Both allow income to pass through to owners before taxation.

What does that "pass through" business mean? It means that the LLC or S Corp doesn't file its own tax return and pay taxes. Instead, the income is passed through the company to the owners. Then the owners declare this income on their own tax returns. Of course, no matter what form of business you create, you are responsible for paying taxes on the income of the business. Sorry! No getting around it. You may be able to reduce your overall tax burden by allowing the new business to hire you as an employee. But if you are getting to that point, you have also gotten a tax advisor, right?

The requirements to form both an LLC and an S Corp are fairly similar.
  • Both are treated as separate entities and require a new Employer Identification Number (EIN).
  • Both require a written agreement to determine how they will operate.
  • Both require filings to create them.
  • Both require ongoing paperwork, such as official meetings and documentation. (The LLC takes less of this, if you ask me.)

LLC - Limited Liability Company
LLC's are regulated by the states, and the rules vary. This means there is not one single guide for creating an LLC. I could tell you all about how I formed mine in Oklahoma, but it wouldn't help you create one in Indiana. The general guideline is to check with your Secretary of State. They usually regulate these filings. You can also check in with your local Small Business Development Center, and they can give you the local scoop.

A few general rules apply nationwide. The owners of an LLC are called members, and the first filing is usually called Articles of Organization. You'll also need to create the governing document, usually called an Operating Agreement. All the members have to agree to those operating rules. Some states allow one person to form an LLC on their own, and some states require a minimum of two people to start up.

LLC's can be more flexible in terms of how they are taxed. An LLC can elect to be taxed like a sole proprietorship (probably best for one person LLC's), a corporation, or a partnership. This is another place where you want to invest in some professional advice, to be sure you select the proper form.


S Corp - Subchapter S Corporation
Because the S Corp is regulated by the federal government, the tax rules do not vary from state to state. So if you plan to do business with locations in several states, go with the S Corp.

Corporations are still created in your individual state, usually with a filing at the Secretary of State's office. Once you've formed the corporation in your state, you need to let the IRS know that you want it to be a Subchapter S Corp, by filing a form 8832 with the IRS. And you need to do that quickly, within 75 days.


General Partnerships and why I don't like them
Few people choose to go into a general partnership anymore. Every partner is responsible for every debt and decision of every other partner. That unlimited liability is enough to scare most people away, especially since more attractive options like LLCs and S Corps can cover partners.

But sometimes people end up in a general partnership by accident. Just like the default form of a single person business is the sole proprietorship, the default form of a multiple person business is a general partnership. If you go into business with a friend, without putting any arrangements on paper, you just formed a general partnership. The good news? You can re-form as an LLC or S Corp at any time.

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

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Saturday, April 26, 2008

Delegating without freaking out your clients

Getting past the point of being a one-person, do-it-all, no-rest-for-the-weary business means helping customers to work with your employees or subcontractors, as well as you. But if every client thinks you need to do every thing, how do you keep them from freaking out when you delegate their work?

This problem is common in reputation industries as diverse as design, consulting, hair styling and professional hunting. Clients feel attached to the person whose name is on the firm and insist on personal service. But that only works for so long, until you have more clients than hours in the day.

Can you just not tell clients that you subcontract? I say no. To not be up front about this could feel like dishonest, or at least misleading, behavior to a client.

Why they can't live without you


First, it helps to understand how this happens. It's part of how that customer was thinking long before they ever called you. Everything you put out into the world starts the process of relationship building. Each piece of information from you adds a layer to the image they have of you and their decision making process.

When they read your blog, follow your tweets, check your about page, see your business card, meet you at a conference, or talk to other clients, it feels like they are building a relationship with you.

You haven't necessarily met or talked at this point, but your future client is building a relationship with you in their mind. That's a required and important part of how people make decisions.

I'm betting that right now, everything you are putting out is leading to them building that mental relationship directly with you.

How you can change it


How can you acclimate clients to your delegating?

1. Let them know you delegate
Starting now, make a conscious effort to mention your helpers, whether they are employees or subcontractors. Talk about team efforts, or how your associate did outstanding work for a client.

Evaluate your About page. If you work with a group of people regularly, should you feature them? Look at your card. Is it just you?

This takes a fundamental shift in thinking for some of us.

2. Let them know you still care and supervise
Reader Bob Sawyer shared his technique for doing this:
As for clients not wanting to work with your subcontractors, I have one of those. I explained it this way to them: "I'm not a god. I can only manage a finite number of tasks, and at this point, I have subcontractors assisting. I will personally oversee the work they perform and ensure that it meets your standards."

How do you ease clients into the idea of delegation? Any great tips to share?

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

Get the whole series by subscribing to Small Biz Survival.
New here? Take the Guided Tour.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

POV: A major decision point

All small businesses run into decision points. These are the things that can keep you up at night! Twitter friend Shama Hyder, of After the Launch, has come to one of these, and "tweeted":

After The Launch has hit a MAJOR decision point: To work IN the business or to work ON the business. Do we hire? Who do we hire?

Shama agreed to tackle some really tough questions about this critical moment for the Small Biz 100, to hopefully help other entrepreneurs face their own decision points.


What made you realize that you are at a decision point? One particular event, or more creeping realization?


I think it was when I realized we were getting more clients by the day. It gets to a point where you don’t know if you should focus on client work or new client acquisition. That’s how I realized we had to make some major decisions to make. We either grow or stagnate.

How do you balance working ON the business, while still managing to get the IN the business work done? Or, how do you carve out time for working ON the business?

In all honesty, this is what I am working on now. It’s hard. This is why I am considering hiring more help! I love working on the business and in the business, but I can’t do it all. That’s a huge realization.

Have you decided what position to hire? How did you decide?

I’d like to hire someone who is well versed in internet marketing and PR. Someone who can handle client accounts with ease. We have no problem getting new business, and being a marketing company, I am glad we can walk our talk. However, we need to continue to deliver great results to our clients-old and new. In that sense, I need someone who can pick up the ball and get in the game.

How are you fitting this with your long term goals?

I am still ironing this out….= )

What's the best piece of advice you can give to other entrepreneurs running into a similar decision point?

Just this morning an expert entrepreneur and mentor gave me this piece of advice: A small business’ life blood is cash flow. That should always be your top priority. Cash flow is what allows you to grow. We hurt ourselves initially by really undercharging. We signed up clients for long term agreements at foolish prices. This is a silly mistake, but I hope others can learn from it. We are now correcting this. = )

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

Get the whole series by subscribing to Small Biz Survival.
New here? Take the Guided Tour.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Say NO gracefully

Part of being a successful entrepreneur is saying "no."

Small businesses are constantly hit with offers from potential suppliers, hopeful partners, and even potential customers. Then there are the constant requests for free help, volunteer work, donations, and even jobs. You can't possibly do it all. Let's face it. Being in business means saying "no" a lot.

There are positives to saying no.


What could possibly be positive about telling someone no?
  • It keeps you focused on your business. It's your business, and your butt on the line. Learn to say no.

  • It frees up that person to move on to their next prospect. What, you didn't realize they have a next prospect? Yeah, it's true, and you probably aren't the first on their list. So say no so they can move on.

  • It lets you focus on projects that are core to your business or your heart. If you said yes to every single thing, you couldn't do any of them well.

  • It makes you realize that you have a target market. If you can't say no to clients or projects that are a bad fit, you'll end up scattering your efforts all over.

  • It keeps you in business. If you said yes to every donation request, you would go broke. It's hard to say no to the kids' Easter Egg hunt, but you might need to.
Twitterer Elaine Helm said it this way, "Saying no is good for you. And for those on the receiving end."

So when you say no, remember that. You are helping yourself and them by knowing what is right for you and what isn't.

Finding the words


Here are three steps to find the right words to say no gracefully.
  1. Acknowledge the importance of the request.
  2. Turn them down.
  3. Optional: offer an alternative.
Chris Brogan asked Twitter for some help finding the right words to say no, nicely. GeekMommy gave good examples acknowledging the request.
  • "Thank you! But I'm sorry I'll have to turn you down... I just can't work it out right now."

  • "It would be a pleasure to work with you at some point, but I'm over-committed as it is right now. I'm sorry I'll have to say no."

  • "Wow, thank you for the offer. I'm flattered, I just can't fit it in right now."
I added this way of acknowledging the request, a variation of one I read somewhere.
  • "I'm glad that you asked. It's an important project, and I'm glad you're doing it. I won't be able to join, but wish you the best."
Jon Swanson came up with some good ways to offer alternatives.
  • Give them a short burst of your time.
    "I can give you 15 minutes to help you figure out how you can not need me."
  • Offer them an alternative prospect.
    "I'm sorry, I wish I could do that as well as _______. Wait. Maybe she's available. May I check?"
Harveymilk had a suggestion for when a request surprises you.
  • "interim 'no'= 'let me get back to you'. Often gives you the time to get to an appropriate no."
What other ways can you add to offer alternatives when saying no?

And, just a moment of honesty here. We all struggle with this. Every single one of us. It's tough to tell people no. Here's the end of our Twitter exchange on saying no.
  • chrisbrogan @BeckyMcCray - very nice response.
  • BeckyMcCray @chrisbrogan Now I just need to use it more. :)
  • chrisbrogan @BeckyMcCray - oh, we don't follow OUR OWN advice. That's silly.

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

Get the whole series by subscribing to Small Biz Survival.
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Saturday, April 19, 2008

Resource: Sparkplugging and a rebranding story

Our friend Wendy Piersall is now CEO of Sparkplugging :: Thinking Big in the New Work at Home Generation. Sparkplugging is a complete rebranding of eMoms at Home. The new brand makes it clear that her site and network of blogs are focused on entrepreneurial content.

Wendy's eMoms at Home started as her personal blog, and over the past year, developed into an independent business including a blog network. As her business changed over time, she realized that the eMoms brand was holding her back.

At SXSW, Wendy and I both stayed with Sheila Scarborough. When we found time to talk, I was surprised by how much eMoms at Home was about entrepreneurship. Hey, we're all about entrepreneurship, but I didn't realize that she was, also. And I'm not the only one too myopic to see past the name. Time and again, Wendy found herself explaining how the name didn't say it all about eMoms.

Wendy got brave, and launched a complete rebranding of her business. Darren Rowse outlined more of the story of how that worked in this interview at ProBlogger.

What entrepreneurial resources can you find at Sparkplugging? An expanding network of blogs in small business and lifestyle channels. New blogs are launching each week at the same time as the rebranding. Articles at Sparkplugging cover the full range of small business, work at home, entrepreneurial, and work life balance issues.

Congratulations, Wendy, on the tough business decisions you've been through in the past month. Here's to continued future success, with brand new spark.

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