What if? There has been a lot of discussion among the politicians, political pundits and bloggers about this question as it relates to the possibility of another attack on America. In fact, many of the discussions sound more like “when”, not “if”. How would it impact the election? Should we postpone the election if the terrorists strike again? What would our response be this time and toward what country? All important questions to think about, and to talk about, right now as cooler heads prevail.
So why should a business blogger be talking about this? Well, I think that entrepreneurs should be asking similar questions. And, they should be asking them now. Not in terms of any lofty public policy issues, but in terms of how it would affect their businesses. Entrepreneurs I talk with certainly are thinking about this, at least in the back of their minds, but any discussion tends to always end up like they are whistling past a graveyard. Maybe we’ll get lucky and nothing significant will happen, but the probability is high enough to warrant attention by any business owner.
How do you start thinking about the unthinkable? I would suggest the best place to start is with hard data. Examine what happened to your business and your industry after 9/11. History is never a perfect predictor of the future. If another attack happens to our country it could be worse, or we as citizens might not respond in the same way. But, history offers the best data we have to plan from. So the place to start is with your experience from 2001. And if you were not in business then, talk with those who were. Learn from those who weathered the last attack.
Here are some suggestions on how entrepreneurs can be preparing:
1. I would suggest for any business that the cliche’ “Cash is King” has never been more true. After 9/11, there was a prolonged period where many businesses almost ground to a halt. Having cash reserves will allow businesses to make it through the initial economic paralysis that will likely occur. Thirty days cash reserves (enough cash to cover essential and fixed expenses) would be my minimum recommendation. Even ninety days of reserve would not be too much to have at this period of time.
2. Good advice any time, but certainly now, is to manage overhead carefully. Overhead pushes the breakeven point of any business higher. If sales suddenly drop off for an extended period of time, a lower breakeven point that results from lower overhead expenses can soften the impact of any economic shock.
3. Whenever possible, avoid fixed, long-term commitments that are part of a static business model. Any major shock on a market may require new business tactics, strategies or even models going forward. One reason buy generic topamax online that the American auto industry reacted so poorly to the oil shock in the 1970s is that they had built their businesses assuming a very static business model. It literally took them years to undo this model and adjust to the new reality that they faced. They had to be able to react much more quickly to changing customer preferences, and operate in a market with many new competitors where there used to be only three.
4. Build in flexibility in all decisions. Understand that you may need to quickly undo some decisions that now make sense. Make this as easy as possible for you to accomplish.
5. Watch and manage your inventories carefully. Although the current economic expansion is being somewhat hampered by tight inventories, I now believe that this is a prudent strategy. Certainly you should not choke your business growth, but don’t go overboard with purchasing either. Purchasing raw materials or other inventory using volume discounts may not be wise. Be as “just in time” with your inventory as possible.
6. Think through the ‘what ifs’ and create contingency plans. These need to be major plans for how your operations will be handled given a variety of scenarios, and minor plans that deal with the day-to-day safety and security of your employees and customers.
7. Critically important is for all of us to look beyond any single event. After 9/11 we suffered economically in part because there was a collective “hunkering down” due to the shock of what had happened and the complete uncertainty of what was yet to come. Now we have experience, and we need to use it to envision what we can accomplish in the days, weeks, months beyond the inevitable initial shock and horror created by another attack on our land. Believe in your business and believe in the system that makes it possible. We will need bold leaders, not just at the political level, but within the grassroots of our economic system. Be strong, be brave and be confident and others will follow.
I am not trying to contribute to any public panic. To the contrary, I just want to advocate prudent preparedness. This is one of the most important lessons of 9/11. Part of how the terrorists win is determined by how we react in the aftermath. The economic collapse of America is one of their fundamental goals. And as I have written previously at this site, I truly believe that given the entrepreneurial economy in which we now live, entrepreneurs will be the economic foot soldiers in the aftermath of any future attacks. Winning the current war against this evil will be measured in large part by how resilient we are as a culture and as an economic system, since they are at the heart of what the terrorists are trying to destroy.

Carnival of the Capitalists this week is at one of my regular stops. Take a visit to Business Opportunities to see what’s posted.

Anita Campbell writes about the impact e-Bay is having on small business at Small Business Trends. This same trend was featured in a three part series written by Gerry Blackwell. Part I looks at operating an e-Bay store. Part II examines how to do it right and not get scammed, which is a real but preventable problem. Part III explores how e-Bay can save money for small business serving as a source to find vendors for supplies, equipment and even inventory.
Belmont’s own student run business, reverb media, bought all of their equipment and furnishings and inventory through e-Bay, saving thousands of dollars.
This is really just the first wave of what is a transition in how goods and services will be bought and sold in the future. Who knows how far this technological shift will take us, especially as we have the much anticipated convergence of electronic devices. Soon, everything from your fridge to your bathroom mirror will be integrated through an information network that will include computing, web-connectivity, television, and other media.
I believe that in thirty years we (hopefully I’ll still be around to be part of this “we”) will look back on the e-Bay era like we now look back at the revolutionary impact that Ford Motor Company had on our economy and society. The information age has been at work for a long time, but innovations like e-Bay are what really will take its power to the masses.
In the short run, tools like e-Bay are part of the fuel for this entrepreneurial economic boom, facilitating quicker and cheaper start-up strategies for many small businesses. It is creating new opportunities that did not exist just a couple of years ago.

There is a new service available for those of you with business ideas at TJ’s Weblog.
“The ‘Business Plan Surgery’ is designed to give expert feedback for your very own business idea – for free.
Here is how it works:
* You are a early stage company in the process of finalizing your business plan or looking for investment or you are already in business for less than 6 months.
* You may send in your business plan to us and get a review from our experts….We will focus on the viability of the business model and the biggest challenges for your business from our point of view.
* We guarantee you full confidentiality….What we want to do however is to inaugurate the TOP 5 after August 31st. For this inauguration we would like to present the abstract buy topamax from canada business model (2-3 sentences) to our blog audience.
* What is your benefit? First of all you get an expert opinion on your business plan which in turn reduces your risk. Additionally our weblogs are read by a wide range of technology experts, business angels and some VCs. So with some luck our nomination will bring in investment.
* What does it cost? Nothing.
* Isn’t it risky to give my “secret idea” to other people? – Not really as Seth Godin would say “…an idea needs light and oxygen much like a plant” to survive. You should feed it, ideas in the dark basement will most likely die.
* What do I have to do? Please send your executive summary to my mail adress mail@tjacobi.com and we take it from there.”

Entrepreneur.com has two articles at their on-line magazine on marketing. One deals with techniques to optimize the latest in web-based sales. The other stresses that we should never stray too far from time tested sales techniques.
“Setting Sale” by Chris Penttila walks us through the five basics of building sales in a business. For Penttila’s take on these five I recommend you take a careful look at his article. Here are my takes on these five sales fundamentals:
1. Make sales contacts more effective. This is true from every aspect of sales from advertising to direct selling. It all costs money, which is generally a scarce resource for most entrepreneurs, so make sure your efforts have maximum impact on getting orders in the door.
2. Increase market share. In a competitive market, remember that most of your sales come from competitors. Know how customers make their decisions on who to buy from, know how well each competitor stacks up on these criteria, and know what you need to do better to take these customers away. Most of us think we know how our customers make decisions. Do some simple research to make sure you really know. It is often quite surprising.
3. Increase customer loyalty. It is easier and cheaper to keep a customer you have than to chase a new one. Don’t just worry about getting more folks “in the front door”, make sure you “close the back door” so you don’t lose the ones you already have.
4. Increase margins. The real goal is profits, not sales.
5. Reduce sales cycle. Know your sales cycle (first contact through closing the sale). Measure you progress along the sales cycle, as this is probably the only measure you will have of where you are headed (financial statements only look backwards). Make sure your accounting system gives you this information consistently.
And now for the new. Catherine Seda gives advice on how to increase sales through more effective use of Internet search engines in her article “In the Click”. It has gotten much more complex, so you may need to get professional help to make the Internet work for your business. Here are a few tips from Seda’s article on to get effective help:
-Find the experts. Read articles and books, and attend conferences to identify the companies with strong industry visibility. Even if they’re not good matches for you, they could recommend other reputable firms.
-Interview firms. Don’t be afraid to quiz companies about their marketing philosophies, process, tools, reporting and results. Ask them to define spam, then refer to your resources to see if experts agree or disagree.
-Avoid responding to e-mail spam. The “Get a number-one position for $99” spam is likely from companies that will spam the search engines, too.
-Speak to client references. Ask them to describe their experiences, results and recommendations for working with the company you’re interviewing.
-Outsource. Some companies manage their own paid placement campaigns in-house while other companies manage SEO. Find out what your options are.