My column in this week’s Tennessean is on what it takes to make word of mouth effective:

A recent poll found that 82 percent of small businesses use word of mouth to grow their business, and that 15 percent rely almost exclusively on word of mouth.

However, what many entrepreneurs fail to recognize is that word of mouth rarely just happens.

They fall victim to the myth of “if we build it, they will come.” Nothing could be further from the truth.

Continue reading Word of Mouth Takes Action

Ever wonder what happens to the business cards you hand out?  Often they end up in someone’s coat pocket, in a stack on someone’s desk, or — heaven forbid — in the trash. 

For years, people have been trying to find ways to make their cards stand out.  For example, they have put things such as jokes, inspirational sayings, and even recipes on the back of the card.

Now a new company offers you a way to truly customize your cards and hopefully make them stand out so people will hang on to them and use them.

Moo.com allows you to have pictures and images printed on the back of your cards.  What is unique is that you can choose “lots of different images” in a single pack of cards.  You can include pictures of your various products, you office buildings, your staff, or even shots from your vacation.  A cool use of digital technology!

I have been posting this week about creating and sustaining a bootstrap culture.  In my previous posts I wrote about the importance of using recruiting and rewards to build a bootstrap culture.  My final post on this to stress the importance of both talking the talk and walking the walk.

Entrepreneurs should communicate a consistent message about bootstrapping.  Highlight the importance of bootstrapping, in every form of communication ranging from informal conversations with employees to formal communications such as newsletters, annual reports and policy manuals.  A consistent message reinforces the importance of bootstrapping behaviors.  For example, include a feature in every company newsletter about an employee who was the “bootstrapper of the month,” offering a story of how they accomplished a task with minimal resources.    Story telling is a fundamental part of building a culture in a business.

But also remember that your actions speak loudly.  The actions taken by leaders speak more loudly than what they say.  The company Fastenal has become legendary for its bootstrapping culture.  Fastenal sells industrial and construction supplies wholesale and retail from its 2,160 store locations located in 50 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Singapore, China and the Netherlands.    Even with over $2 billion in revenues, the company’s leadership takes bootstrapping actions that reinforce their culture. 

This story comes from a 1997 feature about Fastenal in Inc magazine:

[Robert] Kierlin [now Chairman of the Board] and chief financial officer Dan Florness could easily have taken a flight to a conference in Chicago, a little more than an hour away by plane. Instead, they drove five and a half hours in a van, saving Fastenal hundreds of dollars. They lunched at A&W, feasting on burgers and root beers. (Cost: $5 a person.) They spent the night at a motel in Rockford, a Chicago suburb, to avoid the high city prices. The pair even shared a room. “This sends a message that cost control is important to everybody in the organization,” Kierlin says. “By being attentive to all expenditures, you can really set the example at the top.”

Talking the talk, walking the walk, using rewards to reinforce bootstrapping, and recruiting those who fit in the culture will all help create an enduring bootstrap culture in an entrepreneurial venture.

My last post looked at a bootstrap culture as I have been writing about it for my new textbook on bootstrapping.  There are four steps that can be taken to help build and maintain a bootstrap culture as the business grows.  The first of these steps is recruiting for a Bootstrap Culture: 

When bringing new employees into a business, it is critical to look beyond their technical skills and experience to fill the position.  A fit with the bootstrap culture should also be examined. 

One approach is to develop open-ended questions that can be used during the interview process.  For example, “Tell me about a time when you had to accomplish a task when limited resources were available.”  If the interviewee answers the question by saying that she always had more than enough budgetary support in her old job, it might be difficult for her to adapt to a bootstrapping environment not having worked that way in the past.  Or, if she answers by complains about the availability of resources in her old job, or about how her old boss was always cheap, that is a good signal that the employee is not have bootstrapping as a part of her work ethic.  On the other hand, if she speaks with enthusiasm and pride about how she got the job done within the limited resource available, she would more likely fit into the bootstrap culture.