Efficient Manufacturing Strategies

eVenturing has a new collection on efficient manufacturing strategies.

What can growing manufacturing companies do to compete effectively in today’s global economy? One answer is to apply the quality and efficiency techniques previously associated only with large corporations. Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, and, more recently, Six Disciplines are proven ways to reduce costs, improve quality, and maintain margins. Small to medium-sized growth manufacturers are now successfully employing these processes to stay competitive. This eVenturing collection offers insight into efficient manufacturing strategies that smaller companies can use not only to produce products sold directly to consumers but also those that meet the needs of larger clients requiring use of such strategies. Stories of individual manufacturers that have implemented “Lean (Buck Knives, for example) illustrate the challenges and rewards.” Tools and templates provide a look at specifics of the process.

One of our alumni, Charles Hagood, has developed two very successful businesses (TAG and Healthcare Performance Partners) helping companies apply these techniques in manufacturing and health care settings.

Retention of Employees Strong Among Small Businesses

There are two key steps to building a strong workforce. Get good people in the front door and make sure they don’t just walk out the back door.
Several recent studies have highlighted the difficulty that small businesses are having in finding qualified workers. That is, they are having a tough time getting workers in through the front door.
A new survey suggests that many small business owners have done an effective job of keeping their workers from walking right out the back door to another employer. According to a National Federation of Independent Business Small-Business Poll released yesterday on unemployment compensation, nearly half of all small businesses, 49 percent, experienced no employee turnover during the past 12 months.
In a period of low unemployment that is remarkable. Creating a positive culture, offering good working conditions and good jobs, and fair compensation all play a roll in retaining workers. It seems that many small businesses must be getting this right.

“The Call of the Entrepreneur” Premiere in Nashville

COTE - PostcardFront -compresssed.jpg
We are honored and excited to announce that we will be hosting a premiere of the documentary film from the Acton Institute, The Call the Entrepreneur, here in Nashville, TN.
If you are not in Tennessee or even in the US, there are several other premieres scheduled around the US and around the world.
UPDATE: Here are the details of our premiere:
Date: Monday, September 10, 2007
Time: 5:00 p.m. CDT
Location: Beaman Center, Room A/B on the Belmont Campus in Nashville, TN

Blogging for Business

Blogging has become a popular tool for bootstrap marketing. As of 2005, 10% of small businesses were using or were planning to use blogs for their businesses. Blogging allows for very targeted, personal contact with a customer base and can build strong customer loyalty.
Blogging can become a good public relations tool. It can set you apart as an expert in your field, which can lead reporters looking for content for their stories. I promise that I would never have been called by the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, US News, etc. for interviews had I not been a blogger.
There are some suggestions and cautions to keep in mind before you take the plunge:
– You need to be prepared to be consistent. Multiple posts each week seem the most effective at building a loyal following.
– Don’t just hype your business. Avoid crossing the line and becoming too self-serving or self-promoting as blog readers will not come back to such a blog for very long. Find content that will be of interest to your audience. It probably would be best to either be general content about your industry or material that would interest your target market. For example, a law firm may write a blog on employment law.
– It takes time to do it well. Plan on several hours each week to do research and to write. It has to become part of your routine. I generally start each day very early in the morning on my back porch (after our morning walk) blogging.
– Be patient, as it will take time to build an audience. You need to work on this by sending links via e-mail to reporters, other bloggers, customers, etc. to build awareness.
– Need to be cautious about what you say. Remember that the WHOLE world can read what you say, including your employees, your competition, your banker, etc.
A blog site called Bootstrapper has put together a great list of blogging resources if you are ready to give it a try.

Not My Dogs….

I wrote a post in 2005 about the boom in the pet industry and the opportunities it was creating for entrepreneurs. It seems that our obsession with our furry companions has not slowed down a bit. Last week’s cover story in Business Week offered this example:

If there’s still any doubt whether the pampering of pets is getting out of hand, the debate should be settled once and for all by Neuticles, a patented testicular implant that sells for up to $919 a pair. The idea, says inventor Gregg A. Miller, is to “let people restore their pets to anatomical preciseness” after neutering, thereby allowing them to retain their natural look and self-esteem. “People thought I was crazy when I started 13 years ago,” says the Oak Grove (Mo.) entrepreneur. But he has since sold more than 240,000 pairs (a few of which went on prairie dogs, water buffalo, and monkeys).

Sorry boys, but not for you….
DSCN0838-compressed.JPG
Keb and Delbert

Bootstrapping Tools for Client Prospecting

Many small business owners are turning to tools like Google Earth as a bootstrapping tool to bid jobs and prospect for clients. These tools allow free access to areal images that can offer amazing detail of specific locations. Many of these tools are free, but some charge a small annual fee to get premium services.
From the Wall Street Journal:

Roofers aren’t the only ones taking advantage of aerial mapping — landscapers, pool maintenance people, real-estate agents and insurance companies are also using such services. In some cases, they’re checking out specific locations where they’re bidding for or working on a job. In others, they’re perusing the images for signs — such as pools or big lawns — indicating homes that might be potential clients for their services.

Here is a sample of an image from one of these tools, zilow.com, which is geared toward real estate. The image is of Belmont University. My office is in the complex of buildings toward the top, right center of the image (the dark roofed building that looks like a backwards “L”). To illustrate that these images are very accurate, take a look at the parking lot to the right of the building complex in the upper right of the image — you can make out cars in the lot. To illustrate that these images can be dated, those parking lots are now our new Inman Health Sciences building that has been open for about a year.
Here is the same image from Google Earth (also missing the new building):
belmont image.jpg
To illustrate how these tools can be used, here is an example. We recently fenced in our backyard. We needed to get the fence stained, so I called a couple of painters recommended by the local paint store. One of them had to drive about 50 miles round trip just to take about five minutes to measure the backyard. He could have used one of these tools to get a view of our yard and placed a bid based on what would be a fairly accurate measurement. Since he could not see the fence this way, he would have been wise to make the bid contingent on the height and style of the fence being what I told him over the phone. The really bad news for him was that after taking over an hour to drive to my house to get the information he needed to make a bid, he did not get the job.

30 Under 30

Each year Inc.com runs a story on 30 entrepreneurs under the age of 30. In her story on this year’s 30 under 30, Donna Fenn presents an impressive roster from the Entrepreneurial Generation. I had the pleasure of talking with her about the young entrepreneurs of today for this story.

No wonder that a recent study by The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor shows that 18- to 24-year-olds in the United States are starting businesses at a faster rate than 35- to 44-year-olds. The college campus is now a fertile breeding ground for company builders. “Forty percent or more of students who come into our undergraduate entrepreneurship program as freshmen already have a business,” says Jeff Cornwall, the Massey Chair in Entrepreneurship at Belmont University in Nashville. “It’s a whole new world….”
They’re often so antsy, in fact, that it’s not unusual for them to bail out of college to devote themselves to their businesses full time….[T]hat kind of defection may tell us something about entrepreneurship education. “The old model was, go off and study liberal arts and when you’re a junior, we’ll give you an entrepreneurship course,” Cornwall says. “Now, if I wait until junior year, I’ll loose them. They want fulfillment and success and they’re not willing to wait 10 or 15 years. They want it today.”

Second Rule of Bootstrapping: Marketing Matters

In my second of four columns for the Tennessean on bootstrapping, I look at how to think like a bootstrapper when developing a marketing plan for a new venture.

A local entrepreneur, Charles Hagood, co-founder of The Access Group and Healthcare Performance Partners, always tells my students that if he had just one dollar left to spend in his company he would spend it on marketing.
Even though money is tight for small businesses, getting the word out to potential customers is essential if the business is to grow and thrive. This leads to the second rule of bootstrapping a business — probably nothing is more important to a new business than marketing, so know how to connect effectively with your customers within your limited budget.

Another Trip Around the Sun

I am not big on birthdays. It is not that I have a crisis with each passing year. My last “crisis birthday” was when I turned 23 — I guess I was worried that it was time for me to finally grow up.
Tomorrow I mark the half century of my entry into this world. At first I just wanted to let it pass quietly. But as I reflected on it, I decided that I have led a blessed life — one that was worth a little celebration. It came to me when I was listening to a song titled “Trip Around the Sun.” The best known version of this song has Jimmy Buffet performing it with Martina McBride. But, I was listening to a performance by one of my favorite Nashville song writers, Big Al Anderson, who actually co-wrote this song with Stephan Bruton and Sharon Vaughn.
This last verse goes like this:

Yes, I’ll make a resolution
Then I’ll never make another one
Just enjoy this ride on my trip around the sun
Just enjoy this ride …
Until it’s done

So this weekend will be filled with time with friends and family, as I look forward to what I hope will be the beginning of my next fifty trips around the sun.
earthsun.jpg

Show Me the Money

When it comes to employee compensation and job tenure, size does matter, according to a study released today by the Office of Advocacy of the SBA. The study found that all other things being equal, employees of larger companies have longer job tenures than those working in smaller ones. Moreover, the study found that service and manufacturing occupations pay more in larger businesses.
The study determined that each additional year of tenure on a job reduces the probability of turnover by 81 percent. It also established that the offering of benefits reduces the probability of an employee leaving in a given year by slightly more than 26 percent.
Recent surveys by the NFIB have reported that finding qualified workers continues to be a challenge for most small businesses, although easing a bit due to the sluggish economy.
What this study tells us is that even though small firms may be able to offer creative and attractive non-financial benefits, such as more flexible work conditions, more interesting work, etc., in the end what matters most is the money.