Entrepreneurs can get quite isolated. We get into bad habits, ignore issues that need to be addressed but may cause us some discomfort or pain if we change things, and try to avoid dealing with things we just don’t like to deal with. This can be a problem employee who needs to go, problem accounts receivable that need attention in collecting, or even calling on potential customers.
I have the same issue with my golf game. I have been playing on and off since I was a kid and have developed some bad habits in my swing. My son Russ, who is a great golfer, always spots my golf “issues” when we play together. While in Hawaii he saw something in a picture he took of my swing that he pointed out was probably the cause of my recent inconsistencies. Sure enough, he was right, and I am now hitting the ball better than I have in years.
As entrepreneurs we need this kind of outside eye on our businesses once in a while. Find someone who knows about business, knows you, and can be constructively blunt with you when you need it. Have that person spend some time with you and your business once in a while to help you work out the kinks in your business.
This doesn’t have to be a hired consultant. I had a couple of fellow entrepreneurs who played this roll for me (and me for them in return). I now play this roll for some of our alumni.
There are plenty of cheerleaders who will inspire you to move ahead in your business. We need that. But we also need someone who will tell us like it really is.
Even professional golfers have a swing coach. Find one for your business.
The Entrepreneurial Generation at Work
A colleague sent me a report from The Herman Group, which provides management consulting and futurist-based strategic planning. They cite a trend that those of us who teach entrepreneurship are intimately aware of:
Early indications suggest that the Millennial Generation, born after 1985, has a strong orientation toward entrepreneurship. They feel confident that they can achieve great results–at least earn a satisfactory living–by going into business for themselves. This population cohort is showing itself to be self-aware, astute, creative, and comfortable taking the risks involved with businesses.
Indeed, as we add more sections of entrepreneurship each semester, the students keep filling them up.
The report raises a concern that I also hear from large employers.
While it is inspiring to see young people with a desire to create something, to try new business ventures while they are young, there is also a downside. These entrepreneurs, full of intellectual curiosity and energy, are often ideal employees for existing companies. However, if they are business for themselves, these unique human resources are usually not available to work for other employers. They are simply not interested.
What is interesting is that this is leading many employers to outsource functions that they just cannot adequately staff. And guess who is at the helm of the small businesses that large employers are looking to for such outsourcing? That’s right, the young entrepreneurs who they cannot attract to hire!
This is just one more data point that shows how job growth is being created by entrepreneurs and their small businesses.
(Quotations from “The Herman Trend Alert,” by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists. (800) 227-3566 or http://www.hermangroup.com.)
Belmont Entrepreneurial Showcase: Parthenon Publishing
Parthenon Publishing specializes in developing print and on-line custom publications for the customers, membership groups and employees of sponsoring companies. Bobby Stark co-founded Parthenon Publishing in 2002, 10 years after receiving an MBA from Belmont University.
Bobby Stark was an experienced marketing strategist with over 15 years experience when he in decided to start his own business.
Parthenon Publishing, Inc. had no existing customers or clients, so Bobby had to hit the street and work hard to establish a client base for his new company. By offering a customized approach to multi media communications, Parthenon was able to quickly earn a loyal base of customers who have helped refer more new clients to his business. Parthenon now serves some of Nashville’s biggest companies, including HCA, TravelCenters of America (TA), Fleet One, Spheris, Psychiatric Solutions, and IASIS. Three years after it’s founding, Parthenon now has sales of over $2.8 million and 10 employees.
TravelCenters of America’s magazine, RoadKing, boasts a circulation of over 225,000 readers and is distributed at all of TA’s 160 locations nationwide. Parthenon not only manages the content and layout, but they also handle all aspects of advertising and publication.
Bobby is active in Young Entrepreneur’s Organization (YEO) an organization dedicated to entrepreneurship and continued education.
When asked why he chose Nashville to launch Parthenon, Bobby said that it is a great place for entrepreneurs to find kindred spirits. Both the city of Nashville and the local business have made the area great for aspiring businesses and entrepreneurs.
“Nashville is a really fun town for entrepreneurs.”
Bobby accounts Parthenon’s growth to how well they know their customers’ businesses and their intended audience for each publication. Parthenon acts as an advocate for the reader, engaging them with content and information. This is a challenge in the information age of today, with a reader’s time continuing to be a valuable commodity.
Bobby says that continuing to attract and maintain the best people will be their biggest challenge as they try to continue to grow their business. He believes that it is the Parthenon team that draws and retains customers. It is this team that also keeps Parthenon successful in their highly competitive market.
Carnival of the Capitalists
This week’s selections are at Strange Brand.
Cost of Employee Benefits
A new report by Joel Popkin and Company, Cost of Employee Benefits in Small and Large Businesses, has been released by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The report specifically looks at the cost of health insurance, retirement plans, paid vacation, and sick leave.
The report finds that the rate of offering various benefits and that their associated costs can vary dramatically with firm size. Here are some highlights from this study:
– Paid vacation: This is the most common benefit offered by businesses of all sizes. The study found similar rates of offering this benefit among small businesses with over 100 employees and large companies. 50% of the smallest companies (fewer than 10 employees) offer paid vacation
– Sick leave: Paid sick leave is offered by 81% of large companies and 65% of small businesses.
– Health care: The cost of offering health care per employee is highest for the smallest businesses (under 10 employees) and the largest companies (over 1000). Very small businesses do not have bargaining power in securing health insurance, while larger businesses are forced to offer richer benefits due in part to worker unionization. Increases in premiums have been much higher for smaller business over the past few years.
– Retirement plans: About 75 percent of larger firms have some type of retirement plan for employees, while about 35% of small business offer such plans.
As businesses grow, they must pay close attention to benefits offered by larger companies, as they often will have to compete with these businesses to attract key staff. When developing financial forecasts, it is important to factor in a higher cost of benefits as the business grows to reflect the challenge of attracting employees. This can create significant cash flow challenges for businesses that rely heavily on human capital for growth.
But, adding benefits should not just be looked at as a net cost. As seen in this classic article from Inc.com, some entrepreneurs believe that they cannot afford not to offer rich benefits.
“If you use benefits to build a cadre of talented people who stay with you for years, you’ll hold on to your power….Your company’s future will just get stronger and stronger.”
Thoughts and Observations from the Land of Rest
During my week off we went to a couple of movies (Four Brothers and Red Eye — both were worth seeing). While we were making our way to the show, I was struck by some unethical selling practices at our local multiplex.
First, when you walk up to buy popcorn, they try to sell you a “value pack.” Now we have been trained by fast food to understand this to really mean it is a value. I look frantically up at the prices to see what the value price is, but I can’t see any listing. It must be the newest, latest deal. After all, at a fast food joint a value meal might save you fifty cents when compared to buying the sandwich, fries and drink separately. You think, “What the heck. I might as well get the whole deal for a little more money.”
But not at our theater. We soon find out that their “value” pack, a popcorn and a drink for example, costs exactly the same as buying each separately. There is no value in their value pack!
Second, once we said no thanks to their value offering, we then asked for a medium popcorn. At this point the young person behind the counter holds up a medium bag limply with a rather disappointed look on his face and says, “This is the medium bag. Are you sure it is going to be big enough?” Read between the lines, “You idiot! Why would you waste your money on this puny bag?”
Now out theater is part of a large, multi-state chain. So I bit my tongue, at the strong encouragement of my wife, and moved on to the show. I wasn’t going to change the practices of the theater by yelling at the high school kid behind the counter.
So instead, let me offer these simple suggestions to all the entrepreneurs who read this site on some basic ethical principles that may keep you from becoming a company like the one the owns our local multiplex:
– Don’t mislead your customers.
– Don’t lie to your customers.
– Don’t treat your customers like they are idiots.
Rest and Peace
I will be taking a week off for a little summer break. Please visit some of my favorite sites listed on the right column of my site. If you are new to my site, please feel free to take this chance to go a root around in my archives. I will be back on August 22nd.
StartupJournal offers some additional statistics (from an American Express survey) to those I posted on Wednesday about entrepreneurs on vacation.
This new survey tells us that although we may physically take time off, we may not really be mentally taking time off. And that can take its toll over time, as we all need time to rest. In the past, I have written about this importance of taking time off (here, here, here, and here), as hard as that can be for entrepreneurs.
It may be too much to ask to simply work at full speed for 51 weeks and then try to stop for one week of vacation. Learn how to take time off in small bites. Find something that you can do once a day or even just once a week that takes you mentally away from your business.
In learning how to rest, many people much wiser than me tell us that it is essential to find a way to find true silence in your life. Take a little time each day to pray, meditate, contemplate or whatever your personal preference. But don’t always use words; take time for true silence.
The fruit of SILENCE is Prayer
The fruit of PRAYER is Faith
The fruit of FAITH is Love
The fruit of LOVE is Service
The fruit of SERVICE is Peace
(Mother Teresa of Calcutta).
Balance Takes Work and Planning
Inc.com has a story that just made me shake my head.
About two-thirds of small business owners are satisfied with how they have balanced their personal lives and work schedules, despite the fact that they work an average 52 hours a week, according to a new survey released by the Wells Fargo/Gallop Small Business Index.
The survey also found that over half of small business owners work six days a week, with more than 20% working all seven. Fourteen percent of surveyed small business owners reported taking zero vacation days in a year, and almost 40% of those who do take personal time off said that they still answer work-related phone calls and email while on vacation.
Nonetheless, 67% of small business owners said they were satisfied with their personal life-work balance and almost 90% said they were satisfied with being a small business owner in general.
I’ve been there and I know what they are going through. During the first couple of years of your business you often can’t take much time off. Even if you do, you are thinking about the business. You are running on adrenalin, excitement, and fear. And even with all of this, it is still fun.
But, at some point what was necessity can become a bad habit. And that is the dark side of entrepreneurship. When the business can take over your life and cost you much more than you ever anticipated: your family, your friends, and your health.
Here are a few thoughts on how to avoid the dark side:
– Keep control of your business and your life, even in the early stages.
– Set goals for your life as well as your business in your business plan. Life goals are as important as financial goals over the long run.
– Engineer time for the other things. It may that you make it home for dinner every night, have a date with your spouse once a week, or never miss your kid’s games or concerts. You may need to go back to work afterward, but take the time.
– Make sure any breaks you take are both physical and mental. That will be hard at first. My wife and I tried to meet for lunch when I was building my business. The first few times I know my head was not there. But, I worked at it and eventually learned how to get away mentally. Believe me, it took hard work.
– Set goals for separation. I met an entrepreneur who had been able to build up to six weeks of vacation a year. And she was trying to add a week a year! She became one of my role models. I tried to learn from her how to build a business that could run itself when I was away.
– When life gives you a break, take it. When we sold our business I immediately was mentally working on the next deal. But, my wife tugged my sleeve and said “take a break and make sure what you really want to do next.” At first it drove me crazy. I was used to running in overdrive. However, that break gave me time to reflect and contemplate where I should go next. And surprisingly to me, it was not the next deal, but into teaching.
Entrepreneurship is in my blood. But so is being a husband, a father, a friend, and now a teacher. Learning how to sort out all of the conflicting demands takes hard, conscious work. It never just happens.
Alaska Supports Regulatory Flexibility
Alaska’s small businesses will face a friendlier regulatory environment, thanks to a new law that gives Alaskan small businesses a voice in the state’s regulatory process.
Upon signing the regulatory flexibility bill Governor Frank Murkowski said, “HB 33 is a step in the right direction to ensure the small business community in Alaska has a voice in crafting the regulations that affect their ability to make a living. This in turn will mean that agencies specified in the bill will have to consider the adverse impacts to small business before promulgating regulations. I am encouraged by this move to help return common sense to the regulatory process affecting a very important sector of our economy.”
House Bill 33 implements key elements of regulatory flexibility model legislation drafted by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Similar to the federal Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), the model legislation encourages entrepreneurial success by requiring state agencies to consider the impact of their policies on small business before they issue final regulations.
Blogging is Not Fading Away…At Least Not Yet
When I first took up blogging, many people told me that I wouldn’t be at it for very long. They said that blogging was a fad that would quickly fade away. Well, it is not fading way so far according to Red Herring which says that one-sixth of the total U.S. population read web logs in the first quarter of 2005.
U.S. blog readership in the first quarter jumped 45 percent to 49.5 million people, or one-sixth of the total U.S. population….The increase means 30 percent of U.S. Internet users visited blog sites in the quarter, according to the comScore Media Metrix report.
This is raising the visibility of blogs for advertisers.
So what happens when something catches on in the technology world? Microsoft joins in, of course!!
Seeking to raise its profile in the increasingly influential world of bloggers, software giant Microsoft said Monday it has launched a preview version of its new community blogging service called MSN Filter that will focus on topics like music and fashion in addition to technology.
Given Madison Avenue and Microsoft are joining the blogging world, maybe my blogging days are numbered after all……