Business Inovate: 2007

utorak, 20. studenoga 2007.

nedjelja, 18. studenoga 2007.

When most people hear the thought of an Online Think Tank, they ponder all the online information flowing and how best to use it to solve problems. Indeed, this is part of an online think tank and the think tank itself uses the Internet for online meetings and discussions. However one should not be so naïve to consider only online sources as they seek to find bits and pieces of knowledge to help them in discovering the wisdom, knowledge or information needed to come to solutions to complex challenges.

Indeed, the Online Think Tank also goes thru books of all sorts in order to learn from the past, see what thinkers are saying in the present and what authors and writers or even experts in their field are saying about the future. Do you remember when cable TV first came out and how everyone ended up paying $60 per month for something they thought would be free? Kind of reminds you of some other industries doesn't it? Well and interesting book on this subject and a somewhat scathing report is the "The Billionaire Shell Game - How Cable Baron John Malone and assorted corporate titans invented a future nobody wanted" by L.J. Davis 1998.

John Malone was the CEO behind TCI Cable Company, who announced that soon a 500 - channel Information Highway was to be the new media future paradigm. This statement was a bit forward looking at the time, yet it started a revolution in investments to the industry. Also conceived where "mirrors in the sky" or satellite cable channel relays, now we know such scenarios as companies like Direct TV and EchoStar and radio followed suit with Cirrus and XM Radio. It seems those previous events shaped what we have today.

On another Think Tank topic, "the middle east crisis" our Online Think Tank scoured books prior to the first Gulf War, only to find things have not changed much nor has the radical fundamentalism of religion that predicts a dire future that cometh. We read for a book review;

"Armageddon, Oil and the Middle East Crisis" by John F. Walvoord 1990.

It seems many believe we live in the end of times and the rapture cometh. Indeed, many on both sides of the Middle East VS. West believe this - Christians and Muslims. Does that mean they will make it a fulfilling prophesy? This book discusses Oil Blackmail, Religion, Claims to Jerusalem, and the whole ball of wax. Many of the very same issues today in the Middle East crisis stem from such beliefs and conflicts and the author says the final stage is set for Armageddon.

Of course, the biblical predictions are someone vague and general as to the month and year of the final conflict, nevertheless, it seems many on both sides are headed towards the eventual potentiality that they have chosen to believe. Today we have the international terrorist organization of Hezbollah, which is financed by the nation state of Iran, that promises to blow Israel off the map, if Iran has nuclear weapons can Israel survive the onslaught? Fear, often drives mankind to do hideous things.

Unfortunately the indoctrination of middle eastern international terrorism is unacceptable in today's world, thus it appears a preemptive strike must occur to prevent World War III. If we look at all the wars between the Arabs and Israel. It is obvious in hindsight, that nothing will ever change in the future, and perhaps there will never be complete peace. If there ever is peace. It is predicted that following the 17 year peace will be the Armageddon. If you believe any of this religious stuff, which many people do and you can see the incredible problems that lie ahead. Throw in a rogue nation state with nuclear weapons in the hands of a proxy international terrorist organization and it is clear, there can be no positive end result, said the Online Think Tank.

But not all of the world is evil, there are a lot of great things being done in the world. For instance, more and more people are volunteering to go on missions to four in Third World countries and assist the world's poorest people. Folks are building schools, sewer treatment plant's and assisting with microloans to start free enterprise and create jobs. Many medical professionals are taking time off and traveling on vacation on their own money to go on medical missions. The online think tank recently read the book; "Volunteer Vacations - Short-term Adventures that will benefit you and others" by Bill McMillion, Doug Crutchins and Anne Greissinger 2003.

We were amazed all that is going on in the world in a huge number of people who are giving and using their own money to travel to foreign lands. Simply to help others and there are hundreds of thousands of stories of people who have went on both religious and nonreligious missions to Africa or Central America are being enjoyed by Americans who wish to travel and visit far off lands and do good or volunteer while enjoying exotic lands. It is a fulfilling journey and considered a vacation by many. Please read the following;

http://www.charityguide.org/volunteer/vacations.htm

http://www.worldthinktank.net/pdfs/Honduras.pdf

http://www.worldthinktank.net/pdfs/Nairobi.pdf

One thing that we often say at The Online Think Tank is that there is nothing wrong with making a profit and free enterprise in the past has solved more problems at all the governments of the world put together. Free enterprise is brought people together in trade, and in understanding each other's culture and traditions, thus preventing wars and conflict. Of course, every great concept or entrepreneurial idea or invention needs marketing and a spokesperson. This is why the online think tank is constantly reviewing marketing books. This week our team read the following books:

1. "Infiltration Marketing - Achieve Astounding Sales Increases on a Very Low Budget by Entering Your Customer's World " by Don Debalak 2000.

2. "The Marketing Plan Workbook" by James C. Makens 1985.

3. "Start Your Own Business - A Beginner's Guide" by Vickie Reierson 1998.

4. "Total Marketing - Capturing Customers with Marketing Plans That Work." Published by Dow Jones Erwin, 1989.

5. "How to Bring a Product to Market for Less Than $5,000." Published by John Wiley, 1991.

6. "Marketing Magic" by Bob Adams, 1994.

7. "Entrepreneur Magazine - Bringing Your Product to Market." By John Wiley publishing, 1997.

8. "Street Wise Marketing Plan." By Adams Media Corp. 2000.

Indeed, the Online Think Tank recommends all these books to someone who is truly interested in promoting their concept that will either help mankind or assist in a profitable product being brought to market, where the proceeds or some of them can be donated towards a noble and worthy common cause all of humankind.

Now let us discuss why we recommend these books, and let's start with the first three and list just some of the great advice that you will receive from reading them. In Infiltration Marketing -the book described how small companies and concepts can receive big results and either start trends or develop extremely strong brand names. In today's day and age. The Internet allows people to market, smaller ideas, much faster. The book describes infiltration marketing techniques and how to put it all together - and how it is not necessarily important to be first to market, but rather the best and the consumer's choice.

Becoming the market leader on a shoestring may seem impossible. However, there are many significant case studies in the current information age paradigm. That proves it is not only impossible is more likely that a small and agile company can be a larger more bureaucratic company to the punch. A small company can often piggyback on a larger company or on their supplier vendors. A smaller company is often much closer to the customer's mindset, and therefore can adapt quickly to changes in consumer buying behavior and received all the referrals and cross promotions needed to set a micro brand on a course for a new trend.

In my days developing my company, The Car Wash Guys, many of the techniques in this book, we used although this book had not been produced yet. And it would have been very interesting to have read this book prior to although a hard work and the school of hard knocks that we learned along the way. Creating a buzz and interest in a product or service is much easier in a defined local or regional niche or online with a specific group of customers in a social network situation. Infiltration marketing, discusses the psychological aspects of getting into your customer's mind, making your product or service fun and in becoming main topic at the family's dinner table. The Online Think Tank recommends reading Infiltration Marketing.

The Marketing Plan Workbook reads much like a textbook and will allow the reader to develop an operational marketing plan to get the ball rolling on a new product or service. It also discusses the need for upgrading and updating the marketing plan as a perpetual document, as the planning never stops due to new input from customers and modifications to the product changing the product's life cycle. The operational marketing plan should be a roadmap for management and should not be shown with anyone who is in a competitive business. And lastly, not to potential vendors of the company who may also supply the competition.

In writing a marketing plan is important to have accurate data, without such you cannot develop the strongest strategy. Using old data from past products may not always work, however, these might

be essential in estimating the potential customer base and developing a pro forma for sales. The marketing plan for a new product or service is as important as the business plan itself in the should be treated as such, for a business is worth nothing unless it is selling and making a profit.

In the book "Start Your Own Business - a Beginner's Guide" I personally noted that it was the same Publisher as my first authored book, Franchising 101. This book, however was listed in the Top 40 Small Business Books in Inc. Magazine and was considered a classic for small business start-ups.

In chapter 1 it discusses the legal requirements to start a business into the following chapters it discusses how to put together a management team, a business plan, a marketing plan, and such considerations as staffing, environmental regulations and whether or not you should start a business or buy a franchise. The online think tank recommends that anyone starting their own small business pick up a copy of this book.

Online think tanks are a source of virtual wisdom, and yet they draw their information from the real world. Online think tanks should not discriminate from the information they review or the thoughts that they invoke. The online world is a crazy place, and the real world is even crazier, and as we finish this online video segment, we would like to recommend one more book. So that you do not get too hung up on reality:

"The Big Book of Hell - A Cartoon Book" by Matt Groening

We thank you for joining us this evening, and wish you all the best and hope you will remember to think around the box and outside the box, even if you are all boxed in. This is Lance Winslow signing off, and thanks for listening.

BUSINESS INOVATE

Why do businesses fail? The Small Business Administration in 2004 (latest year for available date) identified the launch of 580,900 new employer businesses and the closing of 576,200. This report suggests that for every business failure another business took the chance to open and to fail.

Many business writers. business consultants and business coaches attribute business failure to a lack of strategic planning, a lack of leadership, a lack of vision, a lack of processes, the list is endless. Dan Kennedy, a renowned marketing and sales expert said "That there is no business success or failure, but rather people success and people failure." However, the problem with identifying one reason for business failure is the problem.

Businesses are complex by their very nature. To believe that only one factor will either make or break a business is foolhardy and contributes to the silo solution mentality. This approach is simply stated like this: If I fix this one problem, then everything else is OK.

Successful businesses harness what I call the dynamic forces of performance – strategic planning, execution and measurement. These forces, much like the forces in nature, act upon each performance field such as profitability, customer service, growth and innovation to name a few. When all 3 forces are in alignment, the field experiences tremendous energy and improved performance happens.

Processes help to unite the forces and close any performance gaps between the forces. People development process links strategic planning and execution. Many companies have great strategic planning capacity, but fail to execute or implement the performance change.

Even if strategic planning and execution are OK, sometimes measurement of the desired results is still lacking. A goal achievement process helps to bridge this gap.

Between measurement and planning is the process of quality. Reviewing the quality of the performance field helps to not only improve measurement, but establishes a high performance culture of continuous improvement.

All of these forces and processes operate within the eye of leadership. Effective leadership is necessary to manage each of the forces as well as the processes. If effective leadership is not present, then the forces fail to maximize their impact upon the field.

Take the time to look at the forces within your business along with the processes. Implement action where necessary so that you will be one of those businesses that will not fail.

Leanne Hoagland-Smith, M.S. is a business coach who specializes in strategic planning with offices near Chicago, IL and in Indianapolis, IN. She writes, speaks and coaches businesses along with individuals to quickly double results through the creation of executable strategic plans.

BUSINESS INOVATE

Would you like to join a Think Tank? If so, you must understand that wallowing in linear thought just will not cut it, you must be able to draw from all your education, observations, experiences and knowledge, call it blending if you will. Then you have to concentrate on the problem at hand, if you are to be any use to a Think Tank in solving the challenges of mankind, so let me give you a for instance of the serious issues that our society and the future of our Republic face. Not long ago the headlines read:

Math and Science and the Future of Our Republic - "As he prepared to go on a short vacation, President Bush said at a Thursday news conference that he'd signed legislation to spend $33.6 billion over the next three years to promote math and science skills and develop additional technology needed to compete in the global economy."

Obviously this is a needed expenditure, but if the schools are not working at maximum efficiency, will throwing more money at the problem really help? Many believe that our schools are drowning in political correctness; few could argue against that point, something must be done, as the average age of an aerospace engineer is 58.9 years old and they will be soon retiring and who is going to take their place? Well, whomever it turns out to be, those students have not entered college yet. Is it too late? It is never too late as they say, but still this is a crisis, just like the shortages of school-teachers, soldiers, nurses, truck drivers and auto-mechanics as well.

Okay, so there is a for instance of something a Think Tank must consider, now lets switch gears to a small business problem. A small business person has started a mobile auto-detailing business and hopes to use this to feed his family. What type of carpet shampoo should he be using? The Think Tank needs to be able to switch gears and the participants in the Think Tank need to down shift to tackle this problem:

Carpet Shampoo for Detailing - I really like Folex myself, although have found that it depends on the type of carpet shampoo'er, extractor or steam cleaner. Hot water 180 degree plus, steam or extractors that use cold water change the choice of which chemical you use. In thin carpets water volumes are less like on a Lear Jet, thus very little shampoo is recommended and low PSI with high suction rates, spot remover like Folex works best for this and for removing stains, also works well as an all-around.

Next, a Think Tank must continually have input from many sources and some must be fun or the thinking becomes a chore rather than a pleasure. So, we ask our membership to read:

"An Exaltation of Business and Finance" by James Lipton; and "The Megalomaniac Pleasure of Creation,” the Psychoanalyst Edmund Berger.

This helps get the juices flowing and takes the Think Tankers from technical solutions and overwhelming problems and puts them back into abstract thought with a sense of humor. Now they are ready to take in more input and discuss other books such as:

1. "Stealth Aircraft - Secrets of Future Airpower" by Bill Sweetman. This book is a brief history of former secret projects in stealth aircraft such as; Have Blue, XST, T.H.A.P., Maverick Stealth, Hughes HGM 65, F-19, A-12, Lockheed ATF KH-12 and the stealth cruise missile. Also discussed are enemy surface-to-air missiles such as the SA-10. Is this stealth technology, the ultimate in "The Fog of War?" After the Think Tank members complete this book they discuss ways to uncloak stealth aircraft and then re-design them to counter the new systems they had imagined. While that is still fresh in their brains, we switch to another topic, this time Economics.

2. "Economic Issues - Economic Perspective on the Internet" by Alan E. Weissman. July 2000. This is an excellent book, although Mr. Weissman missed a couple of Internet predictions and projections, as the Internet had over 10 billion pages when he believed it might only approach one billion. He also predicted the digital divide, which never really matured, and now we have programs such as One Laptop for Child. May be due to his book, and the promotion of this problem, or the fact that he create awareness helped prevent the digital divide calamity.

He also talked about the race to the bottom, which also never occurred. One of the issues we saw was the Federal Trade Commission attacked Microsoft and other online business is calling their tactics of bundling anti-competitive to justify their Microsoft case. Mr. Weissman also predicted that there would be collusion online due to price comparisons, and also believed that Metcalfe's Law would pervade the day in the value would be proportional to the square of the users.

He got the number of users wrong, and did not understand all that the Internet would become and on top of that, he called for Internet taxes to prevent our civilization from collapsing or the government from running out of money. This book was done as a project by the Federal Trade Commission and was not to be the leading authority on the future economics of the Internet and this just goes to show you how horrific, government reports can be and how wrong. Their predictions are.

We must be very careful to trust government reports done by those who proclaim themselves to be experts; this is one thing that a think tank needs to be cognizant of. A true of think tank must completely understand the issues, watch the trends and carefully sift through the data as to not make such silly mistakes.

Perhaps you can see the importance of being able to take information from all different sources, both current and past to put together the right answer, at the right time, and for the right reasons. Just because someone has a Ph.D. or is an expert in a specific industry does not mean that they are looking at the total picture. All data and information, and all your life experiences, observations, knowledge and education is all interrelated.

Just like all the challenges and problems of mankind are inter-related, and therefore these issues must be dealt with, knowing full well that every single decision you ever make will change something else. Once you master this concept, you should be able to prevent the unfortunate law of unintended consequences, as you reason through the toughest perils that face our species. Think on this.

BUSINESS INOVATE

The business plan is a foreign tool to most REALTORS®. After studying, observing, interviewing, and coaching hundreds of Agents, I have concluded that very few have taken the time to create a quality business plan. Fewer still review their business plan on a regular basis. The few who have good business plans often make them so complicated that they possess little value. Those Agents create such a complex business plan that they will never carry it out. What kind of value does this complex business plan have to them? . . . Zero!

A well-written, concise business plan can provide an exceptional road map to guide your quarter, year, or next five years. Most well-run companies have well-developed business plans. You, as an Agent, are the President of your own real estate sales company. You have to view yourself as the head of a corporation that needs direction, vision, and a well-conceived road map to follow. The business plan can provide all these tools that lead to success.

To create a quality business plan, you have to know where you are today - right now - in your business. You have to ask some basic questions about your business.

1. How much do I want to earn in gross commission?
2. Where does my business come from?
3. What is my average commission check?
4. What is my average cost per transaction?
5. How many days am I going to work this year?
6. How many hours per day am I going to work?
7. What things do I need to implement to take my business to the next level?

The best place to start is at the top. Ask yourself, "How much do I want to earn?" You can have total control of your income. You can make as much or as little as you desire. The only person or thing that determines your income is you. The market, other Agents, and other outside factors have very little control over your income. You alone have absolute and complete control.

Once you determine the amount you want to earn, break it down to quarterly, monthly, and weekly amounts. For example, if you decide to earn $500,000 next year, you need to earn $125,000 per quarter, $41,666 per month, or $9,615 per week. Secondly, you need to determine where your business comes from. Figure out the percentage of transactions that are done in every category. Let's say you closed seventy-five deals last year. The break down was thirty from referrals, fifteen from open houses, eighteen from sign calls, and twelve from expireds.

Here is the breakdown in percentages:

• 40% Referrals
• 24% Sign calls
• 20% Open houses
• 16% Expireds

You should also know the ratio or percentage of listings sold versus buyer controlled sales.

The next exercise is to determine your average commission check. Take your gross commission and divide by the number of transactions. For the purpose of our example, we will use $5,500 as the average commission check. You want to earn $500,000 next year. In order to do that, you divide $500,000 by $5,500 which equals 91 transactions. You will need to close an additional 16 transactions next year to reach your goal.

Then figure out the number of transactions you need in each category.

• 40% of 91 = 37 transactions from referrals
• 24% of 91 = 22 transactions from sign calls
• 20% of 91 = 18 transactions from open houses
• 15% of 91 = 14 transactions from expireds

You can break these numbers down to a quarterly, monthly, and weekly number of transactions from each category. This break down will give you a clear path to achieve your income goal. If you do the number of transactions you need weekly, by year's end, you will achieve your goal.

Then you need to break down each category of business: referrals, sign calls, open houses, and expireds. You need to figure out exactly what you need to do to create the results you desire. The further you can break your business down, the easier the overall goal is to achieve. It is easier to achieve your goals if you can break them down to daily activities. All you have to do is the daily activities to achieve the desired results.

Another important factor is profitability. You determine your profitability by subtracting your gross expenses from your gross commission dollar. The critical point is to not forget any of your expenses. Organize all of your expenses into categories such as automobile, staff, mailings, marketing, office supplies, etc. You are only fooling yourself if you are not accurate. Take your gross expenses and divide them by the number of transactions. For example, gross expenses of $95,000 / 75 = $1,267, which is what it costs you to close one transaction in our example. You can see how profitable you really are in your business if you follow this example.

To answer questions five and six, you need to address your work days and hours. You need to factor them in against the work that needs to be done. Then allocate the work that needs to be completed to the number of days worked. This process will give you a schedule of what needs to be accomplished daily.

The last section of a well-planned business plan is implementing new ideas or systems. Determine the weaknesses in your business and devise a plan to overcome them. Do not overdo in this area because, often, when Agents over implement, they slow their business down to a crawl. Since everyone is different and all staffs are different, a good rule of thumb is: Do not implement more than two major changes in a month. Determine what needs to be completed. Prioritize your list, and then devise a plan to implement changes at specific times.

A business plan can be the backbone of your successful business. The backbone will weaken if not checked on a regular basis. You must review your business plan daily for the first few months; then you will need to review it regularly after that. Do not make the mistake of writing a fantastic business plan and then never look at it again. That mistake would be almost as bad as if you had never written it in the first place.

Dirk Zeller is an Agent, an Investor, and the President & CEO of Real Estate Champions. His company trains more than 250,000 Agents worldwide each year through live events, online training, self-study programs, and newsletters. He's the widely published author of Your First Year in Real Estate, Success as a Real Estate Agent for Dummies®, The Champion Real Estate Agent, The Champion Agent Team and over 300 articles in print.

BUSINESS INOVATE

Most problems small business owners face boil down to one common theme: Limited resources. Resources include time, money, and energy. How do you decide the best way to allocate your resources? How do you leverage limited financial resources to grow your business into a wildly successful business-one that runs itself and brings in income for you even when you're not there? How do you manage your staff and use their talents effectively in your business to maintain morale, increase productivity, and reduce turnover?

There are lots of strategies I share with my coaching clients to accomplish all of this. Ironically, the most effective strategy for addressing these tough questions is a strategy that most business owners overlook. Develop a clear vision for your business.

Without a clear vision for your business, you are groping around in the dark, making "hit or miss" decisions, often based on how you're feeling on a particular day, or based on problems that are presenting themselves on a particular day. Without a vision for your business, you really don't know where you are going in your business.

You may have heard the saying, "Start with the end in mind." That's exactly what a vision is. Your vision for your business is the end-how will your business look when it's done?

Often we think our business vision is clear until we share it with someone else. Then they ask questions, and we realize our vision is not as clear as we thought. Many business owners operate from a "fuzzy" vision-a vague idea of what we'd like our businesses to be. There's a temptation to keep that vision fuzzy because of a fear of committing to something and missing opportunities. But, there is tremendous power in committing to a vision and sticking with it.

Being clear about your business vision helps you make the daily choices that build a successful business. Here are some examples of what a clear vision can do for your business:

*Simplify Marketing. Knowing your vision for your business, including who your ideal customer is, is the most powerful marketing tool you can have. Once you know that, it is much easier to make choices about where to spend your marketing money and energy. Marketing can be amazingly inexpensive and easy when you focus your efforts based on your vision and your ideal customer. When your vision is clear, you find yourself attracting more qualified customers- people who are eager to do business with you because what you have to offer them is so enticing. Marketing becomes almost effortless. Your enthusiasm about your vision makes it so much easier to "toot your own horn." When you do that, you speak with clarity about what you have to offer and your ideal customers are naturally drawn to you.

*Improve Workplace Morale & Decrease Turnover. Think about your experiences as an employee. Have you ever worked for a business where you knew the vision for the business? Have you ever worked for a business with a vision that compelled you?

Usually, if a business has a vision statement, it's in an operations manual. You may see it when you initially start, but no one ever discusses it with you. No one ever shares their excitement for the vision with you. A clear business vision is one of those secret ingredients of highly successful businesses.

When you have a clear, compelling business vision, you don't keep it a secret. You talk about it at every opportunity. Your excitement is contagious and it comes through when you meet with prospective applicants.

A simple discussion about your business vision with an applicant is a very effective screening tool. You can gauge their reaction to your vision. You can tell right away when an applicant buys into your vision. That's someone you want to hire, even if they lack some of the skills you need. Skills are trainable. Passion and enthusiasm are not.

Your vision also gives your staff something to rally around. It builds cohesiveness and a team mentality-"we're all in this together...this is what we do here."

Your vision helps your staff to think independently and make decisions that support your business-not undermine it. Because your staff know what you are working toward, it is easier to trust them to make decisions when you are not there. All of a sudden, it feels easier to be away from your business.

As you can see from these examples, your vision for your business is tremendously important in developing a business that doesn't take up all of your time and energy, that is fun to work on, and that grows into something that supports you in the lifestyle you want to live.

It's ideal to develop your business vision at the beginning, before you do anything else to start your business, but the truth of the matter is that most of us don't. The good news is that it's never too late to work on the vision for your business. When you finally do this work, it is tremendously clarifying and powerful in shaping up your business, letting go of irrelevant tasks and energy drains, and bringing in better, more enjoyable business.

BUSINESS INOVATE

You, or someone very close to you, are part of 78 million Americans that make up the largest population segment in the United States: Baby Boomers. This generation is classified as anyone born between 1946 and 1964. According to a recent study by BIG Research, 9% of boomers with household incomes exceeding $50,000 are small business owners. Using simple math that means 7 million companies in the United States are owned by individuals 44 – 62 years old.

If you or a family member fall into this category (baby boomer business owner), what is your exit strategy with your business? Currently, 33% of business owners in America will successfully transfer their family business to the next generation (Family Firm Institute). If you fall into the majority of US business owners (67%), then your children (X & Y generations) have opted to not follow in your footsteps of taking over the family business, leaving you with significant, life shaping decisions.

It is safe to say that 5 million baby boom business owners do not have a son or daughter to take over their privately-held business. This massive group of societal leaders is now left with only a handful of options:

Keep the business well into their retirement years, possibly leaving it to estate settlement proceedings
Dissolve the business should competent leadership not be in place after retirement
Sell the business to a qualified buyer and have financial stability for future retirement and heirs

Based on the financial burden Baby Boomers have from their children, parents and own personal lives, combined with the wave of owners reaching retirement sooner rather than later, we recommend the latter -- sell the business.

The Exit Planning Institute has projected that over the next 12-15 years, more than 8 million privately-held US companies will be sold. This is a tidal wave of “for sale” companies flooding the market place, primarily due to baby boomers seeking retirement. The sheer volume of companies for sale will inherently reduce purchase prices due to simple supply-demand economics; tipping the balance of available businesses for sale compared to capable, motivated business buyers. Trying to stand out in a crowd of sellers will be difficult due to a saturated marketplace of other baby boom-owned businesses. Those business owners that truly plan ahead and start executing their exit strategy today, can avoid a major dilemma and be prepared for the future (a flooded marketplace of similar companies for sale).

In order to start the process of planning the sale of your business, you first need to know what that business is worth. Determining the fair market value of your business can be an eye opening and empowering process. Seek out professional, independent expertise in order to conduct an accurate business valuation report. For the purpose of planning and determining fair market value, you should expect business valuation fees to range from $3,000 - $7,000, relative to the size and complexities of your small business operation. Once you have identified what the company is worth, you can then make decisions with confidence and choose your future path wisely. You will also be able to better understand value drivers specific to your type of business and industry. If the stars are aligned, you may wish to consider selling the business sooner rather than later. If the value is lower than you had expected, you can strategically grow and refine your business to increase value for your future exit. Timing is everything in the sale of a business.

Don’t try to go at it on your own as that can be a long, painstaking process filled with inaccuracies and frequent misses. Rely on trained professionals and advisors to guide you down the exit planning path and give yourself plenty of time to do it right. A typical exit advisory group could consist of an attorney, accountant, business appraiser, business intermediary/broker, and financial planner. For smaller businesses, a couple of these roles can be consolidated for cost efficiencies.

Now more than ever it is critical that baby boom business owners figure out where they stand so they can strategically navigate for the future. You may have heard the adage, how can you be lost if you do not know where you are going? Ask yourself where you want to end up in life, not just for yourself but your family. What new challenges or hobbies do you want to take on in the second half of your life? Can you afford to do these things? Determine your ideal destination and end result, then reverse engineer your path to reach those specific goals. For the retirement planning of a small business owner, the starting point in all of this should be a small business valuation. It takes years to build a successful business, don’t rush your exit. Know your value, know your business!

BUSINESS INOVATE

Remember the "Jetsons" on TV? Have you been to a World's Fair? These two things have something in common. They projected what the future may look like. The internet which is still in its infancy has created some very exciting prospects. We may not be hovering off the streets in our own vehicles yet, but we are now seeing the movement toward consolidation of multiple functions being made available to the online community.

MySpace.com which is one of the originators of social networking has shown us the door to the future. YouTube.com has moved us from text and graphics to online videos which reflect a refined look at the real world. Companies such as GoDaddy.com has consolidated the process of getting domain names, registration, web hosting, web design and allied services all in one place. Companies such as Biznik, Hi5, Squido, E Academy and Dreammatches have also expanded these business and social communities. As a result, the entrepreneur has taken advantage using these clusters of communication to network with others in search of opportunities and growth for their business.

Each of these companies has moved us further into the future. These companies do attract people not just from regional markets but from the global economy. It was once said to this author that if you do not learn on how to navigate and act on opportunities on the internet, you are going backwards faster than you are going forward.

The emergence of a new company has shown me that the evolution of the internet is a new consolidation of all the above and much more. Giblink, which stands for Global Internet Business Link, has raised the bar and broken the mold. Giblink has migrated, these clusters of communication, under one roof. It has taken various elements to become an emerging company that stands alone, like the spire of the Empire State Building in New York.

Giblink merges Business and Social Networking, Web Design and Services with a direct sales model. Let me explain, Giblink has formed a business that has consolidated the best of GoDaddy, MySpace and YouTube with a direct sales model that generates both active and passive residual income. They have created a four tier revenue model that validates, direct sales, referrals, membership activity and with company-wide profit sharing. Though this makes Giblink very attractive it also shows off some real technical advance in communications. The technical expertise to coordinate, the business and social activities reflect some sophistication in this particular business model.

They have built three separate but consolidated platforms, for lack of a better term, that integrate in a particular manner. Giblink is the business and social networking arm of the business. It offers forums, events, clubs, e video, e cards, classifieds, blogs and marketing tools with much more to come. The second arm is GibSales; this is the Domain Registration, Hosting Services, Web Design and allied products and services. They supply their members with a replicated sites, this gives the membership leverage in a market that generates billions of dollars a year. The third platform is the Gibline. This is completely in a class by itself. I describe it as a centipede that is powered by those below you. The model will allow one to earn passive residual income without sponsoring and you can increase returns through sponsoring.

If you compare MySpace Classified Ads to Giblink, there is a major difference. Though MySpace categorizes classifieds, Giblink does not. You can just use the search tool to find what you are looking for. The point of this is that having categories takes up a lot of space, but not having that restriction frees up a lot of space. This feature allows for more room for applications and communications.

Now GoDaddy and with many other domain registration services, have domain naming tools. Giblink has what I consider an improved approach. You post your keywords, and it generates 50 to 60 possible combinations that are not taken already. You just need to find a name that fits with your keywords.

The internet is amazing, for any company to be able to migrate, all these clusters of communication that is something else! Yet, this is the future. These communities are active all other the Web, to capture attention one has to have a different approach. Now I maybe a little off topic here, but, we have to remember that the Brick and Motor companies of today are outsourcing, downsizing, right sizing and in some cases completely shutting down, due to international competition. You can not ignore that while these things are happening, whatever the economic environment is, people are starting to look more and more each day for the way out of the everyday. They have held onto to the hope that someday they will be able to spend more time with their families and friends without the threat of financial ruin. I have no doubts that there will be more companies coming out like Giblink, that can offer not only the ability for someone to grow and start their own business, at the same time can network with others that are looking for more opportunity, services or somem specific skills.

This is collective intelligence at its best. Peter Drucker has stated that the two things essential for business is marketing and innovation. These are exciting times. I believe that this is the start of the next migration or better said the new emerging digital economy on the internet.

BUSINESS INOVATE

Innovation strategy models usually follow this uninspired recipe - let's encourage employee ideas, throw together a business case,

justify the costs and operating budget, dish-up a marketing strategy and production project plan, hope for the best.

There are other organizations who believe in innovation strategies which heavily depend on setting up and managing arrangements, special relationships or partnerships with their supplier community. I am not trying to find fault with those methods, however, my argument is with those who are supposed to act as the agents of innovative leadership.

What is the purpose of an innovation strategy? We innovate to take advantage of the opportunities caused by change. For example, prayer is a strategy we use to cope with our personal challenges. And "prayer", as philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard so aptly observed, "does not change God, but it changes him who prays."

Simply stated, it is not the strategy that changes, it is we who change as we employ our strategy and use it to encourage, energize, enlighten and engage ourselves to strive for achieving its objectives. In a word, our innovation strategies can not be expected to change the world, our strategy must compel us to change the ways we think about, react to and perform in the world.

"Without change there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for improvement. Those who initiate change will have a better opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable." - William Pollard

Innovative Leadership Guide-1: Thinking through your innovation strategy model

"Innovation is not the product of logical thought, although the result is tied to logical structure." - Albert Einstein

Your innovation strategy model must enable you to execute four essential tasks:

It has to help you recognize the components of a changing landscape [explore],
It must expose you to the needs imposed upon your ecosystems by the change [create]
It should usher you through the changes you hope to exploit [ implement],
It must empower you to adapt to the changes in your marketplace and your offering [supervise].

Innovative leadership means finding clearly defined pathways through the territories you operate within - this includes the environments of your organization, partners, markets and end-customers. Innovative leaders channel or direct the shared, received and transmitted energies found in their ecosystems of profound knowledge, work processes and social relationships.

Innovation leadership uses the innovation strategy model as a guide towards:

1) Directing innovative activities;

2) Developing crucial systems, resources and assets;

3) Disciplining the process, purpose and players of innovation

Innovative Leadership Guide-2: Reacting to your innovation strategy model

Your innovative leadership team uses the innovation strategy model to tweak, adjust and maintain its course towards successful outcomes. The most effective strategy models provide leaders with:

Windows on historical, internal and external circumstance [Realities];
Mechanisms to control and adjust to changes [Dynamic Controls]
Applications of energy to inspire, relieve and educate [ Leadership];
Metrics which expose exchanges, dependencies and transfers [Ecosystem Management];
Revelations of beliefs, meanings and feelings [ Coordinated Communications];
Relationships between the observed, measured and assumed [Progress Dashboards];
Opportunity "areas" where the strategy can be executed [ Organic Leveraging].

"Cast aside those who liken godliness to whimsy and who try to combine their greed for wealth with their desire for a happy afterlife." - Kahlil Gibran

If your innovation strategy model depends on a "kiss from the muse", a "bright idea" and some similar "eureka" experience, you'll have very few and far between innovations emerging from your organization.

Innovative Leadership Guide-3: Performing on the promises of an innovation strategy model

"Never before in history has innovation offered promise of so much to so many in so short a time." - Bill Gates

Back in the Industrial Age, we followed a series of steps, made use of equipment and mechanized systems and relied on prodigious amounts of fiscal and human capital to achieve the promises of success. We may live in a different era, I call it, the Imagination Economy, yet we need the same amounts of effort and focus to realize our goals.

A few years ago, our competitive advantages were based upon our ability to shape raw information into forms of relevant, applicable knowledge. Today, we compete against the imaginations of others - we have to slice and dice knowledge and blend it with universal wisdom, intuitive know-how and meaningful what-ifs to produce sustainable, profitable, productive innovations.

In the Imagination Age, innovative leadership will be called upon to map-out the complexities, model optimal congruencies and mold evolutionary conceptualizations of our world. Leaders will meet the many challenges of this new Age by seeing people as four dimensional beings - that is, as physical, intellectual, spiritual and developmental entities.

Innovative leadership will use their innovation strategy models to fully exploit and leverage the many strengths of their available human capital assets - intellectual and physical assets [think and do], production and social assets [process and interact], as well as, innovative and developmental assets [learn and imagine].

"Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship. The act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth." - Peter F. Drucker

A model for your innovation strategies is an essential ingredient in your organization's competitive recipe - without such a model, your business will lack the flavor of innovating. Your customers, constituents and communities may begin to perceive the staleness of your old, crumbling offerings and stop putting your products on their shelves.

You need to mix together all the elements of an innovation strategy model listed above and use these innovative leadership guidelines to manage and energize your strategy. Innovation is industry and it requires persistent, determined effort. And just like the industries of old, innovation can follow a process, it can use capital assets, it can be measured or assessed and it can be led and managed.

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead were there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

BUSINESS INOVATE

If you own a small business, did you know that you can obtain small business funding to help you grow and expand your business? How this works is that if your business qualifies, you can obtain a cash advance for small business owners.

Qualified merchants receive an immediate business cash advance that they repay through a direct deduction from their future credit card receipts. Typical advances are repaid within 6 to 8 months.

Merchant cash advances are a relatively new innovation in the small business finance industry that is rapidly growing in popularity. Unlike a traditional bank loan, the process for applying for a merchant advance is simple and fast.

Businesses do not need to provide personal guarantees or collateral to receive an advance. Repayment is based on a percentage of the merchant's future credit card receipts. Lastly, merchants may use the advance for any business purpose.

A small business can receive a cash advance from $2500 to $600,000. It is considered to be an advance on a credit card, and you pay it back through your future credit card receivables. You can receive the cash advance in as little as 10 working days.

Finally, there is a way to obtain the small business working capital you need, even after you have been turned down by traditional lending institutions, such as banks. So even if banks have turned you down, don't lose hope. Getting a merchant cash advance may be in your future. To learn more, read the facts at RapidAdvance.com to see if you qualify for a small business cash advance.

BUSINESS INOVATE

Qualified merchants receive an immediate business cash advance that they repay through a direct deduction from their future credit card receipts. Typical advances are repaid within 6 to 8 months.

BUSINESS INOVATE

Have you ever wondered what an Online Think Tank thinks about? Sure well lets discuss this weeks assignments. The self-assigned informational intakes include news items, ezines, magazines, books and Internet searches on 100s of topics. This goes on day after day, week after week and year after year, and so here is a glimpse into these thoughts - Let's begin and discuss some of today's topics:

1. The US Patent Process is inadequate as we have patent squatters, multiple patent awards for nearly the exact same technology and the ability of the government to process these patents does not match the sharp increase in demand. The patent process in this country favors only the lawyers. This patent process and the implications of the failure is stifling innovation. What is the solution?

2. What Separates Winners from Losers and why do winners always seem to win; while losers either give up or accept failure prior to making the grade?

3. What does it say to you when you find dead flies in the area or the flies refuse to eat your food? Are they trying to tell us something? After all the buzz around us and they eat doggie do. Is this a statement about all the processed food that Americans eat?

4. Why are other nations criticizing the US for the number of people in our Prisons, when 45% to 65% of those in prison in the US are illegal aliens, they are not even our criminals, they are some other nation's criminals who have attempted to seize opportunity in the United States. Should the US outsource to corporations our prisons and put them out of the country to handle all the illegal aliens and shouldn't these people earn their own keep and provide labor to pay for their stay?

5. Are electric Motor Scooter - Motor Cycles viable if they weigh 400 lbs? Some believe so and at least one model is making waves with excellent styling and performance. The Vectrix MaxiScooter has a nickel hydride battery under the seat and goes 62 mph, equivalent performance to a 150 cc scooter, but it weighs more than a 400cc motorcycle. Range is 68 miles at 25 miles per hour, so it is perfect for around town, but will people buy it? Some say yes, but for mass appeal it will need further refinement.

6. Do Artificial Intelligent recipe creators make sense, figuring out in advance what types of ingredients mixed will provide maximum delight to human taste buds? MIT thinks so and maybe these AI systems can also figure out how to eat for your genome and make it taste good too.

7. 47 Million Americans have no health insurance and almost 25% are self-employed, are we hurting our small business owners which employ some 75% of our population? If so, boy do we need to fix that issue. Our nation's economy and the future of innovation depends on it, this is a hot topic indeed.

8. Should hand-bills and advertising flyers be allowed to be in the shape and size of parking tickets? Many small business owners say these work the best, but it pisses off the car owners, who are shocked, then relieved to find it is not a ticket and then upset. But weigh this against the fact that they have to read it and small time entrepreneurs say the strategy works.

Well so does SPAM, due to the fact it is all in the numbers, but that does not make it right. Some municipalities are getting upset, others already outlaw the practices of flyering cars, due to the fact that many people simply throw them on the ground and litter. Common decency should be respected by the small business owners.

One member of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce told our Think Tank that these rules hurt Hispanic business owners who cannot afford expensive advertising - interesting, what about the litter? They say that the business owner did not litter, they stuck it on the car, the cars owner in disgust of course threw it on the ground and that is littering and against the law, so should we arrest both parties then?

9. What if the Greatest Military in the World - The United States military runs out of rogue nations to attack; will that mean eventually there will be no more real wars, just International Terrorism, guerrilla wars and revolutions - some futurists are saying that this future is only about 100 years away - what if it comes sooner?

10. Is the new VLJ - Very Light Jet Market ready for action? Will this emerging industry sub-sector raise private jet insurance rates - will this hurt the industry? What about new models that are just above the VLJ market, Light Private Jets like the Phenom 300 by Embraer, will the VLJs be stepping stones to aircraft like the Phenom, is it priced right and is the performance applicable to the up-grade or will the VLJs take their toll on sales.

11. Many Internet Gurus and Motivational Type Speakers are Fraudulent, not all of course, but there are quite a few, selling "Secrets of how to succeed" in this or that other thing, yet have never succeeded in the field themselves. - The reality is that individuals who desire to succeed and are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed, eventually will succeed, with or without a motivational mentor or Guru of How To - what say you?

12. Peace in the Middle East - Not a Chance in - Hello What Do We Have Now? - In the news was this statement; "Israeli and Palestinian leaders seek peace talks as Israel warns that its enemies are rearming. Israeli intelligence reports that Hamas has smuggled 40 tons of weapons into Gaza, and Hizbullah has more rockets than before its war with Israel last summer."

13. Why do some cities put out US Mail Boxes along the curb and then paint a RED Zone, it really should be a Yellow Zone. Have seen this in many cities, and a parking ticket lady tells us it is so no one parks blocking the mailboxes. We asked if they stopped and put mail in - will you give them a ticket? She said, it depends if the people get out mail and jump right back in or if she thinks they seem nice? Wow, nice policy indeed, but why the red curbs?

14. Many are predicting the slow death of the paper or physical book due to the competition of the eBook, and things are slowing down, but the paper book is such a tradition and with all the Book Store Chains it is doubtful this will happen anytime soon. For instance this was in the news: "The publishing business totaled $35.7 billion in global sales last year, 3 percent more than the previous year, according to the Book Industry Study Group, a trade association. About 3.1 billion books were sold, an increase of less than 1 percent."

Moral of the story; never stop thinking. Never stop analyzing or considering why things are, how they may become and what you can do about it. Sincerely, Lance.

BUSINESS INOVATE

One of the most important principles in business is branding. This is because it plays a big role in creating product awareness and creating more business for companies. Given this, companies make it a point to come up with logos and produce collateral material such as letterheads, envelopes and business cards that project a professional brand or image. Recent developments such as the dawn of e-commerce has also made it possible for companies to project and promote their brand using tools such as the Internet. Companies come up with web sites and use e-mail for various business purposes. This has spawned more uses for electronic media, which, in turn, have aided companies in their advertising and brand awareness efforts. One of these efforts is the use of CDs as business cards.

Business Card CDs

In recent times, the preferred mode of information exchange is through re-writable compact discs (CD-Rs), because they are more convenient and efficient to use. However, CD-Rs nowadays are no longer used for the mere exchange of information, since businesses have also found a way to use them in their branding efforts. They now use CD-Rs to advertise their brand by using them as business cards as well. They do this by asking companies offering duplicating services to print their company name, logo, and other pertinent information on the CDs. These media are then given to clients during presentations as well as potential customers during trade fairs.

As an add-on, CD duplicating companies now offer CD-Rs in different shapes, one which is the square-shaped CD, which is now popular among various companies. Despite the different shapes of these CD-Rs, they are still as efficient because they are designed to work with the usual CD-ROMs found in most computers.

A recent development in the use of electronic media for branding purposes is the inception of the Business Card CD. This innovation has made it possible for companies to take advantage of the popularity of CDs. Today, CDs are a convenient way of exchanging data to make a company’s brand more visible not only to current clients but to potential customers as well.

BUSINESS INOVATE

In the present world, business phone systems are an absolute necessity in all types of business organizations. The purchase of a business phone system is one of the most important investments in any business establishment. Telephones are the easiest and most convenient sources connecting entrepreneurs with customers. A guide to business phone systems becomes relevant in this context.

A business phone can be chosen, depending on various factors. This includes the number of extensions needed within the establishment. The new business phone system should support already exiting equipment such as voicemail, messaging on-hold, headsets or conferencing devices.

At present, there are four major types of business phone systems. They are key systems, Private Branch Exchange (PBX) systems, Voice over IP (VoIP), and KSU-less phones. For small business establishments, key phone systems and KSU-less phone systems are the perfect solutions. Key phone type business systems can accommodate 5 to 40 extensions. The main part is a key system unit (KSU) that controls the entire phone. If the number of extensions is less than 10, KSU-less business phone systems are ideal. They are more commonly used in home offices. For more than 40 extensions, a private branch exchange (PBX) business phone system will be the perfect choice. VoIP is the latest innovation in business phone systems, and has become quite popular.

Nowadays, business phone systems are available in a wide range of brands. Panasonic, Toshiba, Nortel, Vodavi, Samsung, TalkSwitch, Nitsuko, Motorola, Atmel, Philips and Meijer are some of the leading brands in business phone systems. Depending on the availability, businesses phone systems can be purchased from local vendors or online stores. Whatever be the source of purchase, it is always recommended to check a phone system before buying it.

Prices of business phone systems fluctuate, and range from tens to thousands of dollars. Depending on the features, a key business phone system will cost around $350 to $1000. The cost of PBX business phone systems is within the range of $800 to $1000. Among the four types of business phone systems, KSU-less business phone systems are the most economical. They cost between $130 and $225.

BUSINESS INOVATE

Fresh ideas are always vital for every business or corporation. It is not easy to conceive new ideas and not all fresh ideas are viable for a business venture. Some new ideas may never take root and grow since they can be dismissed, postponed or neglected.

Unfortunately, there might be times when your idea may have some similarities with other corporation’s new ideas and it is too late to market them before the other company does.

While thinking of new ideas may be relatively easy, inventions are not as much. Refining an idea and creating it as a workable invention entails effort, money, time and knowledge. Moreover, extra effort and some luck are needed into turning the invention as an innovation to be introduced to the marketplace and consumers.

It would be quite unfortunate for a company to spend a lot and realizing that some other company have already produced and introduced a new product or service same as they are working on.

Every single idea, invention and innovations produced by an individual or a company are considered as an Intellectual property.

It is important to protect every single new concept, invention and innovations or intellectual property of a company. The U.S. patents, trademarks and laws on copyright are several of the statutes that protect a corporation or individual’s intellectual property rights.

If you have a great and innovative idea that could be the ticket for your ingénue to be recognized and the road to a thriving corporate venture, then you must know how to protect it.

There are federal intellectual property laws, which are particularized in every state that can assist you in protecting you and your company’s ideas. However, even before the time you process your ideas and inventions to become protected under these laws, you must know how to make sure that they stay as your own property.

1. It is necessary to file for security of your innovations under the copyright, trademark and patent laws of the U.S. These three categories protect a certain aspect of your invention or ideas. All three are the aspects of Intellectual property.

2. In order to make the proper distinction between the three categories, a legal counsel can help very well. It would be worth the venture to hire the services of an expert intellectual property attorney.

3. Keep yourself armed with knowledge about the laws governing the intellectual property rights. Discover how adequately your ideas could be protected under these laws. 4. When you have your idea protected, know that it does not mean it is a success already. Be realistic enough to know that you are protecting your idea should it turn out as successful.

5. Make sure that the idea, product or services you are having protected is not imitated or borrowed from another person or company.

6. Take ample time to develop your idea fully before presenting it for trade marking or patenting. The odds of attracting more patrons or catching the interest of lending institutions may lean on your side if you have a well-researched idea or invention.

7. Always be open for competition. Spend considerably to protect your idea and get the opportunity to participate in seminars where you can widen your knowledge about building marketing strategies and ideas for business building.

8. When building influence for your ideas or invention to prospective investors, partners or lending institutions, make sure that you use non-disclosure agreements for every person you approached and disclosed your business idea.

9. Have faith on the legal protection guaranteed by the intellectual property rights.

10. It takes time to have a patent licensed or a trademark and copyright to be established. While you are waiting for adequate protection of your idea, continue on improving it.

BUSINESS INOVATE

When innovators talk about thinking outside the box, they mean coming up with creative ways to solve problems - new ways to look at things. How do they do it? How can you do it too? We first have to ask what the "box" is. Then we can look at how to get outside of it.

The "box" is the normal way of doing things and looking at things. It is the assumptions that almost everyone involved is making. The best way to start thinking out of the box then, is to identify and challenge all the assumptions that make up thinking inside the box.

One of the major liquor brands was faltering years ago, and they couldn't seem to boost their sales. Promotions, lowering the price, getting better shelf placement - these were the "in the box" solutions. Then someone challenged the assumptions, by asking "What if we stopped the promotions and just raised the price?"

The price was raised as an experiment, and sales soon doubled. As it turns out, some types of liquor are bought quite often as gifts. Buyers don't want to buy the most expensive one, but they also don't want to seem cheap, so they won't buy products that don't cost enough. Now imagine what happens to your profit margins when you raise the price and double the sales. That's the power of thinking outside of the box.

Ways To Get Outside The Box

Challenging assumptions is a powerful creative problem solving technique. The difficult part is to identify the assumptions. If you are designing a new motorcycle, write down assumptions like "speed matters," "it has to run on gas" and "it needs two wheels," not because you expect to prove these wrong, but because challenging these can lead to creative possibilities. Maybe the time has come for an electric three-wheeled motorcycle.

Another way to get to creative solutions is to "assume the absurd." This is either fun or annoying, depending on how open-minded you can be. All you do is start making absurd assumptions, then finding ways to make sense of them. The easiest way to do it is by asking "what if."

What if a carpet cleaning business was better off with half as many customers? It seems absurd, but work with it. Hmm...less stressful, perhaps. More profitable if each customer was worth three times as much. Is that possible? Commercial jobs that involve large easy-to-clean spaces (theaters, offices, convention halls) make more money in a day than houses, with fewer headaches. Focusing on getting those accounts could be the most profitable way to go - not so absurd.

Another way to more innovative ideas is to literally do your thinking out of the box. Get out of the house or the office. Look around at how others are doing things. On busses in Ecuador, salesmen put a product into everyones hands and let them hold it while they do a sales pitch. Then you have to give back "your" product or pay for it. It is very effective. How could you use the principle in your business?

BUSINESS INOVATE

“The Big Idea” that will make an entrepreneur successful is not obtainable by filling in the blanks on a magic invention template. Where do ‘The Big Ideas” come from? Why are some people able to develop exciting concepts and others, though constantly scheming, achieve nothing of value? How do serial inventors repeat success, again and again?

Entrepreneurs are born, not made. Thomas Edison performed over 1000 experiments before perfecting the electric light bulb. Think of that fact, and apply it to people in general. He failed 1000 times to get it right. How many people do we know that will keep trying to succeed at a task if they fail three times, five times, 12 times? We all know the answer, not many. Business school can not teach this kind of drive, determination, and dedication to a task.

Entrepreneurs and inventors are different. Successful entrepreneurs excel at commercializing opportunities. Inventors excel at creating. Not every inventor is an entrepreneur. Nevertheless, creating exciting new products is an art that is essential to entrepreneurial success. Many inventors employ others to commercialize their creations. Some entrepreneurs also have the ability to develop exciting new projects. There is simply not one silver bullet answer that defines the requisites for success.

There are, however, several traits that all original thinkers have in some fair amount. Thinking outside the box, pride in weirdness, seeing problems others miss, acceptance of failure and the Natty Bumppo halo are a few of the qualities we see in successful original thinkers.

Thinking Outside the Box This has become almost a cliché. We see the term used in advertising and executives trying to spur creativity always are exhorting the team to think outside the box. This is difficult, impossible for most people, to actually do. They live in the box. They are risk averse. They fear failure. They certainly do not want to present an idea that others might laugh at!

For these and other reasons thinking outside the box is almost impossible in mature organizations, certainly any organization with an entrenched bureaucracy is not readily open to new ideas. This is one reason there is so much opportunity for entrepreneurs and small business to succeed.

Wal-Mart has re-engineered the logistics of retailing by designing order flow technology superior to every other retailer in the mass-market space. W.T Grant, Montgomery Ward and Woolworth were huge businesses before Wal-Mart existed. They did not think outside the box and allowed Wal-Mart to carve them up with better prices, selection and service.

Southwest Airlines was created as a low cost, fun alternative to the big established carriers. They have remained profitable and grown while American, United, Delta, USAir and Northwest stuck with the old business model and all suffer bleak futures as going concerns. Southwest standardized fleet equipment, have stayed non-union, hedge fuel contracts and only fly from cities where they identify huge opportunity to succeed at the expense of the national carriers saddled with excess overhead.

Estee Lauder is the recognized queen of the cosmetic world. She started in the 1950’s making a moisturizer in her home. The product was not accepted by a single department store. Finally, she asked the buyer at Pogue’s Department Store in Cincinnati, “why won’t you give me a chance”? The answer: “We already have plenty of moisturizers. Give us something different”. Mrs. Lauder did not give up. She reckoned that the product performance would not open the sales doors necessary to be her salvation. She designed a new marketing feature: the gift with purchase. Today every cosmetic brand uses the gift with purchase as the most successful sales tool in the history of the beauty industry. The leading brands of the 1950’s (Elizabeth Arden, Germain Monteil, Helena Rubenstein, Max Factor and Revlon) are all either out of business or greatly diminished while Estee Lauder is the largest fine cosmetic house in the world.

Ms Lauder, Sam Walton at Wal-Mart and Herb Kelleher at Southwest Airlines did not invent cosmetics, retailing or air travel. They did think outside of the box and create marvelous successful businesses. Ray Kroc did not invent the hamburger: he only created McDonalds standardization of quality assurance and a franchise system to deliver that benefit. Michael Dell did not invent the computer. He invented a way to customize each unit and eliminate the need to carry expensive inventory by pre-selling each unit before a component was assembled.

Pride in Weirdness

Who wishes to be thought of as weird? A very small portion of any population hopes to stand out by being weird in dress, body markings or other appearance feature. For the most part, people work very hard at being accepted as normal, in sync with their surroundings.

Entrepreneurs are generally average, normal in the way they talk, dress, recreate and live their personal lives. It is their thinking that is different, and this can be weird. They see things differently. The entrepreneur may divine a problem that others do not see or does not yet exist. They see answers before the rest of see needs.

Who needed the TV dinner before introduced by the Swanson family in the early 1950's? Most homes did not yet have television. Dinner was an American ritual. And yet, as television intruded on American life, our habits changed. Speed and convenience replaced ritual as pre-eminent product features sought by consumers. The TV dinner was the perfect example of a bit of weird thinking addressing a need that did not yet exist.

Inventors and entrepreneurs tend to take great pride in their iconoclastic thought processes. The mad scientist analogy can be a stretch but the results are often so amazingly offbeat that we must conclude that weird thinking might be a benefit.

Seeing Things Others Don’t!

Henry Ford did not invent the automobile. The Germans Daimler and Benz had perfected and harnessed the internal combustion 10 years before Ford. In the first two decades of the 20th century there were over 200 companies producing horseless carriages in the United States alone. Who remembers the Hupp Mobile? Does anyone pine for the Lansing? What did Ford see that the others did not?

Simply, Henry Ford recognized that the automobile would not achieve it’s potential as a conveyance until most of the public could afford to own one. He had to drive prices down. His success was in the process he created, not in the automobile itself. Standardization, scale, motion production lines, integration of component production and assembly were concepts none of the competition were pursuing. This vision thing can be applied to almost every successful enterprise. The originator sees opportunity others either miss, or do not recognize as significant. Howard Schultz realized that in Europe people treated the coffee drinking experience in a completely different way than Americans. He took the quality standards of the successful franchise operations he studied, crafted an upscale position for coffee (actually, now latte, frappe, etc.) and founded Starbucks. He saw an opportunity that had not been commercialized, branded an experience, just not the invention of coffee drinking.

Acceptance of Failure

We all fear failure. Successful entrepreneurs, however, know that taking risk does not come with guarantees of success. They do not like failure. Failure is just part of the game. They get up and try again. The risk taking precedes the rewards for success. Smart entrepreneurs attempt to mitigate potential losses and failures. Serial entrepreneurs have an amazing nose for sorting out potential hurdles and deal killing situations.

Do Not Respond to “Prove It”!

Most new ideas are met with a heap of skepticism. Inventors and entrepreneurs often are asked to “Prove it’! You can not prove something until you try it, produce it, test it, or verify performance. Denial of funding or other needed assistance can not be contingent on proving performance of a theory. This is why having working, production quality prototypes is so vital.

Natty Bumppo’s Halo

When I was a boy (many moons ago) we read all of the James Fenimore Cooper classic pioneer novels. These were stories set in the pre-Revolutionary War era and the hero was the Deerslayer, the Pathfinder: Natty Bumppo. Natty was amazing. He was always in dire straits, surrounded, outnumbered and betrayed. Just when the reader thought Natty was a goner, he improvised. Utilizing his immediate surroundings, sunlight, ground cover, knowledge of animal traits, or dozens of other frontier skills that he had acquired he escaped and put things right.

I always called this the “halo effect”. Natty Bumppo was the first great improviser I came upon as a boy and he is an excellent model for creative, improvisational thinking today. He was an 18th century James Bond. He found answers and created successful strategies out of the available elements of his environment.

The successful inventors we work with in our consulting business are normal people. However, they have been able to improvise in an area of their life and create an opportunity. I am always amazed by this ability. The level and amount of creativity in the world is stunning. I wish there were more entrepreneurs (doer’s) than dreamers fronting projects and inventions.

Look at every aspect of your life and consider this a fertile area for creative improvisation. Work, faith, recreation, hobbies, and family are a few of the areas where each of us has some life experience in many areas. Passion about an area (hunting, golf, fund raising, wellness, exercise, education, etc.) is the most likely source for an inspiration.

I have seen a woman, just having experienced delivery of her first baby, successfully patent, develop and market a pain monitor for very late term contraction charting. She looked everywhere for an answer to this need and found nothing available for home use. She saw a need and acted.

A passionate game hunter was losing too many shots while in the stealth portion of the hunt. He was a big man and a bit noisy in the field. He designed an over boot to minimize, distort and muffle sound as he made his approach. This breaks up sound patterns that animals have come to associate with man: edge to the hunter.

We have seen firemen invent an elegantly simple method for putting out grease fires, the largest cause of fires in the home. Board games often come from families shared interests. A teacher brought us a combination game, teaching tool to coach children in proper nutrition habits and combat childhood obesity. A social worker has designed a simple, individualized, inexpensive, modular homeless shelter kit. A Little League baseball coach created a tremendous trainer for perfecting throwing fundamentals. A Christian Ministry has created a prayer club featuring blessed anointing oils as described in the Bible.

In short, people get ideas, innovations, new concepts and creative inspiration from anywhere and everywhere. However, it is far more likely that your idea will come from some area of your life’s experiences. You will more easily be able to recognize an opportunity and place a value on the idea if it comes from your areas of knowledge and interest. We have seen gourmet cooks invent a unique cooking utensil. It is very rare though to encounter a complete field jump, such as a high school English teacher, creating a new style of writing software code for military logistics integration.

Geoff Ficke has been a serial entrepreneur for almost 50 years. As a small boy, earning his spending money doing odd jobs in the neighborhood, he learned the value of selling himself, offering service and value for money.

After putting himself through the University of Kentucky (B.A. Broadcast Journalism, 1969) and serving in the United States Marine Corp, Mr. Ficke commenced a career in the cosmetic industry. After rising to National Sales Manager for Vidal Sassoon Hair Care at age 28, he then launched a number of ventures, including Rubigo Cosmetics, Parfums Pierre Wulff Paris, Le Bain Couture and Fashion Fragrance.

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What's the difference between enthusiasm and gasoline? Maybe, there's not much difference between the two. They both provide the power to drive us forward.

The internal combustion engine of our automobile runs on gasoline. Gasoline vapor enters the cylinder and the spark plug ignites the fumes unleashing the power that can propel our vehicles over one hundred miles an hour.

Enthusiasm in the workplace, properly ignited, can propel your business into success. Motivated employees work harder. They'll even come with ideas to improve the product or service. Motivated and enthusiastic employees are the best kind of employees to have.

Enthusiasm is rare, however. Most employees want to do a good job, but they feel under appreciated. Generally, bad management is blamed for unmotivated workers, but often, good management can still provide unenthusiastic workers. So, what's the secret?

If your own employees aren't acting motivated or aren't acting enthusiastic, then it's time to get your own "act" in gear. You can fire up your workforce in three acts: Act enthusiastic. Act grateful. Act happy.

Psychologists tell us that the best way to change our feelings about what we're doing is to change the way we think of our feelings. The brain tells the body how to feel and the body acts accordingly. We can direct our own feelings and our outlook on life. Writing in Out of Work? Get Into Business!, I wrote about expectations and how they can change the outcome of future events.

"If you are working on a proposal for a client, imagine that client as ecstatic about your proposal. What does the client like about it? Why does he or she like it? How will you handle your successful presentation? Visualize all of the positive aspects of your presentation. Then work on your successful proposal."

We should see events as being successful. We then act accordingly as we work towards that success. If we tell ourselves that we are going to be successful, we begin to believe it. We can see it. We can feel it. We can plan for it. Those expectations drive us forward with enthusiastic zeal. It's the same with our employees. We need to see them as successful and they need to see that managers see them as successful. Successful workers are motivated and enthusiastic about their jobs.

"Drive your horse with oats, not with a whip."
-- Jewish proverb

Here are six ways we can fire up unmotivated and under enthusiastic workers:

THE TIME IS NOW
When you see someone doing a good job, the time to tell them about it is right then. Don't wait for tomorrow or next week. Who knows? You might forget about it. If you tell someone they are doing a good job, they won't forget about it.

LET YOUR FEELINGS SHOW
Don't be an old stone face. Everyone has feelings. Show yours. If your workers are doing a great job, then shouldn't you be excited? Shouldn't you be proud? Let those emotions show on your face. Share your enthusiastic feelings. Your feelings will boost moral and encourage the same feeling among your workers.

GIVE A PAT ON THE BACK
An old friend and I were talking about our days as Jaycees. We both had boxes of trophies and plaques in our basements from over twenty years ago. The tangible evidence of achievement was stored away, but the feelings of being appreciated had stayed with us. Awards and accolades should always be given out in front of people. Everyone shares the appreciation that way. They applaud, they cheer, they laugh. . . and they in turn congratulate the recipient afterwards. Awards and accolades keep on giving. Recognition comes in a variety of guises. A pat on the back, a kind word, a certificate to hang on the wall, or a trophy to put on the mantel -- all build enthusiasm.

HERE'S THE BALL
Nothing builds enthusiasm like trust. When you give someone a task to accomplish it shows that you believe in them. If you believe in them, can they believe any less? You don't even have to make encouraging statements. The task alone speaks volumes.

PULL OUT ALL THE STOPS
Think of new ways to show trust and enthusiasm. Send a postcard. Tell others about the great job being done by someone in your department. Drop names and achievements at meetings, in newsletters, in general conversation. Find ways to spread the word and encourage motivation, enthusiasm and appreciation for a job well done.

Restauranteur and author Bob Farrell knows that cheering employees on in an enthusiastic way, builds their enthusiasm. In his book Give 'em the Pickle Bob writes about using appreciation to help build enthusiasm and motivation.

" . . . being a cheerleader involves more than leading in cheers. Whenever I eat in one of our own restaurants I always try to go back to the kitchen and thank everyone for providing me with such a wonderful meal. I walk around the entire restaurant personally thanking every employee. I never eat in one of our places with my family as though I had been elected king of the hill. The people who work in our restaurants aren't subservient to me. I know I couldn't succeed without them, but they could without me. And I never want them to forget how much I appreciate them."

As you start encouraging others in a quest to build enthusiasm, you'll also notice a change in yourself. You will become more enthusiastic and more motivated. Your clients, co-workers, and even your family will notice the difference. Life is fun. Business is exciting. Work is something to be motivated about. Filled with enthusiasm your business engine should be hitting on all cylinders.

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A completely new breed of professionals, equipped with all modern communication tools is flourishing around the world. The workplace for these professionals is not a desk and four walls, but is a virtual office. Their main communication device is not the telephone anymore, but is the computer.

As we all know, telecommuting is gaining momentum. In an busy and innovative society such as San Francisco, you don't have to be where you job is. Considering this new flexibility on the working arena, shared space in a Bay Area office provide a base of operations or a physical location only when needed.

Both bootstrapping entrepreneurs and highly paid professionals enjoy the flexibility of a virtual working space. The former motivated by the costs, the latter due to the possibility of combining professional and private life in stride.

Virtual businesses, especially in expensive high-profile business centers like San Francisco, New York or London, will become the "store front" for highly independent networks of professionals. All of them, of course want to transmit an image of seriousness and look established. For example, with a virtual Bay Area office space, you will always be represented in the most convenient location for your business in San Francisco.

In the past, innovative but poorly funded companies began with an innovative idea by the founders and some bench space in the garage. Examples of these kinds of companies are common.

In today's world, companies are still based on innovative ideas, but the garage is now a virtual office. Entrepreneurs, knowing that the backbone services are there and working, can now concentrate on their main task of doing business. Perhaps, these kinds of entrepreneurs are those who are going to make history, since they are taking full advantage of the opportunities that exist in their time.

Besides flexibility and cost, also think of the huge possibilities of a Bay Area shared office: you can sit on a back porch with your laptop, in a coffee shop, in a train or take care of your children without quitting your daily job. Or quit your daily job in a cubicle to enjoy a more fulfilling life, but a shared space is always there for when you need to meet clients or meet with business associates.

The possibilities are endless. The chances are huge. Concentrating on ideas instead of concentrating on minor problems (is the printed broken again? Is the coffee machine out of coffee? Are the faxes coming through?) allows for the freedom to innovate and create and develop.

Technology has made the fighting field even. The competitive advantage is now the know-how and the ideas. Even if you have the economic means of financing your old-fashioned office, you can also choose to establish a shared space for a second location or for separate business functions.

Furthermore, consider that the saving is not just in terms of not paying for space. Virtual office companies offer much more than just the presence. Reliable and professional routing and handling of phone calls, faxes, and mail. Basically, ensuring a clear serious presence, keeping communications smooth and reducing the whole stress of minor tasks.

For all those meeting that you have to meet people face to face, shared office companies provide conference rooms for the time that you need. Consider that renting an office means that you pay, and pay even if you are not there. With a combination of shared and virtual office, you pay for just what you get.

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Electronic tickets, who has not used them yet? You receive an e-mail from your airline company, with the reservation code you enter the Airline site, select a seat, print the boarding pass and you are finished. But not a lot of people “users” use it this way. This is a problem for the airliners who have recently invested in a new and innovative infrastructure. The extra and additional costs for the infrastructure needs to be recovered soon.

Besides the facility in which you can print a ticket at the office or at home, there are new devices needed with which customers can check-in without the support of an agent. On the airport you will find these automatic ticket printing devices where you can help yourself printing a boarding pass.

The construction of a new building is often a trigger for introducing the latest technology. Hospitals are doing this, but airports are no exception. In this way the knife cuts on two sides; the new building serves as a vehicle to carry a new innovation. A new infrastructure on itself is never an accepted goal to invest in, but when the capacity (of hospitals or airports) needs to be expanded anyhow, the upgrade of an infrastructure is easy to justify -- the extra cost is limited.

And that's how it is done in Madrid. The new terminal in Madrid (T4) has been assigned nearly fully to the Airliner Iberia. And that is no coincidence. By doing this Iberia could renew it 's airport infrastructure and compete better with the new budget airlines.

The new terminal is loaded with automatic boarding machines -- the airline variant of the banking ATM. But now the challenge is; "how do we have passenger use them?"

Well that change is easily facilitated too. You notice this when you arrive at the airport. There are only a very limited number of normal (traditional) check-in points operated by agents, for which large queues are formed.

This queue is deliberately "designed" to route people to the new automatic devices. The choice to wait in a queue for nearly one hour or -- alternatively -- to try the self-service check-in machines is not a hard decision.

There are situations where this automatic boarding is not functioning, for example when your flight is delayed or when other problems occur. But these are exception that airlines have to deal with anyway.

The trend is set. Soon this new infrastructure will be the new standard.

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The objective is to beat the competition and make money. Everything a business organization does should be focused on that simple objective, with interpretation through various Vision and Mission Statements. However if we take a survey of how our organizations spend our energy, often that objective is lost in a web of internal politics and positioning. Of course competition is normally good – regardless of whether it is internal or external – to the point we do not lose focus on company objectives as the ultimate outcome of our competition.

We often use the phrase “winning battles and losing wars.” That phrase really hits home when we record all the things we do, every day of our business lives, that result in a situation where we are struggling with more fervor for internal positioning then committing energy in activities to beat our competition. What does “winning battles and losing wars really mean?

Perhaps the sales and operations groups are having difficulty with product and contract provisioning. Sales of course wants to sign contracts, get acceptance, and quickly start customer billing – their commission depends on shortening the book to bank process. Operations is unhappy because the contracts tend to stray from the letter of a product or service. Thus, operations may dig their heels in and not expedite provisioning while the “bring the sales guys into line.”

What is the result of this little battle? Of course, the customer does not receive service within the want date and the company does not get paid as quickly as they would with a fast implementation and acceptance. And I, as your competitor, will be aggressively spending my time eroding your market share. The customer is angry, the sales and operations people are angry, and your image in the industry is tarnished while the competition quickly moves to exploit your weaknesses.

Let’s use a different example. Your organization has the same challenge every other organization around the world has – a need for higher compute power, and a need to lower capital expenses on IT-related equipment. So we look into our bag of tools and determine a few relatively easy innovations could meet both objectives. You determine you can save money and increase compute resource through:

Server consolidation Disk consolidation/virtualization GRID computing Easy, right?

In Platform Computing’s recent study “Organizational Politics as a Barrier to

Implementing Grid Computing” 79% of company managers indicated that resource consolidation and virtualization should be considered high priorities for an organization’s IT planning, however 89% of the same companies indicated organizational politics and other issues could pose a major barrier in accomplishing consolidation.

Why? Operating units, managers, and individuals have an inherent desire to control their own resources. Moving an application to a consolidated server platform may result in the application user being denied the level of priority they believe is due them is cited as a major concern. In addition, if existing resources are identified as potential contributors to a virtualized disk or compute platform, there are strong concerns another division or operating unit could even grab priorities and deny processing at existing or desired levels.

An even greater concern may be the potential for losing additional operating budgets – resource consolidation by nature reduces the cost of doing business, thus it is expected individual units will require less funding than they currently receive.

Of course in most cases this is simply not true – however it is a strong perception.

Now let’s talk a bit more about GRID. You have probably heard about it – and have a nagging thought in the back of your head eventually you are going to have to deal with it. You know it is going to seriously disrupt conventional ideas about systems management and resource utilization, and it may be one of those thought s that you want to put out oif your mind until the last possible minute.

Let’s look at some simple GRID facts:

Properly employed GRID will greatly increase the amount of compute resource available to your company. In the article “GRID Computing,” Royal Bank Insurance gives the example that actuarial calculation requirements were reduced from 18 hours to 32 minutes upon employment of their enterprise GRID. Monsanto claims in the same article they have reduced their new server purchase year over year by 90 percent Morgan Stanley, Charles Schwab, Wachovia, and others have announced consolidating enterprise desktops into an enterprise processing GRID With this level of enterprise adoption of GRID technologies, it is clear this is a technology we are all going to deal with within the next couple years. So if the statistics mentioned in Platform’s survey are true, there is potentially going to be a lot of organizational trauma. However looking at the money savings, it is very clear that the benefits of employing GRID resource virtualization within an organization are tremendous.

Thus the question should not be whether or not an individual or section will lose control of a small number of resources, but rather how much more work they can potentially do if their existing applications and strategies can make use of the compute power of the enterprise GRID. Once the power of the corporate compute resource pool is addressed and registered, all compute intensive applications within the organization will have much greater flexibility and have greater potential for building innovation into their product or service designs. With GRID resource, applications can be better written to solve problems and tasks, rather than simply be written against the limitations of a piece of hardware or operating system.

Just as email had a major impact on the way we viewed business communications, GRID computing will have a similar effect on how we approach business planning. As employees, leaders, and professionals now is the time for us to start thinking with long term vision – don’t think about winning petty battles within the organization – concentrate on winning the war. Your resources contribute to the success of the organization in winning the corporate and global economic wars.

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utorak, 20. studenoga 2007.

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nedjelja, 18. studenoga 2007.

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