SOMETIMES YOU FEEL

LIKE A SCHLUNK,

SOMETIMES YOU DON’T!

It’s what you DO with bad feelings that counts!

     It doesn’t matter who you are, how great your reputation, how elevated your life-position, or how religious or nutrition-conscious you behave. Nor does it matter how physically fit, mentally alert, or in love with the world you may be.

     You will have bad days in life (and groups of bad days) when you feel like a schlunk because you screwed-up a business or personal relationship or situation.

     The thing is that many times the wheels come off, or the bottom falls out, or the roof caves in. . . accidentally. And sometimes, uh, maybe accidentally-on-purpose.

     But getting straightened out and back on track, demands concerted effort, intended purpose, and proactive pursuit. Recovery is never accidental. It requires conscious awareness that behavior is a choice.

     It also requires a plan. The most effective plans are those wrapped around the military OST management model:

OBJECTIVE/STRATEGY/TACTICS

Your “OBJECTIVE” is your goal. To be effective it needs to adhere to ALL of the following 5 criteria:

• Specific

• Flexible

• Realistic

• Due-Dated

• In Writing

     This applies to both business and personal goal-setting. Without all five, it’s merely a wish (and, with apologies to Tinkerbell and The Wizard of Oz, wishing does NOT make it so!)

     Your “STRATEGY” is your thinking avenue or approach to reaching or achieving your Objective or goal. It is the thought process part of your plan.

     Your “TACTICS” are the implementations or executions of your Strategies. They are the actual “do it” steps you take to initiate and maintain your plan. This is the point of bringing about action.

     If you’ve done this right, you’ll remember the goal criteria list includes “flexibility” which translates to being ready and able to choose to change directions or move objectives as situations and people require.

Most people fail at goal-setting and pursuit because they think goals are in concrete and that failure to reach them is too demeaning and discouraging. But keeping goals flexible means adjusting them and/or the circumstances to achieve them.

     The easy part is making it all work. The hard part is getting started. Getting started is a choice!

# # #

 931-854-0474    Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You!

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT Day for Someone !

RELENTLESS PURSUITS

Can They Sputter and Flip Into Reverse?

The crazier you become about an entrepreneurial venture, the better it is IF you are (actually, and against all odds) a true entrepreneur.

If, in other words, you  work yourself into a frenzy because you have what you think is a great idea, you start thinking about applying to “Shark Tank,” you’re ready to bet the farm on your brainstorm because friends and family encourage you, and you know in your heart you’ve got what it takes to revolutionize the marketplace.

But–in the end– you don’t have that magical,

mystical entrepreneurial INSTINCT:

Prepare to Crash!

“Entrepreneurship” is NOT what all the universities and

colleges and entrepreneur centers are actually teaching.

• Just because some disillusioned government leader rewards the dreams of an aspiring faculty member a wad of grant money, doesn’t mean you, the student, will learn how and be able to become an entrepreneur. 
• Just because some misguided instructor thinks that “teaching entrepreneurship” will generate increased personal income for her or his family vacations while simultaneously being able to ignite the community economy, doesn’t mean you, the student, will learn how and be able to become an entrepreneur.
• And just because campus administrators are dancing in the board room because one of their faculty has just generated grant money into their building fund, does not mean that you, as a student, will learn how and be able to become an entrepreneur. 

Neither does any of it mean that what you learn can be turned into a cash cow for you or your friends or family or community–all of whom, because of your genius and your wonderful entrepreneurial training will be able to live happily ever after.

B e c a u s e :

No one can TEACH you

how to become an entrepreneur!

You can learn about how an entrepreneur thinks and acts and makes things happen, and you can convince yourself that you can muster what it takes to follow these guidelines into Entrepreneurville.

You will hopefully discover in time to save your savings that entrepreneurs are NOT the risk-takers most of society would have us believe. Risk-taking is NOT a trait of entrepreneurs. Real entrepreneurs take only REASONABLE risks.

But you can’t and you won’t fit the elusive entrepreneurial “mold” (if there is such a thing) unless you were born with the instinct — the will to succeed at all costs and, the most crucial characteristic: the ability to take the intuitive steps necessary to make that happen.

Lectures and textbooks and “hands-on” activities can give you a sense of what it’s all about, but they cannot instill instinct. 

Does not having this deep-seated sense of intuition —the inherent ability to have innate, inherent, inbred, spontaneous, consistently productive hunches-– mean that you’ll fail?

No. It simply means you are not an entrepreneur. But not being the entrepreneur you thought you were doesn’t mean you are doomed to failure.

You may simply need to rise to the occasion of being contented with being the best you can be instead of trying to be something you’re not. You may need to settle with the notion that success translates to hard work that produces steady long-term business growth, and to having to struggle through setbacks you never saw coming. Above all, you need to accept and work within the framework of reality. Yes, reality!

As with the critical 5 criteria of effective goal-setting (being specific, flexible, realistic, due-dated, and in writing), true entrepreneurship is marked first and foremost by being realistic!

And just as not meeting all five goal-setting criteria produces nothing more than a wish-list ticket to Fantasyland, so too does a reckless charge at entrepreneurship end up producing failure by cultivating a business-life platform based on make-believe.

All the time? No. Nothing is always, including the word “nothing.”

So the bottom line IS:

If you’re entrepreneur material, you’ll know it and so will others (including savvy investors).

If you’re not a true entrepreneur, welcome to the vast majority of businesspeople and the reality that –even though you may have missed the “E” Ship– your odds for business startup and growth success are measured exclusively by: how hard you’re willing to work at making your venture productive for yourself, your family, for those who work with you, and for your community.

Your actions may need to be more calculated than spontaneous, but that doesn’t mean they will end up having any less impact. What’s important is that you start out by being realistic and by measuring the steps you take with a reality yardstick.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that some educational venue or individual can teach you how to launch your interests into outer space… to become another Steve Jobs, or Lori Greiner, or Mike Lindell, or Mark Zuckerberg, or Oprah Winfrey, or Donald Trump, or Beyonce, or Mark Cuban, or Frank Purdue.

Accept yourself for who you are,

but never settle for who you are

capable of becoming.

Courses on entrepreneurship may help shed some light on the directions and kinds of decisions that produce entrepreneurial success stories, but choosing those directions for yourself and making those kinds of decisions will not make you an entrepreneur anymore than a new car or suit of clothes will make you into another person. They may make you feel good, but they won’t change your skill set.

Work at and stick to

what you know best,

and what you do best,

and what you like most

. . . and you will succeed!

TRUST YOURSELF!

# # #

Hal@Businessworks.US             931.854.0474

Guidance to Over 500 Successful Business Startups

FAKE Entrepreneurs

Listen to all the politicians toss the “E” word around, and it will be transparently clear that they haven’t the foggiest idea of what Entrepreneurship is all about. How do YOU stack up? Here are some solid clues and checkpoints:

FAKE Entrepreneurs indulge in constant chatter about how great their business ventures have been, and will be, instead of being focused on the present “here and now” moment, as real entrepreneurs tend to be most of the time.

FAKE Entrepreneurs waste time, energy, and opportunities by whining and complaining about what didn’t “go right.” They instead need to follow real entrepreneurial thinking which calls for learning from the process and adjusting it, then moving on to make their ideas work.

[We’ve all heard the famous comment from Thomas Edison in response to questions about his 10,00 attempts to invent the light bulb, and how he felt at having failed 10,000 times, that he said he instead learned 10,000 ways to not make a light bulb!]

FAKE Entrepreneurs talk nonstop in convoluted terms about big money deals they have made and will soon be negotiating, instead of real entrepreneurs who pay tenacious attention to their current cash flow.

FAKE Entrepreneurs react instead of respond and blame others (predecessors, parents, partners, competition, the economy, climate change, and childhood) for costly business errors and decisions, instead of accepting—as real entrepreneurs—that the upsets are the result of a conscious or unconscious choice that they made now or in the past, and getting on with life.

FAKE Entrepreneurs consistently “take entrepreneurial risks” without remembering to put the word “REASONABLE” in front of “risks.” Real entrepreneurs don’t bet the farm. Real entrepreneurs take more risks than corporate and government managers, but the risks they take are always reasonable and realistic.

FAKE Entrepreneurs refuse to set goals because they fear failure, and refuse to learn proven goal-setting criteria which include “flexibility” as a key determinant. Real entrepreneurs set goals and routinely change them as they go forward because A) Nothing is in concrete, and B) times, people, and circumstances often change at the proverbial drop of a hat.

[Reality dictates moving or adjusting the goalpost or the terms initially determined for getting into the end-zone. Real entrepreneurs know they don’t need to stay on someone else’s measured field or inside someone else’s stadium in order to score a touchdown!]

FAKE Entrepreneurs mask what they’re doing behind closed doors or armies of hungry lawyers, out of fear someone will steal their idea and beat them to the punch (and that, by the way, can happen easily while ego-feeding with those few, well-disguised, bad-news investor and business lawyer vulture-types!).

Real entrepreneurs understand that seeking trustworthiness in associates is paramount among desirable qualifications, and that proprietary rights, copyrights, patents, trademarks are important, but that the time and energy of appropriate types of attorneys must be carefully shopped for and firmly (and appropriately) channeled.

[With cautious judgment, real entrepreneurs will usually embrace competitive overtures (and sometimes offer some). Many businesses maximize success for themselves by clustering, or joining forces with, or bartering with other like-minded entities… often a mainstay of retailing to stimulate consumer shopping and even realize cost savings with co-op advertising and promotion events.]

 How do YOU stack up?

# # #

Hal@BusinessWorks.US      or 931.854.0474

OPEN  MINDS  OPEN  DOORS

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You!

Make today a GREAT Day for someone!

Welcome to the world’s first SMALL BIZ Alphabet Series of blog posts!

“That which does 

 not cause my death,

    increases my strength!”

— Samuel Johnson or Frederich Nietzsche in the mid-late 1800’s

     It really doesn’t matter who said it or when. What matters is that entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial thinkers need to take heed now. Why? Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial thinkers are often thought to be over-acting “drama queens” because they rarely worry about hiding their emotions. They tend to become excited about anything and everything that leads to forward movement of their “burning desire” idea.

     And, yes, these same enthusiasts will also over-react to negative news about anything that impedes the progress of making their idea work.

     If you fit this description, or if you work or live with someone who does— lo and behold!– you can actually make a difference in the equation!

     It’s called REALITY. A good strong does of reality will take away any pain, any upset, and tendency to engage in analysis paralysis. Being realistic is, after all, the key ingredient of five essential criteria that define effective goal-setting and successful goal-pursuit.

     REALITY is a slippery piece of soap for many even thought they may honor its value. Reality has a way of turning quickly to fantasy whenever things don’t seem to be going right.

     It is, after all, much easier to get “lost” in fantasyland than it is to “shape up” mentally or physically or emotionally to the point of being able to most effectively deal with what’s right in front of your face.

     But, alas, this was why breathing was invented, don’t you think? Every breath– like every heartbeat and pulse throb– has the ability to put us in touch with reality . . . with what’s going on this very split second . . . vs. past (more than a few seconds old, over which we have no control and cannot change even if we want to), and future (more than a few seconds ahead of the air and space and mindset we are in at this exact split second, and which, of course, may never happen anyway).

     So, bottom line: no need to fret. Just pay attention to your SELF. When you begin to feel upset, choose to focus your attention on your heartbeat or pulse, pinch yourself, take a deep breath, then get back to dealing with the next incoming immediate split second of your life. Let go of what’s over and what hasn’t come. Stay with where you are this minute. It COULD make a difference for you between a headache or backache or an ulcer or or heart attack or stroke. And if it does, consider how much stronger it has made you, or makes you this very next breath and, hopefully, the many more to follow.

# # #

Hal@Businessworks.US   931.854.0474

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

 Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Are You Paying Enough

Attention to YOU??????

A  C  T  I  O  N  S

SPEAK LOUDER

THAN WORDS

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS

First popularized in 1856 by Abraham Lincoln

The expression may date back as far as 1628!

The day-to-day motto of our new U.S. President

But “So What?” you say. “What does all that have to do with ME?”

You already know the answer, but odds are you pretend to dismiss it, forget it, mock it, trash it, or have turned a blind eye to the reality that these five words have, in fact, marked your every accomplishment in life.

So what makes you conveniently forget the importance of ACTION as in getting up off your butt and DOING something instead of just talking about what needs to be done?

I am interested in hearing any good answers to this question, but confidently doubt you can produce even one. Yet you know in your heart that everything you value has come to you as a result of stepping up and out… being assertive (that’s “assertive” not “aggressive”).

Take a one-minute break and ask yourself what it is that you are sitting on, wasting time and energy with (and probably money as well), that can best be resolved by simply taking ACTION? Have you heard that other great expression?:

S O M E   ACTION

IS ALWAYS BETTER

THAN NO ACTION!

Where does it best apply in YOUR life? You think it doesn’t? Of course it does. How long have you been standing still?

Formalized goal-setting is great if its underpinnings match the proven-to-be-essential five criteria, but big-time progress isn’t always measured by what you seek.

Ask anyone in public or military service about the values of TAKING ACTION vs. TALKING about it. “Whoa!” you might say, “but (thankfully) I’m not in emergency situations every day.”

Oh, but you ARE.

Do you think it’s not urgent to spend real time with someone you love instead of worrying endlessly about taking a career or business growth step that you fear tripping over? To be clear, this is NOT about Reacting. It is about Responding.

How much of an emergency is triggered by dwelling on “what if’s” instead of simply trying your best-bet idea? Is that more risky than not taking a few hours with your spouse or children? Would your “yes” response be the same if, God forbid, something drastic happened to a loved one to prevent you from enjoying more time together?

S U P E R S T A R S

. . . in sports, career professions, and business are inevitably those who live as much of the time as possible in the present, in every passing moment, instead of the past that’s over or the future that’s not yet come (and may never come).

They are the people who take the risks of taking action steps (because as Einstein said: “ALL WE EVER HAVE IS LIMITED KNOWLEDGE”) instead of trying to gather every conceivable factoid before deciding, or simply paying lip service, or making excuses, or being “all talk.”

Is it time to stop talking about what

you’re going to do, and just do it?

# # #

Hal@Businessworks.US             931.854.0474

Guidance to Over 500 Successful Startups

When it’s time to eat grass,

get out of the mud and weeds!

You’ve been bustin’ butt to get where you are, and you can’t even find the tunnel, never mind light at the end of it! That’s the nice way to say you’re feeling spent and discouraged. But the truth is — guess what?– you are CHOOSING to feel spent and discouraged! “Spent” and “discouraged” are behaviors, right? And since all humans are born with free will (although some undoubtedly approach dubiousness), humans (yes, even entrepreneurs) all CHOOSE their behaviors.

So now you think you’re going to get lectured? Don’t choose to think that. Choose instead to enlighten yourself. The choice is just as easy, and it’s light-years  more productive. We make choices every minute of every day — from when to wake up to when to go to sleep, and everything in between. HA! And you thought it was just a matter of eggs or cereal for breakfast . . . or whether to sneer, snort, scowl or smile at someone else who chose to be bitchy.

Nope. No lecture here. Just shared awareness based on being an entrepreneur, and working with 2020 entrepreneurs. The bottom line is that the vast majority of entrepreneurs I’ve experienced haven’t a clue about the right time to make their move out of the weeds and into the sunshine-filled pasture, where healthy grazing beats hanging around in mud and weeds infested with mosquitoes. And I won’t even mention the malaria word here. OMG! So many choices!

So, seriously, where does your business live? When will you choose to move it? Where? How?

Our choices are conscious or unconscious. Sometimes the consequences pop up years later. Goal-setting can spare us a lot of “choice” surprises! Are your goals legitimate? They meet all five essential criteria? They are specific, realistic, flexible, due-dated, and in writing? If they are not all five, you don’t have goals; you have a meaningless, nonproductive wishlist. Why would you choose fantasy when choosing (meaningful, productive) reality is just as easy?

Choosing when and how to get your business out of the mud and weeds is not a matter of betting the farm. Entrepreneurs take only reasonable risks. It is a matter of what I call “Opportunity Vigilance.” When you keep focused on making your idea work and on taking advantage of opportunities that represent growth, you are choosing to put yourself and your business in a position of readiness to head for the sunshine-filled pasture where work becomes fun again.

Unless, of course, you’re a FAKE Entrepreneur?

# # #

Hal@Businessworks.US    931.854.0474

With Volunteers,

Exceptional Leadership

Can Bring Exceptional Success

But working with volunteers demands exceptional leadership. Why? Because anything less can spell exceptional failure and — at the very least– produce exceptional frustration. When a nonprofit, for example, needs to depend on volunteer groups to handle special or ongoing projects, the odds are that one or more of five problem areas will surface.

According to Ed Bancroft, world renown leader in organization and management development, community development, and race relations, the five “Common Problem” areas that emerge in working with volunteer groups consist of:

1) Having too many goals

2) Lack of an adequate contract

3) Lack of leadership and accountability

4) Lack of rewards or recognition

5) Lack of attention to group process

When a volunteer group of any composition attempts to get started, there is a tendency to attempt more than can realistically be accomplished. So the basic tenets of effective goal-setting need to be addressed right from the git-go. Those criteria, together with some other goal-setting thoughts, are here and here and here.

After starting with a Priority Task List, Bancroft suggests charting answers to: WHAT will be done? HOW will it be done? WHO will do it? WHEN will each task be completed? and BY WHAT DATE will the goal be accomplished?

The most successful volunteer groups start with a (very specific) agreement regarding each person’s role and expectations, and in matching each individual’s strengths to the tasks at hand. (Tight agenda) group meetings, (specific) written job descriptions, and a permanent “How Goes It?” focus on ongoing progress are all means to the ends.

A great many volunteer groups stumble along, reluctant to deal directly with leadership accountability. This single shortcoming can undo the best of intentions and efforts. Clear role definition, including having a fulltime volunteer coordinator (or staff member), who links the volunteers with paid staff, helps ensure that volunteer energies are maximized.

Volunteers work for the good of the cause but also for personal recognition, and some form of reward for specific achievements. And, always praise in public! Volunteers should get priority consideration for staff appointments, be offered as much appropriate training as possible.

Remember to appreciate volunteers for what they give up: Besides time and energy, for example, there are often expenses they absorb for baby-sitting, lunches, and transportation. Free or discounted lunches, work time beverages and snacks can go a long way. Some volunteer programs qualify for Federal funds, United Way, or foundation grants to reimburse volunteers.

Most volunteer groups are not tuned into “Process” — how they work together and how they need to work together. They tend to lack awareness of essential communication and decision-making methods. Workshops focused on these skill sets and an appointed (very objective) Process Observer can be designated to provide ongoing feedback on what she or he observes of group dynamics.

 The excitement and enthusiasm levels generated

 in volunteer groups is directly proportionate to

  the attention given to the issues outlined above.

# # #

Get it in writing . . . 

The Hardest Business Task!

Yes, test your objectives. Yes, test your strategies. Yes, test your tactics. And, yes –first and foremost– test your concepts. It’s the only sensible way (before spending money on ideas that might sound great, but that fail to produce), to make sure your pursuits are solidly grounded and integrally connected. 

~~~~~~~

What’s the hardest task in business? It’s really not hiring and firing, or funding, or maintaining operations, or making sales (though HR, finance, operations, and sales people may all want to lay claim to having the most difficult jobs). The hardest task is getting it in writing. Huh”? What’s “it”? And what’s so hard about writing? Writing what? 

I believe the most challenging of all business tasks is getting your direction and contingency plans straight. (Considering widely-published SBA findings that over 90% of business failures are attributable to “poor management,” knowing where you’re going is certainly Job One for most entrepreneurs.)

Writing your objectives clearly, simply, specifically, realistically, flexibly –and with a due date attached– has proven time and again to make the difference between revenues and profits, between success and SUCCESS!

The more principals, partners, investors, advisors, managers involved, the harder the task. It becomes exponentially difficult because –to have any value– everyone involved must agree at least somewhat with every word. In other words, agreeing on a precise target is sometimes the most trying of all challenges.

Is it (your target objective) the same as your Mission or Vision Statement?

No, but it probably needs to directly reflect both.

Whatever the objectives (or goals) are that you verbalize for yourself or your business, they need to be:

A) Missions in and of themselves, and they must fit conceptually under the umbrella of your own or your company’s overall Mission Statement.

[If your objective(s) fail to measure up to your overall Mission Statement, or don’t quite fit under its umbrella, re-examine where you’re headed with things. You may need to switch gears, or direction, or timing, or desired results.]

B) Following the path of your Vision Statement.

[If this isn’t happening, redirect your focus or re-visit your Vision Statement to consider some adjustments.]

Can you make changes and still be “on-target” with your pursuits? Absolutely! Remember that flexibility (together with realistic, specific, and due-dated) is one of the key criteria for effective goal-setting. If you’re not reaching the goal you defined, be flexible enough to redefine it, or change the tactics you’re using.

# # #

FREE blog subscription: Posts RSS Feed

Hal@Businessworks.US   302.933.0116

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Make today a GREAT day for someone!