Channeling startup energy wisely is certainly a paradox. In fact, channeling startup energy wisely is an almost impossible task because the heat of the moment tends to override the rationality of the brain. Emotions, in other words, pack more punch than objectivity and a measured approach. Hmmm, remind you of dating days?

Isn’t this also the reason successful marketers always direct their sales messages to trigger emotional buying motives instead of rational ones? Benefits, not features. I mean, do you really care what’s under the hood if it gets you where you want to go, doesn’t break down, is snazzy, and you think it makes you look good driving it?

If a car turns the neighbor’s head every time you pull into the driveway, and jumpstarts your brain into dreaming of being a big-name, cross-country race car driver just as a result of you buckling up and adjusting the mirrors, you buy it. You may offer 101 other more rational, logical reasons, but that’s just a justification cover!

When an entrepreneur starts a business, she 0r he is typically filled with emotions that seem to run at cross-purposes. Money. Where will it come from? Where will I get the money I need? Will it be enough? Workspace. How much do I need now? Later? Where? What’s the deal? Insurance? Yikes! Equipment? Furnishings? Accountant? Lawyer? Advisory board? Employees? Benefit plans? Strategic plans? Business Plans? Hours of operation? Website? Pricing? What? Huh? Packaging? Promotions? PR? Advertising? Sales? Phone System? Reception? Presentations? Partners? Investors? Lenders? Logo?Suppliers? Branding?Memberships? Networks? Jeeze! Maintenance? Distribution? Referrers? Community? Titles? Whoa! Signage? Name? Mission statement? Elevator speech? Professional or industry relations? Goals? Target markets? And on and on . . .

According to the most recent SBA studies I could muster (the WH doesn’t want to publicize new small business data), 9 out of every 11 new businesses reportedly fail within the first 10 years, and it takes an average of 6 years just to break even financially. Pretty miserable odds for all that emotional and financial expenditure.

But —considering that your idea and your support systems are great, and the alternative is a secure go-nowhere job with the braindead government or some big corporate shabang position with nothing but ladders to climb before you sleep– entrepreneuring at least gives you adventure, challenge, opportunity, freedom, and fun.

So the answer IS: Channel all that explosive chain-reaction energy. (Try increased attention to deep breathing, yoga, exercise, power walks, eating and sleeping right.) Channel the energy into filling the gaps of business needs that you lack, so you can concentrate on what you like and do best, which will maximize your performance.

You’re lousy at writing or marketing or managing others? Hire someone with a proven track-record to step in and free you up. Sometimes just one or two people can fill all three of these for-example roles. See where and how to consolidate tasks and functions that you can pass along. (But remember responsibility cannot be delegated.)      

The point is that startup entrepreneurs need to jet down and focus their total energy on the “here-and-now” of what they’re doing: find the needs, determine the costs, fill the needs. Shop around for services. Be a detective. Line up at least 10 times the amount of money you think you’ll need. 10? Yup! Guaranteed! 

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Hal@Businessworks.US

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

 “K”…KALEIDOSCOPIC

[You were expecting maybe

kangaroos, kaput, keeper. keyboard, kicks, kisses, or kudos?]

KALEIDOSCOPIC (according to Writer’s Digest Books’ FLIP DICTIONARY) means “changeable, colorful, diverse, fluctuating, motley, protean, variable, and vivid”… a pretty decent 8-word description that can be applied to the characterizing of entrepreneurial instincts and behaviors, sooo…

So, let’s explore a little of how this word impacts small business ownership and management. Since Kaleidoscopic implies an ever-changing view, it also suggests having kaleidoscopic vision. No, not “VISION” as in fancy corporate Vision Statements, not that kind… it’s more in the context of having eyes in the back of your head.

Now every entrepreneur can relate to that, right?

When you own or manage a small business — everything from a one-man-band functioning out of your kitchen, basement or garage, to a staff of 300 operating out of an industrial park complex, or a crowded office of five or ten– you must keep your antennas up and be on the lookout 24/7 for problems, potential problems, and opportunities (remembering of course that every problem is an opportunity!).

Running your own business is a lot like taking a scout group of twenty ten-year-olds on a camping trip. [Rule One is to make sure you have plenty of adult help!] You no sooner get a tent up and find yourself first-aiding a youngster with a cut knee. As you apply the bandage, another child, soaking wet from falling in the stream is in your face.

You start a fire to dry off the wet clothes and yet another camper has made off into the woods with two burning branches . . . you get the picture (or know it all too well). It is not instinctive for most of us to be firefighters at work. Corporate leaders in fact are trained not to be (real leaders plan, plan, delegate, delegate, etc.). 

But no matter what size your business, you cannot delegate responsibility. This means what comes around from putting your shoulder to the wheel stays on your shoulders, and heavy shoulders make kaleidoscopic vision difficult if not impossible. How do you turn your head when there’s an anchor around your neck?

Yet business success is often largely attributable to being able to see opportunities as they surface. That leaves not too many options. Either function in moderation — keep your plate less than full and avoid over-stress (HA! Just a joke.) — or learn the best ways to manage your attitude and your time to keep a kaleidoscopic balance.

When you can get to the point of anticipating without having packed too many parachutes and umbrellas and BandAids, when you can take things day-at-a-time yet have some long and short-term plans (and alternate routes) worked out, when you can stay focused in the here-and-now present moment: VOILA! You win!

By avoiding worry about future events that haven’t yet come (and may never), and by avoiding dwelling on past events that are over and will never return, and that can’t be changed, you are more than halfway to success. The rest depends on what you see that works for you in the rest of this BIZ ALPHABET series. Scroll away! 

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Hal@Businessworks.US   302.933.0116

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

 Make today a GREAT day for someone!

The name of my youngest granddaughter’s favorite store and brand of clothing she can’t do without. Doled out daily by Judge Joe and Judge Judy (“WANT JUSTICE? www.JudgeJudy.com” is the TV screen message). It keeps The Lady Of’s scale balanced (an important thing in the face of such a mentally UNbalanced community as lawyers). We see the rich and privileged sidestep it, and the oppressed often get less of it.  

~ ~ ~

In small business, justice is a slippery bar of soap. To most business owners and managers, justice is a less embracing concept than the 30 million of us would like. This is true primarily because UNjust decisions, taxes, regulations, and burdens of every description originate with and are doled out by government control-freaks.

Rising from the muck of federal and state political septic systems,those we ineptly seem to elect to office, quickly demonstrate that after speech-making and hand-shaking are done, just enough brain power remains to justify pre-occupation with getting re-elected, instead of with leadership over that which they’ve been chosen to govern.

Should we expect more? Not from those presently in office. From the White House on down, how can business owners and managers have hope where there’s no trust? How can there be trust where there’s no (zero) business experience or respect for entrepreneurial spirit and free market competition? But down the road? That’s your call!

What justice is there when a consultant and business owner sign a contract guaranteeing $500,000, in fees spread over three consecutive years of delivering mutually-agree-to deliverables, ends up with nothing (after making good on what’s promised to the client’s satisfaction)… because government strips the client bare with huge fines for following faulty government regulations? That’s called “Lose-Lose.”

Oh, contest it? A $15,000 legal fee escalated to $35,000 produces a favorable ruling for the consultant to be paid $60,000 because an intimidating, manipulative lawyer (there’s some other kind?) pushed the unsuspecting consultant into categorizing the contract as a “may” pay deal rather than a “will” pay one.

Well, $60,000 doesn’t even cover expenses, but, hey, it’s better than nothing, right? Wrong. Because to get a judgtement for the $60,000 means going to a different state and starting over with a new $40,000-fee law firm. Do the math. [Yes, this example is fictionalized to make a point, but it’s one that’s based on true events].

The message here is that justice is what you make of it for yourself by paying close(r) attention to everyday issues, by using inordinate care in those you choose to do business with, and –like those in the building trades– by always getting paid enough (typically one-third) up front to cover expenses (materials).

When the market is strong, construction guys rarely lose their businesses. After the one-third up front, they charge the second third halfway through the job (to cover salaries) and the last third on completion with satisfaction (to cover profit). Many top B to B services and creative service providers use the same formula.

When markets are NOT strong (which, since 2008, we all know all about), the exercising of increased attentiveness and due diligence before contracting outside services or purchasing from new suppliers is not just sound advice. It’s the way of capturing that often-elusive ingredient that will keep your scale of justice balanced.

Bottom line: Justice is rarely served in business by those outside of business. If you want that to change so you can spend more energy with your business and less with your stress, do something about it. November 6, 2012.

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Hal@Businessworks.US  302.933.0116

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!