Who are Canada's emerging growth companies?
PROFIT Magazine has the answers in its new Hot 50 list, which ranks growth companies that are too young (just three and four years old) to appear in its annual PROFIT 100 list of Canada's Fastest-Growing Companies. It's a fascinating preview of what's working in today's marketplace, and where tomorrow's growth companies are coming from.
This companies on this year's list have grown their revenue by an average of 946% (more than 10 times!) in the past two years.
"Savvy beyond their years, the PROFIT HOT 50 show how smart execution, combined with innovation and a willingness to seek opportunities abroad, is a recipe for business success, no matter which sector you're in or how long you've been in it," writes PROFIT senior editor Jim McElgunn. (I used to write that way, too.)
Who's on the list? Business-service firms (which account for half the list), IT, marketing and communications firms, software developers, and yes, even manufacturers. But you'll also find a marketer of bison meat (!), a supplier of education-focused child care, a manager of public and co-op housing projects, a provider of on-the-spot auto-repair loans and a new regional drugstore chain.
You can see the list of new fast-growth companies here.
Read the overview that talks about the list and what it means here.
Read a particularly fascinating and well-written story about the No. 1 company, Vancouver-based leisure-shoe marketer Holey Soles, here.*
And check out the best management practices at these young but savvy companies here.
And don't forget to buy the October issue of the magazine. It's still more fun to read in print than online.
*Why yes, I did. How did you guess?
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Business not so tough - if you do it right?
Having grown up in a big business (Cooper Sporting Goods) and created his own award-winning small business (Alive & Well fashion warehouse boutique), Donald Cooper is one of Canada's most creative and original business speakers.
In his recent newsletter, he really nailed one of the key paradoxes of business today. I'll condense. You read, feel guilty, then adjust as required.
The Donald's main point is that many people believe that business is getting harder and tougher than ever. He's not so sure.
With today's easy to use technology for tracking sales, controlling costs, managing inventories, communicating with customers personally, measuring productivity and generating financial statements, he says, in some ways "running a business today is 10 times easier than it ever was. "
Donald remembers how Cooper, which was Canada's leading manufacturer of sports equipment in the 1960’s and 70’s, used to operate.
"Invoices were manually typed and then manually recapped onto 11,000 bin cards to record current and future orders, plan production and control inventory. The bin cards were recapped from time to time to create hand written reports for analysis. The information was late and the reports were inaccurate. As a result, we were frequently out of stock of key items and we turned our inventory fewer than three times a year.
"We were also flying blind when it came to product costing, scheduling and factory efficiency. And we call these the “good old days”!"
The moral? If you're not taking advantage of all these technologies for tracking your business and selling more personally and efficiently, you're risking a slapshot upside the head.
Donald offers you this basic question: “How successfully are you using all of the tools and technologies now available to control costs, proactively serve your customers, make better and faster decisions, expand your business, grow your bottom line…and have time to have a life?”
His advice: "Embrace the latest software, tools and technologies available to proactively manage your business, then get professional coaching in how to use it effectively …or just sell and get out before it’s too late!"
Wise words from someone who knows exactly what he's speaking about. Which puts Donald Cooper on my list of National Treasures.
Check out his website and other articles here.
See Donald in action! You can watch his June 12th presentation at Visa Canada's Small Business Big Thinking conference here.
In his recent newsletter, he really nailed one of the key paradoxes of business today. I'll condense. You read, feel guilty, then adjust as required.
The Donald's main point is that many people believe that business is getting harder and tougher than ever. He's not so sure.
With today's easy to use technology for tracking sales, controlling costs, managing inventories, communicating with customers personally, measuring productivity and generating financial statements, he says, in some ways "running a business today is 10 times easier than it ever was. "
Donald remembers how Cooper, which was Canada's leading manufacturer of sports equipment in the 1960’s and 70’s, used to operate.
"Invoices were manually typed and then manually recapped onto 11,000 bin cards to record current and future orders, plan production and control inventory. The bin cards were recapped from time to time to create hand written reports for analysis. The information was late and the reports were inaccurate. As a result, we were frequently out of stock of key items and we turned our inventory fewer than three times a year.
"We were also flying blind when it came to product costing, scheduling and factory efficiency. And we call these the “good old days”!"
The moral? If you're not taking advantage of all these technologies for tracking your business and selling more personally and efficiently, you're risking a slapshot upside the head.
Donald offers you this basic question: “How successfully are you using all of the tools and technologies now available to control costs, proactively serve your customers, make better and faster decisions, expand your business, grow your bottom line…and have time to have a life?”
His advice: "Embrace the latest software, tools and technologies available to proactively manage your business, then get professional coaching in how to use it effectively …or just sell and get out before it’s too late!"
Wise words from someone who knows exactly what he's speaking about. Which puts Donald Cooper on my list of National Treasures.
Check out his website and other articles here.
See Donald in action! You can watch his June 12th presentation at Visa Canada's Small Business Big Thinking conference here.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Sell what people will buy!
When we were first starting to build the website at PROFITguide, I was a huge believer in giving content away for free. Not because I thought the content was valueless - but because there are so many free distractions on the Net that convincing people to pay for your information is just too hard. (It also raises the "what's my password again?" barrier, when you want no barriers at all to block people from maximizing their use of your site.)
Exceptions to Rick's Rule were always investment/personal finance content and, umm, "adult entertainment" sites - and I think both those theories have been borne out.
I don't think this is a forever situation. When rival content providers create an all-access pass that allows us to surf information and achives sites at a reasonable flat rate ($100 a year?), then consumers will agree to pay and producers can divvy up the pot based on where consumers spend their time.
Anyway, a fascinating story in today's LA Times underscores just how cheap consumers are when it comes to paying for content on the Web. Never mind that we're all shelling out $60 to $100 for cable TV every month; U.S. consumers refuse to pay 99 cents to watch instant reruns of favorite shows they may have missed.
CBS is scrapping its eight-month-old video-on-demand experiment with 99-cent downloads of such hit shows as "Survivor" and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." Instead, they are now offering these episodes free, sponsored by ads.
Said CBS exec Martin Franks: "We can make more money on advertising-supported downloads than we could on the 99-cent downloads."
Like any good entrepreneur, CBS tested different models this summer. Subscribers happily downloadedthese shows in test markets where GM paid the freight in return for ad placement.
"Viewers just didn't want to pay for it," a media analyst told the Times. "It's much easier to get money out of advertisers than out of consumers."
Next time you're trying to change consumer behaviour, keep this lesson in mind.
It sounds simple, but only sell only the things that people want to pay for. Find a different model for everything else.
Exceptions to Rick's Rule were always investment/personal finance content and, umm, "adult entertainment" sites - and I think both those theories have been borne out.
I don't think this is a forever situation. When rival content providers create an all-access pass that allows us to surf information and achives sites at a reasonable flat rate ($100 a year?), then consumers will agree to pay and producers can divvy up the pot based on where consumers spend their time.
Anyway, a fascinating story in today's LA Times underscores just how cheap consumers are when it comes to paying for content on the Web. Never mind that we're all shelling out $60 to $100 for cable TV every month; U.S. consumers refuse to pay 99 cents to watch instant reruns of favorite shows they may have missed.
CBS is scrapping its eight-month-old video-on-demand experiment with 99-cent downloads of such hit shows as "Survivor" and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." Instead, they are now offering these episodes free, sponsored by ads.
Said CBS exec Martin Franks: "We can make more money on advertising-supported downloads than we could on the 99-cent downloads."
Like any good entrepreneur, CBS tested different models this summer. Subscribers happily downloadedthese shows in test markets where GM paid the freight in return for ad placement.
"Viewers just didn't want to pay for it," a media analyst told the Times. "It's much easier to get money out of advertisers than out of consumers."
Next time you're trying to change consumer behaviour, keep this lesson in mind.
It sounds simple, but only sell only the things that people want to pay for. Find a different model for everything else.
Brave New Blog
I don't add new websites to my "Best Links" column (at right) very often.
But Roger Pierce and Andrew Patricio at BizLaunch are two highly energetic Toronto entrepreneurs who have just launched a blog offering all kinds of useful infomation and resources for business owners. And unlike some lazy sots whose will go unnamed, they are trying to post new stuff every day!
So check out their new Biz Blogs: Expert advice for new entrepreneurs. (It also has good information for not-so-new entrepreneurs, so give it a go.)
A sample of interesting posts:
5 deadly mistakes when starting a business
Selling to Women
Business Books I am Reading (Andrew seemes to do what I do: have multiple books on the go at one time)
What is your business worth?
For those who don't know, BizLaunch offers courses, seminars, coaching and consulting for new entrepreneurs. They do it in a refreshingly, personal and passionate way, so check 'em on out.
But Roger Pierce and Andrew Patricio at BizLaunch are two highly energetic Toronto entrepreneurs who have just launched a blog offering all kinds of useful infomation and resources for business owners. And unlike some lazy sots whose will go unnamed, they are trying to post new stuff every day!
So check out their new Biz Blogs: Expert advice for new entrepreneurs. (It also has good information for not-so-new entrepreneurs, so give it a go.)
A sample of interesting posts:
5 deadly mistakes when starting a business
Selling to Women
Business Books I am Reading (Andrew seemes to do what I do: have multiple books on the go at one time)
What is your business worth?
For those who don't know, BizLaunch offers courses, seminars, coaching and consulting for new entrepreneurs. They do it in a refreshingly, personal and passionate way, so check 'em on out.
Don't be a “networking sleaze”
Personal networking is probably the most common – and most powerful – marketing channel for most entrepreneurs. Yet it’s fraught with peril – and the mistakes you make can come back to haunt you.
To help you master the principles of personal marketing, Inc. Magazine published a handy list of things not to do when you're networking, from California consultant Susan RoAne. You can see the article, the Don’ts of Networking, here. But Canadian Entrepreneur has highlighted ten of the best no-nos for you.
* Don't forget to do your homework.
* Don't deal out your business cards to others before a conversation occurs.
* Don't use a name to gain access without the permission of that person.
* Don't talk about the monetary terms of your last deal. (Most of us know to divide that figure in half.)
* Don't bad-mouth people.
* Don't ignore signals -- body language, gestures, words, tone.
* Don't be quick to make judgments about others.
* Don't forget to say "I'm sorry" when you have erred, as well as "I don't know, "please" and "thank you."
* Don't deflect compliments; they are gifts. Acknowledge the giver by saying "Thank you."
* Don't overstay your welcome.
I especially like the one about not shunning compliments. I've tried to become more professional myself about receiving praise, but it still makes me feel all squishy inside and I try to rush past it as quick as I can.
Since compliments don't come along every day, we should all try to enjoy the moment and use the feedback to learn as much as we can about what went right, rather than just try to get it over with as fast as possible.
To help you master the principles of personal marketing, Inc. Magazine published a handy list of things not to do when you're networking, from California consultant Susan RoAne. You can see the article, the Don’ts of Networking, here. But Canadian Entrepreneur has highlighted ten of the best no-nos for you.
* Don't forget to do your homework.
* Don't deal out your business cards to others before a conversation occurs.
* Don't use a name to gain access without the permission of that person.
* Don't talk about the monetary terms of your last deal. (Most of us know to divide that figure in half.)
* Don't bad-mouth people.
* Don't ignore signals -- body language, gestures, words, tone.
* Don't be quick to make judgments about others.
* Don't forget to say "I'm sorry" when you have erred, as well as "I don't know, "please" and "thank you."
* Don't deflect compliments; they are gifts. Acknowledge the giver by saying "Thank you."
* Don't overstay your welcome.
I especially like the one about not shunning compliments. I've tried to become more professional myself about receiving praise, but it still makes me feel all squishy inside and I try to rush past it as quick as I can.
Since compliments don't come along every day, we should all try to enjoy the moment and use the feedback to learn as much as we can about what went right, rather than just try to get it over with as fast as possible.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Your (free) ticket to self-development
Small Business Week is just around the corner, and what better way to celebrate than by renewing your skill set and upping your motivation at the annual SOHO small business conference? And this year it’s (mostly) free!
As in the last few years, the Vancouver-based SOHO Group is running the conference in both Vancouver (at Canada Place, Thurs., Oct. 12) and Toronto (at the CNE trade centre, Thurs., Oct. 19).
The keynote speakers are David Chalk, former computer retailer turned high-tech TV host, and Ron Buist, the former marketing director of Tim Hortons – and the guy who invented the oft-copied “Roll Up the Rim to Win” promotion.
There are lots of other things going on: seminars, workshops, entrepreneur roundtables and a trade show. The good news is that after the keynotes are finished ($79 if you pre-register), admission to most activities is free for the first 2,000 attendees. (You must pre-register; it’s $50 at the door.)
Among the post-10 a.m. freebie speakers are economists from the TD Bank, my buddy Michael Hepworth on breakthrough marketing (always worth hearing, even for a second or third time), “Book Yourself Solid” author Michael Port, and business coaches Jamie Cunningham, Sandy Kemp and Warren Coughlin.
For an extra fee you can get some peer counselling or attend the post-show party. Sounds like a great way to spend the day.
Click here to register or get more information.
As in the last few years, the Vancouver-based SOHO Group is running the conference in both Vancouver (at Canada Place, Thurs., Oct. 12) and Toronto (at the CNE trade centre, Thurs., Oct. 19).
The keynote speakers are David Chalk, former computer retailer turned high-tech TV host, and Ron Buist, the former marketing director of Tim Hortons – and the guy who invented the oft-copied “Roll Up the Rim to Win” promotion.
There are lots of other things going on: seminars, workshops, entrepreneur roundtables and a trade show. The good news is that after the keynotes are finished ($79 if you pre-register), admission to most activities is free for the first 2,000 attendees. (You must pre-register; it’s $50 at the door.)
Among the post-10 a.m. freebie speakers are economists from the TD Bank, my buddy Michael Hepworth on breakthrough marketing (always worth hearing, even for a second or third time), “Book Yourself Solid” author Michael Port, and business coaches Jamie Cunningham, Sandy Kemp and Warren Coughlin.
For an extra fee you can get some peer counselling or attend the post-show party. Sounds like a great way to spend the day.
Click here to register or get more information.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Free guide to small-business terminology
“You Inc, therefore you are.”
Here’s a little marketing tip from a longtime editor: if your business slogan parodies a famous quote, alter the quote as little as possible. A Michigan-based consulting business called CompanyCrafters uses the above line, and I think it would be more faithful to Rene Descartes, and more effective, by saying “I Inc, therefore I am.”
Nonetheless, CompanyCrafters has a cool new product you should know about. They've just published a free, 45-page PDF guide to small-business terms and phrases. It’s called the Entrepreneur’s Dictionary: A Guide to Start-up Business Terms for Non-MBAs.
It’s mostly financial terms (think amortization, merchant account, zero-coupon), but who doesn’t need help with those? And there are lots of other definitions of useful, if sometimes random, business-related terms: mission statement (you wouldn't believe how many people are confused on that one), minute book, product management, value chain, etc.
It’s well worth looking at, or downloading to your computer, by clicking here.
One complaint: Given the general lack of understanding of PR by entrepreneurs, I was disappointed (if a bit amused) by the guide’s definition of public relations – n : “often referred to by its abbreviation, PR.”
Descartes might appreciate that solid logic, but it sounds unfinished to me.
Here’s a little marketing tip from a longtime editor: if your business slogan parodies a famous quote, alter the quote as little as possible. A Michigan-based consulting business called CompanyCrafters uses the above line, and I think it would be more faithful to Rene Descartes, and more effective, by saying “I Inc, therefore I am.”
Nonetheless, CompanyCrafters has a cool new product you should know about. They've just published a free, 45-page PDF guide to small-business terms and phrases. It’s called the Entrepreneur’s Dictionary: A Guide to Start-up Business Terms for Non-MBAs.
It’s mostly financial terms (think amortization, merchant account, zero-coupon), but who doesn’t need help with those? And there are lots of other definitions of useful, if sometimes random, business-related terms: mission statement (you wouldn't believe how many people are confused on that one), minute book, product management, value chain, etc.
It’s well worth looking at, or downloading to your computer, by clicking here.
One complaint: Given the general lack of understanding of PR by entrepreneurs, I was disappointed (if a bit amused) by the guide’s definition of public relations – n : “often referred to by its abbreviation, PR.”
Descartes might appreciate that solid logic, but it sounds unfinished to me.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
What I did on my summer vacation
Just got back from a quick family vacation to New England and New York City.
We saw fabulous whale watching off Gloucester, just north of Boston. The season continues for another six weeks if you want a real thrill.
Other than one quick business trip, this was my first sustained visit to the Big Apple in 20 years. I can’t believe how New York has changed. The Manhattan of my youth – dirty, dingy, and always vague
ly threatening – is once again the gleaming, bustling capital of culture and commerce that my mother used to talk about. (She was born in Brooklyn.) It was a fun, busy place to be, radiating energy and confidence.
Mind you, I didn’t walk from the Upper West Side to the South Bronx – as I did one Election Day 20 years ago – so I didn’t exactly go looking for the dark side, as I tended to do in my youth. But we drove from Central Park West to the Battery twice (!) in two days, so we saw a lot of the city, and it looked much more alive, and much more livable, than I've ever seen it before.
Those of you who go there often might have no idea what I’m talking about. But I managed to get to New York a lot more in my teens and 20s than I do now, and I remem
ber when it was falling apart and a sordid symbol of American failure.
I’ve often quoted former NYC mayor Abe (“How'm I doing?”) Beam when speaking on the importance of soliciting feedback. Well, congrats to him and all his successors on a runaround of epic proportion.
I’m still pumped up from the trip. I drove downtown (in Toronto) yesterday in about 16 minutes, marveling at how slow and non-aggressive the local drivers are. Sure, drivers in Manhattan are crazy (especially the cabbies, who will risk all our lives to gain a car length on you), but the energy New Yorkers bring to bear in their daily lives is something most Canadians could use a lot more of.
We saw fabulous whale watching off Gloucester, just north of Boston. The season continues for another six weeks if you want a real thrill.
Other than one quick business trip, this was my first sustained visit to the Big Apple in 20 years. I can’t believe how New York has changed. The Manhattan of my youth – dirty, dingy, and always vague
ly threatening – is once again the gleaming, bustling capital of culture and commerce that my mother used to talk about. (She was born in Brooklyn.) It was a fun, busy place to be, radiating energy and confidence.Mind you, I didn’t walk from the Upper West Side to the South Bronx – as I did one Election Day 20 years ago – so I didn’t exactly go looking for the dark side, as I tended to do in my youth. But we drove from Central Park West to the Battery twice (!) in two days, so we saw a lot of the city, and it looked much more alive, and much more livable, than I've ever seen it before.
Those of you who go there often might have no idea what I’m talking about. But I managed to get to New York a lot more in my teens and 20s than I do now, and I remem
ber when it was falling apart and a sordid symbol of American failure.I’ve often quoted former NYC mayor Abe (“How'm I doing?”) Beam when speaking on the importance of soliciting feedback. Well, congrats to him and all his successors on a runaround of epic proportion.
I’m still pumped up from the trip. I drove downtown (in Toronto) yesterday in about 16 minutes, marveling at how slow and non-aggressive the local drivers are. Sure, drivers in Manhattan are crazy (especially the cabbies, who will risk all our lives to gain a car length on you), but the energy New Yorkers bring to bear in their daily lives is something most Canadians could use a lot more of.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Call your customer
I just talked with a fabulous Canadian entrepreneur in technology who shared with me one of his top growth tactics: going back to prospective customers to find out why they didn’t buy from you.
He says he picked it up from a mentor in sales who used to say that “Good salespeople know why they should get the deal. Great salespeople know why they don’t get the deal.”
When his company doesn't make an expected sale, he or his people go back to clients to ask three basic questions:
* “What did you buy instead?”
* "What did you like about it?”
* “If you don't mind, what could we have done better?”
The most worrisome thing, he says, is when they haven't bought anything else. That means whatever you're selling is not sufficiently compelling – and should make you take a second look at what you're selling and why.
I asked if he borrowed this system from someplace else, or came up with it himself. His answer: “It’s something I invented from constantly getting my teeth kicked in.”
Mark this down as another of those tactics that’s so easy to do – almost textbook – but almost never done.
The entrepreneur suggests many people don't do it because their entrepreneurial egos couldn’t take the negative feedback. As he says, “Humility is a learned trait.”
He says he picked it up from a mentor in sales who used to say that “Good salespeople know why they should get the deal. Great salespeople know why they don’t get the deal.”
When his company doesn't make an expected sale, he or his people go back to clients to ask three basic questions:
* “What did you buy instead?”
* "What did you like about it?”
* “If you don't mind, what could we have done better?”
The most worrisome thing, he says, is when they haven't bought anything else. That means whatever you're selling is not sufficiently compelling – and should make you take a second look at what you're selling and why.
I asked if he borrowed this system from someplace else, or came up with it himself. His answer: “It’s something I invented from constantly getting my teeth kicked in.”
Mark this down as another of those tactics that’s so easy to do – almost textbook – but almost never done.
The entrepreneur suggests many people don't do it because their entrepreneurial egos couldn’t take the negative feedback. As he says, “Humility is a learned trait.”
Monday, August 21, 2006
Trust, but verify
I was asked today by email to provide some "startup hints" to a complete stranger.
This is what I replied:
"I hope your new business is doing well. If I could offer you any advice it would be to enjoy what you do, delegate as much as you can, and don't trust anyone. (Get everything in writing. Have clients sign contracts. Collect deposits where possible.)
"You'll meet many wonderful people in business. Unfortunately, you have to protect yourself from the others, because they're out there too."
So what do you think of my answer?
This is what I replied:
"I hope your new business is doing well. If I could offer you any advice it would be to enjoy what you do, delegate as much as you can, and don't trust anyone. (Get everything in writing. Have clients sign contracts. Collect deposits where possible.)
"You'll meet many wonderful people in business. Unfortunately, you have to protect yourself from the others, because they're out there too."
So what do you think of my answer?
Friday, August 18, 2006
Glue Horizons
I've been having some interesting discussons about leadership recently for a project I'm working on.
One of the best concepts of entrepreneurial leadership I've come across came from a middle manager whose first language is not English.
He described the job of the entrepreneurial CEO as "gluing people together." That put some pretty weird images into my mind, so I asked what he meant.
He meant that the CEO (or president, or whatever) should focus on aligning people: getting them to share values, beliefs and direction. In an organization that has good managers who know their jobs, CEOs shouldn't be getting involved in management, but in making sure everyone else knew what they were suposed to be doing and that they had the motivation and the resources to get it right.
And then he said something equally interesting. In his business and others, a lot of future opportunities are going to come from outside the business's traditional markets. The job of the CEO, he said, is to make a point of getting to know other CEOs, outside of their own industry, to scout out possible collaborations and create the relationships that may lead to successful new opportunities, products and services down the road.
Good advice, I think. As our markets become more competitive and crowded, it's clear that the best opportunities will not be found in old spaces, but in the intersection points. And it's the people actively exploring those frontiers that will see them first.
Sure, we've heard stuff like this before.
But what did you spend your day doing?
One of the best concepts of entrepreneurial leadership I've come across came from a middle manager whose first language is not English.
He described the job of the entrepreneurial CEO as "gluing people together." That put some pretty weird images into my mind, so I asked what he meant.
He meant that the CEO (or president, or whatever) should focus on aligning people: getting them to share values, beliefs and direction. In an organization that has good managers who know their jobs, CEOs shouldn't be getting involved in management, but in making sure everyone else knew what they were suposed to be doing and that they had the motivation and the resources to get it right.
And then he said something equally interesting. In his business and others, a lot of future opportunities are going to come from outside the business's traditional markets. The job of the CEO, he said, is to make a point of getting to know other CEOs, outside of their own industry, to scout out possible collaborations and create the relationships that may lead to successful new opportunities, products and services down the road.
Good advice, I think. As our markets become more competitive and crowded, it's clear that the best opportunities will not be found in old spaces, but in the intersection points. And it's the people actively exploring those frontiers that will see them first.
Sure, we've heard stuff like this before.
But what did you spend your day doing?
Never let a cab driver open the door for you
I was feeling pretty special yesterday when a taxi driver in downtown Toronto rushed out to open the door for me as I got in the cab.
He was just so eager to help that he shut the door before I had my foot inside.
Ouch.
Still hurts, too.
(Hey, if I can't gripe in my own blog, where can I?)
He was just so eager to help that he shut the door before I had my foot inside.
Ouch.
Still hurts, too.
(Hey, if I can't gripe in my own blog, where can I?)
Monday, August 14, 2006
Do you have principles like these?
Tech Data Corp. is barely 30 years old, but the Florida-based IT products distributor is now ranked No. 107 on the Fortune 500.
On the assumption that they know something about successful growth, I went trolling their website and came across the following Guiding Principles. I doubt the company's success stems from them directly, but I admire any organization that can express its values and expectations so clearly and openly.
Wouldn't your company benefit by coming up with a similar list of what matters most to you?
Tech Data's Guiding Principles
* Hiring the right people is the most important decision we make. We hire and retain smart people who are passionate team players.
* We honor commitments and respect our team members by being on time, responding to requests in a timely fashion and delivering quality work.
* We are part of the solution – not part of the problem. We continually seek to improve our individual skills.
* We are driven to deliver results by setting priorities and achieving aggressive goals.
* We treat the dollars we spend as if they were our own.
* We recognize and reward team members for achievement.
* Relentless continuous improvement for every business process is a key to our success.
(Click here for more on Tech Data's mission and principles)
Of course, every organization has to act on its principles, and learn to execute on fine-sounding words such as these.
But surely the first step is identifying your principles, and then making sure that people inside and outside your organization know what they are.
On the assumption that they know something about successful growth, I went trolling their website and came across the following Guiding Principles. I doubt the company's success stems from them directly, but I admire any organization that can express its values and expectations so clearly and openly.
Wouldn't your company benefit by coming up with a similar list of what matters most to you?
Tech Data's Guiding Principles
* Hiring the right people is the most important decision we make. We hire and retain smart people who are passionate team players.
* We honor commitments and respect our team members by being on time, responding to requests in a timely fashion and delivering quality work.
* We are part of the solution – not part of the problem. We continually seek to improve our individual skills.
* We are driven to deliver results by setting priorities and achieving aggressive goals.
* We treat the dollars we spend as if they were our own.
* We recognize and reward team members for achievement.
* Relentless continuous improvement for every business process is a key to our success.
(Click here for more on Tech Data's mission and principles)
Of course, every organization has to act on its principles, and learn to execute on fine-sounding words such as these.
But surely the first step is identifying your principles, and then making sure that people inside and outside your organization know what they are.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Dragon's Lair
What has lots of money, high expectation, sheer contempt for evasion and prevarication, and knows 100 ways to say “No”?
That would be the panel of 5 “dragons” (self-made entrepreneurs) assembled for this week’s taping of Dragon’s Den, the new CBC reality show that depicts ordinary entrepreneurs trying to convince high-rolling angel investors to put money into their businesses.
I attended the final taping Thursday morning and it was a real hoot. The “Dragons” are funny, they're wise, and they’ve mastered the art of the one-liner. There were some good presentations today, but most of the pitchers, as usual, were sent away empty handed. (One went home in a really foul mood after being told the dragons weren’t likely to do business with him because all he did was argue with them!)
I think it will make good television.
It might even teach Canadians something useful about business. There were several apt comments from the Dragons to the effect that, “You have a perfectly good small business. But it’s not an investment.”
I think that’s a wonderful way to remind entrepreneurs that equity investors don't want to invest in small businesses; they want to invest in big businesses, only before they get big. (They’re also looking for 10x returns, which comes as a surprise to many entrepreneurs who just hope their business will make enough money to carry them through to retirement).
If this show, which airs in October, gets this one message across – that most small businesses deserve to be financed only with debt (loans), not equity – I think the CBC will be doing business (and a lot of starry-eyed entrepreneurs) a huge favour.
For more information on Dragon’s Den, see the official CBC site.
Or better still, visit Sean Wise’s daily blog from the set.
That would be the panel of 5 “dragons” (self-made entrepreneurs) assembled for this week’s taping of Dragon’s Den, the new CBC reality show that depicts ordinary entrepreneurs trying to convince high-rolling angel investors to put money into their businesses.
I attended the final taping Thursday morning and it was a real hoot. The “Dragons” are funny, they're wise, and they’ve mastered the art of the one-liner. There were some good presentations today, but most of the pitchers, as usual, were sent away empty handed. (One went home in a really foul mood after being told the dragons weren’t likely to do business with him because all he did was argue with them!)
I think it will make good television.
It might even teach Canadians something useful about business. There were several apt comments from the Dragons to the effect that, “You have a perfectly good small business. But it’s not an investment.”
I think that’s a wonderful way to remind entrepreneurs that equity investors don't want to invest in small businesses; they want to invest in big businesses, only before they get big. (They’re also looking for 10x returns, which comes as a surprise to many entrepreneurs who just hope their business will make enough money to carry them through to retirement).
If this show, which airs in October, gets this one message across – that most small businesses deserve to be financed only with debt (loans), not equity – I think the CBC will be doing business (and a lot of starry-eyed entrepreneurs) a huge favour.
For more information on Dragon’s Den, see the official CBC site.
Or better still, visit Sean Wise’s daily blog from the set.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Money, Management, Marketing--mmm mmm good
A few more worthwhile links from the Visa Small Business Conference website.
The speakers at the Small Business Big Thinking conference on June 12 were divided into four streams: Marketing, Money, Management and E-Commerce (even though it doesn't start with 'M'). For your edification, here's one of each.
(We summarized each presentation in about 200 words, so don't hesitate to click through. It'll only take a minute to read each one.)
Michel Neray of The Essential Message had breezy, useful advice about postioning statements. Read the summary here.
Margaret Butteriss, author of several books on HR issues, looked at the how-tos (and the rewards) of employee retention. Read the summary here, or click here for a copy of her slides.
Doug Robbins of Hamilton-based Robbinex offered some great advice on buying a business. Read the summary here, or check out his slides as a PDF.
And Internet expert Rick Broadhead shared the results of his research into how to boost your online sales. Click here for the summary.
Please send me an email or leave a comment here (or write to Visa) if you find these summaries useful. Some conferences circulate CDs or DVDs of speakers' presentations, but not many people ever listen to them. Visa went to the expense of hiring business journalists to produce professional summations of this entire conference. If your feedback is positive, maybe they'll do it again next time.
The speakers at the Small Business Big Thinking conference on June 12 were divided into four streams: Marketing, Money, Management and E-Commerce (even though it doesn't start with 'M'). For your edification, here's one of each.
(We summarized each presentation in about 200 words, so don't hesitate to click through. It'll only take a minute to read each one.)
Michel Neray of The Essential Message had breezy, useful advice about postioning statements. Read the summary here.
Margaret Butteriss, author of several books on HR issues, looked at the how-tos (and the rewards) of employee retention. Read the summary here, or click here for a copy of her slides.
Doug Robbins of Hamilton-based Robbinex offered some great advice on buying a business. Read the summary here, or check out his slides as a PDF.
And Internet expert Rick Broadhead shared the results of his research into how to boost your online sales. Click here for the summary.
Please send me an email or leave a comment here (or write to Visa) if you find these summaries useful. Some conferences circulate CDs or DVDs of speakers' presentations, but not many people ever listen to them. Visa went to the expense of hiring business journalists to produce professional summations of this entire conference. If your feedback is positive, maybe they'll do it again next time.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
You missed the conference, now you can read it
You may remember me blogging about the Small Business Big Thinking conference that Visa Canada sponsored on June 12. It featured inspiring speakers and useful panels and workshops on everything from sales marketing to cash flow and the Internet.
Visa has just posted a ton of content from the conference on its website at http://www.visa.ca/bigthinking/. You can watch a video of the opening keynote with superspeaker Donald Cooper (“Hands up if you've ever worn my name on a part of your body”). You can see the original PowerPoint presentations of many of the speakers or read executive summaries of every presentation.
(Full disclosure: I helped put the speaker program together, so it’s only natural that I think the information will be of tremendous value to any current or prospective business owner.)
As far as I know, this is the first time a conference like this has made short summaries of all its proceedings freely available, so be sure to bookmark the site.
Congrats to the writers: Susanne Ruder, Kara Kuryllowicz, Laura Pratt and Deena Waisberg for doing a terrific job. And to the agency, Arc Worldwide, for pulling it all together.
Self-serving links:
Here’s the summary of the cash flow panel, chaired by yours truly after a participant bowed out due to a serious toe injury.
And click here to read the summary of my presentation on "Lessons from Leaders": growth tactics for every business.
I’ll link to other summaries later on, to save you the trouble of hunting them down.
Visa has just posted a ton of content from the conference on its website at http://www.visa.ca/bigthinking/. You can watch a video of the opening keynote with superspeaker Donald Cooper (“Hands up if you've ever worn my name on a part of your body”). You can see the original PowerPoint presentations of many of the speakers or read executive summaries of every presentation.
(Full disclosure: I helped put the speaker program together, so it’s only natural that I think the information will be of tremendous value to any current or prospective business owner.)
As far as I know, this is the first time a conference like this has made short summaries of all its proceedings freely available, so be sure to bookmark the site.
Congrats to the writers: Susanne Ruder, Kara Kuryllowicz, Laura Pratt and Deena Waisberg for doing a terrific job. And to the agency, Arc Worldwide, for pulling it all together.
Self-serving links:
Here’s the summary of the cash flow panel, chaired by yours truly after a participant bowed out due to a serious toe injury.
And click here to read the summary of my presentation on "Lessons from Leaders": growth tactics for every business.
I’ll link to other summaries later on, to save you the trouble of hunting them down.
Monday, July 24, 2006
How to Tell Your Spouse
Here’s essential info for anyone thinking of becoming an entrepreneur – and a juicy read for everyone else.
Pamela Slim of the blog “Escape from Cubicle Nation” weighs in on “The Conversation” every new entrepreneur dreads: how to tell your spouse that you want to chuck your job and start your own business. How do you manage the shock, the insecurities, the fear?
“There is no way to predict or direct your spouse's reaction to your news since that is totally outside of your control,” Slim writes. “But here are some ways to ensure that the conversation, or more likely series of conversations, goes well…”
Rule 1: Don't bring up the subject in the morning just as you're about to leave for work. Make it a conversation, not a proclamation.
You can read the full story here.
My favorite part:
* "Explain why you are so excited about starting your own business. Make sure your spouse knows all about why this idea is so compelling to you and why you are excited about it. Don't just talk about the business idea, talk about what it would mean to you personally to get enjoyment from your work. Would you have more energy? Would you watch less TV? Want to help around the house more? Become a 19-year old sex machine?
* "Explain the consequences of not following your dreams. Everyone processes job stress differently. Some people have a high tolerance for staying in an unhappy or stressful work situation if it means bringing home lots of money. Others have very low tolerance and develop health problems including depression, high blood pressure, weight problems, anxiety disorders and low energy. Make sure your spouse understands the consequences to you if you are unhappy with your work."
I believe that family support is essential to an entrepreneur's success. Never take it for granted.
Pamela Slim of the blog “Escape from Cubicle Nation” weighs in on “The Conversation” every new entrepreneur dreads: how to tell your spouse that you want to chuck your job and start your own business. How do you manage the shock, the insecurities, the fear?
“There is no way to predict or direct your spouse's reaction to your news since that is totally outside of your control,” Slim writes. “But here are some ways to ensure that the conversation, or more likely series of conversations, goes well…”
Rule 1: Don't bring up the subject in the morning just as you're about to leave for work. Make it a conversation, not a proclamation.
You can read the full story here.
My favorite part:
* "Explain why you are so excited about starting your own business. Make sure your spouse knows all about why this idea is so compelling to you and why you are excited about it. Don't just talk about the business idea, talk about what it would mean to you personally to get enjoyment from your work. Would you have more energy? Would you watch less TV? Want to help around the house more? Become a 19-year old sex machine?
* "Explain the consequences of not following your dreams. Everyone processes job stress differently. Some people have a high tolerance for staying in an unhappy or stressful work situation if it means bringing home lots of money. Others have very low tolerance and develop health problems including depression, high blood pressure, weight problems, anxiety disorders and low energy. Make sure your spouse understands the consequences to you if you are unhappy with your work."
I believe that family support is essential to an entrepreneur's success. Never take it for granted.
Match your pitch to your audience
The other day I met one of the "pitchers" who has been selected to appear on the new CBC show Dragon's Den (click here for my previous post). He will have just 5 minutes or so to explain his business idea (on camera) and try to convince the panel of 5 "dragons" (flinty-eyed entrepreneurs who've seen it all) that they should invest in it.
The pitching gets underway in a week or so; the show launches Oct. 4 (lots of time for editing out the boring bits).
The pitcher was taking all this very seriously. His first point, he said, would be to tell the Dragons that 5 minutes was nowhere near enough time to discuss a business idea with the complexity and potential of his concept. So he would really only be able to give a slice of it, and he would hope to talk to them about it afterwards...
I had to stop him in my tracks. "Are you treating this as a standard investment opportunity?" I asked. "Or are you treating this as television?"
He seemed unsure of the difference. "If you play to the panel as if this were a normal venture discussion, you'll be so boring you'll be cut out of the show," I said. "If you treat this as TV entertainment, with its main goal of maximizing ratings, then you take their 5 minutes and make it the most entertaining 5 minutes you can."
(He seemed stunned that the CBC would be in this for the ratings, but I had to explain that if the ratings are low, the show will sink after 5 episodes and ever be seen again.)
My suggestion was that he go for the simplest, most comprehensible, most viewer-friendly pitch he could muster. That way, even if he fails to interest any of the Dragons in investing, he will have the chance to use that pitch over and over again by showing the tape to future potential investors.
Promising to overhaul his whole pitch, the pitcher thanked me for the advice.
"Elementary McLuhan," I thought to myself.
Every one in a while, my degree in Communication Studies still comes in handy.
For more on these Dragons see http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/
The pitching gets underway in a week or so; the show launches Oct. 4 (lots of time for editing out the boring bits).
The pitcher was taking all this very seriously. His first point, he said, would be to tell the Dragons that 5 minutes was nowhere near enough time to discuss a business idea with the complexity and potential of his concept. So he would really only be able to give a slice of it, and he would hope to talk to them about it afterwards...
I had to stop him in my tracks. "Are you treating this as a standard investment opportunity?" I asked. "Or are you treating this as television?"
He seemed unsure of the difference. "If you play to the panel as if this were a normal venture discussion, you'll be so boring you'll be cut out of the show," I said. "If you treat this as TV entertainment, with its main goal of maximizing ratings, then you take their 5 minutes and make it the most entertaining 5 minutes you can."
(He seemed stunned that the CBC would be in this for the ratings, but I had to explain that if the ratings are low, the show will sink after 5 episodes and ever be seen again.)
My suggestion was that he go for the simplest, most comprehensible, most viewer-friendly pitch he could muster. That way, even if he fails to interest any of the Dragons in investing, he will have the chance to use that pitch over and over again by showing the tape to future potential investors.
Promising to overhaul his whole pitch, the pitcher thanked me for the advice.
"Elementary McLuhan," I thought to myself.
Every one in a while, my degree in Communication Studies still comes in handy.
For more on these Dragons see http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/
Friday, July 21, 2006
Catching up with the PROFIT 100
When I wrote about the PROFIT 100 list of Canada's Fastest-Growing Companies last month, PROFIT Magazine hadn't yet uploaded all of the stories in that issue to its website. (Something about them wanting you to buy the magazine, I guess.)
Anyway, they stories are up there now. So for those who forgot to rush to the newsstand, here are some useful links that will connect you to the whizbang world of fast-growth business:
Click here for the PROFIT 100 list
Click here for the profile of the No. 1 company, Rutter Inc. (written by a close personal friend of yours)
You can also link from this story to profiles of the rest of the Top 10 companies.
Click here for a great story by Cam Cornell on the Best Management Tactics of the PROFIT 100 companies
And click here for a frightening story about the Worst Moments Ever faced by three PROFIT 100 companies (written by moi)
Here's a little preview of the Rutter profile for those too busy to click through:
RAMMING SPEED
By Rick Spence
When sailing ships held sway over the world, a navigator's most treasured possession was his rutter, a diary containing detailed accounts of each voyage. Every page was gold, preserving the information needed to retrace past trips and beat the competition to the most lucrative ports.
The dog-eared rutter has long since been replaced by commercial charts and electronic equipment. But until recently, no single electronic device had emerged to record all the key data about a ship's voyage—such as its position, speed and course—in one place.
Enter Rutter Inc., a St. John's, Nfld.-based company that perfected the voyage data recorder (VDR), similar to the black boxes that record flight data on commercial aircraft. What makes the VDR golden is its nearly captive market. In December 2004, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which governs ocean-going shipping, announced that VDRs would now be mandatory on all international cargo vessels over 3,000 tons.
Although this isn't Rutter's only offering, it's the company's flagship product, a canny combination of homegrown hardware and software. And while its big payback may still lie ahead, the VDR has already put Rutter on the map as the first Atlantic-Canadian firm in the 18-year history of the PROFIT 100 to earn the top spot among Canada's Fastest-Growing Companies....
If you're bursting to read the rest, click here.
Anyway, they stories are up there now. So for those who forgot to rush to the newsstand, here are some useful links that will connect you to the whizbang world of fast-growth business:
Click here for the PROFIT 100 list
Click here for the profile of the No. 1 company, Rutter Inc. (written by a close personal friend of yours)
You can also link from this story to profiles of the rest of the Top 10 companies.
Click here for a great story by Cam Cornell on the Best Management Tactics of the PROFIT 100 companies
And click here for a frightening story about the Worst Moments Ever faced by three PROFIT 100 companies (written by moi)
Here's a little preview of the Rutter profile for those too busy to click through:
RAMMING SPEED
By Rick Spence
When sailing ships held sway over the world, a navigator's most treasured possession was his rutter, a diary containing detailed accounts of each voyage. Every page was gold, preserving the information needed to retrace past trips and beat the competition to the most lucrative ports.
The dog-eared rutter has long since been replaced by commercial charts and electronic equipment. But until recently, no single electronic device had emerged to record all the key data about a ship's voyage—such as its position, speed and course—in one place.
Enter Rutter Inc., a St. John's, Nfld.-based company that perfected the voyage data recorder (VDR), similar to the black boxes that record flight data on commercial aircraft. What makes the VDR golden is its nearly captive market. In December 2004, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which governs ocean-going shipping, announced that VDRs would now be mandatory on all international cargo vessels over 3,000 tons.
Although this isn't Rutter's only offering, it's the company's flagship product, a canny combination of homegrown hardware and software. And while its big payback may still lie ahead, the VDR has already put Rutter on the map as the first Atlantic-Canadian firm in the 18-year history of the PROFIT 100 to earn the top spot among Canada's Fastest-Growing Companies....
If you're bursting to read the rest, click here.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Your startup story
I'm working on a major project related to startups and business planning.
The theory is all pretty much the same; what makes the startup process interesting are the lessons different entrepreneurs learn along the way.
For instance, one piece of advice I've heard from more than a few enterpreneurs is: "Love what you do - because you're going to be doing a lot of it."
If you have any startup-related stories or anecdotes or lessons learned you'd like to share with aspiring business owners (or the other readers of this blog), please e-mail rick(at)rickspence.ca, or leave a comment at the end of his message.
Confidentiality and anonymity will be strictly preserved, so fire away!
The theory is all pretty much the same; what makes the startup process interesting are the lessons different entrepreneurs learn along the way.
For instance, one piece of advice I've heard from more than a few enterpreneurs is: "Love what you do - because you're going to be doing a lot of it."
If you have any startup-related stories or anecdotes or lessons learned you'd like to share with aspiring business owners (or the other readers of this blog), please e-mail rick(at)rickspence.ca, or leave a comment at the end of his message.
Confidentiality and anonymity will be strictly preserved, so fire away!
Thursday, July 13, 2006
CSR Canada
In recent years I have been delighted (and surprised) to see growing support among Canadian entrepreneurs for the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Business owners are eager to “give back” to the community that nourished their businesses, and they are proud of the initiatives they have taken -- whether it’s recycling programs, outreach hiring or charitable giving – that make the world a slightly better place.
I think Canada’s entrepreneurs are ahead of big business on this one. My impression is they are giving back out of a sincere sense of gratitude and duty, not for sake of appearances, or because it’s a CEO’s pet project.
While CSR awareness is growing, it’s still a pretty amorphous concept. But now there’s a how-to guide from the federal government that tries to distill what we know about CSR, including benefits and best practices.
“Corporate Social Responsibility: An Implementation Guide for Canadian Business” is available free on the Web by clicking here. It has a useful background on what CSR is, lots of implantation steps and tips, and tactical information geared to small biz.
(FYI, here’s how the guide defines CSR: “Generally, CSR is understood to be the way firms integrate social, environmental and economic concerns into their values, culture, decision making, strategy and operations in a transparent and accountable manner and thereby establish better practices within the firm, create wealth and improve society.”)
(OK. That’s the most boring part of the post. It gets better now.)
The guide even suggests there are 10 financial benefits to adopting CSR:
* Better anticipation and management of an ever-expanding
spectrum of risk
* Improved reputation management
* Enhanced ability to recruit, develop and retain staff
* Improved competitiveness and market positioning
* Enhanced operational efficiencies and cost savings
* Improved ability to attract and build effective and efficient supply
chain relationships
* Enhanced ability to address change
* More robust “social licence” to operate in the community
* Access to capital (Financial institutions are increasingly incorporating
social and environmental criteria into their assessment of projects.)
* Improved relations with regulators
But in the end, as the guide admits, non-financial criteria must be the key drivers of a CSR program.
“It is important to acknowledge that while positive or neutral correlations between social and environmental responsibility and superior financial performance have generally been supported by the evidence, conclusive causal links have not. Many studies are being undertaken, with varying conclusions. Suffice it to say that research is continuing on this issue.”
Click here for the full report
More on CSR:
Ethics in Action Awards: (a great Vancouver organization that I hope will return to Toronto sometime; I think we’re ready now)
Canadian Business for Social Responsibility
Their motto: Better business, better world
Questions for CSR Practitioners
or those considering starting out.
I think Canada’s entrepreneurs are ahead of big business on this one. My impression is they are giving back out of a sincere sense of gratitude and duty, not for sake of appearances, or because it’s a CEO’s pet project.
While CSR awareness is growing, it’s still a pretty amorphous concept. But now there’s a how-to guide from the federal government that tries to distill what we know about CSR, including benefits and best practices.
“Corporate Social Responsibility: An Implementation Guide for Canadian Business” is available free on the Web by clicking here. It has a useful background on what CSR is, lots of implantation steps and tips, and tactical information geared to small biz.
(FYI, here’s how the guide defines CSR: “Generally, CSR is understood to be the way firms integrate social, environmental and economic concerns into their values, culture, decision making, strategy and operations in a transparent and accountable manner and thereby establish better practices within the firm, create wealth and improve society.”)
(OK. That’s the most boring part of the post. It gets better now.)
The guide even suggests there are 10 financial benefits to adopting CSR:
* Better anticipation and management of an ever-expanding
spectrum of risk
* Improved reputation management
* Enhanced ability to recruit, develop and retain staff
* Improved competitiveness and market positioning
* Enhanced operational efficiencies and cost savings
* Improved ability to attract and build effective and efficient supply
chain relationships
* Enhanced ability to address change
* More robust “social licence” to operate in the community
* Access to capital (Financial institutions are increasingly incorporating
social and environmental criteria into their assessment of projects.)
* Improved relations with regulators
But in the end, as the guide admits, non-financial criteria must be the key drivers of a CSR program.
“It is important to acknowledge that while positive or neutral correlations between social and environmental responsibility and superior financial performance have generally been supported by the evidence, conclusive causal links have not. Many studies are being undertaken, with varying conclusions. Suffice it to say that research is continuing on this issue.”
Click here for the full report
More on CSR:
Ethics in Action Awards: (a great Vancouver organization that I hope will return to Toronto sometime; I think we’re ready now)
Canadian Business for Social Responsibility
Their motto: Better business, better world
Questions for CSR Practitioners
or those considering starting out.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Getting it done on the Golf Course
Have clear, written objectives.
Respect the rules.
Have a product positioning statement.
Is this a formula for success in some sort of business competition?
Absolutely.
These are just some of the rules offered by Michael Hughes, the Ottawa-based networking guru, for doing business on the golf course this summer.
Hughes’ article reminds us that while the golf course is no place to do deals, it is a serious forum for building business relationships – and that you should prepare for a golf game with an important supplier, client or prospect just as rigorously as you would prepare for any significant business meeting.
To read Michael’s article, click here.
My favourite nugget of his wisdom is point 4:
About business. Don’t discuss business before the 5th hole or after the 15th . This gives everyone a chance to relax and get into the game before discussing business, and to end with the focus on the game. A good finish can help the 19th hole confirm some business.
But I also like point 8:
Play the best golf you’re capable of. Some people believe in playing “customer golf”, allowing the customer to win by missing some obvious shots. This is insulting and can have disastrous consequences. Use the handicap system to even the competition.
Game on.
Respect the rules.
Have a product positioning statement.
Is this a formula for success in some sort of business competition?
Absolutely.
These are just some of the rules offered by Michael Hughes, the Ottawa-based networking guru, for doing business on the golf course this summer.
Hughes’ article reminds us that while the golf course is no place to do deals, it is a serious forum for building business relationships – and that you should prepare for a golf game with an important supplier, client or prospect just as rigorously as you would prepare for any significant business meeting.
To read Michael’s article, click here.
My favourite nugget of his wisdom is point 4:
About business. Don’t discuss business before the 5th hole or after the 15th . This gives everyone a chance to relax and get into the game before discussing business, and to end with the focus on the game. A good finish can help the 19th hole confirm some business.
But I also like point 8:
Play the best golf you’re capable of. Some people believe in playing “customer golf”, allowing the customer to win by missing some obvious shots. This is insulting and can have disastrous consequences. Use the handicap system to even the competition.
Game on.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Happy Canada Day (la fete nationale!)
And for those who like their Canadian symbols, here's the Confederation Bridge, the first "fixed link" to PEI. We're still nation-building: I love it.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Wanted: Dragon Food
I posted earlier about the new CBC program, Dragon's Den, which is picking up a lot of buzz as it wings its way toward its August taping and its October debut.
The show features real business owners and financiers deciding whether or not to really invest in real entrepreneurial ventures - which I guess is why they call this reality TV.
The CBC, with what seems like a pretty health budget, is crossing the country looking for fodder -- er, victims, er, innovators -- to pitch their ideas to the 5-member Dragon panel.
The lineup:
Victoria, Calgary, Ottawa, Halifax: July 6th
St John's, Nfld., Montreal, Edmonton: July 7
Vancouver: July 7 and 8
Winnipeg: July 10
For more info on time and place, see http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/
Oh, they did Kingston and Waterloo today.
A big shoutout to the Kingston Economic Development Commission, which stole, I mean borrowed, liberally from my blog in their email anouncing the auditions. Quoting and Linking are fine, guys. Plagiarism is not.
(Thanks to Lukas and Optimus Crime for the heads-up.)
The show features real business owners and financiers deciding whether or not to really invest in real entrepreneurial ventures - which I guess is why they call this reality TV.
The CBC, with what seems like a pretty health budget, is crossing the country looking for fodder -- er, victims, er, innovators -- to pitch their ideas to the 5-member Dragon panel.
The lineup:
Victoria, Calgary, Ottawa, Halifax: July 6th
St John's, Nfld., Montreal, Edmonton: July 7
Vancouver: July 7 and 8
Winnipeg: July 10
For more info on time and place, see http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/
Oh, they did Kingston and Waterloo today.
A big shoutout to the Kingston Economic Development Commission, which stole, I mean borrowed, liberally from my blog in their email anouncing the auditions. Quoting and Linking are fine, guys. Plagiarism is not.
(Thanks to Lukas and Optimus Crime for the heads-up.)
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
In praise of podcasting
A few readers have responded to my call for comments re podcasting. So far, it has attracted more fervent audio-blogging believers than passive non-pod people, which I suppose is normal for non-professional polls such as this.
But there's an intriguing article today on the StartupNation blog called "Podcast – you can do it!"
It starts out explaining why no one should bother getting into podcasting. "The audience is too small & fragmented. Not everyone listens to audio stuff delivered over the internet. You really don’t have anything to say, anyway. As a matter of fact, the competition from bigger companies with bigger budgets is just too tough. Heck, you might as well just throw in the towel completely and go find a job at a big company."
Then, the tone changes. "Now that we’ve gotten rid of the tire-kickers, let’s have a real visionary-like conversation.Small business is always looking for the differentiator that can set it apart from larger competitors. We’re more nimble. We can let our personality shine through easier than bigger companies can. We can make decisions faster and implement new strategies tomorrow.
"All of that fits in pretty well with podcasting. Especially if your business has 1-to-1 contact with your customers. You’ll wind up speaking with them at some point anyway, so why not grease the skids with your voice in advance, or retain them as customers with a valuable reminder of your expertise?"
The author goes on to say why he thinks podcasting is so powerful. "When I listen to podcasts something extremely intimate happens. Especially when I listen using my ipod & headphones. There is a very personal connection that happens when the audio is flowing directly into my ears from the ear buds and no-one else is listening but me. I’m hooked. I am a customer just waiting to happen.
"Tell me about a product or service that you’ve used and enjoyed - I’m there. Educate me on what it is that you are an expert on – you’re the one I’m calling when I’m in the market for whatever you’ve got."
If it's true, that's power.
My experience with podcasting is still too scant to comment on this phenomenon. Anyone out there want to opine on the power of pods?
But there's an intriguing article today on the StartupNation blog called "Podcast – you can do it!"
It starts out explaining why no one should bother getting into podcasting. "The audience is too small & fragmented. Not everyone listens to audio stuff delivered over the internet. You really don’t have anything to say, anyway. As a matter of fact, the competition from bigger companies with bigger budgets is just too tough. Heck, you might as well just throw in the towel completely and go find a job at a big company."
Then, the tone changes. "Now that we’ve gotten rid of the tire-kickers, let’s have a real visionary-like conversation.Small business is always looking for the differentiator that can set it apart from larger competitors. We’re more nimble. We can let our personality shine through easier than bigger companies can. We can make decisions faster and implement new strategies tomorrow.
"All of that fits in pretty well with podcasting. Especially if your business has 1-to-1 contact with your customers. You’ll wind up speaking with them at some point anyway, so why not grease the skids with your voice in advance, or retain them as customers with a valuable reminder of your expertise?"
The author goes on to say why he thinks podcasting is so powerful. "When I listen to podcasts something extremely intimate happens. Especially when I listen using my ipod & headphones. There is a very personal connection that happens when the audio is flowing directly into my ears from the ear buds and no-one else is listening but me. I’m hooked. I am a customer just waiting to happen.
"Tell me about a product or service that you’ve used and enjoyed - I’m there. Educate me on what it is that you are an expert on – you’re the one I’m calling when I’m in the market for whatever you’ve got."
If it's true, that's power.
My experience with podcasting is still too scant to comment on this phenomenon. Anyone out there want to opine on the power of pods?
Touched by an Editorial
I was touched and honoured at a recent speaking engagement when an attendee asked me to autograph a copy of an editorial I wrote nearly five years ago for PROFIT Magazine.
Usually, the stuff we did in the past stays in the past, and we never hear how it affected others. But my new friend told me how inspiring he had found the article, both as an entrepreneur and a concerned member of his community. He thanked me for writing – and now signing – the article. And I thanked him for the compliment and the feedback, which were inspiring in their own right.
If you're interested, here’s a copy of that editorial, from the November 2001 issue of PROFIT. It says a lot about the role I think entrepreneurs can play in the world. Most of it really was written in my car on the back of a piece of paper at the side of a road a mile south of Hockley Valley.
Letter from the Editor
The GrowthCamp valedictory that never was
A roadside appeal for entrepreneurs to get involved
By Rick Spence
I am writing this note in my car parked on the side of the Mono Third Line, which traverses Ontario's rolling hill country just east of Orangeville.
I've just left GrowthCamp, our second annual conference for Canada's Hottest Startups (a list published last issue). My senses are overwhelmed by the memories and energies unleashed by three days of close contact with the country's most exciting entrepreneurs. The comradeship, the networking and the laughter still echo in my mind. I closed down GrowthCamp with a reading of the camp poem and a call to return next year.
Driving home an hour later, I realize I left too much unsaid. So here it is — the GrowthCamp valedictory that never was:
'You are among Canada's finest entrepreneurs,' I should have said. 'You worked very hard to be here. And you've worked hard here, too, making contacts, listening to keynotes and sharing ideas in our workshops. You've met entrepreneurs from across the country, and I have watched you gain strength and confidence just from being around them.
'But now you have to take this further. Your talents, which have created success in business, are needed in a wider arena.
'Now is the time to begin using your skills to benefit your community. Take this energy, and all your many gifts — for sizing up a situation, seeing an opportunity, planning, leading and analyzing — and focus your efforts on organizations and issues outside of your business.
'We have so many needs in society. We have skills gaps and digital divides. We have too many homeless and not enough homes. We have schools that are out of touch with their market and unable to engage their students. We have big governments that overtax us and municipalities struggling to collect garbage.
'What can entrepreneurs give the world? Contagious enthusiasm and a bias for action. There are too many committees where lawyers debate process and nothing gets done. I've seen what impact one courageous board member can have on a group. By raising questions no one has asked before, suggesting new ways of thinking and proposing creative solutions, you can make an impact on any interest group.
'It won't be easy. Entrepreneurs are used to giving direction. And they like things done right away. Getting involved will require levels of patience and diplomacy you never knew you had. Don't give up, because you have unique gifts to share.
'Don't give up, because the world needs you.'
That's what I should have said.
It was Monday, September 10, 2001.
Usually, the stuff we did in the past stays in the past, and we never hear how it affected others. But my new friend told me how inspiring he had found the article, both as an entrepreneur and a concerned member of his community. He thanked me for writing – and now signing – the article. And I thanked him for the compliment and the feedback, which were inspiring in their own right.
If you're interested, here’s a copy of that editorial, from the November 2001 issue of PROFIT. It says a lot about the role I think entrepreneurs can play in the world. Most of it really was written in my car on the back of a piece of paper at the side of a road a mile south of Hockley Valley.
Letter from the Editor
The GrowthCamp valedictory that never was
A roadside appeal for entrepreneurs to get involved
By Rick Spence
I am writing this note in my car parked on the side of the Mono Third Line, which traverses Ontario's rolling hill country just east of Orangeville.
I've just left GrowthCamp, our second annual conference for Canada's Hottest Startups (a list published last issue). My senses are overwhelmed by the memories and energies unleashed by three days of close contact with the country's most exciting entrepreneurs. The comradeship, the networking and the laughter still echo in my mind. I closed down GrowthCamp with a reading of the camp poem and a call to return next year.
Driving home an hour later, I realize I left too much unsaid. So here it is — the GrowthCamp valedictory that never was:
'You are among Canada's finest entrepreneurs,' I should have said. 'You worked very hard to be here. And you've worked hard here, too, making contacts, listening to keynotes and sharing ideas in our workshops. You've met entrepreneurs from across the country, and I have watched you gain strength and confidence just from being around them.
'But now you have to take this further. Your talents, which have created success in business, are needed in a wider arena.
'Now is the time to begin using your skills to benefit your community. Take this energy, and all your many gifts — for sizing up a situation, seeing an opportunity, planning, leading and analyzing — and focus your efforts on organizations and issues outside of your business.
'We have so many needs in society. We have skills gaps and digital divides. We have too many homeless and not enough homes. We have schools that are out of touch with their market and unable to engage their students. We have big governments that overtax us and municipalities struggling to collect garbage.
'What can entrepreneurs give the world? Contagious enthusiasm and a bias for action. There are too many committees where lawyers debate process and nothing gets done. I've seen what impact one courageous board member can have on a group. By raising questions no one has asked before, suggesting new ways of thinking and proposing creative solutions, you can make an impact on any interest group.
'It won't be easy. Entrepreneurs are used to giving direction. And they like things done right away. Getting involved will require levels of patience and diplomacy you never knew you had. Don't give up, because you have unique gifts to share.
'Don't give up, because the world needs you.'
That's what I should have said.
It was Monday, September 10, 2001.
Fighting Back from a Heart Attack
David Crow is a trouble-maker. Well, that's how he defines himself on his website.
He's actually more of an instigator, a fast-talking, easy-going catalyst who is helping bring focus and community to Toronto's flegling Web 2.0 community.
And last month he suffered a heart attack.
It was totally unexpeted and scary, he wrote in his blog on June 5. "I’m only 32, I don’t use cocaine, I don’t have a strong family history of heart disease, I don’t smoke, I don’t use intravenous drugs, I eat pretty well, and I try to exercise."
It can happen to anyone. Please read his post to see what his warning signs were, and what happened next. It's riveting reading.
You'll even see an innovative use of YouTube video.
David is now mainly resting, with another month or so of recovery time expected. I wish him all the best for a speedy return to healthy instigating.
One of the first features I ever commissioned at PROFIT Magazine was a story about entrepreneurs and heart disease. The typical entrepreneurial lifestyle - long hours, constant pressure, endless rushing around, poor eating and sleeping habits, the never-ending stress of meeting payroll and finding the next customer - is the perfect breeding ground for a heart attack.
Slow down. Manage your stress. Eat better. Stay well.
He's actually more of an instigator, a fast-talking, easy-going catalyst who is helping bring focus and community to Toronto's flegling Web 2.0 community.
And last month he suffered a heart attack.
It was totally unexpeted and scary, he wrote in his blog on June 5. "I’m only 32, I don’t use cocaine, I don’t have a strong family history of heart disease, I don’t smoke, I don’t use intravenous drugs, I eat pretty well, and I try to exercise."
It can happen to anyone. Please read his post to see what his warning signs were, and what happened next. It's riveting reading.
You'll even see an innovative use of YouTube video.
David is now mainly resting, with another month or so of recovery time expected. I wish him all the best for a speedy return to healthy instigating.
One of the first features I ever commissioned at PROFIT Magazine was a story about entrepreneurs and heart disease. The typical entrepreneurial lifestyle - long hours, constant pressure, endless rushing around, poor eating and sleeping habits, the never-ending stress of meeting payroll and finding the next customer - is the perfect breeding ground for a heart attack.
Slow down. Manage your stress. Eat better. Stay well.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Podcastaway
A friend has approached me about doing some podcasting together - a regular weekly "radio show" for the Net.
I would love to get a better idea of who listens to podcasts, and why. A number of people have told me that business-related podcasting is becoming a Big Thing. While it's not attracting Big Numbers (and let's face it, neither do most blogs), I am told podcasting is becoming an important medium for promotion, networking, community building - and business development.
So tell me - Do you listen to podcasts? Where, and when? Do you listen live, or download to an iPod? Do you have favorites you listen to regularly? Why do you listen to them? What have you gotten out of them? Do you prefer audio blogging to the text versions (like this blog, for instance)?
When I was speaking to a group of young entrepreneurs a few months ago, I asked how many of them listened to podcasts. Very few hands went up. But hey, if it's the right hands, maybe that's enough.
Please leave a comment or send me an e-mail (rick(at) rickspence.ca). Even if you have never heard a podcast, or have no intention of listening, or have never heard of this podcasting thing before, I would love to hear from you. Thank you for your feedback.
I would love to get a better idea of who listens to podcasts, and why. A number of people have told me that business-related podcasting is becoming a Big Thing. While it's not attracting Big Numbers (and let's face it, neither do most blogs), I am told podcasting is becoming an important medium for promotion, networking, community building - and business development.
So tell me - Do you listen to podcasts? Where, and when? Do you listen live, or download to an iPod? Do you have favorites you listen to regularly? Why do you listen to them? What have you gotten out of them? Do you prefer audio blogging to the text versions (like this blog, for instance)?
When I was speaking to a group of young entrepreneurs a few months ago, I asked how many of them listened to podcasts. Very few hands went up. But hey, if it's the right hands, maybe that's enough.
Please leave a comment or send me an e-mail (rick(at) rickspence.ca). Even if you have never heard a podcast, or have no intention of listening, or have never heard of this podcasting thing before, I would love to hear from you. Thank you for your feedback.
When employees become competitors
I've blogged before about PROFIT Magazine's great online resource, Peer to Peer, where real entrepreneurs answer business questions posed by other real entrepreneurs. Who knows better what you're going through, right?
This week's question, from an anonymous entrepreneur, is pretty compelling.
"I am a new entrepreneur running a small but growing business in custom window fashions and home furnishings. I spent thousands of hours and dollars acquiring market information and locating suppliers before plunging into this business. I hired one salesperson who had no prior experience in the industry, and I extensively trained him. But after learning everything there is to know about my business, the fellow stole data from me, poached one of my employees and started his own identical business, which directly competes with mine.
"Could I have avoided this situation? How do business owners stop employees from stealing their ideas and starting their own companies? And should I take this person to court?"
The best answers are here.
For the whole gamut of previous Peer to Peer questions, click here.
Maybe you've heard the old Chinese proverb: "To know the road ahead, ask those coming back."
This week's question, from an anonymous entrepreneur, is pretty compelling.
"I am a new entrepreneur running a small but growing business in custom window fashions and home furnishings. I spent thousands of hours and dollars acquiring market information and locating suppliers before plunging into this business. I hired one salesperson who had no prior experience in the industry, and I extensively trained him. But after learning everything there is to know about my business, the fellow stole data from me, poached one of my employees and started his own identical business, which directly competes with mine.
"Could I have avoided this situation? How do business owners stop employees from stealing their ideas and starting their own companies? And should I take this person to court?"
The best answers are here.
For the whole gamut of previous Peer to Peer questions, click here.
Maybe you've heard the old Chinese proverb: "To know the road ahead, ask those coming back."
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Dragons spotted in downtown Toronto
I had lunch yesterday with a group of TV producers from the CBC talking about their new program, a five-part reality show scheduled for this fall: Dragon’s Den.
It’s an entrepreneurial version of American Idol, and it looks fabulous.
It’s a TV version of a venture fair: entrepreneurs and inventors pitching for capital in front of a panel of investors. Only the investors are accomplished Canadian entrepreneurs: articulate, experienced, hopeful, but notoriously skeptical.
The “pitchers” are real Canadian innovators, looking for $50,000, $100,000 or more to fund development or expansion of their products or businesses. At a rehearsal I saw a few weeks ago, the products ranged from an incomprehensible computer service to high-end fashion to a Web 2.0 twist on the age-old jukebox.
The trick, by the way, is that these judges, the dragons, are committed to what they're doing. They have to put up their own money to be on the show, and if they deem a deal worth doing, they invest their own money.
Now, TV being TV, there will be lots of sensationalizing and trivializing of the process. The format requires the “dragons” to be demanding and impatient and superior (think acerbic American Idol judge Simon Cowell – times five!). Aspiring entrepreneurs being entrepreneurs, there will lots of inarticulate, half-baked presentations that will get shot down in hoots of laughter and scorn.
At the root of this, though, Dragon’s Den could do much to promote and showcase the entrepreneurial evolution of Canada. Through the national TV exposure of the dragons themselves – entrepreneurs as rock stars! – and through the motivation and inspiration potential innovators could receive by seeing the breadth and variety of entrepreneurial projects being carried out across this country.
And if it teaches potential pitchers how to present more effectively, Dragon’s Den will be performing a national public service.
The show’s producers are now busy interviewing and auditioning potential presenters for the show, which tapes in August. If you're interested, there's an open audition in Toronto this Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm. There’ll be another audition soon in Montreal, and perhaps others.
For more details, visit http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/
It’s an entrepreneurial version of American Idol, and it looks fabulous.
It’s a TV version of a venture fair: entrepreneurs and inventors pitching for capital in front of a panel of investors. Only the investors are accomplished Canadian entrepreneurs: articulate, experienced, hopeful, but notoriously skeptical.
The “pitchers” are real Canadian innovators, looking for $50,000, $100,000 or more to fund development or expansion of their products or businesses. At a rehearsal I saw a few weeks ago, the products ranged from an incomprehensible computer service to high-end fashion to a Web 2.0 twist on the age-old jukebox.
The trick, by the way, is that these judges, the dragons, are committed to what they're doing. They have to put up their own money to be on the show, and if they deem a deal worth doing, they invest their own money.
Now, TV being TV, there will be lots of sensationalizing and trivializing of the process. The format requires the “dragons” to be demanding and impatient and superior (think acerbic American Idol judge Simon Cowell – times five!). Aspiring entrepreneurs being entrepreneurs, there will lots of inarticulate, half-baked presentations that will get shot down in hoots of laughter and scorn.
At the root of this, though, Dragon’s Den could do much to promote and showcase the entrepreneurial evolution of Canada. Through the national TV exposure of the dragons themselves – entrepreneurs as rock stars! – and through the motivation and inspiration potential innovators could receive by seeing the breadth and variety of entrepreneurial projects being carried out across this country.
And if it teaches potential pitchers how to present more effectively, Dragon’s Den will be performing a national public service.
The show’s producers are now busy interviewing and auditioning potential presenters for the show, which tapes in August. If you're interested, there's an open audition in Toronto this Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm. There’ll be another audition soon in Montreal, and perhaps others.
For more details, visit http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Fire sale at EDC
Export Development Canada is a rare bird - a Crown corporation that makes money, a government-owned body that actually helps business.
And now it's acting more like a real business than ever - it's holding a half-price sale.
From now till June 28, you can access EDC's online EXPORT Check at 50% off.
EXPORT Check is an easy way to obtain valuable financial information on potential U.S. or foreign customers. It's a key step before signing any export deal. Prices now start at just $30 until June 28.
EDC, whose mandate includes encouraging more Canadian businesses to export, calls EXPORT Check "a consistent way for everyone involved in sales to decide which potential leads to pursue first," and "fast and easy 24/7 access to valuable information."
Use EXPORT Check from anywhere to evaluate potential customers. For more info visit http://edclist.edc.ca/t/105486/192572/1776/0/ .
(You can also see a sample "credit profile" to preview what your money buys you.)
For more info on exporting, check out http://www.export.ca/
And now it's acting more like a real business than ever - it's holding a half-price sale.
From now till June 28, you can access EDC's online EXPORT Check at 50% off.
EXPORT Check is an easy way to obtain valuable financial information on potential U.S. or foreign customers. It's a key step before signing any export deal. Prices now start at just $30 until June 28.
EDC, whose mandate includes encouraging more Canadian businesses to export, calls EXPORT Check "a consistent way for everyone involved in sales to decide which potential leads to pursue first," and "fast and easy 24/7 access to valuable information."
Use EXPORT Check from anywhere to evaluate potential customers. For more info visit http://edclist.edc.ca/t/105486/192572/1776/0/ .
(You can also see a sample "credit profile" to preview what your money buys you.)
For more info on exporting, check out http://www.export.ca/
Monday, June 19, 2006
Alternatives to Selling your Business
One of the more popular speakers at last week’s Small Business/Big Thinking conference, sponsored by Visa Canada, was Doug Robbins, a business broker from Hamilton. The buying of small businesses is about to become a big business, as more and more businesses come up for sale with their baby-boomer owners look to cash out while they're still young enough to rollerblade across Russia (or so they think).
I didn’t get to see Doug’s presentation, but I hope to link to a summary soon. Meantime, here’s a post from Robbinex’s website on “11 alternatives to selling your business.”
According to Robbinex, there are several reasons for a business owner to consider selling their business:
* Illness, Retirement, Lack of Capital, Burnout, Boredom;
* Partnership Dispute;
* Family Concerns;
* Too much equity tied up in the business;
* Business is not successful; or,
* Business has become too risky.
Based on Robbinex’s experience, “for each of these reasons, there are alternatives to actually selling the business. If you are thinking of selling your business, these are the 11 alternative options you should consider:
1) Recapitalization
2) Strategic Alliance
3) Amalgamation or Merger
4) Intergenerational Transfer
5) Management Buyout
6) Refinancing
7) Hire Competent Management*
8) Liquidate
9) Value Enhance to increase sales and / or reduce operating costs
10) Joint Venture
11) Create an advisory board to identify and manage problems.”
For more info on these and other strategies, click here.
(*I especially like the tactic of "hiring competent managment." It strikes me as something more companies should do.)
I didn’t get to see Doug’s presentation, but I hope to link to a summary soon. Meantime, here’s a post from Robbinex’s website on “11 alternatives to selling your business.”
According to Robbinex, there are several reasons for a business owner to consider selling their business:
* Illness, Retirement, Lack of Capital, Burnout, Boredom;
* Partnership Dispute;
* Family Concerns;
* Too much equity tied up in the business;
* Business is not successful; or,
* Business has become too risky.
Based on Robbinex’s experience, “for each of these reasons, there are alternatives to actually selling the business. If you are thinking of selling your business, these are the 11 alternative options you should consider:
1) Recapitalization
2) Strategic Alliance
3) Amalgamation or Merger
4) Intergenerational Transfer
5) Management Buyout
6) Refinancing
7) Hire Competent Management*
8) Liquidate
9) Value Enhance to increase sales and / or reduce operating costs
10) Joint Venture
11) Create an advisory board to identify and manage problems.”
For more info on these and other strategies, click here.
(*I especially like the tactic of "hiring competent managment." It strikes me as something more companies should do.)
Friday, June 16, 2006
Ron Blunn and the lost art of customer focus
Two days ago, my pal Ron Blunn died of cancer.
Ron was my predecessor as managing editor of the Financial Times of Canada back in the 1980s. He was a visionary journalist and a tough, inspirational mentor. He took a kid who thought he knew how to write and, well, taught him how to write.
“Examples, examples, examples,” he would say, pounding his fist loudly into his palm. In other words, don’t say it, show it. If you have a thesis, prove it.
“What does this mean to investors?” he would ask. “Why should they read this story? How is it useful?”
The day Ron died, on June 14, I gave a presentation in Guelph on business lessons from magazine publishing. My point: in everything they do, great editors put the readers' interests first. The message for business: the way to engage customers is to put them first in everything you do.
Today I realized that it was Ron Blunn, more than anyone else, who taught me that.
I should note that Ron and I also learned from the late David Tafler, the former editor and publisher of the Times who also passed away way too young. Tafler believed that all stories in the publication had to be “Specific, Useful, Timely and Exclusive.” If subsequent management had been as reader-focussed as Ron and David, the Financial Times of Canada would still be around today.
In 1985, Ron Blunn moved into business development for the Financial Times. To most of the writers at the Times, it was a curious career switch: how could he leave journalism? The answer, of course, was that other disciplines paid better, and could be just as satisfying. Ironically, the key spinoff products Ron came up with (the Mutual Fund Sourcebook, and Investment Executive magazine) both outlived the Times by far.
About 1990, Ron left the Times and formed his own investor relations firm, Blunn & Company. Again he was a pioneer, becoming an expert in annual reports and the future of corporate disclosure. Ron's work was industry-leading and he was sought-after as a speaker and consultant across North America.
My best wishes to Ron’s wife Heather and his two 20-something sons, Josh and Oliver. He will be missed.
--
BTW, about 10 years ago Ron moved into my neighborhood, just six blocks away. Every time I drive by his house I think, “Gotta call Ron sometime.”
Call a friend today. Because sometime never comes.
Addition, Friday afternooon.
Here's the link to Ron's obituary in the Globe, with service details.
And click here to see a moving memoir from his I-R colleague, Dominic Jones. He has much better detail on Ron's post-Times career, including his three-year stint at RT Investor Relations, which I'd forgotten about.
Ron was my predecessor as managing editor of the Financial Times of Canada back in the 1980s. He was a visionary journalist and a tough, inspirational mentor. He took a kid who thought he knew how to write and, well, taught him how to write.
“Examples, examples, examples,” he would say, pounding his fist loudly into his palm. In other words, don’t say it, show it. If you have a thesis, prove it.
“What does this mean to investors?” he would ask. “Why should they read this story? How is it useful?”
The day Ron died, on June 14, I gave a presentation in Guelph on business lessons from magazine publishing. My point: in everything they do, great editors put the readers' interests first. The message for business: the way to engage customers is to put them first in everything you do.
Today I realized that it was Ron Blunn, more than anyone else, who taught me that.
I should note that Ron and I also learned from the late David Tafler, the former editor and publisher of the Times who also passed away way too young. Tafler believed that all stories in the publication had to be “Specific, Useful, Timely and Exclusive.” If subsequent management had been as reader-focussed as Ron and David, the Financial Times of Canada would still be around today.
In 1985, Ron Blunn moved into business development for the Financial Times. To most of the writers at the Times, it was a curious career switch: how could he leave journalism? The answer, of course, was that other disciplines paid better, and could be just as satisfying. Ironically, the key spinoff products Ron came up with (the Mutual Fund Sourcebook, and Investment Executive magazine) both outlived the Times by far.
About 1990, Ron left the Times and formed his own investor relations firm, Blunn & Company. Again he was a pioneer, becoming an expert in annual reports and the future of corporate disclosure. Ron's work was industry-leading and he was sought-after as a speaker and consultant across North America.
My best wishes to Ron’s wife Heather and his two 20-something sons, Josh and Oliver. He will be missed.
--
BTW, about 10 years ago Ron moved into my neighborhood, just six blocks away. Every time I drive by his house I think, “Gotta call Ron sometime.”
Call a friend today. Because sometime never comes.
Addition, Friday afternooon.
Here's the link to Ron's obituary in the Globe, with service details.
And click here to see a moving memoir from his I-R colleague, Dominic Jones. He has much better detail on Ron's post-Times career, including his three-year stint at RT Investor Relations, which I'd forgotten about.
Learning from Bill Gates & Co.
In his ezine today, my buddy Curt Skene, a speaker on sales and leadership with a background at Microsoft, has posted one of the best leadership articles I’ve seen.
By looking at the management styles of three leaders at Microsoft, he comes close to defining executive excellence.
Microsoft.
Who knew?
Curt’s ezine is not yet posted on his website, http://www.aahhah.com/ezine.htm, so I hope he’ll forgive me for summarizing his insights here.
“Bill Gates would probably tell you to be more curious about the world that surrounds you. He would remind you that his fortune came when he thought of how the world might be with a computer on every desktop. His passion is in asking, 'what might change?' ...
“Bill surrounds himself with people who think differently than him... Bill was always open to be challenged but keep in mind he demanded that everyone think smart. If you had a different way of seeing the world that’s ok, just be sure you can articulate it clearly…
“Finally, Bill might tell you to never take your success for granted. No industry leader leads forever. He would remind you of all the market leaders that have come and gone. Be paranoid about being the best, don't ever take your position for granted.
“Steve Ballmer [current Microsoft CEO] would remind you that you can never know enough about your customer and you can never know it soon enough. ‘Be customer-passionate,’ are words he would yell and scream until he knew that everyone understood that the customer will always be our livelihood…
“Steve would tell you to know more about the customer’s problem than they do themselves, and to have better answers to the problems your customer faces... As CEO he believed his best day was spent in front of a customer learning and exploring their business and the way they make money.
“Frank Clegg [former president of Microsoft Canada] would tell you to net it out. Your story, your plans, your approach all needed to be clear, concise and crisp. If you can’t say it in one page then you don’t know your message well enough. ..
“Frank would also tell you that your people are your brand. Treat them well, respect them and give them the freedom, autonomy and flexibility to do what’s right for the business. If you question your ability to do that, then question your hiring or management practices…
“Twelve years ago Frank telephoned me and told me to leave the business to be with my dying Brother. His words were simple, “I don’t care what’s on your agenda, you need to be where you’re needed most.” I can still hear the passion and feeling in his words today. I flew out to Calgary that very night, my brother died a few days later. Frank always knew when to push people hard, but to do it in a way that everyone knew he cared immensely about their future.”
If you're serious about improving your business, here's the place to start.
Next: Leadership Lessons from Darth Vader.
(Just kidding.)
By looking at the management styles of three leaders at Microsoft, he comes close to defining executive excellence.
Microsoft.
Who knew?
Curt’s ezine is not yet posted on his website, http://www.aahhah.com/ezine.htm, so I hope he’ll forgive me for summarizing his insights here.
“Bill Gates would probably tell you to be more curious about the world that surrounds you. He would remind you that his fortune came when he thought of how the world might be with a computer on every desktop. His passion is in asking, 'what might change?' ...
“Bill surrounds himself with people who think differently than him... Bill was always open to be challenged but keep in mind he demanded that everyone think smart. If you had a different way of seeing the world that’s ok, just be sure you can articulate it clearly…
“Finally, Bill might tell you to never take your success for granted. No industry leader leads forever. He would remind you of all the market leaders that have come and gone. Be paranoid about being the best, don't ever take your position for granted.
“Steve Ballmer [current Microsoft CEO] would remind you that you can never know enough about your customer and you can never know it soon enough. ‘Be customer-passionate,’ are words he would yell and scream until he knew that everyone understood that the customer will always be our livelihood…
“Steve would tell you to know more about the customer’s problem than they do themselves, and to have better answers to the problems your customer faces... As CEO he believed his best day was spent in front of a customer learning and exploring their business and the way they make money.
“Frank Clegg [former president of Microsoft Canada] would tell you to net it out. Your story, your plans, your approach all needed to be clear, concise and crisp. If you can’t say it in one page then you don’t know your message well enough. ..
“Frank would also tell you that your people are your brand. Treat them well, respect them and give them the freedom, autonomy and flexibility to do what’s right for the business. If you question your ability to do that, then question your hiring or management practices…
“Twelve years ago Frank telephoned me and told me to leave the business to be with my dying Brother. His words were simple, “I don’t care what’s on your agenda, you need to be where you’re needed most.” I can still hear the passion and feeling in his words today. I flew out to Calgary that very night, my brother died a few days later. Frank always knew when to push people hard, but to do it in a way that everyone knew he cared immensely about their future.”
If you're serious about improving your business, here's the place to start.
Next: Leadership Lessons from Darth Vader.
(Just kidding.)
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Visa Revisited
Visa's Small Business Big Thinking conference in Toronto yesterday was a huge success.
I will be blogging about it more over the next few days as I find time, but more than 200 entrepreneurs turned out and the speakers were fabulous. (Full disclosure: I selected most of them, as a subcontractor to the conference organizers.) I talked to a number of delegates and reviewed a few feedback forms, and it looks like we were a huge hit.
Our keynote speakers, Donald Cooper and Teresa Cascioli, great Canadian entrepreneurs and mavericks, were inspiring and challenging. Donald woke the audience up with humor, insights and challenges, and Teresa sent them marching out the door full of fire, enthusiasm and confidence. I will blog more about them or point you to other writeups later this week.
Another crowd favourite was Krig Kramers, our one American import. Many entrepreneurs lack the experience, structures and processes and systems to grow their businesses in a systematic, professional way. Kramers' "CEO Tools" offer well designed processes and systems that fill the gap.
I didn't attend his sessions (he was the only speaker we asked to speak twice, because he has so much material), but I can point you to his website to check out his tools for yourself. (Yes, most of them are for sale, but you can preview them for free and learn a lot just by looking at the PDF files.)
Want to recruit better? Check out his Interviewing tool. To retain your best people, take a look at his Employee Satisfaction Index. If you're not afraid to think bigger, preview his What causes Sales? tool. Lots more good stuff at http://www.ceotools.com.
One of the best features of the conference? The Meet the Pros lunch, where attendees got to meet over sandwiches with most of the day's speakers. Thanks to all those who took part.
I will be blogging about it more over the next few days as I find time, but more than 200 entrepreneurs turned out and the speakers were fabulous. (Full disclosure: I selected most of them, as a subcontractor to the conference organizers.) I talked to a number of delegates and reviewed a few feedback forms, and it looks like we were a huge hit.
Our keynote speakers, Donald Cooper and Teresa Cascioli, great Canadian entrepreneurs and mavericks, were inspiring and challenging. Donald woke the audience up with humor, insights and challenges, and Teresa sent them marching out the door full of fire, enthusiasm and confidence. I will blog more about them or point you to other writeups later this week.
Another crowd favourite was Krig Kramers, our one American import. Many entrepreneurs lack the experience, structures and processes and systems to grow their businesses in a systematic, professional way. Kramers' "CEO Tools" offer well designed processes and systems that fill the gap.
I didn't attend his sessions (he was the only speaker we asked to speak twice, because he has so much material), but I can point you to his website to check out his tools for yourself. (Yes, most of them are for sale, but you can preview them for free and learn a lot just by looking at the PDF files.)
Want to recruit better? Check out his Interviewing tool. To retain your best people, take a look at his Employee Satisfaction Index. If you're not afraid to think bigger, preview his What causes Sales? tool. Lots more good stuff at http://www.ceotools.com.
One of the best features of the conference? The Meet the Pros lunch, where attendees got to meet over sandwiches with most of the day's speakers. Thanks to all those who took part.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Off-Target Marketing
Catherine McQuaid is a Toronto-based business-development with a new approach to selling to big business. I liked it so much I asked her to speak on it at the Visa Canada Small Business/Big Thinking conference on Monday (June 12).
If you can't make it, at least you can read her theories online. I wrote about Catherine and her journey in my column in the June issue of PROFIT, which has just been put online. Click here for the full story.
For those who hate to leave this site, here's Catherine's insight in a nutshell: "Don't go to the decision-maker." Enlist his or her assistant in the process. (That's why I call it off-target marketing.)
If you call the switchboard to ask for the CEO's phone number or e-mail address, McQuaid warns, you may be pegged as a nuisance. Ask for the number of the support person, and you'll likely get through.
For the rest of the story, click this way.
Catherine's website is at http://www.huntnewbiz.com/
If you can't make it, at least you can read her theories online. I wrote about Catherine and her journey in my column in the June issue of PROFIT, which has just been put online. Click here for the full story.
For those who hate to leave this site, here's Catherine's insight in a nutshell: "Don't go to the decision-maker." Enlist his or her assistant in the process. (That's why I call it off-target marketing.)
If you call the switchboard to ask for the CEO's phone number or e-mail address, McQuaid warns, you may be pegged as a nuisance. Ask for the number of the support person, and you'll likely get through.
For the rest of the story, click this way.
Catherine's website is at http://www.huntnewbiz.com/
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Who are Canada's Fastest-Growing Companies?
PROFIT Magazine has just released its 18th annual PROFIT 100 list of Canada’s Fastest-Growing Companies.
Why should you care? Two things:
1. Seeing what kinds of companies are succeeding and growing incredibly fast in today’s economy is very eye-opening - and could inspire you to defy conventional thinking in your own business.
2. The issue contains lots of great business advice from today’s growth leaders: business insights, tips and tactics that are too new, creative and personal to be found in any books.
You can read the entire list online here. Some of the highlights:
* The No. 1 company (with five-year growth of 31,598%) is Rutter Inc., a St. John’s, Nfld. systems integrator and software developer that makes “black box” recording systems for ocean-going ships. Fascinating stuff. They also do electronics manufacturing and engineering services.
I was lucky enough to write the Rutter profile in this issue, but PROFIT seems not to be putting many of the stories in this issue online until July 3. (They must want you to buy the magazine.)
* The next 4 ranked companies are Workbrain (No. 2), a leading developer of workforce-management software; Fruit d'Or Inc., a $20-million berry processor from Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Que.; Peer 1 Network Enterprises Inc., an Internet company in Vancouver; and Imaging Dynamics Co. Ltd., a Digital radiography company from Calgary.
(How great to see a company from Atlantic Canada top the list, for the first time ever! And the fact the top five all hail from different parts of Canada speaks to a welcome diversification of economic potential.)
* Other companies on the list include makers of digital X-ray machines, surveillance systems, solar-powered lighting and soft-soled baby shoes. Plus: Research in Motion makes the list for a sixth year.
* Average sales growth of the P100: 2,597% over five years. It's the highest overall growth rate seen on the PROFIT 100 since 2001, and it hasn't come at the expense of profitability: fully 79 of the 100 firms on the list were in the black last year.
For more information, including the Next 100 companies list, see http://www.profit100.com/
For my two stories in the issue and the best new management ideas, check your newsstand next week. Or drop by again in July and I’ll try to remember to link to them.
Why should you care? Two things:
1. Seeing what kinds of companies are succeeding and growing incredibly fast in today’s economy is very eye-opening - and could inspire you to defy conventional thinking in your own business.
2. The issue contains lots of great business advice from today’s growth leaders: business insights, tips and tactics that are too new, creative and personal to be found in any books.
You can read the entire list online here. Some of the highlights:
* The No. 1 company (with five-year growth of 31,598%) is Rutter Inc., a St. John’s, Nfld. systems integrator and software developer that makes “black box” recording systems for ocean-going ships. Fascinating stuff. They also do electronics manufacturing and engineering services.
I was lucky enough to write the Rutter profile in this issue, but PROFIT seems not to be putting many of the stories in this issue online until July 3. (They must want you to buy the magazine.)
* The next 4 ranked companies are Workbrain (No. 2), a leading developer of workforce-management software; Fruit d'Or Inc., a $20-million berry processor from Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Que.; Peer 1 Network Enterprises Inc., an Internet company in Vancouver; and Imaging Dynamics Co. Ltd., a Digital radiography company from Calgary.
(How great to see a company from Atlantic Canada top the list, for the first time ever! And the fact the top five all hail from different parts of Canada speaks to a welcome diversification of economic potential.)
* Other companies on the list include makers of digital X-ray machines, surveillance systems, solar-powered lighting and soft-soled baby shoes. Plus: Research in Motion makes the list for a sixth year.
* Average sales growth of the P100: 2,597% over five years. It's the highest overall growth rate seen on the PROFIT 100 since 2001, and it hasn't come at the expense of profitability: fully 79 of the 100 firms on the list were in the black last year.
For more information, including the Next 100 companies list, see http://www.profit100.com/
For my two stories in the issue and the best new management ideas, check your newsstand next week. Or drop by again in July and I’ll try to remember to link to them.
Getting Calls Returned, part III
My posts on getting calls returned (click here and here) continue to resonate. Here’s a comment from one executive who e-mailed her thoughts to me rather than posting them in order to preserve his anonymity. (Although actually the Comment system here is completely anonymous if you like. Have no fear, ye who enter here.)
Anyway, here are her thoughts:
"I always try to put myself in the other guy's shoes when it comes to getting through on the phone. A variation on the guy who suggests saying he has "a couple of questions" - I use my knowledge of the prospect's interests and leave half an important tidbit of information. If I know he's a sailor I'd say something like "Did you hear how McLaughlin is using his wife to avoid having to contest trials for the Canada Cup?" This works best when you know the person.
"I also usually go back to reception and say I left a voicemail, but it is rather urgent and I wanted to make sure he's not away for a couple of days. That often gets me through or gets a cell phone number that I didn't have. When the person is away, I sometimes ask to speak to their boss, based on the urgency (best if you know the boss' first name).
I brought up this subject at my mastermind group today. Some of that group’s advice for getting calls returned:
* Get used to it. Everyone has more messages than we can handle. And we’re starting to lose our guilt over those we never get around to responding to.
* If your calls or e-mails are going ignored, it’s a sign your value proposition is not attractive enough. Pump up the value.
* Keep calling. I sometimes call even good clients seven times, said one entrepreneur. But often they end up saying, “Thank you for continuing to try to get through.”
* Keep your messages short and simple. “I never send or read long e-mails,” said one. So I asked if had had ever had a time when ignoring long e-mails landed him in trouble or made him miss out on something important. “No,” was his reply.
Keep the comments coming. It’s a fascinating topic that goes to the heart of today's entrepreneurial experience.
Anyway, here are her thoughts:
"I always try to put myself in the other guy's shoes when it comes to getting through on the phone. A variation on the guy who suggests saying he has "a couple of questions" - I use my knowledge of the prospect's interests and leave half an important tidbit of information. If I know he's a sailor I'd say something like "Did you hear how McLaughlin is using his wife to avoid having to contest trials for the Canada Cup?" This works best when you know the person.
"I also usually go back to reception and say I left a voicemail, but it is rather urgent and I wanted to make sure he's not away for a couple of days. That often gets me through or gets a cell phone number that I didn't have. When the person is away, I sometimes ask to speak to their boss, based on the urgency (best if you know the boss' first name).
I brought up this subject at my mastermind group today. Some of that group’s advice for getting calls returned:
* Get used to it. Everyone has more messages than we can handle. And we’re starting to lose our guilt over those we never get around to responding to.
* If your calls or e-mails are going ignored, it’s a sign your value proposition is not attractive enough. Pump up the value.
* Keep calling. I sometimes call even good clients seven times, said one entrepreneur. But often they end up saying, “Thank you for continuing to try to get through.”
* Keep your messages short and simple. “I never send or read long e-mails,” said one. So I asked if had had ever had a time when ignoring long e-mails landed him in trouble or made him miss out on something important. “No,” was his reply.
Keep the comments coming. It’s a fascinating topic that goes to the heart of today's entrepreneurial experience.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Upcoming Appearances
Real posts (i.e., with content of interest to more than me and my mom) will resume tomorrow.
For now, a few promotional notes:
* Rick is speaking on "20 Ways to Grow Your Business" at the Visa Canada "Small Business/Big Thinking" conference at the Metro Toronto Conference Centre on Monday, June 12. It's going to be an innovative and cutting edge, interactive session, with great ideas you'll never find in any book. (Until I publish it next fall.)
The conference alsp features Donald Cooper, Tom Stoyan, Michel Neray, Teresa Cascioli and other superstars of Canadian business.
I couldn't recommend this show more highly if I had selected the speakers myself. :^)
For more info visit www.visa.ca
* Next Wednesday, June 14, Rick will be speaking on "Excellence in Magazines and Business", at the annual Guelph Awards of Excellence Gala 5:30 p.m. at the Guelph Place Banquet Hall. For details, visit www.guelphchamber.com or phone 1-519-822-8081
For now, a few promotional notes:
* Rick is speaking on "20 Ways to Grow Your Business" at the Visa Canada "Small Business/Big Thinking" conference at the Metro Toronto Conference Centre on Monday, June 12. It's going to be an innovative and cutting edge, interactive session, with great ideas you'll never find in any book. (Until I publish it next fall.)
The conference alsp features Donald Cooper, Tom Stoyan, Michel Neray, Teresa Cascioli and other superstars of Canadian business.
I couldn't recommend this show more highly if I had selected the speakers myself. :^)
For more info visit www.visa.ca
* Next Wednesday, June 14, Rick will be speaking on "Excellence in Magazines and Business", at the annual Guelph Awards of Excellence Gala 5:30 p.m. at the Guelph Place Banquet Hall. For details, visit www.guelphchamber.com or phone 1-519-822-8081
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Mass media vs. the blogger on every corner
The mass media like to think they're a superior form of life to blogs. But the gap is closing.
Make no mistake, I'm a mass media guy. One column of mine in PROFIT or MoneySense reaches more people than will read this blog in a year. And yet - blogs bring many things to the table that the mainstream media lack.
Personality, for one thing. With bloggers you get not just the facts, but interpretation - which is very often bad, but sometimes very good.
Feet on the street, for another. There are more bloggers with eyewitness reports on major events than there will ever be professional news-gatherers.
Moreover, as the media try to expand their coverage and become more useful in an everyday sense to their readers (especially on the Web), they run into the army of bloggers who have been there first.
Case in point: on May 19 I pointed readers to a new feature on the CFIB website for entrepreneurs tryng to cope with the paperwork for the upcoming GST reduction. Six days later, The Globe & Mail "Report on Small Business" webfolks pointed their readers to the same resource.
Did I "scoop" The Globe? Of course not. But I proved, as bloggers are now doing every day, that whenever the media swerve from their highest calling of reporting original news, they are likely to be beaten to the punch.
Yes, The Globe will (presumably) reach more people than will any individual blog, so what they do is still worth doing. But it is no longer journalism as we knew it.
The mass media are now part of the information factory and not above it.
Corollary: Your company needs a strategy for tracking blogs and perhaps publishing one or more. Blogs are starting to matter.
Make no mistake, I'm a mass media guy. One column of mine in PROFIT or MoneySense reaches more people than will read this blog in a year. And yet - blogs bring many things to the table that the mainstream media lack.
Personality, for one thing. With bloggers you get not just the facts, but interpretation - which is very often bad, but sometimes very good.
Feet on the street, for another. There are more bloggers with eyewitness reports on major events than there will ever be professional news-gatherers.
Moreover, as the media try to expand their coverage and become more useful in an everyday sense to their readers (especially on the Web), they run into the army of bloggers who have been there first.
Case in point: on May 19 I pointed readers to a new feature on the CFIB website for entrepreneurs tryng to cope with the paperwork for the upcoming GST reduction. Six days later, The Globe & Mail "Report on Small Business" webfolks pointed their readers to the same resource.
Did I "scoop" The Globe? Of course not. But I proved, as bloggers are now doing every day, that whenever the media swerve from their highest calling of reporting original news, they are likely to be beaten to the punch.
Yes, The Globe will (presumably) reach more people than will any individual blog, so what they do is still worth doing. But it is no longer journalism as we knew it.
The mass media are now part of the information factory and not above it.
Corollary: Your company needs a strategy for tracking blogs and perhaps publishing one or more. Blogs are starting to matter.
Monday, May 29, 2006
Getting people to call you back
Great post last week by Ottawa-based sales consultant Colleen Francis on a subject I ranted about a few weeks ago: getting people to call you back.
“No matter how persuasive, compelling or brilliant you may be, it’s difficult to build a relationship with a prospect if you can’t get them to call you back,” says Francis. So she offers “12 Ways to Get Your Prospects to Call You Back.”
You can find the post here. Or, below are a few highlights from Francis's article.
* The fine line between persistence and stalking.
The trick is to call consistently If you leave a message, tell the customer precisely when you will call them back – and stick to it. I usually say something like: “If I don’t hear from you by March 15th, I’ll call you back on the 16th.” I get return calls more often, because my prospects know that I will be calling them if they don’t get in touch with me.
Some of my best customers today are those who I was initially the most patient with, and to whom I made multiple calls over a period of weeks, or even months.
* Let them off the hook.
In a voice or email, it’s a great idea to tell a prospect that’s its OK for them to say no. Say something like: “If you’ve chosen to go with a different product, that’s okay. Just let me know so I don’t become a follow-up pest.”
* Put them on auto-drip.
If you’ve tried everything you can think of and still can’t seem to get through, put the prospect on auto-drip. Send them something interesting and of value every month or quarter. This will help keep you top of mind for when the time is right for them to make a decision.
* Create a deadline.
After every conversation, gain agreement from the prospect as to next steps. When the time for the follow-up call comes around and the prospect doesn’t show up, you can leave a message like: “I’m calling because the last time we spoke, we agreed to chat today about….” Reminding them of your agreement will help move them to call you back.
* Call early or late in the day.
Call either early in the morning (say around 7:30 a.m.) or late in the day (after 5). The decision makers are often alone in the office, and therefore more likely to pick up calls themselves.
Seven more great ideas at http://www.engageselling.com/article_230506/index.htm.
“No matter how persuasive, compelling or brilliant you may be, it’s difficult to build a relationship with a prospect if you can’t get them to call you back,” says Francis. So she offers “12 Ways to Get Your Prospects to Call You Back.”
You can find the post here. Or, below are a few highlights from Francis's article.
* The fine line between persistence and stalking.
The trick is to call consistently If you leave a message, tell the customer precisely when you will call them back – and stick to it. I usually say something like: “If I don’t hear from you by March 15th, I’ll call you back on the 16th.” I get return calls more often, because my prospects know that I will be calling them if they don’t get in touch with me.
Some of my best customers today are those who I was initially the most patient with, and to whom I made multiple calls over a period of weeks, or even months.
* Let them off the hook.
In a voice or email, it’s a great idea to tell a prospect that’s its OK for them to say no. Say something like: “If you’ve chosen to go with a different product, that’s okay. Just let me know so I don’t become a follow-up pest.”
* Put them on auto-drip.
If you’ve tried everything you can think of and still can’t seem to get through, put the prospect on auto-drip. Send them something interesting and of value every month or quarter. This will help keep you top of mind for when the time is right for them to make a decision.
* Create a deadline.
After every conversation, gain agreement from the prospect as to next steps. When the time for the follow-up call comes around and the prospect doesn’t show up, you can leave a message like: “I’m calling because the last time we spoke, we agreed to chat today about….” Reminding them of your agreement will help move them to call you back.
* Call early or late in the day.
Call either early in the morning (say around 7:30 a.m.) or late in the day (after 5). The decision makers are often alone in the office, and therefore more likely to pick up calls themselves.
Seven more great ideas at http://www.engageselling.com/article_230506/index.htm.
Learn from the Pros, June 12
It's high time I alerted you to a fabulous conference in Toronto that's just two weeks away: the Small Business/Big Thinking conference put on by Visa Canada.
This'll be the second annual rendition of the conference, but I think it'll be bigger than ever. I had a hand in selecting the speakers and content, so I know it will be worth your while - if you're serious about growing your business and interested in learning from the best.
The two keynote speakers are proven Canadian successes and inspirational to boot: Retail maverick Donald Cooper, one of the most motivational and idea-filled speakers I've ever heard; and Teresa Cascioli, who turned around Lakeport Brewing and made it one of Canada's top independent breweries.
Then there are seminars on banking, marketing, e-commerce, management, and more, featuring such luminaries as Ian Portsmouth of PROFIT Magazine, Canada's Sales Coach Tom Stoyan, Ken Schafer of AIMS, Michel Neray on positining statements, Catherine McQuaid on selling to big business, Mia Doucet on doing business with China, Jordan Banks of eBay Canada, Margaret Butteriss on Employee Engagement, Doug Robbins on buying a business, panels of successful growth entrepreneurs spilling their secrets, and much, much more.
They even found room for me on the agenda, talking about the best practices of successful growth companies.
And since no one can possibly make it to every session, attendees will receive executive summaries of every session at the entire show. (Click here for the full agenda.)
Run, don't walk to www.Visa.ca, and sign up now. And no, no one's paying me to say this.
The essence of entrepreneurship is learning from the pros, and this is your opportunity of the year.
This'll be the second annual rendition of the conference, but I think it'll be bigger than ever. I had a hand in selecting the speakers and content, so I know it will be worth your while - if you're serious about growing your business and interested in learning from the best.
The two keynote speakers are proven Canadian successes and inspirational to boot: Retail maverick Donald Cooper, one of the most motivational and idea-filled speakers I've ever heard; and Teresa Cascioli, who turned around Lakeport Brewing and made it one of Canada's top independent breweries.
Then there are seminars on banking, marketing, e-commerce, management, and more, featuring such luminaries as Ian Portsmouth of PROFIT Magazine, Canada's Sales Coach Tom Stoyan, Ken Schafer of AIMS, Michel Neray on positining statements, Catherine McQuaid on selling to big business, Mia Doucet on doing business with China, Jordan Banks of eBay Canada, Margaret Butteriss on Employee Engagement, Doug Robbins on buying a business, panels of successful growth entrepreneurs spilling their secrets, and much, much more.
They even found room for me on the agenda, talking about the best practices of successful growth companies.
And since no one can possibly make it to every session, attendees will receive executive summaries of every session at the entire show. (Click here for the full agenda.)
Run, don't walk to www.Visa.ca, and sign up now. And no, no one's paying me to say this.
The essence of entrepreneurship is learning from the pros, and this is your opportunity of the year.
Friday, May 26, 2006
The Heat is On!
PROFIT Magazine is now searching for young fast-growth companies for inclusion in its dynamic list: The Hot 50, Canada’s Emerging Growth Companies.
The criteria: your company was founded in 2002 0r 2003. And you're bursting with pride over its success so far.
Your company can be in any industry, from any part of Canada. PROFIT will honor its HOT 50 companies in the September 2006 issue of PROFIT, and year-round on its website. Plus, the CEO receives a free ticket to GrowthCamp, an exclusive three-day summit for HOT 50 leaders.
I have to admit that I founded this program when I was editor of PROFIT back in 2000, as a way to capture some of the excitement of the dot-com boom. But the program has thrived and survived despite that.
It’s become a wonderful first chance to recognize the achievements of early-stage companies (many companies on previous Hot 50 lists have gone on to earn great distinctions from other awards programs). The list is also a powerful window into new business trends and dawning opportunities in the ever-shifting “new economy.”
For more details and an entry form, click here. Entry deadline: June 30.
To read about last year’s winners, click this way.
Or to read my story "Go Big or Go Home," featuring three of the coolest companies on the 2005 list, grab a coffee and click this.
The criteria: your company was founded in 2002 0r 2003. And you're bursting with pride over its success so far.
Your company can be in any industry, from any part of Canada. PROFIT will honor its HOT 50 companies in the September 2006 issue of PROFIT, and year-round on its website. Plus, the CEO receives a free ticket to GrowthCamp, an exclusive three-day summit for HOT 50 leaders.
I have to admit that I founded this program when I was editor of PROFIT back in 2000, as a way to capture some of the excitement of the dot-com boom. But the program has thrived and survived despite that.
It’s become a wonderful first chance to recognize the achievements of early-stage companies (many companies on previous Hot 50 lists have gone on to earn great distinctions from other awards programs). The list is also a powerful window into new business trends and dawning opportunities in the ever-shifting “new economy.”
For more details and an entry form, click here. Entry deadline: June 30.
To read about last year’s winners, click this way.
Or to read my story "Go Big or Go Home," featuring three of the coolest companies on the 2005 list, grab a coffee and click this.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Whittling down the GST
Is your business ready for the 1% GST reduction, now just over five weeks away?
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has a readiness checklist and a useful review of the rules at:
http://www.cfib.ca/pdfs/DIN0613_0605.pdf
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has a readiness checklist and a useful review of the rules at:
http://www.cfib.ca/pdfs/DIN0613_0605.pdf
The Music of Your (Business) Life
For reasons that will become clear later on, I am looking for examples of songs that express any part of the emotional range of being in business.
Are there songs you identify with because they remind you of emotions or experiences you regularly encounter in your business life?
If so, I would love to hear about them. Put the name of the song, plus the name of the artist/band if you know it, in a comment below, so everyone can share, or e-mail me at rick (at) rickspence.ca
Feel free to name as many songs as you wish.
By business, I mainly mean the experience of entrepreneurship and small business. I'm not so much looking for the depressingly soul-destroying experience of working in big business. (Song going thru my head right now: Dolly Parton's Nine to Five.)
So basically I am looking for songs that express the feeling of business/entrepreneurship/small business as a creative act, if that makes sense to you. An enobling act of visualization, courage, empowerment, success, loss, self-actualization and growth.
Still, if you have a favorite song about big bad big business, send it along anyway. It couldn't hurt. And please, do it now, while you're thinking about it. (I have never been back to most of the sites I bookmark.)
Thanks for your help. I'll share the full list (minus sendees' names) with you in a couple of weeks.
----
Not what we’re looking for:
** Working nine to five, what a way to make living--
Barely getting by, it's all taking and no giving.
They just use your mind and they never give you credit
It's enough to drive you crazy if you let it.
That’s not business. That’s a job.
Are there songs you identify with because they remind you of emotions or experiences you regularly encounter in your business life?
If so, I would love to hear about them. Put the name of the song, plus the name of the artist/band if you know it, in a comment below, so everyone can share, or e-mail me at rick (at) rickspence.ca
Feel free to name as many songs as you wish.
By business, I mainly mean the experience of entrepreneurship and small business. I'm not so much looking for the depressingly soul-destroying experience of working in big business. (Song going thru my head right now: Dolly Parton's Nine to Five.)
So basically I am looking for songs that express the feeling of business/entrepreneurship/small business as a creative act, if that makes sense to you. An enobling act of visualization, courage, empowerment, success, loss, self-actualization and growth.
Still, if you have a favorite song about big bad big business, send it along anyway. It couldn't hurt. And please, do it now, while you're thinking about it. (I have never been back to most of the sites I bookmark.)
Thanks for your help. I'll share the full list (minus sendees' names) with you in a couple of weeks.
----
Not what we’re looking for:
** Working nine to five, what a way to make living--
Barely getting by, it's all taking and no giving.
They just use your mind and they never give you credit
It's enough to drive you crazy if you let it.
That’s not business. That’s a job.
Once more with Mesh
There's a great summary of the lessons from this week's Mesh 1.0 conference written by Jim Courtney at Skype Journal. I hope he doesn't mind if I steal his list for you:
Business needs to build conversational dialogues with their customers.
Blogs can humanize the enterprise (think Scoble and Microsoft)
Web 2.0 relationships are complementary to "community" media for local news and events, broadcast media for relaxation and print media for easily accessible portable news.
Copyright reform needs to move from controlling markets to facilitating market driven protections.
Technology can and will change the way people do business but in a transparent productivity-enhancing manner
It's about building credibility and trust: When it comes to ethics, etiquette, editorial policies and other social interaction protocols, "legacy" social guidelines survive the technology shift (and, in many cases, become more transparent)
Participants in communities will self-manage credibility and trust issues through tools such as self-editing wikis, blog comments and other dialog facilitators
New advertising models and metrics are needed to build the infrastructure that captures a reasonable ROI for the infrastructure providers.
Wish I'd said that.
BTW, a few weeks ago Jim had a pre-post on Mesh that nicely summed up the remarkable accomplishment of the five part-time organizers:
"In summary, mesh has been organized by five individuals who have to hold down their day job but have succeeded in attracting top-notch speakers and several hundred attendees, all via the web, living the Marketing 2.0/Web 2.0 experience. With no budget and taking all the financial risk associated with ensuring a professional meeting environment."
Congrats, guys. Way to walk the talk.
Business needs to build conversational dialogues with their customers.
Blogs can humanize the enterprise (think Scoble and Microsoft)
Web 2.0 relationships are complementary to "community" media for local news and events, broadcast media for relaxation and print media for easily accessible portable news.
Copyright reform needs to move from controlling markets to facilitating market driven protections.
Technology can and will change the way people do business but in a transparent productivity-enhancing manner
It's about building credibility and trust: When it comes to ethics, etiquette, editorial policies and other social interaction protocols, "legacy" social guidelines survive the technology shift (and, in many cases, become more transparent)
Participants in communities will self-manage credibility and trust issues through tools such as self-editing wikis, blog comments and other dialog facilitators
New advertising models and metrics are needed to build the infrastructure that captures a reasonable ROI for the infrastructure providers.
Wish I'd said that.
BTW, a few weeks ago Jim had a pre-post on Mesh that nicely summed up the remarkable accomplishment of the five part-time organizers:
"In summary, mesh has been organized by five individuals who have to hold down their day job but have succeeded in attracting top-notch speakers and several hundred attendees, all via the web, living the Marketing 2.0/Web 2.0 experience. With no budget and taking all the financial risk associated with ensuring a professional meeting environment."
Congrats, guys. Way to walk the talk.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Summertime, and the hooky is easy
I was taken by surprise today how many people intend to take tomorrow off, or work only three hours and call it a half-day.
That's because it's the 24th of May weekend, the first holiday Monday of the year, and the beginning of summer, even though the temperature where I live feels more like the end of October.
Everyone feels so gleeful about the very prospect of playing hooky. And after two years of being my own boss, it's funny how unfamiliar and alien I find that attitude.
Entrepreneurs like to work. Saturdays and Sundays are our secret weapon. Not talking to clients for three days is like cutting off our oxygen. Sure, we like our free time, and my friend Michael is probably already on board his boat on Lake Simcoe. But for the most part, entrepreneurs (and certainly solopreneurs like me) love what we do, so we don't feel the same deep need to get away from it.
No, we're not workaholics. I just think we're closer to integrating our personal and working lives than most of our deskbound salaried friends.
That doesn't make up for the lack of dental plan. But it's got to be worth something!
Have a great V-Day. Buy Lakeport.
That's because it's the 24th of May weekend, the first holiday Monday of the year, and the beginning of summer, even though the temperature where I live feels more like the end of October.
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Everyone feels so gleeful about the very prospect of playing hooky. And after two years of being my own boss, it's funny how unfamiliar and alien I find that attitude.
Entrepreneurs like to work. Saturdays and Sundays are our secret weapon. Not talking to clients for three days is like cutting off our oxygen. Sure, we like our free time, and my friend Michael is probably already on board his boat on Lake Simcoe. But for the most part, entrepreneurs (and certainly solopreneurs like me) love what we do, so we don't feel the same deep need to get away from it.
No, we're not workaholics. I just think we're closer to integrating our personal and working lives than most of our deskbound salaried friends.
That doesn't make up for the lack of dental plan. But it's got to be worth something!
Have a great V-Day. Buy Lakeport.
In Mesh we trust
This week's Mesh Web 2.0 conference on “social media” has been blogged pretty thoroughly, so I’ll just offer a few thoughts after attending three sessions on Tuesday. They mostly (as you might gather from the previous post, below) dealt with blogging.
At a panel on corporate blogging, Jeremy Wright of B5Media made the useful observation that the most important progress is being made not in external blogs (e.g., the CEO writes a weblog for customers and the rest of the outside word), but in private, internal blogs. These aren’t promotional media but management tools.
Companies find internal blogs very useful for informing and motivating employees, conveying ongoing workplace and corporate information, polling employees and/or giving them a chance to vent, and to manage projects. Wright said he has several clients that love blogs and only use them for that.
A panel on “Engaging the Blogosphere” discussed how to get more companies experimenting with and using blogs. There was a lot of talk about “convincing” businesses to blog. But there are two problems with that: blogs involve, um, writing, which many organizations are not good at, or which scares them; and they represnet an ongoing infinite commitment, not just a one-off effort like a website. Hence, said Ottawa PR guy Joe Thornley, “You can't convince people to start blogs.” Because even if you succeed, and they start one, it will likely wither and die very quickly, like my plants, for lack of attention, care and warmth.
(Joe's blog ProPR includes some detailed posts about the conference with lots of verbatim quotes, saving me the trouble of writing it up.)
I talked afterward with Nathan Rudyk, a “social media”-oriented PR consultant in Ottawa (and an old buddy who worked at PROFIT Magazine before I did). He is helping lots of companies jump on the blogwagon, and he had an interesting perspective on what drives them. The first step, surprisingly enough, is often podcasting. It’s easy to do, it’s a series of one-off projects rather than an ongoing, evolving print product, and clients seem to love ’em.
And according to Nathan, you can get almost anyone to sit still to be interviewed for a podcast (his company has already nabbed Steve Ballmer).
I think there's something else at work here. I think the printed word (even in cyberspace) scares people more than voice recordings do. There's something permanent (and way too easy to copy) about text. “Smoking guns” are almost always documents, not recordings.
Podcasting is conversation. It’s informal, loose, kind of showbizy, sorta fun. The printed word, however, is an obligation, a line drawn in the sand forever, the bane of lawyers and regulators. It’s still too scary for many people to cozy up to.
Time to get over it, folks. Print (i.e., the words in your blog) is warm, accessible, searchable, linkable, and powerful. Fear must give way to passion, excitement and the need to explore the full potential of your (or your company's) relationships.
Lots more follow-up resources from Mesh at http://www.socialtext.net/mesh/index.cgi
At a panel on corporate blogging, Jeremy Wright of B5Media made the useful observation that the most important progress is being made not in external blogs (e.g., the CEO writes a weblog for customers and the rest of the outside word), but in private, internal blogs. These aren’t promotional media but management tools.
Companies find internal blogs very useful for informing and motivating employees, conveying ongoing workplace and corporate information, polling employees and/or giving them a chance to vent, and to manage projects. Wright said he has several clients that love blogs and only use them for that.
A panel on “Engaging the Blogosphere” discussed how to get more companies experimenting with and using blogs. There was a lot of talk about “convincing” businesses to blog. But there are two problems with that: blogs involve, um, writing, which many organizations are not good at, or which scares them; and they represnet an ongoing infinite commitment, not just a one-off effort like a website. Hence, said Ottawa PR guy Joe Thornley, “You can't convince people to start blogs.” Because even if you succeed, and they start one, it will likely wither and die very quickly, like my plants, for lack of attention, care and warmth.
(Joe's blog ProPR includes some detailed posts about the conference with lots of verbatim quotes, saving me the trouble of writing it up.)
I talked afterward with Nathan Rudyk, a “social media”-oriented PR consultant in Ottawa (and an old buddy who worked at PROFIT Magazine before I did). He is helping lots of companies jump on the blogwagon, and he had an interesting perspective on what drives them. The first step, surprisingly enough, is often podcasting. It’s easy to do, it’s a series of one-off projects rather than an ongoing, evolving print product, and clients seem to love ’em.
And according to Nathan, you can get almost anyone to sit still to be interviewed for a podcast (his company has already nabbed Steve Ballmer).
I think there's something else at work here. I think the printed word (even in cyberspace) scares people more than voice recordings do. There's something permanent (and way too easy to copy) about text. “Smoking guns” are almost always documents, not recordings.
Podcasting is conversation. It’s informal, loose, kind of showbizy, sorta fun. The printed word, however, is an obligation, a line drawn in the sand forever, the bane of lawyers and regulators. It’s still too scary for many people to cozy up to.
Time to get over it, folks. Print (i.e., the words in your blog) is warm, accessible, searchable, linkable, and powerful. Fear must give way to passion, excitement and the need to explore the full potential of your (or your company's) relationships.
Lots more follow-up resources from Mesh at http://www.socialtext.net/mesh/index.cgi
Blogging peaks
Overheard late Tuesday afternoon at Mesh Web 2.0
First Guy: “Everything today is about blogs.”
Other guy: “Yeah. Yesterday it was podcasting, today it’s blogging.”
First: “Too much about blogs.”
Other: “Yeah.”
First: “For the last session, the only one I’m interested in is the one about blogs.”
Other: “Me too. Are you gonna go?”
First: “Yeah. I think so. You?”
Other: “I guess. … Is there a strip club around here?”
(No wonder they call blogs "social media.")
First Guy: “Everything today is about blogs.”
Other guy: “Yeah. Yesterday it was podcasting, today it’s blogging.”
First: “Too much about blogs.”
Other: “Yeah.”
First: “For the last session, the only one I’m interested in is the one about blogs.”
Other: “Me too. Are you gonna go?”
First: “Yeah. I think so. You?”
Other: “I guess. … Is there a strip club around here?”
(No wonder they call blogs "social media.")
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
What a Fine Mesh you've gotten us into!
The first Mesh conference on Web 2.0 and the digital future continues today down at the MARs centre in downtown Toronto. Lots of talk about interactivity, blogging and the future of business. Very positive stuff, all about transparency and collaboration.
Some business people might sneer about the return of geeks who take the Internet too seriously, but I for one find the idealism refreshing.
I’ll be taking in some events this afternoon, but here are some links to others blogging about day One.
Mathew Ingram (Globe & Mail tech reporter and conference co-organizer)
Scott Karp on the miracle of live blogging
Tris Hussey: lots of posts that will make you feel you were there
Nathan Rudyk, The Trojan Mouse
Steve Rubel on Om Malik
For serious Web 2.0 aficionados (and those who want to learn more about it): Visit the Mesh wiki page (contributors, in-house blog, further info, etc.)
There should have been more same-day blogging at an event like this, but I understand yesterday’s session was followed by a pub night. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose...
Some business people might sneer about the return of geeks who take the Internet too seriously, but I for one find the idealism refreshing.
I’ll be taking in some events this afternoon, but here are some links to others blogging about day One.
Mathew Ingram (Globe & Mail tech reporter and conference co-organizer)
Scott Karp on the miracle of live blogging
Tris Hussey: lots of posts that will make you feel you were there
Nathan Rudyk, The Trojan Mouse
Steve Rubel on Om Malik
For serious Web 2.0 aficionados (and those who want to learn more about it): Visit the Mesh wiki page (contributors, in-house blog, further info, etc.)
There should have been more same-day blogging at an event like this, but I understand yesterday’s session was followed by a pub night. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose...
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