Company begins with the letter C and we set out to find 10 reasons why this makes sense and here they are:

photo credit: bradleypjohnson

1 Customers the reason why the business is there in the first place.

2. Curiosity to seek and understand what the customers’ needs are.
3. Creativity or the mental ability to generate new ideas and concepts to solve the customers’ problem and make their pain go away.
4. Courage to confront fear and uncertainty, to face the physical hardship the business may be subjected to and the moral courage in the face of shame and scandal.
5. Compassion because the business is there to benefit others and the company needs to be continually reminded of that. It needs to have compassion for clients and for employees.
6. Consistency to hold together and retain the shape of the organization in spite of all of the changes that keep taking place.
7. Conviction of management and employees and their unshakable belief in the vision and the mission of the company.
8. Commitment to the customers’ needs. The company must bind itself both intellectually and emotionally to its customers and its employees.
9. Challenge or the company’s ability to engage the competition and the changing environment.
10.Credibility so that both customers and employees believe that the company is there for their benefit.

I’m sure you have others so please share them with us via the comments.

Stephanie St. James, an entertainer turned acting coach who helps aspiring actors and singers to achieve their lifetime goals faster and smarter just published this post in her blog under the heading “The Kardashians, All the Housewives from Atlanta to Jersey = TALENT?” Among several points Ms. St. James makes. is that people today are driven to succeed because of fame and money and not because of passion.

photo credit: www.chicagofabulousblog.com

As I read this post, I couldn’t help translating it to entrepreneurs who are driven to start up businesses because they see it as a way of making lots of money and becoming the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs and not because this is what has fueled their innermost beings for the past several years, the gut pain in their bellies, their passion.

Like Ms. St. James says, “The whole point of this particular article is for one simple reason. For YOU to just sit down and really consider why you want to be IN this business in the first place… THINK ABOUT IT. Whatever YOU come up with is what’s right for YOU in this moment in your life. And how ever you choose to follow your path to what you desire is going to give you the Lessons that You Need in your life… because well, the Universe always provides you exactly what You NEED but not always exactly what you WANT. No one is challenging your desires and your goals… I’m just challenging you to be CLEAR about what they are and WHY. Set goals, visualize them and they will manifest… and remember “YOU WANT FAME… WELL FAME COSTS… AND RIGHT HERE IS WHERE YOU START PAYING”… Nothing in life is FREE even REALITY costs you. BE CLEAR.”

For the entire article, please read :The Kardashians, All the Housewives from Atlanta to Jersey = TALENT?

A colleague of mine, Griff Lindell wrote the following opinion piece about the enormity of the demands on the small business person. Business issues — start-up costs, capital expense, and cash management — all must be pointed to providing something special for a target group of customers. The opinion piece ran in the Saturday edition of the Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon.

Griff points out “But it’s not just about customers and cash. Small business consumes money, time, and people. And it has a big appetite. Sometimes, the small business “family” gets devoured by the demands and stresses particular to a small business. The uncertainty of complying with health-care laws continues to provide stress that reaches “inside” many a business — and reaches the families involved. Governmental program leaders must comprehend these stresses, and act accordingly”.

For the complete opinion piece please go to America needs to overhaul its business programs

IBM is celebrating its 100th anniversary and they made a fascinating video that goes through each year of their history. They use people born in each year to narrate the happenings at the company that year and it makes for a very compelling story.

Watch this video and you will also get a lesson on the history of computing and of International Business Machines.

Jay Goltz, who owns five small to medium sized businesses in Chicago and who writes a column on running small businesses for the New York Times, published an article yesterday, 11th January 2011, on the The Old Man and the Internet.

In it he muses that he started out as a retailer, struggled with the fact that he was also a manufacturer, and eventually expanded into being a distributor, a direct-sales organization and now a Web marketer. The first three evolutions he opines, were slow and painful, but he successfully figured them out. This latest twist, becoming a Web marketer, is different. This time, it is not just about people and problems. It’s about understanding the realities of a whole new world.

photo credit: Daniel Marchese

There are two main points that he makes in this article:

1. Every business owner (especially the Old Farts … my personal perspective) should belong to a business group. As he states, “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the insights gained from comparing notes with other business owners, in different businesses, can be phenomenal.”

2. Small business owners. especially those same Old Farts, are slow to realize that this whole Internet thing is probably the most powerful development since the Industrial Revolution. They need to understand that they now operate in a totally different business environment, and need to adjust. The Internet, social media and whatever else is missing are all changing fast, and need to be mastered.

The problem, is that: The Old Farts do not know what is going on behind the curtain. Sometimes, they think they know, they want to know, they need to know, but how could they know? No one who works in their business most likely has ever been involved with technology.

For the rest of this very stimulating article, please read The Old Man and the Internet.

When you are 22 years old and trying to put your life together, you can try to get an internship in New York to prepare yourself to make globs of money, or you can decide to go to India for a year and try to start something new – micro charity. We’ve all heard of micro lending where small investors provide small sums of money to generate capital for third world entrepreneurs. Well, welcome to micro charity and Erin Schneider, a Portland Oregon young woman who is changing the way we help the poor.

Her strategy is simple. Eliminate the administrative overhead, keep it small and use all the money raised to buy essentials for the needy. In her own words, “It turned out to be a huge success. But it left me with the creepy sense that I only blanketed the needy versus teaching them to knit. Yes, yes, I know I’m only 22, naive, and all too idealistic, but the money to feed, clothe and hydrate the world exists! That’s been the hardest part for me to swallow. It’s just being incredibly mismanaged and squandered. Maybe my contribution could be making a transparent charity. Usually, people have no idea where the money they donate goes.”

I met Erin 3 years ago when I was Chair of the SCORE Chapter in Portland, Oregon and Erin managed the office over the summer. Within just a few days, at 19, she was on her own and making positive changes to the way our office was run. Back then, as a business counselor, it was clear that this young woman had what it takes to change the world.

And the stats so far:
–100 toys and 50 blankets were donated to Nashik’s Adharashram Orphanage, where the orphanage’s 145 children were formerly playing with sticks and tires.
–Over 125 blankets more were donated to rice paddy workers, a hospital, an orphanage and Kokanni tribal people in remote Harrsul.
–$355 was raised
–12 people donated

“Word at the tea stand is that this is one of Nashik’s coldest winters in decades. Please contribute anything you can ($2.05USD for a blanket that can warm an entire family) through paypal to Nashik.seva@gmail.com. The blanket and toy drive is going on through January and has paired with Learning and Ideas of Tibet organization to bring blankets to children and families in the coldest regions of the Himalaya Mountains. With an unprecedented ZERO administrative fees, every penny goes to bringing blankets and toys to the neediest castes of India.”

The money to feed, clothe and hydrate the world does exist as loose change in your pocket or purse, so just stick your hand in there and pull it out. This is after all micro charity and every little bit does get to them.

Through paypal to Nashik.seva@gmail.com

3 years ago, on January 11th, Akash Mehta published a post outlining 8 Top Tips for Young Entrepreneurs. Not only did he single out young entrepreneurs but he also focused on Online start-up businesses run by young adults especially those under the age of 18.

photo credit: The Lost Wanderer

Interestingly enough Akash’s 8 tips are relevant for all entrepreneurs and I decided to list and review them here:

1. Be ready to handle the challenges of a business.
Before you begin anything, consider whether or not you really want to be in business. Running a business isn’t for everyone — you may be technically minded, but running a profitable business is a different thing altogether. Still, if you have an idea, and you really want to go into business with it, don’t give up now. You just might it make it big!

2. Plan your idea on paper and be ready to explain it to others.
He suggests writing out your plan with pen and paper and I agree especially with his comment that while writing, you have a lot of time to think out your idea.

3. Make good use of all the resources available to you.
Learning to take advantage of the available resources is going to give you a huge advantage as an entrepreneur.

4. Build your product to be as complete as possible before seeking financial assistance.
Develop your product as much as you can before seeking financial support; if possible, put together a demonstration video. The more you can demonstrate your idea, the more convincing you’ll be.

5. Maintain a professional communication channel.
Preparing stunning introductions and speeches always helps for the times when you have to work locally; keep a standard speech in mind and make sure you can deliver it confidently as needed.

6. Monitor progress and keep track of tasks.
Often a dedicated calendar and marker pen are sufficient, but develop a system that works for you and allows you to keep track of deadlines, pending tasks, and goals.

7. Be prepared to fail.
In the event that your business doesn’t make it big, and you end up pulling out of it, look back on what you’ve learned and consider what you plan to do next time.

8. Have fun!
Always keep an eye on the big picture, and make sure you enjoy what you’re doing. Becoming an entrepreneur requires a lot of enthusiasm — you can face some serious challenges if you don’t take pleasure in your daily business activities.

For more a more detailed read on all the tips please go to 8 Top Tips for Young Entrepreneurs.

The new year has started and you need to focus on getting the business running smoothly and producing as much satisfaction for your customers as well as wealth for you.

photo credit: anneh632

Here are 5 basic tips to help you improve the way the business runs:

1. Was your most important idea for improving your business in 2010 a total flop? This is 2011 so get over it and move along. Look backwards only so that you can see the mistakes to avoid.

2. Keep listening to your customers. You can never know them well enough. They are just like you and their pain keeps changing as their needs and wants change.

3. Something new and unexpected happens this year? Don’t get thrown off course because it wasn’t a part of the business plan. Everything that happens in your business is part of the bigger overall plan of life. Accept it and try to keep it all in focus.

4. Does every customer you satisfy ever stop to say thank you and offer to help you? Stop waiting for a thank you and keep doing your job – satisfying your customers.

5. Keep innovating. Always have new ideas in front of you and your team. Don’t reinvent the wheel only try to make it better.

Paying attention to these 5 basic tips will help you stay on track in 2011.

I was raised by a single mom in a third world country where there were lots of poor and disadvantaged people. Whenever I would belly ache about how tough life was, she would say to me: “Look around you and you’ll find three people who are much worse off than you.”

To those of you who feel desperate because the year was tough and the bottom almost fell out from under you, take a look at this, look around you and then decide if you want to sponsor one of these poor bastards who are worse off than you.

See, like Mom said, look around you and you’ll surely find at least three who are in more desperate straits than you are.

Reach for the skies, 2011 will be better.

If the responsibilities of running a business are simply too much for you to handle and you have weak spots that could hurt the business, then you may want to look for a business partner.

photo credit: Dan..

Here are 4 things to look for.

• Personality Type
Watch out if you both are “Uber alpha” personalities. It can lead to two very opinionated individuals not being able to resolve disagreements
• Complementary skills
You do not want too much overlap in your skill set because you may end up in conflict since you then will be engaged in the same aspects of the business. If your skills are such that you each will have your own territory to manage, chances are you’ll get along that much better.
• Resolving Disagreements
Look for someone who likes to resolve disagreements quickly. Unresolved disagreements can be very harmful to both of you and can spill over to your employees.
• Who will be chief
If neither of you can support the other as chief, then you won’t be able to work together. The company must have a leader especially if there will be employees.

Once you find the right person and they have the same goals as you do, then you are close to realizing your ideal business partner.