Top Ten things I wish I had known before starting a business

A friend requested I write this article. These are in no particular order.

1) Cash is King, Queen, Jester, and everything else. 

The most impressive balance sheet won’t save you from an empty bank account. Organic growth requires a significant amount of cash; which leads to point #2.

2) Growing a business is harder than you think

If asked my number one challenge in business, I would say growth. It’s always hard to grow – but paradoxically it’s hard to resist the urge to grow. Managing growth while keeping the eye on the core business is a significant challenge. 

3) Get to know your service providers

Talk to lawyer, accountant and bank managers before you require their services; if you need help it’s easier to ask for it if they already know you and your business.

4) Use social media

Of course, this didn’t exist as a tool when I started my company but in today’s world there’s no excuse for not reaching out to prospective partners, employees, contractors, vendors and customers over social media. I particularly like Twitter for business purposes.

5) Networking

Get to know people, it’s amazing what you can find out by simply talking to peers.

6) Avoid accounts receivable

Try to figure out a way to do your business plan that avoids accounts receivable. Businesses don’t like paying bills any more than people do.

7) Partnerships

Consider partnering with others; it’s a bit of a double edged sword but having the right people on a team with you can make a huge difference in your success.

8) Coaching / Mentoring

Find a business coach or mentor – someone that can bring you back out of the weeds of day to day life and focus on the bigger picture.

9) Business communities are small

Within the city of London, Ontario for example it’s is fairly easy to get to know a lot of the great minds behind London’s business, cultural, arts and governance sectors. If you have a positive reputation it will follow you. But watch out, a negative reputation carries the same consequences.

10) Industry assistance

There are lots of organizations, some of whom have funding grants, to help you out in the early on set of the business world. For small businesses, there is the Small Business Centre and Techalliance. I know in both the cases of SBC and Techalliance they are willing to simply chat with a start up – go talk to them about starting your business.

Learning what opportunities are out there for a hand up is something I wish I had done earlier in starting rtraction.

Those are the ones that quickly come to mind – did I miss any?

Mentor Series: Skip Stocks

I did an interview recently with someone who asked me about the importance of mentors. My answer was very quick to say that mentors have been incredibly important in my life, at home or in business, and that I am truly greatful for some of the wonderful people I have had the benefit of mentoring me.

I then realized – you know, I’m not sure if many of these great people even realized they were being mentors or that they had so positively impacted my life. I made myself promise to rectify that situation. This post is the start of that process.

Skip Stocks is a “Former Marine”. Do not call him an “ex-marine”, or you will learn about their comraderie that extends well past the bounds of the length of their service. He was my boss at Van Waters & Rogers. 

I should not have had the job I did at Van Waters & Rogers. I was 19 years old, fresh out of high school. I was successful getting a job interiew at VW&R because I had HTML in my resume. In 1996 this meant a lot, I suppose. Skip’s predecessor Charles Rice happened to be a huge Star Wars fan. This was very fortunate for me as the only tie I had that I could wear to the job interview was a Star Wars tie. Needless to say, I got the job based on my sense of fashion. For those of you who know me this is not the ideal way for me to get hired.

Charles left shortly after I joined the company. I still remember the meeting invite to “Meet Skip” at a restaurant the day he started. I thought he was kind of odd, given that he had come from sales (I believed at the time that all sales people were one step below daemons).

Skip forged a team of younglings and built a web team that to this day I am still proud to say I was a part of – he was an amazing, pioneering leader in 1996. It is no suprise to me that he has gone on to do great things in his career (Skip’s LinkedIn profile is here).

I remember Skip playing Quake 2 with us. I remember that he would let us play Quake 2 at lunch, until the rest of the IT department complained that THEY couldn’t play Quake 2. I remember his fight to try to defend his team, and even though he lost the battle, we respected him for trying.

I remember Skip saving my life with corn bread after I “Met the Man” and foolishly tried some Louisiana Hot Sauce dished out a bubbling frying pan from a cajun cook. Never. Again. 

I remember Skip saying to someone in the car that “David is the quickest learner I have ever met, and I’ve met some quick learners in my time.” I do not know if he knows that one simple statement has carried me through many times of self doubt. It was only an offhand comment in the car, but it has been a focal point of success for me. 

I remember Skip giving me a raise and then later witholding it because my performance was lack luster. I remember being very angry at him for this; I suspect he did it because of seeing the potential in me and not to be mean. I think Skip pushed me harder than some might have because he knew I was capable of more – and he was right. That didn’t keep me from resenting it at the time.

I remember Skip telling me that in business the best dressed person in the room is assumed to be the boss – I have passed this advice down to others in my time; that doesn’t prevent me from wearing T-Shirts to the office now and again, but I have learned there are times to look and act professional.

I remember Skip seeing a car at the side of the road stalled. I remember him calling 911 and reporting it. I probably asked why he would do that when someone probably already had done so. I remember him commenting that he hoped that if his wife Josie had a similar problem that some other person would call in for his wife. I now err on the side of calling and remember this advice. 

I remember suggesting to Skip that we should move our entire team onto the T1 line at the office. I remember him thinking that was silly. I remember Skip bragging about getting 3.6kps downloads on his 33.6k modem at home. I remember showing Skip a download on the T1 line, and him going to his office to get his computer switched to the T1 network once the speed hit 150kps download.

A few other Skipisms include:

1. “It’s not the years it’s the mileagle” – I have often quoted this one
2. “There will always be work” – still a lesson I have to learn
3. “If you want to be a C-suite executive, you should do a stint in sales” – I never really understood this until recently but until you’ve worked a role that requires you to make a customer happy it is difficult to function at a high level strategic way in a company
4. You need competition – good competitors make you stronger
5. Profit margin is more important than revenue volume
6. A corporate American express card – “With no preset spending limit!” could do magical things

Skip kicked my ass repeatedly (not literally, although I am sure some days he wished he could). He pushed me harder than I thought fair, and then pushed some more. He gave me great advice. He was a natural leader who earned the respect of his team. He is a wonderful human being.

In particular I remember his comment about me being the smartest learner he knows. It amazes me that one small moment like that can make a true impact in someone’s life. 

You should always take any opportunity offered to you to help mentor someone. You never know when a heart felt comment, action or deed will positively imapct the outcome of someone’s life, career or Outlook.

Why being a start up or entrepreneur doesn’t suck

I have been reading quite a few articles recently that talk about how difficult it is to be an entrepeneur/start up/small business owner. Recently I challenged Sarah Prevette on the fact that being an entrepeneur “sucks”.

I will certainly never disagree that being a business owner is hard. And stressful. And some days thankless. It’s not for everyone (and there are some days I wonder if it is even the right fit for me!)

I am fairly sure I would have more hair if I had a nice, stable predictable job. However, I would strongly disagree that it “sucks”. I think if people are complaining about how much it “sucks” to run a business, they’re doing the “grass is greener on the other side” thing and forgetting how much it can suck to be an employee.

Not everyone has a great boss, a great job, or works for a great company. I am sure for some people working away on the daily grind the prospect of owning your own business must look like Valhalla.

It started me thinking about the good things about owning a business and I respectfully submit the following as counter arguements to the fact that “starting up” and owning your own business “sucks”:

1. You don’t have a boss or anyone to be accountable to 
2. You get to pick your co-workers; and if you don’t like a co-worker, you can actually do something about it
3. You get to lead, show initiative, be passionate
4. If you’re not feeling good, you don’t have to call in to ask permission to use a sick day
5. If you want to watch your child’s dance recital, you can go without having to worry about whether it will cost a vacation day
6. If you don’t like your job you are ultimately the one that can change it
7. You know what the health of your company is; you’ll never be laid off unexpectedly
8. You should be in a preferable tax situation, allowing you to keep more of your money
9. You should be able to write off several personal expenses [ if point #8 and #9 don't make sense to you - run - don't walk - to an accountant right now. Now. I'll wait ]
10. If you don’t like the way something is where you work, you change it. You. 

Most people will tell you that owning a business is rewarding when you look back at what you’ve built and feel pride. I agree, this is true; but I don’t know that running a business should be seen as a painful along the way. I don’t think that building a business should be solely on the basis of raising liquidity and selling. I think owning a business and creating a start up is about having a passion for something or seeing an opportunity to do something better than anyone else and GOING for it. 

I’ll close with the old cliche – if running a business was easy everyone would be doing it; but those of us that are running a business should realize the good along with the bad, lest we turn away a new generation of entrepeneurs. 

Wrap up notes from Gearing Up for Growth 2011

I had a wonderful day at the Techalliance Gearing up for Growth conference; it is the second year they’ve put on this conference in London, Ontario and once again Techalliance did a great job lining up some dynamic keynote speakers.

We heard from Sarah Prevette of Sprouter.com, Robert Herjavec of Dragon’s Den, and Bill Johnson former CEO of McDonalds Mexico and Canada. It was a very dynamic mix.

If I could summarize the topics across all 5 topics it would be this:

1. Find joy in what you do – be the best at it – and be the joy in others lives (customers, employees, etc) – this shows leadership.
2. Find what you are good at and do that to the exclusion of others – put your focus on your strengths, discard weaknesses
3. If you’re a leader, talk to people. Find out what they want to do. Empower them.
4. Tackle challenges head on
5. Treat your customers as your best asset
6. Listen to your customers
7. Create an excellent brand and live up to it

Here, in no particular order, are some jot notes from the day on how to be a more effective leader, mentor, business owner, or team leader:

From Sarah Prevette:

1. Pass off the credit for success to others, take all the blame – no one will care about your business as much as you (I actually disagree with this a little bit, but I would agree that no one else will spend as much time worrying about it as you!)
2. Perseverance – running a business is a constant struggle for success; don’t believe the hype of perceived success
3. Eat your frogs in the morning – putting off unpleasant decisions weigh you down, get over it early and move on with your day
4. Perseverance – running a business is a constant struggle for success; don’t believe the hype of perceived success.
5. Put your business description into 3 words – make it memorable, repeatable – if people can’t explain your business they can’t recommend you
6. Execute – sitting around planning doesn’t make you successful – push things out the door as quickly as possible
7. Best way to get a customer is to ask them for feedback on your product. Become an evangelist for your customer
8.  Customer feedback should be a key part of your business strategy. Start with one client, treat them like a god
9. Trying to keep entrepreneurs with ADD focused is a challenge – find a team to hold you accountable
10. Keys to success: Resourcefulness - #1 trait – they think creatively, the people that can always find solution, surround with great people to mitigate this ADD
11. Doing a start up is the same reason that people climb everest – it’s a thrill
12. In order to be a start up founder / entrepreneur – you have to be crazy – 85% of start ups fail in 1st year, 95% by 5 years 

From Bill Johnston:

 

1. Good entrepreneurs know the difference between financial success and values-driven success
2. Your organization cannot read your mind; leaders need to communicate with their teams.
3. Bringing women on to the board at McDonalds was critical culture change – 2 officers left because of women being brought on board
4. When creating corporate culture, you’ll need to match the local culture
5. Another keynote saying that everyday they looked forward to going to work – find something they really enjoy and go do it
6. When McDonalds introduced salads it took 2 years for people to actually buy them – McDonalds sells what people want to buy
7. At McDonalds, they have the 3-leg stool; Franchisees, Suppliers, Corporation
8. Simple questions can empower your staff to make a difference. Like McDonalds’ “What have you done for a customer today?”
9. When McDonalds opened in Russia, people thought of it not as “Big Mac” but as “The place that does not run out of food.”
10. Someone who makes the decision is empowered to make it happen – let staff decide course of action and back them
11. When Pizza was launched at McDonalds, Pizza Pizza revenue went up 20% – why? Exposure to pizza in the marketplace
12. Bill Johnson, CEO of McDonalds, would call back every customer that sent a letter of complaint
13. Every Friday the CEO of McDonalds blasts out a message to all 80,000 staff. Recommend that we do that starting today
14. Your job as a leader and communicator is not to say ‘no comment’.
15. Electronic devices are great, however, it is important to sit down without them at least twice a year to LISTEN to direct reports
16. Don’t be shy about letting employees provide feedback about what they want to do

From Robert Herjavec

1. Are you the source of joy in your company? It’s much better to be the source of joy than the source of pain
2. Your corporate culture isn’t something that you need to write down, it’s defined by how you live everyday
3. The great equalizer in business is 24hrs. We all have the same time, it’s how we use it that makes the difference
4. A great thing about technology is nobody cares where you came from – they care about the value you provide
5. Stop chasing the money and be great at something – pick your niche and focus
6. If you want to be world class at something then you need to find your strength and be great at it
7. Change is difficult – it causes people stress – managing change is critical to a business
8. Customers never leave good enough for potentially better – you need a strong go to market strategy
9. The biggest lies we tell in business are the lies we tell ourselves 
10. Success in business comes down to not necessarily have the great inventions, it’s execution that makes the businesses successful (Apple is a case study in this!)
11. Most successful businesses do the same thing as everyone else, they just do it better.
12. A good brand is what people think of you before you walk in the door. A great brand is is when you live up to that vision. 
13. Most small technologies don’t focus on branding enough – a great brand matches what you do
14. Driving a business is like driving a car -  in driving a car, where you look is where you go; in business where you put the your focus is where you go 
15. It’s OK to put an idea down but never OK to put the person down
16. Good entrepreneurs know the difference between financial success and values-driven success

 

There was a break out session from Scotia Bank on Forecasting; it’s not my area of focus but I found a few interesting tidbits therein:

1. We need community colleges and Universities to work collaboratively to provide skilled workers- allow credit transfers, etc
2. London companies should look at low weight, high value items. If energy prices spike it’s still economical to ship product 
3. When looking at US you have to separate government from business – US businesses are still driving global economy
4. Opportunity is in our challenges – emerging markets, aging population, currency
5. 20 billion of revenue is taken from Ontario – average income in Ontario is lowest of all provinces. We need to rexamine transfers 
6. Canadian currency is likely to stay between .95 and 1.05 over next 5 years – plan for currency risk
7. Plan for higher interest rates, if you think you are going to have interest rates this low forever you’re delusional
8. Predicting 1-2% Bank of Canada rate increase over the next 2 years. (approximately 1% per year)
9. 75% of global economic growth is from emerging markets. North American car market will be not reach post recession values soon
10. Before recession, 80% of Canadian exports went to the US. Now reduced to 75%
11. The road to recovery is not going to take us back to where we were post recession. If you’re using old economic models, you fail

We also heard from Dr. Alex Sevigny on some social media aspects specifically some notes on Social Media:

1. People are perceiving Facebook as a physical destination like a town – people are grouping themselves according to affinity
2. You are what you do – on social media speech is an act and is a permanent, material object
3. “If you lose dollars for the firm, I will be understanding. If you lose reputation for the firm, I will be ruthless.” – W Buffet; protecting your brand online is a key aspect of a social media strategy
4. Canadians used to have 3 close friends 10 years ago; now we have 1.5 – Is Social Media the cause of this or a symptom of the results?
5. In 2011 Facebook gets the biggest share of media minutes, including other web, SMS, TV, etc
6. 90% of Canadians trust opinions of those in their social graph (friends, followers, etc) over that of the experts

 

Summary of the Mayor’s Economic Council

A few people have requested a summary from the Mayor’s economic council meeting this morning. It’s worth noting that a full report is coming out in May.

However, it was nice to hear today from the various different pillars of the community and what the collective agreement is on how to move London forward as a culturally diverse economic powerhouse (my words).

There are several themes that emerged from all sectors – in my opinion these are key things to look at as if we’re hearing the same thing from health care as we are from technology and the arts world, then it’s an obvious need.

1. A chance to celebrate our successes as a city – there’s a sentiment that lots of great things happen in this city but we do not acknowledge or celebrate them. Several groups blamed the local media (and especially the Free Press apparently) for this but I also think there is an element of not wanting to toot-or-own-horn that comes from London organizations
2. The need to “clean up” the downtown core and more specifically, the need for large institutional players such as Fanshawe and Western to put anchor tenants into the down town core as part of the revitalization efforts. Many groups felt a vibrant core was critical to our long term success.
3. The City of London needs to be known both internally and out as “Open for Business”; reduce red tape and bureaucracy and make the city of London more accessible / easier to operate. There’s a frustration within the business community that when a business is growing it is often held back by city hall – which is detrimental to both the city and the organization looking to expand.
4. Implement a single point of access to make it easier to navigate the complexities of dealing with the city – follow the Service Ontario model to make it easier to go to one spot to do whatever it is that you need
5. Several groups mentioned needing an industry liaison between city hall and businesses, one group even calling for the city to employ Account managers to assist businesses – the same group had the idea that these account managers would be also responsible for tracking interested leads/prospective accounts in a more traditional sales role
6. We need to break down silos within the city and have all industry sectors working together to promote the city of London
7. We need to be Ambassadors for London and ensure that in our day to day life we’re talking about the city that we live in, it’s potential and the fact it is “Open for Business”

I also learned that the real estate developers seem to think that the entire department at city hall in charge of dealing with land developers need to be sacked, and if I can read undertones, they also felt that they should be tar and feathered as well.

It will be interesting to see what comes of this report and how many action items are actually implemented because of it. I can say that I believe Mayor Fontana is doing a good job at getting people motivated and passionate about their city and even if that is all this process does it will be a worthwhile exercise.

 

 

I believe in Santa Clause

Earlier this month, I saw a tweet on Twitter that made me cranky. It was something to the effect of “Now that you’re an adult and you know Santa’s not real, come and party.” Some people think that deceiving your children about Santa is wrong. Some think Santa is a silly children’s myth.

I responded to the tweet that the individual was wrong, but haven’t elaborated further. Santa IS real. And here’s the proof.

First, you have to take a bit of a trip back in time. I found out the “truth” when I was 5 years old. Considering I have an 11 year old and two 8 year olds that are still excited about Santa, I have to say that’s too early to find out. However, my mother explained to me that Santa Clause did exist and that his spirit lives on through other people’s good will.

You see, in this my mother is brilliant and she was 100% spot on. 

Second, you have to have a bit of a history lesson. The Wikipedia article on Santa is fascinating. Saint Nicholas was a 4th century Greek Bishop who was famous for giving gifts to the poor. Interestingly enough, some of our Yule time traditions can be perhaps traced back to Odin, a pagan god who would place gifts or candy in children’s shoes left by the fireplace. In other words, the practice of giving and exchanging gifts has been going on along time around this time of year, in some cases pre-dating Christianity reaching Germanic cultures.

Interestingly enough, Christmas was banned by the Protestants in England in the 16th century. And yet Saint Nicholas is a patron Saint – although according to the article it was the influence of paganism traditions and a Roman Catholic saint so that the tradition was seen as Roman Catholic and/or pagan. Because of the similarities between Santa Claus and Odin, some have commented that Santa is actually a pagan concept.

And here’s where it all goes a bit crazy for me – the concept of gift giving around this time of year is not unique to any particular culture, religion or region. 

So back to Santa being real. 

I’ve seen mathematical calculation showing that it’s physically impossible for Santa to make his rounds given the distance he has to travel and amount of time he has to do it. And yet he does. And the simple answer to how he does it is – Magic.

I’m not talking about the type of magic that exists to stop time, speed up the harvest, or teleport anyone. I’m talking about the kind of magic that John Lennon had. The kind of magic that Martin Luther King had. The kind of magic that exists in some people to inspire others. The kind of magic that makes other people afraid. The ability to inspire us to help our fellow humanity. The ability to inspire us to give.

The magic of Santa Claus is to inspire us to give gifts to our love ones, to feast with them, to spend time with them, to slow down. Santa’s magic is inspiring millions of parents – MILLIONS – world wide to stay up late and fill their stockings, put presents under the tree, and eat cookies.

So – if Santa is not real – than how do millions of children wake up Christmas morning to toys, smiles and laughter? He is real. He has magic. I’m not sure what to call his magic, but I suspect that it is love.

 

Hello Teenage Years -

My oldest daughter turns 13 in about 3 hours. 

TEENAGER! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

However, I’m not terribly worried about this particular teenager. I was originally going to post about how great she is but then I remembered my wife already did a great article on her blog a few weeks ago.

You can read that post, and then come back. I’ll wait.

Instead, I reflected a little bit today on 13 years of being a parent and the conclusion I’ve come to is that it is the easiest job in the world to describe how to be a good parent. It’s the hardest thing in the world to execute on effectively.

The simplest definition I’ve come to for being a good parent is: Giving your child a healthy, loving environment in which they can grow to be their own person.

It sounds so incredibly easy, but it is so incredibly difficult. Kate is writing an interesting 7 point series on parenting. In particular I enjoy the article on genetics as one of the more significant things I’ve found is that children are who they are – for good, bad, or otherwise – and it’s our job as parents to figure out the right way to help them be the best they can be with their particular gifts and quirks.

Why is it so hard, then, if the definition is so simple? Life. Being Human.

How does one give themselves totally over to parenting without losing their own personal identities, hobbies, interests, etc.? Throw into the mix the demands of career advancement, employment, relationships with friends, and family you can get pulled in any direction any time.

I’ve been a father now for 13 years and I still feel every day I am learning. I’m grateful for an intelligent wife with a psychology background as I think that has accelerated my ability to understand and relate to children more completely. 

Lastly, I think there’s a general lack of recognition for being a good parent. There’s no “Parent of the Year Award”. No boss to come say “Hey, I think you did a great job defusing that temper tantrum today.” However, you’re quick to get glares in the grocery store if it is your toddler to have the meltdown over a box of candy in the check out aisle.

Oh – brief confession – when it’s your child, I enjoy it; it makes me feel better about my parenting. Sorry. You can feel the same way about me when my child has the meltdown. Deal?

The rewards from parenting do come forward though when you look at your children and think “Hey, I had some part in creating that awesome person.” 

I think I am going to try to do that more.