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Is Your Business Playing to Win Or Not To Lose?

by admin on Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 | 1 Comment

In my post of yesterday, I wrote about the prevailing attitude that I had during the development phase of my small business – one of the first spas in the world for men – and throughout the two and half years that I was running the business.

The prevailing attitude was ‘This business can’t fail.”

The concept of my small business was to create a place where men could enjoy personal care services designed to help them look and feel their best in a comfortable, masculine environment.

How could a business like that fail?

And, by the way, the business hasn’t failed.

It was the relationship with my investors that failed.

Because I believed that my business could not fail, I made certain decisions – decisions that I would not have made if I felt that the business could or likely would fail.

In other words, I expected abundance, not scarcity.

I expected lots of clients, a steady stream of revenue, and success.

And because I expected success, I created a company that could succeed.

I founded my spa for men on three key watchwords: commitment, consistency and continuity.

I wanted a staff that was committed to the business, offering services of consistent quality, in order to create continuity with our clients.

To achieve that, I had to hire and retain good people. I could not afford to have a revolving door of service providers. If I did not retain my staff, I could not achieve the Three C’s that were the cornerstone of the business: commitment, consistency and continuity.

And that meant I had to pay my staff right from the beginning -before we had any clients. If I had only paid them a “fee per service”, with no services to deliver, they would have left within couple of days.

The belief that the business could not fail informed virtually every decision that I made.

Paying the staff an hourly wage was just one of them.

If you are thinking of starting your own small business, ot if you already have a small business, are you expecting abundance or scarcity? Are you playing to win or not to lose? Do you believe that your business cannot fail, or that it likely will?

Your belief system will determine how you develop and run your business.

If you have investors, as I did, you had better make sure that they share your belief system.

“Are we playing to win or playing not to lose?”

Make sure everyone has the same answer.

What is the "Mikey Factor" in Your Small Business?

by admin on Sunday, July 19th, 2009 | Comments Off

Back in 1981, I was just starting my career in television production, and working as the Unit Manager on a location drama. One day, I learned a lesson that would serve me well some 20 years later, when I came to develop a small business. The lesson that I learned in 1981 was that any small detail can really screw up a production. This is how I described it in my book entitled “Don’t Let Your Dream Business Turn Into a Nightmare”:

One day, one of the lighting guys wasn’t feeling well and left the set early. At the end of the shooting day, word was sent out to the set from the production office that the call time for the following day was being moved up from 7 a.m. to 6 a.m., because the production had fallen behind schedule, but the lighting guy didn’t hear the announcement because he had gone home early.

And you, as the Unit Manager, didn’t think of calling him at home to inform him of the scheduling change.

Ordinarily, that might not be a big deal, but this time, it was.

Because -the next morning, as the convoy of production vehicles was pulling out of the television station to make its way to the set – a small town about an hour north of the station –the huge lighting truck remained in place – and a bolt of white hot terror ran from the top of your head down to your toes, as you realized that the driver of the lighting truck was still in bed, because you hadn’t thought to call him to tell him about the change in call time.

Soon there would be 40 people standing around on the set while the lighting crew was waiting for the truck to arrive so that they could set up for the first scene– and whatever time they had hoped to pick up by virtue of the earlier call time would be entirely lost.

So you got into the truck yourself – and without a license to drive a rig that big or any idea of where the gears were – you willed the vehicle to the set – sweat pouring down your face –and you never forgot how that felt, for the rest of your career in television production – or the rest of your life.

The fellow whom I forgot to call was named Mike, and everyone called him “Mikey”.

Forgetting to call “Mikey” almost ended my career in television production before it began.

But the lesson that I learned stayed with me -and so, when I was developing my small business, which was a spa for men, I made a list of everything that I felt could go wrong – every single small detail that I could think of – that had the power to ruin my business.

And I checked that list every single day.

If you are developing a small business, or if you are already running one, ask yourself “What is the ‘Mikey Factor’ that could ruin or damage my business if I forget to do it. Is it insurance, a security system, labor regulations or building codes?

It takes a lot to make a business successful, but the smallest details can make it fail.

The Top of One Mountain is the Bottom of Another

by admin on Saturday, July 18th, 2009 | Comments Off

When I was developing my small business, which was a spa for men, I learned a very valuable lesson, although I did not realize it at the time.

It was November of 2004, and I had just returned from a trip to Vancouver, during which I had made a presentation to two prospective investors – and, subsequent to the presentation, they agreed to provide the bulk of the financing for my small business. The following day, we had a meeting and we all shook hands on the basic terms of an agreement to go forward. When I returned home to Toronto, I felt as if I were sitting on top of a mountain, until I realized that I was at the bottom of another one. Here is a brief excerpt from my book:

It is Saturday -the day after your triumphant return from Vancouver – and for the moment, you are sitting on top of the world.

For a brief moment.

Because – you don’t actually have the money for your dream business -not yet.

You have an agreement in principle. You don’t have a signed agreement. And you won’t get the money until you do.

And – while you are on the subject of what you don’t have -yet – you may as well include: a location, a designer, a contractor, a product line, a bank account, a line of credit, a Small Business Loan, a website, a software program, a security system, a telephone, a staff, a logo, a marketing plan, marketing materials…. and, you have promised your investors that your dream business will launch in June, 2005- exactly seven months from now.

What I did not know at the time, was that the very lesson that I was learning in the development phase of my small business would apply once the business opened. Every time I thought that I had climbed a mountain -by having the best day, the best week or the best month – I would find that I was at the bottom of another mountain – facing the worst day, the worst week or the worst month.

One of the most important – and painful -lessons that I learned in running my small business is that every single day you are at the bottom of another mountain.

If you accept that, you may be able to enjoy the climb.

Make Sure People Can Get To You If You Are the One Who Gets It

by admin on Friday, July 17th, 2009 | Comments Off

If you have read my book entitled “Don’t Let Your Dream Business Turn Into a Nightmare”, then you know that I started a small business and ran it for two and half years before I had a falling out with my investors that turned my dream business into a nightmare.

You may not know that, in addition to promoting my book with a kind of evangelical zeal in hopes of helping other would-be entrepreneurs avoid the heartbreaking experience that I had, I also create marketing and communications tools for businesses through another company which I founded. In this latter capacity, I often contact companies -either by phone or email – to introduce myself and to pitch them on the marketing and communications services that I can provide.

Now – when I call up a company to pitch them on an idea which I believe can help them sell more of their products or services, of course I am trying to build my own business, but I am also trying to help them build their business. And, if I didn’t think I could help them, I really wouldn’t be wasting my time or theirs.

A couple of weeks ago, I called up a company that sells products online, with an idea that I felt could really help them sell more of their products. Have you ever tried to contact a large online retailer to see if you can speak to someone in the marketing department? If you have, then you know what I’m talking about.

However, I persevered, and was finally connected to someone in the marketing department who agreed to take a couple of minutes to listen to my idea. I succinctly explained the service that I could provide, and how I felt that it could help them sell their products online. The person to whom I was speaking expressed interest and requested that I submit a proposal in writing, which I did, promptly.

Yesterday I called back to follow-up on the proposal, which was submitted via email, as requested, to see if it had been received and to check on the status. This time, I was unable to get through to the person who had requested that I submit the proposal. I was told that she was not going to take my call unless I was one of their existing clients – “No, no, I explained to the person on switchboard, I am not a client, I am calling to follow-up on a proposal that I submitted at your request.” “Well, she’s not going to take your call” was the response, and what was not stated but implied, “Take a hike”.

Now, let’s just say that my idea is a really good one. I can tell you that it is because I adapted it from one of my mentors who happens to be one of the real gurus of internet marketing.

Let’s just say that my idea (his idea, really) would help this company sell more of their products online.

What if I never call back because I was treated so rudely by someone who doesn’t own the company?

When I ran my small business – one of the first spas for men in the world – I did not answer every phone call that came in. I had a staff of young gals who provided services in the spa, and they took turns answering the phone. But I made sure that everyone who called in with some kind of marketing idea – something that might just help my business – got a return call from me.

Why? – because I understood that a great marketing idea could come from anywhere – and that as the founder of the business I could not afford to miss out on a great idea by having someone who didn’t get it dismiss it out of hand.

If anyone was going to reject an idea that could help me grow my business, it was going to be me.

If you are the one who gets it in your small business, make sure that people with good ideas can get to you. Otherwise, you may be missing out on a really good idea from someone like me.

How the Dumbest Comment I Ever Heard Became the Smartest

by admin on Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 | Comments Off

In the summer of 1982, I was producing a documentary on missing children, one of the first network programs produced on this subject. We were examining three types of missing children cases; stranger abductions, in which a child is taken by someone that the child and child’s family doesn’t know, parental abductions, in which a child is abducted by one of the parents, most often in a custody battle, and runaways.

The parental abduction case which we were following involved a 13-year-old girl who had been abducted, allegedly, by her father – at least, she had not been returned to her mother after a weekend visit with the father. The child and her father had been missing for almost a year.

One day a call came into the television station where I was producing the documentary, stating that the detective who was handling the parental abduction case was avilable for an interview. I was out with the director on another shoot, so the host of the show grabbed a cameraman from the newsroom and went out and did the interview. When she got back, she left the interview tape on my desk to view with the director of the show when we got back from our shoot.

When my colleague and I put the tape into the playback machine, the first thing we heard was the host asking the detective a very logical question: “Why is it so hard to find missing people?”

What she meant, and what we had all been wondering was, “How can a father and his teenage daughter avoid being caught for almost a year?” -that was what we all wanted to know.

But the detective said “Well, it’s always hard to find missing people, until you locate them, and then it’s easier to find them.”

The director and I heard this and began to roar. I cannot ever remember laughing harder. Yes, detective, it would be a lot easier to find missing people once you’ve located them, since they are then no longer missing.

I always considered the detective’s answer one of the dumbest comments I had ever heard in my life. (What he meant, of course, was that until you know where the missing person is located – i.e. in what city -you really have no idea where to begin searching.)

Until, I started a small business.

Until, I followed the advice of lawyers, accountants and business consultants and thought I did everything right.

Until things went very wrong, and all of the people who had told me that I was doing everything right started telling me how I had done everything wrong.

It’s always hard to know if a business is going to succeed until you try it – then, if it doesn’t work, it’s a lot easier to say that it isn’t going to work.

Just like the dumb detective said.

Guess he wasn’t so dumb after all.

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