Exorcism, Zombies, & Entrepreneurial Books

I received a note from a teacher recently about my 9 years old’s performance. Apparently, she was doing really well in everything, but suddenly started slacking in writing. I sent a note back that read, 

“Yeah, she hasn’t been the same since the exorcism.” 

Perhaps this was immature. Perhaps it hinted at a lack of concern for my daughter. But,  fortunately for me, the teacher had a sense of humor and I did not  receive a visit from child services. It actually worked out quite well. The teacher had a sense of humor and we hit it off. My daughter may even get a bit more attention in class because of it. 

But even if this didn’t go so well and I did get that child services visit, I’d still do it again. Life is short and I want to associate with people who do not have sticks jammed so far up somewhere that you can’t interact with them like normal human beings are suppose to. 

So where’s all this going? Well, I’ve written a book about entrepreneurialism at the urging of a business research consultant down in New Orleans. She wanted to market my technology commercialization business and suggested an online form or tutorial might be beneficial. 

So I did. Rather proud of the work. It’s a short ebook, under 200 pages, that sequences entrepreneurial concepts from concept to launch. I use the sequence charts in it regularly to keep myself organized and on task. My clients love the overview and also the sequencing. 

The book is in three parts, discussion of concepts, student exam with answer key, and being the guy who jokes about exorcism, an application of concepts in a post zombie apocalyptic world. Yeah I know, I’m not being serious enough for some folks. But I’m not writing it for them. I’m writing for the business student who can’t stand the thought of suffering through yet another boring business book. The teacher who wants to engage students. And for entrepreneurs who have a life and personality that might give them a shot at success. 

Business can be fun. And if you’re not enjoying the process of building your business, quit and get a job. 

Feel free to comment, rant and ridicule below. I won't care.

You can get a copy of "Surviving

On Amazon Kindle

Customer Centric Planning - Color

It makes me want to scream! There's a process to developing a business. But nearly every client I've had does it backwards. Problem is that they're married to the business, can't let go of any part of it and can't stand anyone telling them, especially consultants who have just walked into the door, telling them what to do with the business they have worked on for months or years. I know because I use to be one of them.

Let's look at some examples from personal experience.

#1. COLOR: My clients are attracted to a clean light look.

I worked with a baker who insisted his logo be simple and clean using light pastel blue and green. Problem is he couldn't identify who his customers were much less know what they wanted.

After some research we discovered that the actual demographic when considering look took a backseat to psychographics. Nearly all well financed and researched similar businesses (this is a shortcut to expensive research and testing) focused on earth tones in the rich orange, red and yellow spectrum. This psychographic color pattern has been known to create a warm freshly-baked feeling and induce spending in most humans, globally. The same goes for most coffee shops. Check out a Starbucks next time you're in or take a peak at McDonald's web site for the preponderance of red, yellow, orange and brown.

We put this to the test at the Indonique Tea & Chai Cafe in New Orleans. Customers were asked what scone they liked best in one trial and what chai was preferred in another. There were two options in each trial. One used an edgy black and steel looking packaging design, the other had a rustic earth tone and ethnic feel. In both trials, the customer was tasting the same exact scone and chai. But in each trial, the earth toned packaging was preferred 90% of the time. Humans are just wired that way.

There are numerous points to consider when creating your image. In addition to color, shape, font, spacing, placement, music selection and more count. Seek professional help early and plan before you spend.

Check back tomorrow for frustration #2. Music Selection

Surviving & Profiting from the Zombie Apocalypse - The Rough Guide

An application approach to understanding entrepreneurial concepts and the entrepreneurial sequence. 

Just published this as a free online service at http://entrepreneurialsequence.blogspot.com/ (concepts only) and as a lesson plan that includes student questions and answer key, plus the Zombie Apocalypse application. The lesson plans are available individually or as a complete set on TeachersPayTeachers.com.

I created this as a service for my clients and a quick guide for me when working through new projects. Thought the Zombie application would be fun for students.

NOTE: The Zombie application is only available on TeachersPayTeachers. And the first lesson plan is FREE. I'm hoping to have it as an ebook on Amazon.com soon.

Love some feedback.

Fiscal Cliff & Congressional Incompetence

I just had to weigh in on the whole Fiscal Cliff thing. NOTHING is being done by either party to remedy the situation.

PROBLEM:

The problem I see is that with a tax code that is hundreds of pages long and so damned complicated that only the wealthy can use it to avoid paying taxes.

SOLUTION:

The solution is a flat tax for individuals and businesses making more than $30K per year with no deductions that equals the total spending of government. If a business is paying the same amount as an individual and no deductions allowed, there's no place to hide it.

And if we're reducing spending, let's start with government. Rather than pay Uncle Sam a dollar to distribute 20 cents back to us, allow individuals and businesses to contribute their tax burden directly to a publicly funded operation. That percentage the government spends on itself in the process of collecting and distributing the funds will go instead to where it's needed. Local, State and Federal Agencies will maintain lists of what needs funding for tax payers to choose from. Pick the school library or road construction project of your choice and mail it directly. The whole thing can be done on line. 

As for outsourced American jobs, apply a minimum wage and OSHA regulations to foreign manufacturers. Ban offenders and those nations not complying with inspections from exporting to the US. Oh, and just as OSHA and FDA and every other government institution charges us for the privilege of being inspected, pas on the cost of these inspections to foreign manufacturers as part of import duties.

BENEFITS:

This allows us to see exactly how much congress is spending. It's an actual percentage of what we earn. If we vote for more spending we'll see it immediately in our monthly tax bill.

The tax form will fit on a post card. No more accountants and tax lawyers. These professionals could focus on running and GROWING businesses and not watching the business owners back as they avoid burdensome taxes.

By eliminating the huge percentage Uncle Sam wastes collecting and distributing our taxes, we'll find we have an enormous surplus of cash.

BUT WHAT ABOUT TAX DEDUCTIONS?

No one buys a house for the deduction. We all take advantage of it, but don't buy because of it. Besides with a flat tax and the resulting higher income, the result will be far more profitable without the deduction. MIGHT EVEN HAVE ENOUGH CASH TO PAY FOR HEALTH INSURANCE.

Call my Libertarian rear end crazy, but the solution is simple. Cut out the middle men in congress who created the mess and close an potential loophole for the extremely wealthy.

By the way, if the senate was designed to have equal representation for each starte, why do we need two senators from each state. Wouldn't one do?

Let me know what you think by commenting.

America's Secret Weapon - WOMEN Entrepreneurs

America is sitting on a secret weapon that will take genrations for competing nations like China and India to match, women entrepreneurs. Under-utilized as they are, American women are poised to capture a large percentage of a growing US economy with proper investment in education. 

Consider the competition. In both China and India girls simply aren't valued as much as boys. It's a hard cold fact. In China, according to numerous studies and cited here from the Christian Science Monitor, for ever 118 boys born, only 100 girls are recorded. 1 The situation is just as bad in India with 836 girs being born for every 1000 boys. 2 Sadly, and evidence of skewed priorities, low cost ultrasound equipment can be found in villages of both nations where clean water is still not available. 

Although similar practices have been recorded in some immigrant populations in the US, the situation here is significantly better for females. 

The woman entrepreneur is a largely untapped but growing asset in the world. For China and India, the base for this asset is dwindling. The US must recognize and capitalize on this situation and make entrepreneurial education a priority at all levels of education and facilitate inclusion of this group. Imagine doubling our entrepreneurial talent base while our competitors squander theirs. 

Full disclosure: the author with four daughters has a distinct prejudice. 

1. http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2011/0527/Rise-of-missing-girls-in-India-and-China

2. http://phys.org/news/2011-05-millions-girls-lost-abortion-india.html

Sequencing Entrepreneurial Efforts

If there's a process to entrepreneurialism, there should be a sequence. I'm attempting to depict this as a chart and have posted a draft below.

It hasn't been easy getting to this point. There are so many things to consider. And the usually argument I get in attempting this si that no one size fits all. Another argument against this is that the process is an interdependent and iterative one.

I agree, that there isn't a "one size fits all" process. But every entrepreneur lives and operates on a timeline. Our journals and datebooks are evidence of this. When planning a new venture, you have to decide where to start and what will come next.

My goal in sequencing the process is to graphically depict all the variables that must be considered in starting a new venture straight through to commercializing and beyond and show the relationship of each component. It's part of a larger work, a curriculum for entrepreneurialism.

The image here is my first attempt and I'd love to hear comments and suggestions for improving. I can send the MS Project or iTask file to anyone interested. I'd also love to see what others are doing.

Note:
The Chart is for new ventures from concept to commercialization 
The Chart does not represent duration of events, merely sequence
Many events listed may be ongoing and iterative
Click on Chart to enlarge
Detailed pdfs will be attached to each item in the chart

Thanks!

Failed Pitches - Don't Be Discouraged

You’ve invented the perfect product in your mind. But alas, it was shot down by the experts, the lawyers, the boss, your peers. Reasoning might lead you to think that it was a bad idea. The weight of so many knowledgable folks against it is evidence of that... right? Maybe. But maybe not. It’s at this point you have to do two things. First, don’t panic or despair. Next, ask yourself why did it fail? It’s the “Why” that needs to be analyzed in detail.

Analyzing the “Why” requires we must first assume that all the other guys, the nay-sayers, might be wrong. They might not be creative or intelligent enough to see the potential of what you’ve envisioned. Creativity is a rare quality. They may not possess it. There’s also human nature. Some of the downers might be jealous or more likely afraid. Afraid that you’re out-shining them, afraid your product is out of their reach. Or much more likely, creative thinking requires folks move outside their safe tried and true well tested safety zone.

Once you’ve analyzed these as potential reasons for failure, you’re free to analyze the problem in more detail. The path is a well trodden one for analysis. Is the product possible to create? Is there a market? Can the product be manufactured cheaply enough and sell at an acceptable margin? Can it be marketed to the market segment? There are tools that can be used to answer these questions. I’ve added to some to my Pinterest page here: http://pinterest.com/georgeconstance/bus-develop-strategy-tools/. Porter’s Five Forces, my favorite starting place is a great tool.  

The result of this self and product analysis will lead to more questions that experts can help with. In the ned, you should have a good handle on what the product failed, because it’s not marketable or because your fellow simians can’t take that step.  If the analysis is favorable for product development, perhaps this data can sway the less creative or less visionary. If not, move on to a group that will appreciate it or you.

Final note: The analysis is a complicated one that will nearly always require help. Seek out specialists as we do to put the pieces together. Our big picture structuring is followed by detailed work through strategic partners and hired professionals. Part of what we offer is knowing what information is needed and where to find it. 

Selling to Men or Rather Their Fears

It’s a well known fact that women rule the check book. Any marketer knows that he or she will be selling to women. Really smart companies actually hire women to do this. But there are the occasionally sales that are directed by men. And marketers should be aware. For instance, rarely is it that a woman will purchase a pickup truck or motorcycle. A fly rod? Forget about it. These are manly purchases. So what’s guiding their decision? Fear.

John Travolta in Saturday Night image not available.
See credit at end of article.

Men more often than not purchase stuff for one of two reasons, to impress their fellow Y chromosome bearing buds and to attract the double XX chromosomes. They want to look stronger, sexier, richer and whatever else makes them look alpha. The fear is not looking alpha. There’s where the marketing should focus. Rarely does a man say, “I want that ‘cause it makes me look so damned alpha”. What he will nearly always do is rule out a purchase because it might make him look less than alpha or down right girly. He’ll even state this in so many words.

So how does one market to the alpha’s fear? First, avoid playing to the alpha attributes of your product. You don’t want to be too obvious. Yeah I know there’s the really obvious Old Spice guy approach to selling to manly men. Sales in my house, in fact, have gone through the roof. But I have a wife and four daughters. And they’re buying and wearing the stuff, not me. This was a woman’s purchase. When selling male generated sales, where the man is the decision maker, play to the fear.

Using pickup trucks as an example, position the truck alongside a less manly vehicle and let the comparison do the talking. If you’re really aggressive, have your vehicle hitched to the competitors and drag it across a field. Just make sure your vehicle can actually do that. “Cause they’re gonna push, or in this case, pull right back. Men like that kind of competition. Again, make sure you can win that dangerous game.

 But what about the female influencers. Not so much of an issue here. You just have to allay that male fear again. If you can convince them that a chick is gonna dig the truck or the guy in the truck, you’re in. Again, positioning the other guys as a less than manly purchase will work. Picture a guy, let's call him Ken, in his Alfa Romeo (and skinny jeans) trying to pull a gal’s car out of a muddy ditch. Of course he can’t. But the guy in the truck shows up, let's call him GI Joe, (in boot cut denim) and walks that baby right out of the ditch. Your not selling a truck to this guy, you’re making him look so much more alpha than the guy in the Alfa.

 I love Alfa’s by the way. But I’m already married. Ciao Bella!

 Image from wikipedia page 2006-08-30 03:55 Dineshkannambadi 1776×948 (724928 bytes) Photograph taken by self (Dineshkannambadi) in July 2003 See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Paonroue.JPG

Southwest Airlines - Probably the Best Run Business on Earth

In the past month, I’ve been to New Orleans twice using three different airlines. Two of the airlines, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines departed from Hartford, Connecticut’s Bradley International and both used the same shiny new and roomy 737s.  But that’s where the similarities ended. The American Airline’s experience was miserable. Southwest on the other hand was more than pleasant. So what gives? 

Answer is a single simple one. American Airlines employees were miserable and rude. Southwest employees seemed to actually be having fun, infectious fun. I’m never flying American again. If I have to pay a premium, so be it. I’m flying Southwest. I want to have fun and not be miserable.

So I’ve identified the WHAT made the difference. But WHY is the larger business question. Why are the Southwest folks so much nicer? I checked the southwest web site and found this under the title, The Southwest Experience:

Well mission accomplished guys! But I’m still wondering how the hell do you do that in such a difficult industry for folks to work in. I called the company and talked to a service representative who told me some interesting stuff. She started with a fairly pat answer about employee centered business operations. But after being pressed a bit, she said in her opinion, she was happy at Southwest primarily because she and every other employee there was treated with respect. “Everyone is an equal at the company” she continued from pilot to baggage claim. She then gave me a number to get some employee training information and called immediately.

The Southwest representative I spoke with was extremely friendly and helpful. He told me he wanted to talk to me but was extremely busy as the company had just released its earnings report that morning and scheduled a call for later that afternoon. We scheduled a call and did talk later that day. His interview pretty much confirmed that respect for employees was critical. But he went into more details. Having great employees started with hiring great folks. They needed that "glint in the eye" to start with, he explained. After that, training the employee to serve the customer was critical. The job was providing the best experience to the customer and although there were extensive employee duties lists and guidelines employees were give great latitude to take the initiative to further that goal. They were provided the respect and trust required to go beyond the required job duties. He also added, as other employees had, that everyone from CEO to Baggage claim was on a first name basis.

In addition to respect, another word kept coming up in the conversation, "communication". Southwest works hard to include employees in all planning stages of the business and maintain open communications at all levels. And they started a employee blog to facilitate the dialogue. More importantly, they use it. Likewise they take customer input just as seriously.

Harking back to my evolutionary biology perspective, a business is an organism. All the arts have to work well together. If one part fails, the entire organization may as well. At the very least it will falter. If I was to compare Southwest Air to an organism, it would be an athlete. They just do everything right. By the way, they did turn a profit last year.

Full disclosure: I have no interest in Southwest at all. No stocks, no contracts nor relatives or friends working at the business.

Lesson here is that your employees are the foundation your business rests upon and the face of the business for the customer. There's a limit to what you can provide them in terms of pay and benefits. But respect can be supplied in limitless quantities with equally limitless results. A critical factor in providing respect is open communications.

Challenges Facing New Orleans' Entrepreneurial Market - Part One

The Entrepreneurial climate in New Orleans is no doubt a growing and exciting trend that the city has never experienced before. The BioInnovation Center and the multi-billion dollar Biomedical district in particular and a host of incubators and shared-space operators are all cause for hope in a city dubbed “The city that care forgot”. But there are some real concerns that need to be addressed before the trend can be considered that and not another feel-good fad. 

To become a mecca for high tech ventures, a city has to possess a few characteristics that attract that cut of cloth. Number one is lifestyle. To attract young energetic and entrepreneurial folks, a city needs to possess culture and entertaining venues.  New Orleans no doubt is hands down the nation’s winner in this category. But when the music stops and the tylenol kicks in, there’s some serious business concerns that need to be addressed. This brings us to number two on the entrepreneurial must haves for a city, a responsive and effective government and number three a great educational environment at all levels. Unfortunately for New orleans, numbers two and three go hand in hand. 

True, the move towards charter schools in New Orleans is an exciting move that may generate some real results. But that’s going to take a generation to deliver. The real issue facing the New Orleans entrepreneurial market is a lack of well funded universities that can attract young talent now, foster new technologies and spin off new businesses. There are only two somewhat large universities to speak of in the crescent city, Tulane University and the University of New Orleans, both are at a fraction of their pre-Katrina levels, and a handful of smaller universities. Compare this with Boston’s 60 plus well funded colleges and universities with real and effective partnerships in the for-profit world. 

Just as all the parts of product development are critical and required to work together as a single organism for success, so should all the parts of a healthy entrepreneurial market. Investment in the Biomedical District was a stellar idea. But not including significant investment in higher education at the same time was an unforgivable oversight. 

Likewise, investment in the future in the form of tax incentives for new technologies is weak at best in the state. The region got a new start after Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita. This should have been followed by radical new ideas about taxation and investment. More thoughts on that in another post later.