Inexperienced Entrepenuers

Often people talk about the value of a college education over a high school diploma, this is even true for the small business owner. In the article it states "according to Hiscox Director Kevin Kerridge, new business owners often have energy and passion for their products and services, but tend to neglect basic business skills." I am very surprised how business owners seem to general business skills. “Cash flow, human resources, marketing and insurance issues can seem boring, but are hugely important,” Kerridge said in a statement accompanying the survey results. It's great that all of these topics have been included in my major. Believe it or not even I get bored in class (hard to believe), but it's actually going to be relevant material regardless of what path I decide to take after college.

Also contained was a list of ten common errors made by starting entrepreneurs:
1. Going it alone
2. Asking too many people for advice
3. Spending too much time on product development, not enough on sales
4. Targeting too small a market
5. Entering a market with no distribution partner
6. Overpaying for customers
7. Raising too little capital
8. Raising too much capital
9. Not having a business plan
10. Over-thinking your business plan

I think these are all great tips from this WSJ article. I do not understand how people can decide to go into business without having a plan, it seems like common sense, but I guess not. Using some of these tips should help an entrepreneur swim and not sink in this recovering economy.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703467004575463460389523660.html

Zac Long

Father

This article was about how many great entrepreneurs have had great father that has backed them not only financially but also mentally. It talks about how the founder of the Samuel Adams beer was backed by his father. His father even backed him even after several years early he tried the same thing and failed. As we know now that Samuel Adams is doing quite well in market that is not easy to join. The article also states many other entrepreneurs that became successful because they had the backing of their father. When reading this article I began to think of how my father has done the same thing for me also. He was always pushing me to do whatever I wanted to do. He was always there for me not matter what I did even if it was the wrong thing. He knows how to put everything in perspective for me. If not for my father I would more than likely not be where I am today. It makes sense that entrepreneurs need a strong figure not necessarily a father that will be behind them no matter what. It takes a great deal of courage to start your own business. That’s why it is always good to have someone like your father there to be able to talk to. They will have your best interest at hand and will always help you in any situation. So to make my point entrepreneurs that have a good backing system I feel will have a better success rate.

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jun2008/sb20080612_884694.htm

Posted By: Jeff Blankenship

Maintaining Morale While Delivering Bad News

This article was a response to a small business owner's question. Emily Maltby, a CNN Money writer, responded via blog about how to give bad news to your employees while trying to minimize any negative feelings. Richard Ryan owns a small restauraunt that was struggling to stay afloat during the heart of the recession. He only had six employees, but all six lived off of their job at Richard's southwestern grille. His problem was that he had to tell his employees that their hours had to be cut in half. Here's the advice that Emily had...

First, she says that no matter what bad news you are giving them, be sure to be confident when delivering the news. She states that employees aren't dumb. They probably already know that there is trouble brewing. They know the effects a recession has on a business. They also are likely to notice the decrease in customer traffic, so the chances are that they have put two and two together. So as an owner or manager you have to be open and honest.

You acknowledge what they already know and then tell them what changes have to be made in order to remain open. When delivering your message, it's a good idea to include a message of hope. Let them know that by taking these steps you don't anticipate having to close your doors. Most downturns in business that are caused by the economy are temporary. In the article Emily states, "You should try and spell out the expected duration, then paint them a clear picture of what this will ultimately mean for the business when it's over."

Finally, the key to keeping employees motivated is to emphasize to them that everyone within the organization is in it together. The employees should be involved in the planning phases of rebuilding/restructuring. Employees often times have the best ideas on how to contain costs and increase sales.

Delivering bad news is never fun, but as a leader you have to be confident and reassuring when delivering. It's hard to please everyone within an organization but if you effectively send the message your employees will understand the need to step up their game. Leaders just have to roll up their sleeves and assist employees and vise versa in helping the business recover.

Team Three
Sunny Shah

Good To Know...

The article titled "Raising Seed Capital Now: 10 tips" is a helpful guide for small investors to make it big. It is geared toward entrepreneurs who are looking to turn their small dollar signs into the millions, even billions! One tip which I found humorous was to avoid approaching investors in July, August, and December because that is when they are vacationing and taking time off for holidays. Responses would be slow, and quite frankly, they simply just did not want to talk to you while they laid out in a hammock on a sunny beach in the tropics. Another one I enjoyed was skip the jargon. Get to the point. They do not want to listen to you rambling on and on with big words talking up your side. They are regular people, not a Webster Dictionary. For other helpful tips, see the attached link!

Post by: Danielle Trasatti

Article: http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/feb2011/sb20110218_509239.htm

R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Respect. Such a rudimentary idea but often forgotten in the shuffle of the corporate world. I stumbled upon this video (check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW-Q_OctIs8) while browsing around YouTube for inspiration. The man interviewed talks about the importance of respect among owners, managers, employees, etc. in corporations and, more specifically, small businesses. This got me wondering, how much is a small business’ success based on respect and trust? It seems to me that respect is a two-way street. If management respects their employees as people and respects their ideas for business, the employee is likely to do the same in return. Management must respect their employees enough to where they can take constructive criticism and use it for the betterment of their business. Also, if employees feel that their opinions and beliefs are treated with respect, they are more likely to pass that respect onto customers and other businesses they may come into contact with. In my opinion, it is a continual process and will do nothing but help a small business thrive due to the relationship-based nature in which business is conducted. Along with enhancing business, respect can reach beyond business hours, encouraging management and other employees to act beyond their job description by partaking in organizational citizenship behaviors. The only problem that may come into play is determining whether someone is truthfully respectful or if it is all just a façade. All in all, I believe respect is a way of management and absolutely crucial to a small business’ ultimate success. So, do you think respect among management and employees in a small business is as important as I have made it out to be? Or is it all just a mask used in order to conduct business and nothing more?

Posted By: Brittany Meredith

Is corporate culture a small business’ key to success?

Did you ever think there could be such a thing as relaxation at work? Well, at the software company Daxko there is. When the current CEO, David Gray, took leadership of the company in 2003, he took the position that company culture is the key to a competitive advantage. In this small business, there is an intense amount of work required so he believed that his employees needed something to keep them productive. As the article states, no employee has their own office, video game breaks are encouraged, and vacation days are not hard to come by. By providing the aforementioned incentives, among others, Daxko’s employees have been proven to perform better. Who wouldn’t want to play the Wii on their break and not get fired? At the company website, they state their values as follows: integrity without compromise, sense of ownership, synergistic teamwork, and fun. This shows that the company is extremely dedicated to maintaining a company culture in which their employees and business can thrive. They even have a blog in which every employee contributes to (even the CEO), providing another outlet of communication for the company.

I personally would love to work for a company like this. There is certainly something to be said for a company that invests so much into the comfort and well-being of their employees. As a small business, and hopefully a strong group of employees, encouraging open communication is the key. This allows employees to build relations with their peers and be happier in their positions. Daxko’s flexibility keeps their employees stress levels in check and allows them to have a good work-life balance. Although some may view all of the perks as distractions or just a waste of money, if that is what helps employees develop a positive attitude towards their job, I think the sacrifices are well worth it in the long run.

Do you think these types of work incentives would help you do better work for a small business? Is this how you would run your small business?

Article: http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/03/smallbusiness/wii_at_work.fsb/index.htm


Posted By: Brittany Meredith

I'd Love to be a Badger

In class, we talked about the benefits of employees with a positive affective commitment to their organization. Badger Mining Corporation is based out of Wisconsin and specializes in industrial sand. Probably isn't the most interesting field to be in, but this company knows how to show their employees some love! In an article found on CNNMONEY talks about the company's commitment to "treating people right." Some benefits of being an employee of Badger include; 20% profit sharing, 100% health insurance premium coverage, and partly cover the costs of hiring a financial planner. The company also gives employees... or associates as the bosses (coaches) refer to them as, part ownership in the company. What's surprising to me is the fact that the company only has 170 employees.

Most small businesses can barely afford a healthcare package for their employees, yet alone sharing 1/5th of their profit. I guess it helps that the company is the 5th largest industrial sand company. But what I think really justifies the royal treatment is the flatter organizational structure. Associates work in more demanding, self-directed team with less interaction and feedback between them and their coaches. The article notes the need to allow new employees more time to adapt to this type of work environment. Some people simply prefer more structure, that poses as a weak person-environment fit @ Badger. According to the President, Tim Wuest, initially the benefits were a pretty big investment but it has paid-off in the past two decades. It'd be interesting to see what their turnover costs would be. I wonder what their turnover rate actually is, my guess would be <1%.

Makes you wonder if a small company like Badger can avoid to "spoil" their employees why can't the rest of them? It can be as simple as being flexible but I feel like all profiting businesses should attempt to share the wealth. If you ask me, I'd probably reward my employees with gift cards or tickets to sporting events. Why? Because it's more affordable, especially as a small business owner. And honestly, would you be upset if presented a mini shopping-spree to a (reasonable)place. Back to Badger, I like what they've done, you can't encourage and promote organizational citizenship behavior much better than they do.

-Sunny

10,000 Hours

I found this article to be very interesting and it makes a great point on how a small business owner needs to function. The article talks about three people who saw their dream and went at it with everything they had. It tells a person that they must not do anything besides what their mind is set on. The author states that a person with a goal must work on that goal until it comes true. I know this is accurate because with starting your own business it may take several years before your business starts to make a profit. The article says the key of becoming successful is planning it out and spending a long time on the plan. Being a small business owner one will have to continually spend hours on hours trying to make their business the best it can be. I found this article to make great sense to me. I know that it is not brain surgery to know that a good plan and time will make a good strategy, but this article really lets a person know that it will take many hours of hard work for a long period of time to become successful.

-Jeff Blankenship
Team 3

Link-http://www.smallbusinessbrief.com/articles/inspiration/010414.html

Not Innovative? No Problem!

Not being the most the inventive person might not actually hurt your chances of survival in the small business world.  Personally I can relate to this article as well, I am not creative myself either.  I liked the example of the pet rock, it seems to be the worst possible product idea, but was actually very viable.  There are many aspects that going to being successful in business, while having a great product is helpful, it’s not always necessary.  Having a sound business plan, the financial means, and the resources are all important factors but I think the biggest key to success is an individual’s personal desire.  If you have the desire to go into business yourself, don’t get stressed over the type of business or products you wish to sell.

The odds are not always going to be with small business owners, but if you don’t take the chance you may never know what could have been.

What products or businesses can you recall that seem like a really poor concept that turned out to be successful?

-Zachary Long

Article: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/02/prweb5012374.htm

A Picture Says a Thousand Words

      Photo sharing has evolved immensely over the decades. It has gone from simply uploading pictures so you can print them off, to now having many different venues to share and edit pictures to share with friends. Flickr, Myspace, Facebook, Photobucket, etc. have turned the once simple photo avenue into a competitive field. A new, and popular, photo sharing service called Instagram has been started with the iPhone.This application allows people to take photos via their phone, add visual effects, and instantly upload them to their Instagram accounts, or other social networking sites. Something I found rather interesting about this company is that it manages to stay within the competition even though it is such a small company. "Four-month-old photo-sharing service Instagram has 1.75 million users, four employees, and zero revenue". I was shocked to hear that 4 employees were responsible for such a revolution. To make an account with Instagram is completely free of charge, which is the result of their zero revenue. I enjoyed reading this article and seeing that even though a company is small, it can still holds its own amongst its large competitors, such as Google.


-Danielle Trasatti
Team 3


link: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_07/b4215043298221.htm