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The Why Question

Filed in archive Philosophy on May 17, 2010

The Why Question
© kyz
Behind every entrepreneur there is a drive of some sort, a vision of how things should be that has inspired them to strike out on their own and launch their small business. Getting from point A to point B is rarely an overnight venture, however, and long years of toil, setbacks, and alterations can fog up even the clearest vision by the time the entrepreneur is in a position to realize it.

In many cases, this represents a failure of both planning and vision. Many entrepreneurs don't necessarily connect their business vision with their life vision, and even the most careful and competent planner usually spends most of the time planning business plans, not life plans. But why would you imagine that only business success requires planning? The rest of your life could use some careful attention in that direction as well, and usually much sooner than you might think.

This is the topic that Melinda Emerson addresses in her post "Life Plan Before Business Plan" the first of three on the subject. Read it, and start thinking about how your life strategy has to be reflected in your business strategy if you want to succeed with both.

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Bootstrapping your disaster plans

Filed in archive Bootstrapper Resources on May 10, 2010

Bootstrapping your disaster plans
© Rusty Boxcars

Most small business owners know about disaster plans, think they are a fine idea, and never quite get around to putting them together. Things move fast in small businesses, it's hard to maintain a plan that will work tomorrow and six months from tomorrow... it's a whole different business and set of issues by then. And it's tough for the entrepreneurial to get into the disaster planning mode, it's true; you are thinking about all the great things you are going to do, not all the mundane bad stuff that can happen along the way. Or maybe you are; recently, Malcolm Gladwell and others suggest that the most successful entrepreneurs are hardly the tree-swinging risk-takers that they have conventionally been portrayed as, but rather innately conservative, methodical players who win not by gambling big, but by never over-committing and avoiding mistakes.

Either way, very few small businesses have formal disaster plans. Winging it, however, is not the way to go in a disaster situation, even if you don't otherwise find value in checklists and documentation (if you believe otherwise, I recommend checking out Atul Gawande's "The Checklist Manifesto" for an eye-opener). At exactly those moments when you need to be thinking clearly and not missing a single step, you're least capable of doing so. Even the smoothest, most competent, most experienced experts can't always function in such stressful scenarios. When that happens, careful plans, set down clearly and simply on hard copy, can dramatically improve your chances of recovering successfully.

While the government hasn't always provided a shining response in the wake of disasters, in this case at least you can count on them before disaster strikes: the SBA has some fine resources to get you started.

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What's in your CRM wallet?

Filed in archive Bootstrapper Tips on May 3, 2010

What's in your CRM wallet?
© taberandrew

Small businesses are widely believed to have the edge when it comes to customer service skills, and not without reason: they have historically had a higher level of interaction between customers and management (since the management is usually also the staff!) who are empowered to make for good customer experiences, and also a greater incentive to provide those experiences, than their larger competitors. Many a small business has bootstrapped its way to something bigger on the back of a sterling reputation for customer service in an otherwise already crowded market.

Something that has been happening with the increasing number of web-based startups, however, is that the traditional low-level interaction between management and customer has fallen off. Indeed, since the relationship is at some remove over the Internet, its harder for any staff to judge the level of satisfaction in most transactions. Without that face to face, person to person contact, all you get is a credit card number. Add to that the increased volume that even small startups can see in traffic and customers, and it's flat-out unmanageable by traditional means.

Dan Kennedy points out why this simple lack of attention can kill your retention rate. Most entrepreneurs know that it's cheaper to keep a customer than get a new one, yet many of us are letting customers slip away without a second thought.

What technology has taken away, it can also give back, though. If you can automate and globalize your sales process, you can do the same with your customer relationship management. Software and other web-based services, such as Salesforce, Getsatisfaction, and Salesboom, can keep track of your customers and keep you connected with them. Many of the offerings out there also offer easy integration with your other transactional tools, meaning no extra effort is necessary beyond the initial setup. It's small things that often make the difference, and a small touch like an automated, but personalized, follow-up e-mail might still mean the difference in a customer's mind between you and the big corporate conglomerate three websites over.

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Risk and risk assessment

Filed in archive Bootstrapper Profile on April 28, 2010

flickr_3319376890.jpg
© Matt Biddulph

Slate is running a series this week on the concept of risk, something that every entrepreneur is familiar with. Appropriately, the third article in the series is about a bootstrapping web startup called Redbeacon. Redbeacon, which competes in the online/local connector space, was formed by three former Google engineers in * and won the 2009 TechCrunch 50 competition.

The interesting thing about the article is that it's more about assessing risks than taking them, although the founders are like all entrepreneurs taking significant personal financial risks. But while bootstrapping is risky, risk is all relative once you make that first big jump. How we deal with subsequent risks in our businesses can look remarkably conservative. Starting with so few resources, few people are so cautious as bootstrappers in their decision-making.

The article is a study in the process behind making those decisions, from determining what market to compete in to deciding whether or not to seek or accept venture capital funding. It's not an unfamiliar process; most entrepreneurs obsess over the degree of risk involved in their decisions, agonizing in the choices available. But the Slate article is a remarkably clear overview of how those decisions are approached in today's environment. It's worth a read by anyone starting up or considering starting up a new business today.

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When do you need help?

Filed in archive Bootstrapping Thoughts on April 19, 2010

When do you need help?
© Jeff Moser / BikeCarson.com

Since I'm a consultant, it may seem strange that I launch into this post with an attack on consulting and consultants in general, but this article is an inside look at the dirty underbelly of the consulting industry.

Although the big-box consulting firms don't come off looking too good anytime you hear about how they staff up with recent college grads and send them out on engagements, it's really no more a general indictment of the industry than a bad experience with an auto shop indicates that the entire auto repair industry is a fraud. It just means you didn't do your homework and get a good mechanic the first time around. There are a lot of great consultants out there, but you can't assume you will get one just by dialing up Accenture or BCG or Booz Allen.

What I thought was more interesting than the state of big box consultants today, though, was the problems that the former consultant writing the article encountered in trying to work with clients. It basically devolved into the "read my mind and predict the future" category, which is something I have also seen many clients shoot themselves in the foot with. If you think you already know the answer and aren't prepared to countenance other opinions, why on earth are you paying big bucks to a consultant anyway? That's just insecurity, not real need. Make sure you have a need, and an open mind, before picking up the phone, and you're half way to having a much better experience than this guy's former clients.

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