The Freestyle Entrepreneur

Sometimes it’s not good enough just to be good enough, or even to have a good plan.  I’ve known people — including myself — who have been hammered on and hammered down at times by everything from financial setbacks to relationship upsets, to debilitating physical health problems to their own creepingly painful and dark mental […]

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 [This article first appeared in the June edition of Corporate Report Wisconsin (www.crwmag.com.)] 
“For every failure, there’s an alternative course of action.
You just have to find it.  When you come to a roadblock, take a detour.”                 
       — Mary Kay Ash
 “When the going gets tough, the tough get going!”  When adversity strikes, knuckle down, put your […]

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As a businessman, I have learned that the one sure way to destroy what you are trying to build is to cut ethical corners.  The real irony is that it is almost always the finger-snapping smart alecks, the know-it-alls, who end up getting entangled in their own cool schemes and easy-mark snares.
 
The fact is that […]

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Finding and Keeping Good Employees
By Bill Willard
The Issue: You’ve always wanted your own business, and now you have it. Your business has a name, you have products, a location, a business plan, and (we hope) customers lining up—out front or online. What’s missing? Employees! The question of the week: How to find the right employees, […]

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Divorce under any conditions can be a messy affair.  Roll a business into the equation, and divorce can become emotionally and financially devastating, not just for the divorcing couple and their family, but also for the business’s employees and co-owners.
Part of the problem is that business can be high-stress and demanding.  I don’t know if […]

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Diversity: Decisive or Divisive?
By Bill Willard
Contributing Author
The Issue:
Diversity means understanding that each of us is unique, and that no matter who we are, what we look like, where we come from or what our backgrounds may be, there is a place for us.

In the workplace, however, diversity has been a decidedly mixed bag. As Libertarian […]

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Just a quick reminder, in case you forgot:  Life is tough, sometimes challenging, occasionally downright brutal.
That’s how we grow, how we become stronger, both physically and spiritually — by running those ten miles, by pumping iron, by sticking with a tough project, by working through a difficult relationship … by just surviving sometimes. 
Enjoy this day […]

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National Health Insurance and Your Business
The Health Care Debate
By Bill Willard
Contributing Author
The Issue:  Many of the millions of Americans without health insurance are small-business employees and the self-employed. That’s one reason so many voters rank health care reform as a pressing concern facing policymakers this election year. Neither presumptive presidential candidate has a deep understanding […]

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According to Biz Guru Guy Kawasaki, a PowerPoint sales presentation should have 10 slides, last no more than 20 minutes and contain no font smaller than 30 points.
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Rumor has it that we’ve become a nation of whiners.  I think that’s because the media and certain political groups feel they must promote victimization to keep their audiences. 
Economically speaking, we criticize Bill Gates and Sam Walton and McDonalds (but, curiously, never Walt Disney), because their companies  make too much money, a simple-minded complaint.  […]

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(The following article first appeared in Corporate Report Wisconsin.) 
Sometimes we forget just how important the customer is.  And when we do, it costs us.  So, ask yourself, what have I done today to make my customers and prospects feel special and valued?
 Example # 1:  I needed a washer repaired last fall.  I called one service […]

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The Jesus “Elevator Talk”
 
I love this idea.  As a businessman, I have a 30-second “elevator talk.”  That’s a brief summary of who I am, what I do, and why prospective clients should work with me.  So, why not a Jesus Elevator Talk?  (No, it’s not original with me.)
 
That way, when someone either asks why I […]

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 Used to be that networking meant you joined the Rotary and golfed at the country club, got together at the meet-and-greet cocktail hour to swap business cards and, almost as an afterthought, mentioned what you do for a living to your son’s friend’s father in the bleachers at the softball game.
Well, networking has grown up, […]

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Don’t love what you do.  Do what you love!  When I first started my business nearly 25 years ago, I would leap out of bed every morning at 5:30 eager to get down to work.  I loved it.  Well, I admit that over the years, there were some long stretches when I found myself bored, […]

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 There are many ways for a small-business owner to fail.  Most are within his or her control to avoid.  In the following, let’s just say that the “I’s” have it.
 Incompetence:  You probably know what you’re doing, but does your staff?  There’s a certain restaurant I go with friends.  The place is convenient, the prices reasonable […]

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I know how to achieve success.  It’s really simple:  Goals, focus, attention to the details and determination.
 
It seems to me that where many of us fall down is at that yeah-but point.  We want to take a simple, proven formula for success and round off the corners, adjust it, compromise it, very often because “I […]

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Keep good records.  Track your activity.  Maybe in a go-go economy, you can afford to slop along and stay in the black.  But survivors and thrivers in business these days know which products make the biggest profits; which customers generate the most sales; which employees are worth their wages.
 
Most of all, don’t just set goals […]

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April A. Adams
Adams Administrative Services
Rio Rancho, NM
(www.adamsadmin.com)

Interviewed by Bill Willard
Some people are born to business ownership; others come to it after years of trial and error. Still others have business ownership thrust upon them by fate or circumstance. This is the story of that third type of business owner.
The late James G. Kerchner, president of […]

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Enthusiasm is the key to success in sales. 
Yes, it’s good (sometimes even important) to know your products and to understand proven selling techniques.  But the catalyst, the spark, the firing pin to a successful sale is enthusiasm.
Tell your story and tell it with passion and excitement.  Work hard.  Make money.  Have fun.  — jri
“A salesman […]

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I don’t think I’m the only one.  As a business owner, I find myself pretty much constantly thinking about (actually, worrying about) money, about sales, about taxes, about getting clients, about losing clients, about making sure that every project is top notch.
In other words, I’m a bit paranoid.  And that’s good.  That keeps me on […]

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[The following article originally appeared in the February 2008 issue of NEW North B2B: www.newnorthb2b.com.]
Are skyrocketing prescription drug costs destroying your benefit package and your bottom line … and giving you an ulcer (not that you can afford the medicine)?
 
You are not alone.  The federal government reported in January that total health care spending topped […]

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We all sell something, and we always sell all the time.
When we smile, we sell a relationship.  When we short-change a customer or client, we sell doubt and distrust.  When we fail to persuade prospects to buy our product, we have sold them on our lack of ability to meet their need. 
The bottom line:  Every […]

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A recurring dream:  Employees who go the extra mile, take pride in their jobs, seem not just satisfied, but enthusiastic and, most of all, productive!  Just a fantasy, you think? 
It’s called employee motivation, and, when achieved, it can transform a business into a dynamic, growth organization.  The question is how…and at what cost?  
Does true motivation […]

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This is one politically hot election year.  Everyone has opinions.  People have even gotten into fisticuffs over their fav candidate. 
 As an SBO, what do you think?  Can you afford to have an opinion or should no one know how you will vote or why?  I say zip the pie hole, unless you know that your market […]

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Have a written job description before you hire an employee.  This helps both you and the candidate properly define responsibilities.  Also, have current employees write their own job descriptions.  You may both learn a lot.
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