The Freestyle Entrepreneur

Fifty years ago, it was a man’s world.  The majority of women who were in business were secretaries and personal assistants.  Women rarely ran the show.  That has since changed … a lot.  In fact, the very nature of business has been overhauled and re-invented since women began to move up the management/entrepreneurial ladder.

The male approach to business:  Men tend to manage with a big stick.  We see business in terms of warfare and sports rivalries.  We go head to head with our competitors in a winner-take-all-loser-get-nothing race to conquer and achieve victory.  We’re not all that big on cooperation.  Our pecking order tends to be top-down vertical. 

I remember that’s pretty much how it was when I entered the corporate world in 1977.  All key managers were men, and the president of the company openly pitted his vice presidents against each other.  The rivalries were ferocious.  The idea was to work long hours, survive the contest, and beat the competitors both in and outside the corporation.

The female approach to business:  Gradually, women began working their way into positions of authority and responsibility.  At first, there was the stereotype that women made lousy bosses.  Even many women thought so and openly said they’d rather have a male boss than a female boss any time.  (Many said the same about the then-male-dominated field of gynecology, too.)

Well, today, women are not only accepted as managers, but many business-owning entrepreneurs are female.  Here are a few stats, courtesy of The Center for Women’s Business Research:

• Fifteen of the Fortune 500 companies have women as CEOs.
• More than 10 million U.S. businesses have women as either 50% partners or outright owners.
• Twenty percent of all businesses that earn $1 million or more are owned by women.

The feminine advantage:  Especially in the area of small business and especially in today’s tough-as-nails economy, women have transformed how many businesses work.  For one thing, women tend to focus on cooperation and community rather than competition and go-it-alone-individualism.  Their management style tends to be flatter, more horizontal, lacking the pecking order. 

Most of all, while men tend to be solitary, women tend to be more natural as networkers.  They know that, very often, a series of related businesses can do much better when they share marketing efforts and research.  They also tend to help each other through tough times. 

Oh, and just for the record, many of the female entrepreneurs and managers I know are just as ambitious and hard-driving as the men.  Most just do it with more finesse.

The bottom line:  When looking at business management, look at individuals who bring the best of both sexes, from the relentless, never-say-die drive of men to the determined relationship-building skills of women.  – JRI

The Freestyle Entrepreneur

As a hands-on manager-owner, your most important business-building tool is your attitude. 

I saw a great example of how this works a few months ago when meeting with two fast-food restaurant managers, both affiliated with the same chain.  The stores were almost identical in terms of demographics, and both relied heavily on part-time teenagers as their primary source of labor.

One manager complained that she could not get good help, that teenagers today did not know how to work or want to learn.  When speaking about her team, she seethed with annoyance.  She had nothing positive to say about her employees and had a great deal of turnover. 

The other manager, on the other hand, liked his staff and openly expressed his pleasure at their youthful exuberance and energy.  He had nothing but praise for his workers; he also  had about one-third the turnover as the other manager. 

What was the difference?  Attitude!  That was it, and everything else flowed from that.  When it came to their employees, I asked both managers three key questions:  “Who hired them?  Who trained them?  Who kept the slackers on staff?”  

The first manager, desperate for help, hired pretty much anyone willing to fill out an application.  Her training was spotty and on-the-fly.  She also filled out the weekly schedule without consulting her employees.  “These are your hours,” she told them.  No wonder she had an attitude problem with her team.  They caught it from her.

 The second manager, on the other hand, carefully screened all applicants.  He knew that hiring the wrong person was worse than being short-staffed.  He took his time.  He also either personally trained all new hires or had his assistant manager do the job.  For the first three months on the job, no employee was more than a quick shout-out from a supervisor when he or she had a question, and the employees were encouraged to ask lots of questions.  As a result, the training was monitored, consistent and thorough. 

 He was also quick to correct a mistake.  When an employee came on board with a bad attitude or proved to be less than reliable, he let that person go as quickly as possible.  That way, his good employees saw that he was fair and not asking them to pick up for a slacker.   

Finally, he worked with his employees when it came time for scheduling.  It was a team effort.  And when a conflict arose, he either helped resolve it or jumped in himself to fill the gap. He also put in double time during final exam time, so his employees could focus on their studies.    

Most of all, all that he did was nothing more than a reflection of his positive attitude toward his employees and his business.  He treated his team with respect, while also insisting that they work hard.  He was committed to them and, in turn, they were committed to him.

The bottom line:  If you have problems growing your business and/or keeping good help, do a little honest soul searching.  Remember, when a business succeeds, all credit should go to the employees.  And when your business struggles or you have morale and attitude problems, that is because YOU are doing something wrong. 

So, work hard, make money, have fun … and make sure you bring the right attitude to your business every day.  – JRI  

John Ingrisano

The Freestyle Entrepreneur    

209  Church Street

Algoma, WI 54201

(920) 559-3722

www.TheFreestyleEntreprenuer.com

Want more biz tips and support?  Visit www.TheFreestyleEntrepreneur.com.

The Freestyle Entrepreneur

As a small business owner, you’re used to clocking long hours.  That goes with the territory.

However, if you’re logging more than your share of 10, 12, 15-hour days (while your employees waltz out the door at quitting time) something’s wrong.  Sure, it’s nice to know that your company couldn’t get along without you.  But there’s also a good possibility that you are doing a lot of work that could — in fact, should — be delegated to one or more of your employees.

By definition, delega­tion is a simple concept.  It involves the controlled sharing of responsibilities and authority, based on an individual’s abilities.  Unfortunately, this is one of those management tools that is often applaud­ed in theory, but dismissed in practice.

But the business owner who takes the time to master the fine art of delegation reaps the benefits of en­hanced produc­tivity, increased effi­cien­cy and higher morale in the company over the one who insists on making every decision and approv­ing every move.

Start by taking the following self-quiz to see how good you are at delegating. 

So, work hard, make money, have fun … and delegate all responsibilities that you can.  — JRI

The Freestyle Entrepreneur

Yes, we are awallow in The Great Recession.  So, take a few minutes to snivel, whine, complain … and then get over it.  If your biz is in the tank, stop blaming the recession.  And definitely stop sitting around hoping and waiting for it to end.  Do something about it!

In my roaming, “clinical” research, I ask every business owner I encounter a simple question:  “How’s business?”  I hear three possible answers:

1. It’s awful.  I’m hanging on by my fingertips.
2. It’s been tough, but we’re trying new ideas, redesigning our business model, and it’s showing signs of working.  (If not, we’ll keep on researching and trying others.)
3. We’re doing great.  As the field thins and our competitors go under, we’re capitalizing on the opportunities that are everywhere.  We have elected to skip the recession.

Now, I would love to be able to brag that I am category # 3: a brilliant businessman, with vision and a plan that proved I’m so much smarter than my fellow entrepreneurs.  Just ain’t so, Joe. 

Instead, I confess that I was the proverbial deer in the headlights when I woke up two years ago to see that half my business had evaporated.  I had not been paying attention, just tooling along on auto pilot, enjoying the trip, ignoring all the signs that read:  “Danger!  Danger!  Brick wall ahead!”

So, I spent the next 18 months shaking off the daze, and looking for a way, first, to rebuild my existing business and then, second, when I realized that the old model no longer worked, getting outside the box and looking for new opportunities.  I had a lot of false starts and made some bad turns into dead-end streets. 

I learned a lot along the way and came close to the brink.  However, while too many of my biz associates have gone under, I’m still standing:  new ‘n improved, and even making money in this new, stranger-than-fiction economic reality in which we do business these days.  No, I’m not getting rich, but I am again financially stable and in growth mode. 

My point:  If you’re holding on in hopes that the economy will turn around, that’s not we do it in the business world, and you know it.  No business owner worth his/her weight in salt just sits back and hopes that things will improve.  Get out there and make it improve.    

What to do:   

• Assess.  Look over your books and your markets.  See where you are still strong and where you are losing business.  Find out WHERE and WHY the game has changed for you.
• Review your power strengths.  Where are you strongest?  What do you do best?  What is your number one competitive advantage? 
• Update your business model.  See how you can adjust your business model to regain market share in your traditional markets.  Sometimes it’s only a matter of re-packaging your offer and beating the drum via some heavy-duty marketing.  (Revamping your website, looking to marketing sites like LinkedIn and Facebook, expanding laterally into a new niche in your current market.  Get creative.) 
• Do not compete on price.  Don’t become a bottom-feeding price cutter.  Instead, focus on what makes you unique, special, attractive to prospective customers.

• Get outside the box.  I know business owners who have explored everything from the ridiculous to the sublime.  No one – I repeat, NO ONE – truly understands today’s economy or where it will go in the coming months and years.  Explore your options and take reasonable risks.
• Never give up.  Remember that the goal of business is to make money, but also to maintain independence.  My new business calls for a lot of travel, doing day seminars.  Though fun, it’s also tough.  Most of all, it beats becoming a cubicle-dwelling-wage-slave for some politically correct boss who likes to hold happy-clappy motivational meetings every Monday morning.  I’ll rise or fall on my own talents and weaknesses, thank you.

The bottom line:  These are tough times for everyone.  Do not roll over and play dead or just sit on the sidelines hoping that the next great econ boom is on its way.  You’re a business person.  You do not wait for things to happen.  You make them happen.

So, work hard and find a way to make money.   – JRI

John R. Ingrisano

The Freestyle Entrepreneur 

Fred Pryor/Career Track, the seminar people, have become one of my key clients.  I get to travel around the country and do business workshops.  Pretty neat.  Check them out at www.pryor.com. 

One of their policies is to encourage their contractors to analyze the events of the day, to create a list of LBs (what you “liked best” about your last presentation) and NTs (things you would do differently “next time”).  I’m finding that it is valuable process for learning, growing and improving.  I’m also finding that writing down my LBs and NTs can be surprising, as I realize things I might have overlooked.

Just as important, it is also a positive experience.  NTs aren’t about things you’ve screwed up (SUs?), but activities/actions that could/should be done differently/better the next time.

So work hard, make money, have fun, and track what you’re doing right, as well as where you can improve.    

John Ingrisano

The Freestyle Entrepreneur    

209 Church Street

Algoma, WI 54201

(920) 559-3722

www.TheFreestyleEntreprenuer.com

Want more biz tips and support?  Visit www.TheFreestyleEntrepreneur.com.

The Freestyle Entrepreneur – winner of the 2010 Top 35 Entrepreneur Blog awards from OnLine MBA.

First, in advance, decide the days you want off and write them on your calendar or in your appointment book.  Then schedule work around those days.

Let’s say you want ten days off in 2011, not necessarily all in one clump.    If you never take a day off, start by scheduling one day a month for the next ten months.  A modest enough goal.  Write them down.  Make sure the staff and crew see them on the scheduling board.  Oh, and then plan to do something exciting or interesting.  Most of all, get away from the business for that whole day … and stay away.

Now, it’s easy for me because I’m a one-man band.  However, even if you run a 24/7 restaurant, for example, you can do it.  How?  See my second point, right below. 

Second, either find someone who can run the shop while you are out or close the doors and just shut down (not necessarily advisable in these tough times if you’re in retail or a service biz). 

Sure, you may think that no one can do it, that no one can become manager for a day.  However, if you think so, that’s a matter of (A) too big an ego on your part; (B) a fear of delegating, or losing control; or (C) that you haven’t trained somebody YET to step in and handle things while you’re out of the office.  If the reason is A or B, get counseling.  If it is C, that means you’d better start grooming someone as one of your first goals for 2011.  

Remember, I’m not talking about a two-week stint in the Mediterranean.  Just a day or two off now and then.  So, decide how many days you want off in 2011, pull out your calendar and start blocking them out, and give your crew plenty of time to get ready for not having you around all the time.  I suspect you’ll be pleasantly surprised how well your employees rise to the occasion.  You might even find a manager-in-the-making just waiting for an opportunity.  Bonus:  You’ll get to be a human being (rather than a crazed business owner) for at least a few days in 2011.

So, work hard.  Make money.  Have fun.  And, yes, plan to take a few days off next year.

John Ingrisano
209 Church Street
Algoma, WI 54201
(920) 559-3722

Want more biz tips and support?  Visit www.TheFreestyleEntrepreneur.com.

It was 11:45 AM on a knock-about Saturday.  I’d just finished doing some clean-up at our church and was ready to pick up two pizzas that I could pop into the oven later today for dinner for friends before heading off to hear/see Messiah at Green Bay’s Weidner Center. 

I walked into Papa Murphy’s in Sturgeon Bay and placed my order.  I was first to order, followed rapidly by three other groups.  Behind the counter was one person (on alone until noon, I learned) who was taking orders, making pizzas, doing whatever takes place in the back. 

This employee, Patty was her name, I learned, was pleasant, efficient, never lost her cool as the orders began to back up.  Best of all, as each new customer entered, she cheerfully greeted/acknowledged him/her and asked to please wait a few minutes.  (That’s a big one to me: I hate being ignored by a too-busy waitress/clerk/etc.  Just an acknowledgement that I am present and a request to wait … and I surely will wait.) 

As she made my order, I joked with her that she was manager today, as well as assistant manager and gopher. She smiled and, while working like a Tasmanian Devil, said that relief would show up at noon. 

Patty was terrific – cordial, efficient, hard working.  Even though several customers had to wait to place their order, her acknowledgement of them and pleasant demeanor kept them waiting without complaint.        

My point:  Simply to acknowledge a go-the-extra-mile employee and remind all business owners (A) that employees like Patty are out there and (B) when you find one, cherish and reward him or her.  That person is invaluable to the success of your business. 

Work hard. Make money.  Take care of your primo employees!!!!!

The Freestyle Entrepreneur – winner of the 2010 Top 35 Entrepreneur Blog awards from OnLine MBA.

The key:  Go for the best you can find.  Someone once said that first-rate managers hire first-rate employees, while second rate managers hire third-rate employees.  The implications are obvious.  I’m one of the best at what I do, so it makes sense to surround myself with others who are the best at what they do. 

The bottom line:  Find good people and either hire them outright or contract with them.  And pay them a notch or two above their going rate; that way, you can get them when you need them. 

So, work hard, make money, have fun … and hire the very best you can find. — JRI

If you own a local business in a small town (or if you’re a small biz in a big city competing with WalMart, etc.), you have to give locals a reason to buy local. 

Example:  When I lived on the island of St. Maarten, there were two prices:  One was the list price … and that was for tourists.  The other was the island price. When I’d walk into a store, I’d mention the magic words, “I live here,” and would get a discount.  It was as simple as that. 

My point, and perhaps I did not make myself clear earlier:  If you want to promote the buy-local concept, you’d damn well better give locals a reason to do business at your business.  And the best way to do that is through the local discount.  No coupons.  No magic cards.  Just a “Hey, how are you?” and a discount on the price.  It don’t get no easier or simpler than that!

 Remember, it’s a two-way street.  Want local loyalty? Give local loyalty.  It is a two-way street!

So, work hard.  Make money, and give your locals a reason to buy from you rather than bitching that they won’t!  –   John R. Ingrisano, The Freestyle Entrepreneur

John Ingrisano

The Freestyle Entrepreneur

This one’s liable to get me in big trouble with some folks, especially my local business owners.  But here goes. 

I’m seeing major problems with the long-term viability of “buy local” programs.  Okay, the idea makes sense, but ONLY if the local businesses play ball.  Too often, they don’t.  

In recent weeks, I’ve heard about half a dozen complaints from people in my town and others in the state that they tried to work with local businesses, but the businesses they talked to had high prices and/or lousy service.  The complaint was summarized by one person like this:  “I’m willing to buy local whenever I can, but ********** seemed oblivious to the fact that I was trying to buy locally.  Instead, they tried to take advantage of me.” 

At the same time, I’ve heard business owners complain long and loud that the locals had no customer loyalty, but would go to the big-box stores just to save a few pennies.  

Sorry, but these days a few pennies are well worth the drive.  Most of all, I’ve been in business a long time, and I’ve always believed it was the businesses’ responsibility to motivate customers to buy from them.  Period.  Give them a reason and they will.  Try to make them feel guilty … and they’ll leave in droves.  Those that are doing a lot right do not need a “buy local” campaign.     

I’ve always been a fan of buy local, but here’s the big problem:  There is a reason customers go elsewhere for a purchase.  Buying local is fine, as long as the local merchants work to make themselves more competitive and not just sit back and see “buy local” as a windfall for them.  

For me, it goes back to the “Buy American” campaigns from the 1970s.  While America was making the worst cars around back then, they had to do more than just push me to buy their products.  I’d have loved to buy American, but the products were awful.  So, I bought Japanese.  (Today, by the way, I look for reasons to buy Ford, not just because they’re American, but because they are now creating a quality vehicle.)

Recommendation when it comes to “buy local” campaigns:

1. Educate businesses that they need to do their part and make themselves as competitive as possible.  This doesn’t necessarily mean lower costs, but perhaps quality, home-town service. 
2. Recognize that no customer should feel obligated to buy locally. That kind of thinking is all turned around.  Instead, the businesses need to give them a reason to do so.   
3. Do not make “buy local” an ongoing, year-round campaign.  Instead, designate a week or so every year to a whoop-dee-doo “buy local” campaign.  Get businesses to sign on, commit to wow their customers, and participate, giving them a chance to demonstrate why customers should buy from them.

Bottom line:  Work hard.  Make money.  Have fun.  And, remember, no customers owe you anything!  Get out there and give them a good reason to buy from you … and to keep coming back for more.