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.

The Freestyle Entrepreneur

Are we there yet?  That’s the kids’ mantra from the backseat.  It can also be our whine when we wonder about when it’s ever going to get easier in our business.  Well, when it comes to you and your business success,  the answer should be:  Not yet! 

The fact is, in this uber-competitive, ever-changing world, we have to keep on growing, keep on learning, keep on investing in ourselves and finding new ways to stay ahead of the pack.  Life is challenging.  Embrace it.    

What can/should you do?  For starters, how about just 30 minutes each day of reading, listening to biz or motivational CDs while in your car; or maybe investing in a seminar, workshop or trade show several times a year?

Imagine investing 30 minutes a day, five days a week in staying sharp, keeping motivated, and growing.  That averages out to 2.5 hours a week, 10 hours a month, about 120 hours a year. 

That’s like three full weeks each year devoted exclusively to continuing education.  What will that do for you?  It will make you sharper and more knowledgeable than 95% of your competitors, and, yes, knowledge is power.  Just as important, it will help keep you motivated.  While many of the also-rans will get wooly-headed and dull-witted, you will keep loping along, staying strong in your game, becoming – and being known for – being one of the best.

So, invest in yourself.  And when you begin to wonder, “Are we there yet?” just smile, shrug and keep on going.  It’s a long trip, but it can also be a fun one.

Work hard. Make money.  Have fun.  And keep on investing in yourself!   – JRI

The Freestyle Entrepreneur

Are you in or are you out?  Too many business owners these days (and, yes, their employees and sales people, too) are only half-committed.  They’re burned out, fed up, on the verge of going under.

They coast, going through the motions of their responsibilities, both dreaming about last weekend’s football game or watching the clock, counting the days ’til their mindless vacation to Disney World.  They’re everywhere but present and focusing on their jobs, their careers, their lives.

The solution:  Be there!  Put the clock away.  Focus on your responsibilities today … and on DOING them to the very best of your ability.  Be surprised when five o’clock Friday arrives.  (Oh, and then plunge head first into your weekend, too!)

Work hard. Make money.  Have fun.  And be there!   – JRI 

                             – Stephen C. Lundin (Fish! Tales)

No, it’s not that I achieved my goal.  It’s that the goal didn’t excite me.  I really didn’t care about it.  Oh, money is fine, but it’s the things money can provide that have the power to stir one’s soul. 

So, I set out to achieve new goals.  For example, I decided I wanted to live for at least a year in the Caribbean, not as a tourist, but as a business consultant and journalist.  I did it, and it was a hoot. 

My biggest, ongoing goal as an entrepreneur is to have as few people as possible telling me what to do.  A bit vague, perhaps, but freedom is one of my primary motivators. 

Of course, when my kids were young, my goal was to provide them with a stable, financially secure life.  Quite a motivator also … so much so that when they grew up and left home, it took me quite some time to adjust and find new goals.

Some rules about goal-setting: 

1. They have to be soul-stirring.  You can’t fake it.  If your goal doesn’t move you, move on.  Find a new goal.
2. They have to be big enough.  Goals to build a new deck on the back of your house or own a Lincoln Town Car are pretty puny.  Stop staring at your shoes.  Look up.  Higher.  Dream a bigger dream.
3. They have to be yours.  Don’t look to your neighbors, friends, competitors or spouse for your goals.  Real goals are personal.  (I knew an ex-jock and sportscaster in Indianapolis years ago who, at the age of 50, finally was confident enough to admit that his big goal was to study ballet.  Actually, it makes sense; there’s quite a connection between athletics and dance.  The point:  He finally had the guts to go for HIS goal, not what others expected of him.)
4. They don’t have to be achievable.   That’s right.  I know.  I know.  I just violated a major rule of goal-setting.  Everybody tells you that goals must be practical and manageable.  I disagree.  A goal can be a dream, an impractical vision of what you would like to achieve.  Want to sail around the world?  Build your own airplane?  Take your family to Rome for your 30^th anniversary?  Why not try?  It falls under the category of shooting for the stars and failing … only reaching the moon!

And btw, not achieving a goal is not the same thing as failing.  Never giving it a shot … that’s failure. 

In other words, work hard, make money, have fun, and set goals that stir your soul and sizzle.  Hssssssssssss.  – JRI  

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

As a small business owner, you don’t follow the herd.  You lead it … and if anyone else follows, that fine.  If not, so be it.  (One of the best bumper stickers I ever saw read:  “Unless you’re the lead sled dog, the view never changes.”) 

You’re holding your business together and making it work because you cut your own path, go your own way, make your own rules.

That’s what a friend of mine has done.  In this lousy economy, with its even lousier housing market, he started a “home detailing” business.  He approaches home sellers and for a fee, spruces up the home and makes it more attractive.  While others are going broke, he is so busy that he is hiring people … and still can’t keep up.  That’s a man who made his own rules, and he’s profiting handsomely as a result.

The bottom line:  During these tough times, you cannot afford to stay huddled in the box.  It’s time to get out of it.  Think about new ways to make money, cut costs, keep on growing (not just surviving) in this recession.

The bad news:  Somebody shot my dog.  The good news:  I’m teaching my cat how to hunt.  Let me explain.

The recession caught me between a rock and a hard place.  First, my small consulting business crashed, losing more than 50 % of my business in six months. 

Even worse, it caught me with my pants down.  I was tooling along on autopilot until, all of a sudden:  “Hey, where’d the business go?”  I assumed that my business was fairly recession-proof.  After all, it had been in the past.  This time, no.  Like trying to herd pigs in a cornfield back through a broken fence, I’d shore up one contract here, lose two there, as clients desperately tried to save their own businesses by cutting back.  One 20-year client sadly told me, “You have to understand, John, I cannot submit ANY outside invoices this year!”

Definitely not business as usual.  The game had changed (as it has for most of us), and I had missed the signs (as have many of us).  Somebody shot my dog, one that for 20 years plus had been stirring up super business like a keen-nosed pointer in cornfield stubble crawling with quail.  

The good news:  I’m teaching my cat how to hunt … and it’s one smart, keen-eyed stalker of a cat.   Poignant metaphors aside, I finally woke up. I didn’t know how I was going to retool my business, but I knew I had to and was going to.  Here’s what I did:

• I studied what had changed in the markets.   The biggest change:  Customers were cautious.  It wasn’t a matter of cutting costs.  Instead, I recognized that, while they still had needs for my services, I had to do a better job of  presenting the value of those services in helping them achieve their goals. 
• I studied what had changed in my business … or for me, what had NOT changed.  I realized that I was operating under a 1999 business plan and marketing mindset.  Back then, my competitive advantage was that I was not only the best in terms of teaching clients how to maximize their profits by kick-butt marketing strategies; I was pretty much the only one in the markets in which I worked.  That void had filled in over the last decade, and I was locked in keen competition with interlopers. 
• I re-evaluated my competitive advantage.  What made me special?  Unique?  I found two things:  First, experience. I’ve been a blood ‘n guts business owner for 25 years.  During that time, I’ve seen it all, experienced it all.  Second, when I analyzed my records and talked to my clients, I found that, on average, my clients receive roughly a ten-fold  ROI on my services.  So, if my services cost $5,000, their direct return tends to be $50,000 in the first year alone.
• I set out to bang the drum long and loud, telling my story and connecting with clients old and new.  I now summarize my top competitive advantages by telling my prospects and clients, “What do I bring to our relationship?  ‘Twenty-five-ten.’  Twenty-five years of business experience that helps assure my clients a ten-fold return on the price of my services.”  
• I plan to review my plan every year.  I have no intention of getting caught flat-footed again. 

So, somebody shot my old dog.  Fortunately, my cat’s working out just fine.  Plus, I have a litter of new puppies I’ll be training and turning loose in the coming months and years.

Decades ago, I was doing some training for a big-name Wall Street investment company.  My go-to guy and I were in a meeting when his boss came in and – right in front of me –chewed his butt up one side of the room and down the other.  The boss left and we headed out to lunch.  However, along the way, my contact guy paused just long enough to read the riot act (unabridged version) to his secretary. 

Talk about a great culture in which to work!  I was witness to a shameful chain-of-command pecking order.  Worse still, the way the players in this drama sat there stone faced, I suspect this sort of thing was fairly common.   

My point is that – and this is one of those truths that we all hate to admit — when employees screw up, service is lousy, morale sucks, the sales force is ready to bolt, it’s always – ALWAYS – management’s fault!

We set the tone and create the culture.  If we come in late, cut corners or treat employees like dead meat, they will wander in late, too, cut corners and treat customers (and each other) like dead meat.  If we behave like jerks, so will our employees. 

The good news:  When the biz hums like a well-greased machine, when people are courteous and respectful and cooperate as team players, when sales climb and everybody gives a damn – ding, ding, ding!  It’s because you are doing something right.   

So, be keenly aware of the culture you create in your operation.  Be honest, demanding, respectful, hard-working and knowledgeable, and your team will soar, as will your sales and your profits.

Work hard.  Make money.  Have fun.

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

We – as in the millions of small businesses across the land — didn’t start the recession.  However, I’m seeing more and more of us who have decided enough is enough. 

In other words, the recession ain’t over ‘til WE say it’s over … and just about every business owner I talk to says it’s time for it to be over.  No, it’s not some mindless wishful thinking, but, as always, a determination to put our  money where our mouth is and make it happen. 

I’m seeing it in places like New York, where a small, quirky grocery chain, Fairway Foods, is opening up new stores by the cartful.

I’m seeing it in little places like my beloved Algoma, Wisconsin, where Brad and Aric Schmiling are expanding their world-class von Stiehl Winery (yes, in sleepy Algoma, Wisconsin) to accommodate the growth in demand.

I’m seeing it in a little operation called Rio Creek Foods, also in Algoma, which has just introduced  its Kabuli, all-in-one pizza package for distribution.  They’re so small they don’t even have a website, but drop sales manager, Jeff Schoenborn, an email at schoenbornjeff@yahoo.com for details.  (And, no, I’m not paid for this, but I like to give a hustling company a good word.)

I’m seeing it in just about every business I talk to, as they’re ramping up, hiring, investing, declaring: This recession is over!  Why?  Because WE say it is!

As always, work hard, make money, have fun!

Oh, and by the way, speaking of ratcheting up sales, I invite you to order a copy of my The Back to  Basics Book of Selling.  Click on the title link or order directly from me by sending a check for $19.94 ($35.89 for two), and I’ll throw in shipping for free … and autograph your copies, as well.   

John Ingrisano
204 Lakeview Drive
Algoma, WI 54201
(920) 559-3722

Yes, I know, I’m the poster child for political incorrectness:  No hobbies (I see them as time wasters between days in the harness), and if you give me a day without a to-do list, I’m a restless bear.  (And, no, I don’t tinker or have a big tool chest, though I love to cook, fish on occasion, and travel … often combining business and pleasure.)   

Time off?  You bet.  I’m active and serious about my church and my faith.  Ditto for my friends, my lady love (woof!) and my children.  I also get about an hour of exercise in most days. 

So, sorry, but I was never a neglectful parent or companion.  I just love to squeeze every possible bit of life and profit out of each and every minute.  (I’ve been told – and this by those who love me – that after an hour or two with me, people need to take a break and take aspirin.  But they always come back, bless their hearts.)  It’s just that my quest has never been leisure or measuring my life by two weeks’ vacation a year.

So, why apologize to my children?  Well, because they caught what I have.  My son, Jonathan, is a hard-driving attorney who made partner at age 35 and loves to put in long hours.  (He is also in top five contention for father and husband of the year.)  My middle child, Nicky, is about 33 (those ages keep changing every year), a doctor, and in her final year of residency, who has a love-hate relationship with those wild, 48-hour shifts.  My baby, Angie, is a cosmetologist, mother of two and wife of one, who runs two hairstyling shifts (one her own business), and has a third business on the side (and yes, she, is a devoted, loving, gentle mother). 

So, with a ton of pride (and a dash of pity … nah, not really), I guess I should apologize to my children for cursing them with the gift of work.  Then again, nah!  I’m proud of them.  Great kids … though I do have to schedule visits with them a month in advance. 

So, work hard.  Make money.  Have fun.  We only have one life.  Get to it! 

John Ingrisano

The Freestyle Entrepreneur

204 Lakeview Drive

Algoma, WI 54201

(920) 559-3722

 February 10, 2010