You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January 2008.
An interesting post here on the upside to recession. Joel Libava says that franchises increase when economies slow down. The reasoning: when the economy slows, people get laid off, and they think, “huh, maybe I’ll start that business my wife told me not to start” (or something like that).
But in the end Joel says everything will be okay. The small business will survive.
I wonder what other potential upsides to recession there are?
Thanks, Jason M. Blumer
1. Time to take the microbusiness survey to determine what is most important to the small business (which is most of our clients). This is brought to you by Dawn Baker’s Microbusiness Research Institute - GoSee
2. Having trouble funding your new venture? How about “crowd funding”? We saw this new concept on the Small Biz Labs blog and it blew our minds! You need to check out this new wave of funding your latest venture – GoSee
3. Try to avoid these Six Mistakes That Look Dumb In E-mail (from the great Productivity blog) - GoSee
Thanks, Jason M. Blumer
Today is my Mother’s birthday, and it is truly a day to celebrate! She has been the cornerstone of strength in our family for so long, and through so many issues. Her boys have put her through the ringer these past 30 or so years, but she’s been long-suffering, accommodating and loyal to us all.
So, in honor of my Mother, I’ll post a poem I wrote for her and my Dad when my brother and I sent them on an Alaskan cruise last year…
TRIBUTE
how great the sun to light each day
to illumine our weary ways
and, too, the moon, its small companion,
a gift in evening rays,
and note the might in nature seen
the tall and aged tree
to span it’s stoutly branches heav’nward
to reach and brush the breeze
though great these gifts from nature seen
gifts from God on high,
a mother and a father
are by far the better prize
for theirs the soul they give each child
to prosper and to give
they lay a lasting legacy
for the child to see and live
worn and weary are their hands
cheeks stained from many tears
with faiths now strong, abiding still
prayers to God span years
a tribute to our father, our mother
paternal strength that guides
a tribute to your legacy
now in our lives abides
This definitely speaks to my Mother’s commitment to our family through some hard times. But she continues on in strength (her strength definitely comes from the Lord). She is a wonderful woman, a grandmother who adores her grandchildren, a committed wife, still a loving Mother to me and my brother and an all-around servant to everyone she meets (just ask the 80 to 90 homeless peoples she feeds every Tuesday night).
Mom, I love you. You are truly the bomb (that means I like you a lot).
Thanks, Jason M. Blumer
This is #5 in a 10 part series on your Company’s Systems (see the original Systems Post here)
This fifth post references how to operate your company on a “flow of information”framework. That is, you want to set up your Company’s Systems to line up with the way in which information flows through your company.
There is a way in which information flows intuitively through your company, depending on your industry, your management style, your geography, your targeted niche and so many more. It may not always seem intuitive (what, with all the chaos going on at the office), but there is probably some kind of recognizable process that information takes on as it enters and exits your organization. Figure out what that process is… and manipulate the crap out of it!
You want to bend this “flow of information” process to your needs… your management tool needs, your reporting needs, your profitability measurement needs, etc. If you can manage this flow, then you can know stuff you’ve never known, and you can serve your client/customer in a whole new way (which to me, typically means more “Benjamins” coming your way).
Here’s how to do it:
1. Study the entry point of information into your Company. All types of info enter into your Company in many different ways. Sales leads may come into your organization through your website. Customer complaints may come into your company through the sales staff. New business ideas may come through regular attendance at trade shows. However it enters the company, and for whatever purpose, you want to know that process in and out. You may want to sit down with some decision-makers in your company and chart this ”flow of information” on a wipe board to become more intimate with it. Then…
2. Grab the information from “the flow” - never let valuable data slip through your company without being captured. ”Many people know many different things that many people don’t know.” In other words, there are a lot of people on the forefront of a company (where info initially enters the entity), and they know a lot of little things that could change the way a company operates. But though these people know many things they aren’t telling other people because they don’t know how these “many” things fit into the “flow of information” model for your Company (whew!). Create new forms to capture that info, get it into sales lead software, require sales staff (or whomever) to assist in capturing the data for future use, etc. Don’t just do it sometimes, announce the new policies and procedures to the whole company to capture this information, then you will be accountable to follow through and commit to capturing it. Explain to everyone why you are accumulating this new information and how it will make you a better company. New databases will be created, problems will arise that you’ve never seen before and new ideas will be generated just by studying the process of how info enters your company.
3. Manipulate this new fat mound of information with a vengeance. I’m never an advocate of implementing procedures and policies unless they have some benefit. Studying your “flow of information” only has benefit when you use the data. Implement new monthly meetings to analyze this new found data, make decisions with it and change your company from the inside out! I teach this simple step with QuickBooks when training so many of our clients. This software has such high-end capabilities to capture financial information, but it all depends on how my clients know their information flow (study it!) and how they grab that information. Otherwise, I can’t help them manipulate it AND CHANGE! And our firm can make QuickBooks do so much more than track financial info – we can make that software a management tool in so many ways, tracking referral sources, client account numbers sorted by state, regional customers, types of customers (ethnicity, age, marital status, etc.), effective branding, and so many more.
The “flow of information” framework in your company is so important to implementing your Systems. You must know it and operate your company around it. If you commit to this, you will know success, or you will at least know why you are not successful. Here’s to the flow…
Thanks, Jason M. Blumer
1. I stink at this awesome game, which I saw on Brant Hansen’s blog. The game is very mind-numbing and fun, but I’m still terrible at it. According to the game, my travel IQ is 88 – GoSee
2. Word up… I love it when the government hands out money (my money!). You can expect your check sometime this Spring, assuming the bill passes - GoSee
3. How would you like to know the 10 most and least profitable businesses to start? Now you can (and my business is at the top! Boo yaw!). Check it out… – GoSee
Thanks, Jason M. Blumer
A few short points about finding joy:
1. Some struggle with what they do (be it a relationship, a job, a situation, etc.). But if you can look back over your life, you’ll see that a lot of those past struggles were preparing you for the abilities and successes you now enjoy. What are you going through now that will bring great rays of light into your future? What is God teaching you now that will change your future for the better?
2. Comparatively, finding joy is difficult. That is, you can always find someone better and in a better situation. You’ll find it difficult to find joy using comparisons. Stop that.
3. We think joy comes in the big things. Not so. There are many joys you experience each day. It’s just that this complicated world of stuff, schedules and to-dos keep us from seeing them. My potentially unnoticed joys (some may seem small to you, but they are “joys” nonetheless): my wife cooks a meal for our family each night so we can all be together, my wife and I love each other deeply (after 15 years of marriage), my parents love my wife and my wife’s parents love me, my three daughters are healthy, my work is hard but fulfilling, I tend to develop deep friendships, we enjoy a great church, my dog doesn’t shed, I get to work in a business with my dad, my brother is a true friend, etc.
4. Finding joy doesn’t mean finding happiness. Sometime our sadness can be joyful. Any examples?
I’m feeling introspective today…
Thanks, Jason M. Blumer
I subscribe to Marshall Goldsmith’s Ask The Coach blog from Harvard Business Review, and I recently listened to a podcast regarding his thoughts on his latest book, What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There. Fascinating stuff on the changing role of leaders in our world. It reminded me of our firm’s Thriveal Theory, why it was developed, and how we operate within that theory’s parameters.
There were five points he made on that particular blog post. Here’s a recap of a few:
1. In the future (which is now!) leaders will have to start thinking globally (he copied this from my Thriveal Theory… just kidding). Not even the small business can resign itself to the local geography anymore. Our world is global, and competition will be gained and lost at this level. The fact that business is global will impact how new leaders think, act, hire, buy, sell and win! I have no doubt that even our tax preparation and consulting engagements could start crossing the US borders in a few years (while we remain in our offices).
2. Businesses will begin developing alliances and partnerships in order to survive. And I feel this will directly impact and enhance the small businesses’ ability to compete in this global marketplace. As larger businesses fail to make quick decisions, respond to market trends (which are becoming faster and faster), and meet the needs of younger more demanding employees, small businesses can step into strategic alliances with larger entities to provide services they can not provide themselves. And expanding on Marshall’s thoughts here, I believe niche markets and “nano-focused” operations will be the place where the upcoming small business thrives! The fact that the world is global (even for small businesses), and that large companies can’t respond to economic change the way they need to, small business will provide the needed lightning-quick support, management, technology, manufacturing, staffing, etc. that is needed for the larger entity. The next 5 to 10 years will truly be the era of the small business. I’m thankful for Marshall highlighting this fact.
3. Marshall shared a great quote from Peter Drucker (the man who invented management) on the changes in new leadership models: “…the leader of the past knew how to tell. The leader of the future will know how to ask.” More and more workers are becoming what is know as knowledge workers. They know more about their tasks than the boss does. They know the information that is needed to run organizations. And leaders in the future will not be able to manage these individuals as they did in the past – “you go here, and do this,” “you do this task at this speed with this result.” Leaders may not know the stuff their employees know – therefore, they have to ask for guidance, how to do certain technological tasks, when to perform specific routines, and how best to perform them. Can you believe the impact this how on you and me as leaders? It’s amazing! If we continue operating under the traditional model of management (tell people what to do), then we are destined to fail in this new trend.
These thoughts impact me in huge ways. I feel like I have to hurry and tell my clients that are practicing the wrong models of management – before their businesses implode. And these models hit home with me in so many ways. I own a media, motion design and high-end videography and cinematography business with some other partners. I have no skills in these areas. I only possess the ability to manage tasks, people, a complicated business model, and obtaining the end product (satisfied clients and cash). Someone asked me, as a consulting CPA, why I own this type of company? I could only answer with the thoughts reflected in this post. You have to know how to manage now, not necessarily how to do what other people in the organization do (I can’t design one freakin’ lick).
The implications to these new management techniques are far-reaching. Don’t just read over them and shrug. Make changes now… and win!
I’m interested in knowing what you think…
Thanks, Jason M. Blumer
I’m a little late on getting this week’s edition out of Thriveal’s Three on Thursday, but here is what I’ve found lately through my feeds:
1. The MacBook Air is soooooooo cool – GoSee
2. These are the coolest shoes I’ve ever seen. They fit the way gloves fit your hands – GoSee
3. If you need to remember something, put your shoes in the toilet (…or something like that) – GoSee
Thanks, Jason M. Blumer
Probably one of the greatest moves I made in life was back in May of 2003 when I decided to join my dad’s small CPA firm and work with him.
He was a young 56 years old then, and today he turns 61. And I’ll be 37 this year, and I just figured out (maybe a couple of years ago) that I don’t know nothing (sorry English teachers), and that my dad knows stuff… turns out, it’s a bunch of stuff. Figuring this out sure would have been helpful a number of years ago. Why did it take me until around the mid-30s to figure this out? That stinks… in a big way. I may have more time, more money and more life… if I just would have listened to my dad.
In honor of my dad’s 61st birthday today, I wanted to share a few things he taught me…
1. He misses his dad more now than when his dad was actually alive. That’s interesting. That makes me want to hang around my dad. I don’t want to say that one day. So I’m glad I get to work with my dad. And I’m going to make sure my children get to spend a lot of time with me (even when they are teenagers)… because of my dad.
2. My dad has sacrificed his life for his kids. My dad is the co-owner/co-organizer of four businesses total, two (seen here and here) for me and two (again, here and here) for my older brother. He sacrificed his time and funded all of the businesses with his own cash. I’ll be sacrificing for my three daughters the way my dad did for me (maybe not the cash part)… because of my dad.
3. My dad taught me to make myself indispensable at my work. This has helped me tremendously in my past employment, and I’ve even taught this concept to some of my clients. By this I mean, put yourself in such a trusted position at your job, and perform so well that your employer seems somewhat obligated to offer you higher positions, raises, promotions, etc. I’ve asked for and received higher positions, raises and promotions… because of my dad.
4. Be a background man. My brother and I are anything but “background”. We love business and loud music and we don’t like to follow people. And we sing REALLY loud at church. My dad is not quite so showy. He is more of a “background” man. You know he’s there, but he’s not going to point that fact out. But when he speaks, me and my brother (and others) tend to be quiet. He is usually saying something worth listening to. I want to be a man worth listening to and hang out more in the background… because of my dad.
5. My dad is a man of faith. Though he will tell you that his faith in God is not very strong, we see a different picture. We see a man who has had to lean on God in so many ways through so many trials in the past (many of those trials caused by his unruly kids), and still rely on God and share Him with others. I want to be a man of faith… because of my dad.
There’s just so many more I can’t list them all, but those are just a few.
Dad, I love you more than words can say, and I’m so glad to be in the office with you today to say Happy Birthday! You freakin’ rule, dude (did I mention that me and my brother are not very respectful of the aged, too?).
Thanks, Jason M. Blumer
…my firm’s website updated after our 10 year anniversary in November of 2007.
We also posted some official descriptions of our Thriveal theory on the site. See ya.
Thanks, Jason M. Blumer
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