How to Unleash the Power of Collaboration in Your Small Business
How’s the Internet working for you? At least good enough to get you to this page, right? The technical standards by which the Internet functions and a lot of the software we use to communicate online are collaborative efforts. In software development, this often goes under the label of “open source,” which has become a very popular way to swap technological ideas. And this brings us around to what I’d like to examine today. You see, September 10 is Swap Ideas Day, and the concept of collaboration can be just as powerful in your small business as it can be in the development of an Internet browser, such as Firefox. I think the origin of the proverb “Two heads are better than one” is lost to history, but its underlying truth isn’t lost to anyone who has experience in how the real world operates. Second opinions, a fresh set of eyes or a differing point of view can create whole new possibilities. In the small business world, “brainstorming” sessions are nothing more than a concerted effort toward swapping ideas with the hopes that even better ideas will be borne, which they often are. There are other ways to swap ideas in small business and I encourage you to explore them. I’m going to provide some examples of collaborations and give you a short list of suggestions (easy ones to pull off) in a moment, but first let me offer a word of advice. Sometimes we refuse to share our ideas because we don’t want anyone to “steal” them. More often than not this is counter productive. First, if you have an idea, there’s a good chance someone else has it as well. It serves your best interests to be the one who releases it into the wild. Second, your inaction on the idea is a clue that you don’t really know how to develop it. Going public can connect you with the right people to make it happen. Three corporate collaboration examples Corning – if you’ve ever gone to a potluck, you know some of their products – collaborates with its customers to develop new products. By the way, it has some very high-tech customers. Corning worked with Verizon to deliver fiber-optic Internet to areas where the housing is extremely dense, for example. Take away: Develop your customer relationships so you can share ideas with one another. Let them know you’re interested in meeting their needs. The major automobile manufacturers like BMW, GM and others are working together with tech companies, such as Intel and Delphi, to make it easier to bring advanced technologies into cars. It’s interesting that much of what the companies are doing uses open source software – Ubuntu and Linux. Take away: Associate with others in your region, industry or related industries to pave the way for all parties to work together more closely and cost effectively in the future. Reebok teamed up with Cirque de Soleil to develop inspiring exercise circuits and accessories. Reebok discovered (surprise!) that we often tire of the same old exercise routines. Cirque de Soleil came up with choreography, music and backgrounds for the new routines for use with Reebok’s new accessories. Take away: Is there a small business you can work with that can add some panache or style...
read moreHere’s a Small Biz Contest I Personally Invite You to Enter!
Not long ago I wrote about various business contests and gave you a long list of small business and startup competitions you might want to check out. But I also told you to keep your eyes open for additional contests and today I want to tell you about a brand new entry that you should enter – and it’s one that’s very personal to me: SAP’s Big Dreams Sweepstakes! Why would this contest be personal to me? you might ask. Because I’ll be working one-on-one with the winner to help solve problems and make big dreams a reality. This is a service that usually comes with a $5,000 price tag, so whoever wins is getting a great deal and that could easily be you! I offer a lot of great advice for small business owners here, but when I work one-on-one, I can give you much more specific advice and tips that I’m sure you’ll find extremely productive. And I can’t tell you how much I would enjoy working with one of my regular readers, so I’m doing everything I can to encourage you to enter. The entry deadline is October 23, and that’s just around the corner. You can easily navigate to the entry page here as well as catch up on all the fine print. I also need to put in a good word for SAP. They’ve made this possible and I think it truly demonstrates their commitment to small business. You’ve probably noticed how all of our politicians from both parties are declaring their dedication to small business and recognizing it as the lifeblood of your communities. But to me, it’s companies like SAP, who link their success to their ability to actually help small businesses in concrete ways that really impress me. When you head over to their website to enter the contest, take a moment to check out their SAP Business One software and see if it would help you better manage your business. SAP and I share an important foundational small business principle: success depends on working smarter, not on merely putting in more...
read moreDo you work 55+ hours per week in your small business? Heed this warning…
Hey small business owner: Would you like to know an easy way to tell if you’re at a higher risk for depression, alcoholism, type-2 diabetes, heart attack, stroke and just about every other modern health and wellness nightmare? You can find out by answering one question: Do you work more than 55 hours a week in your small business? If you answer yes to that question, there’s a good chance that you’re on a road to some severe health problems, if you haven’t arrived there already. The British medical journal, “The Lancet,” recently published a study that uncovered many of these health issues related to being a workaholic. However, there have been many studies over the last decade or so that have found similar associations between overwork and bad health. It’s important to make one thing very clear: These health issues are associated with long hours of work. In other words, where overwork is found, there is a good chance that overconsumption of alcohol (and other health problems) will be found as well. I make this point because there is a difference between association and causation. In my drinking example, both might be caused by a bad marriage, a failing business or any number of reasons. However, since so many bad outcomes are associated with working too many hours, we can consider “hours worked” as sort of a “canary in the coal mine.” Miners used to take canaries down into the mines with them because the birds were more sensitive to hazardous gases. If the canary died, the miners knew they had to take action. In the same way, if you’re logging upwards of 55 hours a week in your small business, your canary is starting to stagger around its cage. You need to take a step back and figure out what’s wrong in your approach to managing your small business. Start asking yourself questions like these: Is my business model bound to fail? Am I too reluctant to delegate? Am I avoiding other aspects of my life by filling the hours with work? Is fear my primary motivator? Perhaps I haven’t listed the exact question that applies to your situation. If so, the point is to find out why you are working so many hours and then do something about it. Further, if you’re logging this many hours, not only are your harming your health, you aren’t doing your small business any favor either. A Stanford University study showed that productivity starts to fall off after 50 hours of work. Once you get that that point, you’ll be working more and more and achieving less and less. That’s not the best way to get the edge you need to be successful in your small business. By the way, cognitive skills decrease as well, so when you’re overworked you’re more likely to make bad decisions. Have I scared you, or at least warned you sufficiently? You should take the concept of work-life balance seriously, for the good of both your work and your life. Check out the series of guest posts work-life balance expert Jeff Davidson has written for us. While you build your small business up, don’t let your small business run you down....
read moreThis Week in Small Business: Rekindle old contacts, double check your website, and more
This week many of the most popular small business articles I’ve shared on social media deal with critical, “meat-and-potato” topics, such as networking, business valuation techniques and making sure you aren’t missing a critical item on your website. Leadership, management and productivity Sometimes in small business (and life) it’s not how good you are, but who you know. That’s why learning how to reach out to old networking contacts can be valuable. A 22-year Army career prepared Fred Wellman for the challenges of building successful firms. Here’s Fred’s story. This guest article on my site about how to value small businesses has been a big hit with readers. Marketing and sales Honestly, sometimes the obvious is the easiest to overlook. Check your website against this list of critical home page items and make sure you haven’t dropped the ball. Want to find out what content works best? This blog looks at a study that examined one million articles. Infographics are a powerful small business content marketing tool. Just make sure you’re telling the truth with yours! Emotional marketing can be very powerful. Sarah Dawley gives you five ways to use it in your B2B company. Entrepreneurship, startups and innovation If you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner, I think you’re probably pretty competitive. Check out this comprehensive list of contests that I’ve put together for you. Is your startup a good fit for “storefront America”? If so, here are the best locations along with the best businesses. A lot of today’s startups are born in coworking spaces, accelerators and incubators. Get the big picture of how those places compare and which is best for your plans. Politics, government and the economy As various polling firms pick up and peer into their Magic Eight Balls, they seem to be agreeing that small business hiring is fairly...
read moreNeed a Startup idea? How about One of Most Profitable US Small Businesses?
I’ve recently published a couple of articles suggesting businesses that need to be on your short list if you’re considering a startup. First I looked at businesses that are typically more able to withstand the strains of a recession and then I put together one of the longest lists of home-based small businesses you can start. A list from Sageworks, a financial information company (www.sageworks.com), related to the concept behind those lists came to my attention and I thought it would be interesting – and hopefully revealing – to find the areas where these lists overlap. Sageworks just issued its annual ranking of the most profitable industries in the United States. These are the businesses that boast the highest profit margins. Further, Sageworks was able to breakdown its data and give us the most profitable small business industries in the country. How can you beat that? After all, if you’re going to start a recession-proof, or home-based business, why not plunge into an industry that is know to have some of the highest profit margins? Here’s the list from Sageworks: Industry Name Percent Net Profit Margin Accounting, tax prep, bookkeeping, payroll services 20.5 Automotive equipment rental and leasing 20.4 Lessors of real estate 16.0 Dental offices 15.4 Legal services 15.2 Offices of real estate agents and brokers 14.7 Offices of other health practitioners 14.4 Offices of physicians 14.1 Management, scientific and technical consulting services 13.5 Activities related to real estate 12.3 Commercial and industrial machinery, equipment rental and leasing 12.2 Warehousing and storage 12.0 Specialized design services 11.7 Support activities for mining 11.4 Coating, engraving, heat treating and allied activities 10.7 The first thing I need to point out is that accounting and tax preparation services score a hat trick. This business area is at the top of the Sageworks list, it’s a business that can be based out of your home and it’s also one of the best recession-proof businesses. The only thing that might threaten this sector is if Congress ever goes to a flat tax or national sales tax and eliminates the IRS. I’m not holding my breath. Also note that virtually every aspect of the healthcare industry is represented in the Sageworks list. If you’re old enough to remember “The Donna Reed” show, or saw it in reruns, you’ll recall that her husband was a doctor whose office was at their home. I don’t think very many physicians have that set up today, but there are some healthcare-related businesses you can start from home that are highly recession proof. The Sageworks data suggest that they could deliver healthy profit margins. While the real estate industry isn’t immune to recessions, there are many real estate related businesses that can be based out of your home. In our list of 80 home-based businesses we specifically mentioned property management and that has a 16 percent profit margin, according to Sageworks. Now that we have an idea of which startups deliver the best profit margins, which are recession proof and which can be run from your home, the only other information you need to plug into this array is your passions. Do you have the deep interest in any of these industries that would sustain you through the challenging months and maybe even years of getting your business up...
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