“You can’t handle the truth.” – Jack Nicholson

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I am constantly running into well intentioned and informed clients who ignore this simple advice:True North for Truth

“You can’t handle the truth.” – Jack Nicholson in a Few Good Men

This is especially true when clients are trying to identify target markets.  Here is a perfect example,

I had a client who wanted to market a very complex and localized program to all 50 states.  He was more worried about not serving potential customers than the minimal potential, high risks, high expenses, low efficiency, and probability of mistakes in the 20 states that made up only 10 % of the population. [Read more…]

Think like a Journalist but Operate like a Business Entrepreneur

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Thinking like a journalistBeing a successful business entrepreneur requires being able to maintain a healthy balance between passion and reality – between the emotional reasons why you’re in business and the realities of carrying out the day-to-day tasks in getting the business off the ground and keeping it afloat.  To put the odds of success more in your favor, it helps to think like a journalist who is trained early on to use the five “w”s and a “how framework”.

Who, what, where, when, why, and how.

Delving into these questions and answering them will help comprise the strategic underpinnings of your business and guide execution and operations. [Read more…]

Experience and Expertise are Critical to Startup Success

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In his book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell became famous for arguing,Experience and expertise combine for startup success

“10,000 hours of practice is required to become a world-class expert.”

I am not sure it is 10,000 hours, but my experience indicates that experience and expertise are probably the most important factors in successful startups.   That doesn’t mean you need expertise in everything, but it does mean you need to have some hook into the effort you are pursuing.  In fact, one of the related facts of this approach is you frequently acquire skills in areas where they are lacking.  Two examples that illustrate this are as follows: [Read more…]

Goals and Measurement

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Measure SuccessWe all understand the importance of goals, purpose, direction and measurement in establishing commitment, success, team work, and coordination.  Somehow between that understanding and the execution things often go awry.

One of the key mantras of a relatively new industry, direct marketing, has been the focus on setting goals and measurement.  Google Analytics, and products like it, have quickly become business tools of choice for companies seeking to set goals and measure results.  These new direct marketing tools are so effective and relatively easy to use that businesses both large and small can now instantly measure and observe results.

One typical reason goals are often not set correctly is that it can be a difficult process.  One of the advantages of professional sports is that the goal of winning is simple, clear, and easy. It is not always quite that simple in other businesses. [Read more…]

What’s a Real Entrepreneur?

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In talking to entrepreneurs about starting a business there is a great deal of variety in energy, ideas, skills, experience, money, commitment, young entrepreneur and business planand time required. If you have none of these, we suggest not wasting your time starting until you figure some of them out. If you have at least some of them, it is generally worth the effort to determine the potential and think about a program. Even with this advice, we frequently hear numerous frustrations with the process:

“Doing a startup mostly s…ks.  It’s hard in every way.  You have to do all the sh…y work no one in a big company wants to do, especially you with your fancy degree and overblown ego. You work long hours.  You make s..t for money. You worry about paying rent. But, above all, it’s hard emotionally.  You’re a failure until you’re not.” [Read more…]

The Power of Positive Thinking

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Positive Thinking is Vital to Startup SuccessHave you ever watched one year olds learn to walk?  If you have, you are sure to notice a number of similar experiences.  While every child learns how to walk in a similar way, each one’s experience is unique as they get up, fall down, get up, and keep trying. What is amazing is their determination, lack of fear, commitment, practice, and continuing efforts to test the situation.   That’s the power of positive thinking.  As a startup and turnaround business consultant, I constantly hear, read advice, and see comments focused on worries, concerns, caution, in essence, all the old paradigms related to bringing about business success. While some of these perceptions may have validity in certain situations, they’re generally not productive. [Read more…]