Archive for the ‘Business’ Category
Friday, October 15th, 2010
There’s been a lot of hand-wringing lately over the fact that small businesses aren’t “leading the U.S. out of recession,” as we have in the past. Some economists have taken to calling this a “jobless recovery,” suggesting that entrepreneurs have made a permanent shift to contract workers rather than hiring in-house.
There are two major problems with that argument.
 First, contract workers aren’t “jobless.” I do all kinds of freelance writing that brings in plenty of money, yet I don’t appear as an employee on anyone’s payroll. Does that make me unemployed? Likewise, Prost! Productions regularly hires artists on a contract basis to create new wine cards for our collection. Every time we introduce a new card, we create a job for an artist. Yes, it’s a one-time gig, but that’s the precisely the kind of job that independent workers are looking for.
Secondly, entrepreneurs are still looking to add traditional employees when the time is right. Two recent polls that I conducted for SmartBrief on Entrepreneurs bear this out:
- Our Oct. 13 poll found that “hiring new workers” is the top priority of entrepreneurs looking to invest in their companies once the economy improves. But the key here is once the economy improves. Small business owners simply haven’t seen enough spending to justify a boost in their permanent payrolls.
- And in a poll dated Aug. 18, we found that 41% of respondents still plan to hire traditional, in-house employees (as opposed to independent contractors) when the time is right. Slightly more entrepreneurs (49%) plan to go the freelance route, but 41% is still a huge number of businesses creating jobs the old-fashioned way.
So here’s the bottom line: Entrepreneurs are still the key to ending this recession and creating jobs — but it’s time to drag the definition of “jobs” into the 21st Century.
Tags: freelancing, independent contractor, jobs
Posted in Business | No Comments »
Thursday, October 14th, 2010
Moms are great for teaching important life lessons, like “Don’t talk with your mouth full” or “Wear clean underwear in case  you’re in a car accident.”
Chicago small-business owner Jay Goltz has an interesting — and slightly tongue-in-cheek — blog entry at the New York Times explaining why some of Mom’s lessons don’t apply in the business world. He’s stirred up a firestorm of controversy by suggesting that business owners might want to ignore some sacred bits of maternal wisdom, such as “Honesty is the best policy” and “The meek will inherit the earth.”
Whether he’s right or wrong on those points, he did get me thinking about a favorite saying of my very sweet, very Southern mother-in-law:
“You can’t make chicken salad out of chicken sh*t”
Now, she’s generally right 90% of the time, but I think she got this one wrong. Ever since this downturn began, thousands of entrepreneurs have managed to come up with some pretty tasty chicken salad recipes, despite the economic excrement in which we find ourselves. It’s a testament to their creativity and determination that they’ve been able to make the best a tough situation, provide for their families and hang on until times get better.
Still, 2-plus years of chicken salad is a long time. Like everyone else, I’m ready for some steak.
Tags: bootstrapping, conventional wisdom
Posted in Business | No Comments »
Friday, October 8th, 2010
Jeff Smisek is one of my favorite airline CEOs. He did a great job in his short tenure at Continental, and I have no doubt he’ll  resuscitate the ailing United brand.
Still, he didn’t make the list in Rosalind Resnick’s excellent piece on business leaders who “live” their brand — nor did Gerard Arpey (American), Richard Anderson (Delta) or even Gary Kelly (Southwest). No, the only airline chief who earned Resnick’s shout-out in the Wall Street Journal was — you guessed it — Richard Branson.
Love him or loathe him, you can’t deny that Branson is a tireless champion of all things Virgin. He’s so enthusiastic — so shameless — that you just know he actually enjoys the theatrics. And why shouldn’t he? Virgin is his baby, a brand that he birthed and nurtured and grew into a multi-billion-dollar empire.
What struck me as I read the Resnick article was that I can’t think of any CEOs in any industry who truly “live” a brand that they didn’t start themselves. I’m sure there are plenty of CEOs who worry about their companies, take their work home with them and love what they do. But that’s not exactly the same as inhabiting and personifying a brand the way Branson does (or Mario Batali or Donald Trump, to cite two other Resnick examples).
Professional CEOs can work hard and earn every penny of their huge paychecks, but at the end of the day, they can’t possibly have the passion of a founder. They can’t love their company as much as the one who birthed it. They can’t feel the same sense of pride and accomplishment. They’re like a court-appointed guardian; the company isn’t really their baby.
What do you think? Am I being unfair? Can you think of an outside CEO who lives their brand with the passion of a founding entrepreneur?
Tags: marketing, passion, personal brand
Posted in Business | No Comments »
Friday, October 8th, 2010
 Everyone is talking about “The Social Network,” as well they should be. The movie is dramatic, incisive and exquisitely well-written. It’s one of the few Hollywood productions in recent years that actually makes people think and discuss and debate. Unless you sleep the whole way through the move (and who could do that?), you’re bound to come away with pretty strong feelings about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Putting aside the question of historical accuracy, I think it’s fair to debate whether the Zuckerberg character, as portrayed in the movie, is a good guy or a bad guy. Most of us have never met the real Zuckerberg, but we’ve all met the “type.” Tim Berry puts it best in his blog:
He’s brilliant, obsessive, extremely productive, abrasive, selfish, and driven. I’ve known some people like that. They get things done. They bump people around on the way, more from blind obsession with their goals than on purpose. They’re not real good at seeing two sides of any question. They build empires.
So, is that a good thing or a bad thing? The genius of the movie is the way it allows the viewer to make judgments. It’s a kind of celluloid Rorschach Test, and your feelings about the Zuckerberg character reveal a lot about your priorities as an entrepreneur. Drive, vision and execution are all admirable traits, but if you see the film as an inspiration rather than a warning, it’s probably safe to say you’re not a lifestyle entrepreneur.
Every business has a story, though most of them never get the Aaron Sorkin treatment. Still, I can’t help wondering how my character would be portrayed on-screen. I’m pretty sure reviewers wouldn’t use words like brilliant, obsessive or empire-builder.
And you know what? I think I’m okay with that.
Tags: Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, movie
Posted in Business, Life | No Comments »
Monday, October 4th, 2010
 Bruce Buschel spent two years and $2 million launching his seafood restaurant, Southfork Kitchen. So when the dining room finally opened to the public last Saturday, he must have felt a rush of excitement and satisfaction, right?
Not to hear him tell it: As opening night approached, Buschel says his emotions were more about “emptiness, desolation, uselessness, anxiety [and] gloom.” For two years, the restaurant was his obsession, but it was mostly in his head. He was Southfork; it didn’t exist without him.
Now, with the doors finally opening and the registers ringing, Buschel recognizes that “it’s kind of over for me.” He’s got a chef and a manager to do the heavy lifting, and they’ve hired a staff whom he barely knows. He’s reached a conclusion that he never anticipated: “I could vanish tomorrow and Southfork Kitchen would be the restaurant I envisioned, more or less.”
Buschel never says so, but I suspect he’ll move on relatively quickly to another project, even as his current business prospers. It’s not that he’s greedy or dissatisfied or ADD. Instead, he’s a classic serial entrepreneur. He loves to create, not operate. Taking a vision and turning it into reality — that’s the measure of success. Gross revenues and operating margins seem mundane by comparison.
“The creation has happened. It is the eighth day. What next?” he wonders at the close of his column. It’s a good question, and one that entrepreneurs should ask themselves from Day One. Either find a business that you love — Prost! is perfect for me because creation happens on a daily basis — or find a partner with the operational passion you lack.
Tags: business advice, serial entrepreneurs
Posted in Business | 2 Comments »
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First, contract workers aren’t “jobless.” I do all kinds of freelance writing that brings in plenty of money, yet I don’t appear as an employee on anyone’s payroll. Does that make me unemployed? Likewise, Prost! Productions regularly hires artists on a contract basis to create new wine cards for our collection. Every time we introduce a new card, we create a job for an artist. Yes, it’s a one-time gig, but that’s the precisely the kind of job that independent workers are looking for.
