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Baby Boomer Cash Now

Why you Don’t achieve your Goals

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Standards are the promises you keep to yourself. Let me say that again and in a different way. Standards are what you live up to. Whatever you do on a regular basis is your standard.

So. if you are not achieving your goals, if you start something (New Year’s Resolution) and abruptly stop, it’s because you lack standards.

Previously I wrote about Identity. And identity is the basis from where you can build your entire life for success. It is fundamental to everything you do. Because it is the belief of who you are. You will always work to move yourself to your Identity and you will see everything, and I mean EVERYTHING through the lens of that identity. You will not be able to accomplish anything in life if you don’t have the right identity.

Standards go right alongside your identity. Because if you don’t have standards that go with the identity; the identity is meaningless.  Identity has no power behind it. Someone said, “you may or may not reach your goals, but you will achieve your standards.”  For years I had a goal to work out on a regular basis. Notice the phrase, “workout on a regular basis.”  What does work out on a regular basis mean? Monday, Wednesday, and Friday? Well, no, identifying and setting 3 days a week is definitive and is consistent and I didn’t say that.  Regular basis meant that when I got up, and I didn’t feel life working out, I could skip that day.  I was still achieving my workout “on a regular basis” or so I fooled myself into thinking.

I made the decision Black Friday, 2021 to walk every day. We have a treadmill, so the weather doesn’t matter.  I also had started journaling and part of the that journaling was to track by daily workouts along with asking myself what I was grateful for. As time went on, I changed my daily workout from just walking to or daily “workout,” to “planned, scheduled physical activity.”

That is a mouthful. Let me explain. Some days, my wife and I walk outside. Some days I pull weeds in the garden for an hour. Some days I lift weights (Monday, Wednesday, Friday), but always and I mean always, some type of planned, scheduled, physical activity must be done every day. During the day and especially before I go to bed, I decide what my physical activity tomorrow will be.

I look at the weather the night before and if the weather is good, I’ll walk outside.  I determine the clothes I need to wear outside, (thermal for cold days, sweats, jacket, gloves).  I put the clothes in the same place, at night. If the morning is dark when I walk, I will charge my headlamp and vest the night before.

Or it is spring, and I need to work in the yard to get in my physical activity. (BTW, we are putting in new landscape beds, so I am digging those). I make sure I know where my gardening gloves are, along with all the necessary garden tools. The key is planned. And by planned, I mean, I make sure I have everything I need for tomorrow. If I get up in the morning and it is 40 degrees and I haven’t laid everything out, it is so easy to get frustrated because I can’t find something and end up not gardening.  By the way, if you have never gardened, let me tell you, it is the best overall workout that you could ever do.

So, we addressed “planned.”  The second part is “scheduled.”  After getting up, if it is Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, I lift weights and I start the workout with the same song, every weight-lifting session and walk 30 minutes on the treadmill while listening to a podcast. With it being spring, I work on the landscape beds for 60 minutes (set my alarm) instead of walking on the treadmill. I listen to a good podcast while I am working in the yard. I then eat breakfast while either taking an online course or watching an inspirational video. Monday – Friday, this is my routine.

I get up at 4:45, and whatever is scheduled, I do. The schedule changes depending on what is going on. Recently we drove from Madison, Wisconsin, where we live, to Dallas, Texas, to see our son. It is a 1000-mile trip that we drive in one day. We start at 6 am and arrive in Dallas at 10 pm. Since we start at 6 am and there will not be any time during the day to workout (kind of difficult in a car), I got up at 4 am and got on the treadmill for 30 minutes.  Coming back, I got up at 4 am and walked a planned walk through the University of North Texas campus. Why? Because my standard is to do a planned, scheduled physical activity, every single day. And I must do it.

The times I workout on the weekend can vary, but I still schedule it in.

I did physical activity every single day, whether it be walking, gardening, or weightlifting, but I wasn’t losing weight.  What was wrong. I needed consistently to eat right.  My wife cooked most nights and what she prepared was healthy. It was lean meat or fish and lots of vegetables. But late in the week, as work piled up, she would be too tired to cook. I would get something from a takeout place, and not only did I not lose weight, but I also gained.

To fix the problem of eating fast food late in the week, we decided to cook for the week every Saturday morning. This way we would have something healthy every day for every meal. It didn’t matter the time of year, every Saturday between 8 am and 9:00 am (usually 8:30), we would start cooking.

We were able to cook on Saturday, because of the preparation earlier in the week. First, we would capture what we needed to buy on a list, which sits by the coffee maker. Anytime we ran out of something, such as using the next to last container of almond milk, it went on the list. If blackberries (added to oatmeal each morning) were almost out, they went on the list.  On Wednesday at noon, my wife would determine the meals that would be cooked on Saturday. Sometimes it would be stir-fry, other times the meals for the week were recipes that she found. On Thursday she would shop. The food was always delicious and nutritious.

By cooking on Saturday, we freed up the time during the weeknights to do other things rather than cook. But the most important thing was, we didn’t eat out.  By cooking on Saturday, we eliminated that temptation to eat poorly. Our standard is 1) she creates the meal plan for the week 2) she shops on Thursday (and if for some reason she can’t, we shop Thursday night.  3) We cook every Saturday morning.

By eating right, the weight issue was eliminated, wasn’t it? The answer is no.

Eating the right things wasn’t the only issue.  I had always snacked, and I mean always, even when I was running. So, while I ate a healthy meal, I would snack on nuts, or crackers and cheese, or . . . you name it, after dinner. I just ate too much and added pounds.

 

 

Obstacles Get in Your Way

I hate to admit, but I lost 40 pounds in 2020 in 3 ½ months.  I was on top of the world. I felt so much better. I had tons of energy, and I kept that weight off for 6 months. And during the time of losing the 40 pounds, I weighed myself each day and kept track of it.  During the time of losing 40 pounds, we cooked every week; cooked every Saturday morning.  But an obstacle came up (as it does in life). My job was relocating us, and we put our house up for sale. We could have a house showing at any time; especially on the weekend, so we couldn’t cook.  I got out of my routine of eating a pre-cooked meal each night. Over the next two years, I put most of the weight back on.

Sounds like an excuse. doesn’t it? Because it is. I said to myself, we can’t cook for the week, so I need to eat fast food.  There were ways I could have kept eating right and more importantly, not eating too much. Because it all comes down to calories and the amount you eat. I simply went back to my old eating habit of eating too much.

Why did I go back to that old habit? Because I saw myself as a fat man that lost some weight. My image of myself was that of a fat man. That is why I have lost weight and put it back in after a few years. My image, my identify needed to change.

I ran races 30 years ago and I enjoyed running. But over the years, the running got less, and the pounds got more. Running was just something I did.

This time, I changed my identity to that of a runner. A runner puts good food into their body.  Runners want something that provides good energy and don’t eat foods that aren’t good for them.

So now, when I see fatting food, it doesn’t tempt me.  I’m not saying I can’t have it; I’m not denying it to myself.  I simply CHOOSE to not eat it. I DON’T eat it. Not because I can’t. It’s because I eat like a runner.

Am I back running yet? No, I have 15 more pounds before my weight is down enough that I can run.  But I have lost 35.5 pounds this year. I am a RUNNER. I Choose to eat what a runner would eat. I visualize myself running a marathon every morning. It is only a matter of weeks before I actually run.

Identity is important, but you must have standards to reinforce that identity. I have a standard that workout each day. We have a standard to cook every Saturday.  I have a standard that I don’t eat after dinner.  I have a standard of planned, scheduled, physical activity, every single day. These standards help me achieve my goals.

Actions:

  1. Determine your identity. Determine who you really want to be. Make a decision on who you will be.
  2. Create an image of that person (you). How do you stand? Are you standing tall with your shoulders back and head held high. Are you smiling (if not, you should be). Where are you standing? Are you give a TED talk and you have a commanding presence? Are people listening intently to your words? Are you lean, strong, energetic? Create that image in your mind of the person you will be.
  3. Take the actions that person would take. For me, when I am at a fast-food restaurant (because I am traveling), I look at the calories on the different items and choice something that is lower in calories. I do that because that is what a runner would do. I order a bottle of water instead of soda because that is what a runner would do. I get up and workout in the morning because that is what a runner would do.
  4. Create a good environment for yourself. For me, I don’t keep junk food in the house (because a runner would not do that). I eat healthily, because of the energy it provides me with. Create an environment that will make you successful. Envision the environment you need and take action to create it.
  5. Do the things you know you need to do. Commit to being the person you envision. Create standards on what you must do no matter what. Standards are the key to success. Create standards that empower you.
  6. Set your standards and commit to them.

 

 

 

Identity is Your Secret Weapon

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I’ve set a goal to lose weight many times in my life.  Sometimes I took the goal seriously and lost weight. At other times, I didn’t make the commitment and the weight loss didn’t happen or I lost a few pounds and immediately put them back on.

But there have been times that I lost a significant amount of weight, 30 or 40 pounds, within a 3 to 4 months period.  But even with that significant achievement, within a year, I put most of the weight back.

But now I am losing weight and enjoying the process, and I believe the weight will stay off. I don’t feel deprived in my eating. I enjoy eating healthy.  I enjoy working out.  So why was my weight going up and down like a rollercoaster before?  What changed?

Identity

I didn’t think there was any particular reason for why I was gaining back weight, for why it was occurring, until I heard about Identity.  Identity is defined in the dictionary as “the fact of being who or what a person or thing is.

Who was I identifying myself as a person?  And was that identity impacting my ability to lose weight.  Was I a fat man who is losing weight?  Was that the image I had of myself?  I thought long and hard about it.  Could it be how I am picturing myself, my identity; was causing me to gain weight back?

I believe it was.  Because as soon as I went off a diet, I went back to eating as I had before.  It was because the image of who I am hadn’t changed.  The difference is now, I have a different picture.  I see myself as a runner.  Many years ago, I was a runner.  I ran in races.  I haven’t run any races in almost 30 years.

But today, I picture myself as a runner.  Am I running yet; no.  I’m still too heavy and I don’t want to put the stress on my knees.  But I am on course to start running in two months.  I have lost 35 pounds this year.

I identify with being a runner and do what a runner does.  I workout each day, just like a runner.  I eat healthy food.  Not because I have to.  I’m not eating fast food because I CAN’T.  I’m not on a diet.  I DON’T eat fast food, or sweets, not because I CAN’T, it is because I don’t want to.  Using the word can’t means someone or something is preventing me from eating.

If I say to myself, which I did in the past “I would love to eat 3 slices of pizza” and my subconscious sees this mean “diet” in the corner, telling me I can’t have that pizza.  It is preventing me from doing what I want.  Using the word DON’T enables me to choose.  I choose what I want to eat.  I choose to eat healthy and cut back how much I eat, not because of a diet, or because I have to.  It is because I want to.  I feel empowered when I’m at Costco and I see all the bags of chips and I smile and say to myself “I don’t eat that because I’m a runner.”

So in anything where you are inconsistent; not getting the results you want, take a look at your identity.  Take a look at how you identify yourself and compare that to the person you need to be to be consistent.  Identify traits and do those things that the Identity requires.  Your Identity is your Secret Weapon.

I enjoy the feeling of eating right and working out.  I feel good.  But I don’t always feel like working out at 5 am.  The ability to continuously do the things that are good for me goes well beyond motivation or willpower.

So how do you change your Identity?

  1. Determine what kind of person you need to be to accomplish your life goals.  If you want to be a millionaire, write out what a millionaire does.  What are their habits?  What are the things a millionaire consistently does?  A google search and several articles will tell you exactly what they do.
  2.  Take a hard look at your life.  Be honest with yourself and ask yourself, “which of those millionaire habits am I not doing?”  And which of those habits am I not doing consistently?
  3. Make a decision to have a new identity.  Not a wish, a decision.  And on top of the decision, a commitment.  A commitment to do whatever it takes to truly become that identity.

Making a New Year’s Resolution? Don’t Waste your Time!

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New Year’s Resolutions are a Waste of Time.

What?!  What do you mean they are a waste of time?  The new year is a great time to get a fresh start; to lose weight,;start a workout routine; start that business you had always wanted and any number of other items.  So, I don’t get why it is a waste of time!

Studies have shown the people keep about 8% of their New Years resolutions.  So, more than 9 out of 10 people fail at their resolution.  Why?!

We fail at our resolution because we feel that resolution is an obligation; something we SHOULD do.  It is not something we WANT to do.

We associate pain with losing weight.  In order to lose weight we have to give up what we enjoy eating.  So after enjoying the meals of the holidays, we will get ourselves to SUFFER in the New Year by changing what and how much we eat.  Yeah, right, we will get ourselves to suffer, to feel pain.  That will really work!

Why do we enjoy the rich, fatting meals at the holidays, all the cookies and candies?  Because we have the pleasure of eating them.  Then in January we will make ourselves suffer by not eating what we enjoy.  And we really think that will work.  And how long does that last?  Normally a couple of weeks according to statistics and by mid-February 9 out of 10 people have broken their New Years resolution for good.

 

How do I get Myself to keep my New Year’s resolution?

First, decide if you really want that goal.  Do you want to be slim and enjoy a healthy life?  Do you want to start a business?  Are you committed to making it successful?  Are you willing to put in the necessary time?  Are you willing to make the necessary sacrifice?  Or is it a dream that you will not commit to and will never happen.

Second, you need change you identity to that of a person who will take the necessary actions needed to succeed.

If the goal is to be slim, then your mind needs to change from liking to eat sweets and fatty food, to someone who likes to eat healthy food and loves to exercise.  By identifying as someone that wants good health and does the things a healthy person does (eat good natural food and exercises on a daily basis), then the temptation of sweet food won’t tempt you.  You can smile and say no when someone offers dessert.

 

What’s a Better Way?

A better way to be successful in whatever your goal is, would be to start now.  Putting off your goal(s) until later often means your won’t do it.  If something is very important in your life, you don’t have time to do it later.  Do it now.  Go walk for 5 minutes if you want to start an exercise program.  Go to the web and spend 30 minutes researching about a business (and make sure you research just for the business, don’t web surf!).  Don’t wait for 2023 to come around.

Take control of your life.  Make decisions on how you want to live it and take concrete steps and do the things that will get you where you want to be.  Do it now!

 

 

So Long Chicago

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I lived in Chicago for 15 years, having relocated there from Dallas in a job-related move.  I enjoyed living in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.  It was in the top 30 wealthiest zipcodes in the country. I was close to two Forest Preserves, land that is set aside for nature, one which was 31,000 acres, taking walks in them on a regular basis.

I worked downtown Chicago for several years.  I thoroughly enjoyed how the downtown was decorated for Christmas with all of its gleaming lights.  In the spring I would go across to Millennium Park and walk through the acres of colorful flowers and listen to the concerts.  I would shop in downtown, or go to one of the great restaurants, or even take a noon-time trip to Barnes and Noble.  There was always something to do there.

While I didn’t enjoy the 90-minute commute, aboard a very noisy train, it did give me a chance to read, listen in write.  One year I read 50 books, the next year I listened to 246 business podcasts and the following year I wrote the draft of my first book.  I enjoyed the area I lived so much, I planned to retire there making that decision a few years after settling in the area.

Why I left Chicago

However, based on what was occurring with the city, the county (Cook) and the state finances, I became concerned.

First, in 2011, the state of Illinois improved a “temporary tax increase” in 2011.

illinois-temporary-tax-hike-18-billion-later

Myth: The temporary 2011 tax increase was necessary to pay down Illinois’ backlog of bills, stabilize the state’s pension crisis and strengthen its economy.

Fact: Since the tax increase was passed, Illinois’ unpaid bills and pension debt have grown, and the state’s economy is among the worst in the nation.

Illinois lawmakers in January 2011 pushed through a record income tax increase that raised the income tax rate on individuals to 5 percent from 3 percent, and on corporations to 7 percent from 4.8 percent.

Within 3 years, $18 billion had been raised from the hard-working people of Illinois.  This temporary tax in still in effect, a decade later.  How many billions have been collected during that time?

chicago-credit-rating-junk-status

In the spring of 2015 “Chicago took yet another hit Tuesday when a major credit rating agency downgraded much of the city’s debt to junk status”.  The article went on to say, “Ciccarone noted (Moody’s rating) that his firm’s data showed Chicago’s junk status rating is a level only reached in recent history by one other major city: Detroit, before it filed for bankruptcy in July 2013.

In 2020, the state put a progressive tax rate proposal on the ballot to raise the highest rate to 7.99%.  https://www.illinoispolicy.org/what-illinoisans-need-to-know-about-the-progressive-income-tax/

It gets worse.  Illinois has been underfunding its public pension fund for years.  70% funding is considered anequate for funding pension funds.  It doesn’t need to be 100% because the investment returns will make up the difference.  “At 23.3%, Illinois has the third-lowest funding ratio for its pension system in the United States,” in a December 2021 article.

https://www.gobankingrates.com/retirement/planning/best-and-worst-states-for-pensions/

Moody’s a debt rating agency said, “ Illinois‘ pension debt reached an all-time high of $317 billion as of June 30, 2020.”  If that isn’t bad enough, the pension system was forecasting a rate of return of 7%, normal for funds that invest in the stock market, but the “ the largest of Illinois’ five state pension systems, the Teachers’ Retirement System, reported a 0.52% return on investment in fiscal year 2020.”  The S&P 500 price index returned 15.76% in 2020.  Talk about incompetent!  Simply putting the retirement money in a basic S&P 500 index fund would have returned 15% and the Illinois pension fund has ½ of 1 percent return!  And this mismanagement will be paid for by the Illinois taxpayers.

My current state, Wisconsin, has a fully funded pension system (100%) and its pension system is in the best financial shape of any in the country.

What does that all mean.  My current state doesn’t need to raise taxes.  However, Illinois will have to raise taxes dramatically over the coming year to make up for the shortfall.  Already 30% of Illinois budget pays for pensions.  Chicago is tied for the 2nd highest sales tax in the country at 10.25% and the 2nd highest real estate taxes in the US, at 2.27%, second only to New Jersey.

Raising tax rates (personal and business) will cause people to leave the state.  ““Illinois is one of only two states losing population. . . Just-released data estimates Illinois’ population to be less than 12.6 million people — a decrease of about 79,500 people from last year. In the past decade, the state lost nearly a quarter million people.

 

illinois-exodus-census-data-finds-people-continue-leave-state

Illinois is not the only state losing population

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Dec. 22, 2021 that the state of New York lost 319,000 people in 2020 and California lost 160,000.  What is common with all 3 states?  High taxes.

Prior to this latest information from WSJ, it was reported that from 2010-2019 1.4 million people left the state, citing “rising taxes as the main reason for moving”.

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2021/02/25/1-4-million-people-have-left-new-york-since-2010

“Major cities, such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, have punishingly high tax rates and lack business-friendly policies. . . Wall Street executives previously relocated thousands of jobs to states outside of New York, in an effort to cut costs. Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, UBS, Citigroup, Alliance Bernstein and an array of other financial institutions have established and aggressively staffed hubs in Florida, North Carolina, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Nashville.”  Once those jobs have left, they ain’t coming back.

wall-street-banks-and-tech-companies-are-fleeing-new-york-and-california

What does it Mean for You?

If you live in a well-managed, financially stable state, with low taxes, then count your blessings.  However, if you live in a high tax state, consider taking action.

  1. Being a remote worker is no longer frowned upon. Find out your company’s policy on remote work and if you are able; move to a lower cost of living state.
  2. Become an entrepreneur with an online business and live anywhere in the world. I compared costs of living in places like Phuket, Thailand (a resort area) and compared it to Chicago, IL and Chicago cost of living is 118% HIGHER than Phuket.  While it is true the average Thai doesn’t make a lot of money in the country, if your income source comes from outside the country, you can live like a king.

The key here is to take action.  As much as I liked Chicago, the trifecta of Chicago, Cook County (where Chicago resides) and the state of Illinois all being broke means I had to move or have my lifestyle degrade because all my money was going for taxes.  If you are in the same situation; move!

Innovation is the Key to your Success

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According to Deloitte, only 12% of the Fortune 500 companies from 1955 are still in business and half of the S&P 500 companies will be replaced in the next ten years.  Innovation increases your chances to react to changes and discover new opportunities. It can also help foster competitive advantage as it allows you to build better products and services for your customers.

Today we talk to one of the leading experts on innovation.  He is a 4 times author, MIT Sloan and Yale School of Management speaker, and avid blogger with hundreds of articles on innovation, data science, artificial intelligence, and Blockchain.

 

Alan:  Let’s welcome Peter Nichol!  Peter, good to have you with us.

Peter:  I always welcome opportunities to share my insights on value and innovation. What’s in store for today?

 

Alan:  Peter, you have been writing for CIO magazine for some time, but more recently, you started writing books, publishing your 4th book in January of this year (2021).  How did you start writing books; what was the trigger?

Peter:  To be able to write, you need to be curious; curious about a subject.  It takes curiosity to dig into the topic and write about it.  While pursuing my MBA, I discovered I had a knack for writing. As you mentioned, I have now been writing for CIO magazine for the last five years. As you can imagine, writing a book is quite different from writing an article. I found the more I wrote,  the more effective I became at writing.  Now, I say that with a slight caveat.  Writing to improve without a coach, especially when it comes to books, is very difficult. I find that improving the quality of your writing is similar to improving the quality of your swimming. How do you know if you are getting better at your writing unless you have someone trained in writing and can offer immediate feedback?  Similarly, just collecting laps doesn’t make you a better swimmer. The approach I took to build my writing skills is similar to how swimmers improve their swimming. Practice, practice, practice, and leverage the experience of a coach or editor in my case. It also helped that my mother was an English teacher.

Impactful writing requires research, and it takes time to build up knowledge in a specific knowledge domain.  Besides, that knowledge has a short shelf life.  You need to continually acquire knowledge, to stay abreast of domain changes in your area of expertise.  Trying to be an expert in all areas within a domain is an exercise in futility. First, identify what you want to specialize in and stick with it.  Find your niche.

 

Alan:  So, how did you get started in writing books?

Peter: I’ve always been an avid reader and learned to speed read many years ago.  I found good writers, studied their styles and figured out their differences. I determined what I liked and didn’t like about their writing style and then created my style.

My second book, The Power of Blockchain for Healthcare, was born out of my curiosity and passion for Blockchain. I’ve been within the healthcare and biotechnology industry for over 20 years. I felt there was an ongoing challenge regarding patient identification, patient access to data, and patient data security that Blockchain could address. After I had written a substantial book draft, I found a book editor. Working with a professional editor is essential to producing good work. I had three separate editors reviewed that manuscript before publishing it. As an author, you have a duty to make the highest quality product you can for your readers.

 

Alan:  How do you determine your book topics?

Peter:  First, the area needs to interest me.  A book is a way of telling a story and providing help to someone.  My most recent books are on value management and innovation. Think Lead Disrupt addresses how to connect strategy to execution while Leading with Value helps leaders tackle how to effectively communicate their value, the value of their team, and their department’s value. Each book I published solved a specific business problem.

Alan:  Your last couple of books discuss value management and how value is a game-changing topic for leaders.  What is value management, and why is it important?

Peter:  Value Management is the art of providing a useful utility.  Let me explain.  IT organizations are notorious for delivering projects, but the real value delivered is often questionable. Business partners must understand the benefit of outcomes that will be achieved due to those efforts for several reasons.

First, leaders must elevate their team in the eyes of their business partners. Otherwise, how do you justify your headcount when no one knows what your team is doing? Leaders must communicate and articulate the value of their team to their business counterparts.  For example, if no one knows what value Bob brings to the table, how do you as a leader justify keeping Bob when layoffs occur?

Second, in any business, you need collaboration, and you need allies. If layoffs come in the above example, but your business partners understand how Bob’s work links to their strategic goals, then Bob’s job is less at risk. In this case, if the business partners question Bob’s performance, they can immediately provide concrete examples of how Bob’s productivity contributes to the bottom line.

Convergence between IT and corresponding business partners is significant.  If there is no convergence, then these stakeholders are not collaborating or benefiting from shared goals. If these teams are not aligned, how do they know which business partners are trying to solve them? When IT understands what the business partners consider valuable, this results in a more strategic solution.

I see a greater emphasis on creating and capturing value-based outcomes, and I’m excited to see that. Let’s be frank.  If a technology is not enabling your business, then why is the technology being deployed?

 

Alan:  Switching to the topic of innovation, how do leaders connect creativity with innovative execution?

Peter:  They do this by building a culture of collaboration and integrating people with technology and process expertise into businesses they support. Previously, companies created internal consultancies to work internally, and these groups would inform business partners which technologies to deploy and what processes needed to be changed. This was done with little input from their business partners. The concept of “special people in special places”—the ivory tower of innovation—doesn’t work today. You can’t dictate technology changes just for the sake of technology; it just doesn’t stick. Creative and innovative employees need to be integrated into the business units. This partnership needs to be collaborative. Then these leaders offer their expertise to solve domain-specific challenges. These employees must fully comprehend the opportunities and jointly agree on the expected business outcome to be achieved. I would go a step further and require that both parties have a vested interest in the solution’s success with shared objectives.

 

Alan:  Peter, this has been an exciting discussion.  What’s next for you?

 

Peter:  Thank you, Alan. It’s been great sharing my insights on writing. I’m excited about my book launches recently in January. Think Lead Disrupt is a book I have been working for a while, and I’m proud of how it turned out. Aspiring leaders and executives were interested in generating world-class ideas and, more specifically, how to connect strategy to execution. I covered topics from mental models to robotic process automation. Leading with Value has been well received, especially with practitioners in the field. These leaders everyday struggle with how to communicate the value of their teams. I’m excited I can offer a solution to help them quantify that value.

Recently, I have been doing a lot of interviews. What I discovered is that I enjoy sharing my experiences. It’s conversations like this, that remind me why I write—to share my ideas with others.

 

Alan:  How can our readers contact or reach out to you directly?

Peter:  The best way to reach me is on datasciencecio.com. I also can be contacted directly on LinkedIn at Peter B. Nichol.

 

Alan:  Thanks again for talking with us today.

 

 

 

Energy – Where Do I Get more?

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Introduction

If you are a baby boomer like me, the realities of physical decline hit every day.  Not that I’m hobbling with a cane, but my energy dissipates much quickly than in years past.  I know I have to plan out my day to take advantage of when I have the most energy and also understand my energy limits and plan the duration of activities because once energy has depleted for the day; that’s it.

Mental Energy – Get some Sleep!

I plan my schedule so that I will tackle the most challenging mental items first thing in the morning, since I am sharpest first thing in the morning.  I schedule the most important items first and do so the night before.  Seeing what I have for the next day, tells me what time I need to get to bed.  And while I usually go to bed at the same time, if I have work to tackle and know it will need a period of dedicated time, I may go to bed 30-60 minutes earlier since I will be getting up earlier than my normal time, which is 5 am.

Sufficient sleep is a must for energy, especially brain energy.  Sleep studies have shown that most people have about 5 sleep cycles a night.  Sleep cycles for most people last about 90 minutes and with 5 sleep cycles, it means the average person needs about 7.5 hours of sleep a night.  Some people have shorter sleep cycles of 75 to 80 minutes.   If your sleep cycle is 80 minutes, then you need   (80 x 5 or 400 minutes which translates into about 6 hours and 40 minutes).  The easiest way to find out how much sleep you need a night to go to bed at your normal weekday time on a weekend and when you wake up Saturday morning (without alarm), see how long you slept.  Try this for a couple of days.  You’ll end up sleeping about the same amount of time.  If you wake up after 8 hours of sleep then you need to go to bed so that you will have 8 hours of sleep.  If you need get up at 6 am, then go to bed at 10 pm.  Do this every day so your body gets into a rhythm of sleep cycle.

A couple of points about sleep cycles and their importance.  Our deep sleep is in the first part of the night and our physical body gets the rest it needs.  The last few cycles of the night are for REM sleep (rapid eye movement).  It is during REM sleep that we form our long-term memories.  Cutting our sleep short on a regular basis will impact our ability to remember thing and slow our thinking ability.  If you are sleep deprived and feel like your mind is in a fog, it actually is, because long-term memories are not forming properly.  Proper sleep is one of the most important activities in your day.

 

Mental Energy – Fuel that Race Car!

The second area is nutrition.  Our brain needs good food to function well.  What is very interesting is our brain is very choosy on the nutrition it will accept.

The Harvard Health Letter says, “Like an expensive car, your brain functions best when it gets only premium fuel. Eating high-quality foods that contain lots of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants nourishes the brain and protects it from oxidative stress — the ‘waste’ (free radicals) produced when the body uses oxygen, which can damage cells.”

Unfortunately, just like an expensive car, your brain can be damaged if you ingest anything other than premium fuel. If substances from “low-premium” fuel (such as what you get from processed or refined foods) get to the brain, it has little ability to get rid of them.”

Harvard Health Newsletter

 

So, what Should we Eat?

Good Foods

  • Oily Fish –
    • salmon,
    • mackerel
    • tuna
    • herring
    • sardines
  • Dark Chocolate
  • Berries –
    • strawberries,
    • blackberries,
    • blueberries,
    • blackcurrants,
    • mulberries
  • Nuts and Seeds –
  • sunflower seeds,
  • almonds,
  • hazelnuts
  • Whole grains – brown rice
    • barley
    • bulgur wheat
    • oatmeal
    • whole-grain bread
    • whole-grain pasta
  • Avocados

 

Physical Energy

As you get older, it is more important that take good care of yourself.  To get more energy you need to expend energy.  Energy is not something you can save up.  Here is what you need to do.

  1. Put yourself on a daily physical exercise program. It doesn’t need to be anything complex.  Simply go walk for 30 minutes each day.  If it is rainy outside, walk inside your house.  If you have stairs, walk them.  Get a step tracker (there are tons of apps) for your phone and carry your phone in your pocket all day long.  Set a goal for how many steps you want to do each day.  Slowly increase that goal
  2. When you walk, hold your head high and your chest out. This will help with your posture and helps build confidence.  How you hold yourself has a big impact on your mental state.  As Tony Robbins like to say, “motion creates emotion”.  If you want to feel good, move.

I can attest to these recommendations.  I had let myself go physically with a lack of exercise and poor eating habits.  I took a look in the mirror (looking sideways when I got out of the shower) and was appalled at big my stomach was.  Coming back from vacation, my wife and I decided we would make a major change.  We decided to eat healthy (incorporating the food items on the list), eliminating process foods, eliminating white flour, eliminating sugar and sugar substitutes, and greatly reducing salt.  We started to walk, gradually increasing our walking to 7500 steps a day.  Since I started doing this, I’ve lost over 31 pounds during a two-month period. I feel much better and have more energy than I’ve had in years.

 

How to get more Energy

  1. Plan your meals; write out your grocery list. Only buy from the list.  Eat before going to the store.  Don’t go to the store hungry, otherwise you will pick up junk.
  2. Schedule a time to go to the store. This way you will make sure you buy the items you need for your meals.  My wife and I go Friday nights.
  3. Schedule a time when you will cook for the week. My wife and I cook Saturday morning for the week.  We prepare various items and eat them during the week. We vary the recipes.  By cooking our nutritious meals, we won’t eat fast food (because there is nothing in the frig).  There is always something good to eat at the house.
  4. Plan your exercise, schedule it. If you don’t, you won’t do it.  We walk in the early morning, checking the weather the night before to see if we can walk outdoors, or if we need to walk inside on the treadmill.

If you put good food in your body and add moderate exercise to your daily activities, you will lose weight.  No fad diet needed, just common sense and a mindset that will keep you doing this, day after day.

The last part is key.  To be successful at weight lost, your mindset for eating needs to change.  What I mean, is if you feel not eating certain foods is depriving yourself; keep in mind the first 3 letters of diet is DIE, then your weight loss will be a failure.  You’ll put the weight back on once you go off the diet.  Because you view yourself as someone that eats fast food, donuts, etc.  However, if your mindset is one of a healthy person someone that eats foods that is good for your body and mind, then not only will your weight loss be successful, you’ll keep it off.

My mindset has changed to that of a healthy person, someone that eats good food and takes care of my body.  For example, I never read food labels in the past.  Now, the first thing I do is look to see 1) how much sodium is in the container and 2) how much sugar, especially added sugar in the product.  If it is too much, I don’t buy the product.  The recommended daily allowance is 2000 milligrams of salt  sodium_dietary_guidelines.pdf

As a point of reference, a teaspoon of salt has 2325 mg.

I was shocked to see an 18.5 oz. of Progressive New England Clam Chowder has 1820 mg. of Sodium; almost my entire recommended intake of sodium for the day!  No wonder nearly half of adults in the United States (108 million, or 45%) have hypertension defined as a systolic blood pressure ≥ 130 mm Hg or a diastolic blood pressure ≥ 80 mm Hg or are taking medication for hypertension, according to the CDC.

You want to have more energy, change your mindset.

I’d love to hear how you sustain your energy level, day in and day out.

Reach me at alan@babyboomercashnow.com or leave a comment below.

Covid-19 devastated your business? 4 entrepreneurs divulge their insights on how they are coming back stronger than ever!

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Introduction:

I spoke recently to several entrepreneurs that I have interviewed over the last couple of years, to see how the CoronaVirus had affected them personally and in their business life.

They were asked a series of questions pertaining to the Coronavirus

  1. How has the Coronavirus affected your business?
  2. Would you have done anything different to be prepared for the Coronavirus?
  3. What actions will you take once Coronavirus passes?
  4. Will you do anything different in how you run your business going forward?

 

Across the board they have said there is no way to prepare for something this monumental.  All have had their businesses pummeled by the Coronavirus, yet they are in good spirits.

What are their insights that we can apply to businesses and our lives?  Read on.

 

Catherine Kaputa

 

Background

Catherine is personal branding expert that we first spoke to in https://babyboomercashnow.com/a-leading-expert-says-this-must-be-done-for-your-business/

She is a brand strategist, speaker, and author that popularized the topic of personal branding.  She has been featured on CNN, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, Fortune, WSJ, and other media.  Her works have been published in 10 languages and is considered one of the top branding experts in the world.

Catherine’s website:  https://www.selfbrand.com

How has the Coronavirus affected your business?

Being a speaker meant conferences, corporate meetings, all of which came to an abrupt stop when the Coronavirus hit.  The pandemic devastated her business.  She lives in New York City, were subway ridership dropped 95%, and the City, as NYC is called, is a ghost town.  Fortunately for her, she escaped to her cabin in upstate New York in the early days of the Pandemic.

I asked her if she would have done anything differently prior to the pandemic, to be prepared.  She said, “Business was going very well.  I wasn’t marketing as much because at this stage in my life I was running the business but also traveling and enjoying life.”

She went on to discuss how she is utilizing her time during the crisis.

“I’ve been thinking about how business will be in the future.  The country and businesses need to be prepared.  Something like this could happen again; you can’t take anything for granted.  Part of being prepared is making sure you are active in your network.

With that being said, this is a tremendous time to invest in yourself.  I’m auditing a class at Colombia University on Baby boomers, about how they will live long past retirement.  They will need to make many decisions.  How will they spend those years?  It is important to have a purpose, to have meaningful work.  Work is important to feeling valued.  The key is to determine what is important.  I feel energized through this time.

It’s important for people to understand they can’t count on anything except themselves.  I’m seeing a different mindset between Baby Boomers and Millennial.  The millennials are pessimistic, aren’t very hopeful about the future, whereas Boomers are hopeful.  I think it is because the Boomers have been through a lot, good times and bad.  They grew up on the 60s with the Vietnam War and protests and on into the 70s where there were long lines at the gas station, high unemployment, and high inflation.  Yet by the mid-8os, the US was doing very well, which continued for many years.  Boomers tend to be adaptive and that we will come out stronger from this.  I think it is because the Boomer parents grew up in the depression and emphasized savings, therefore a lot of boomers will go through this and will be affected financially but have sufficient savings to see them through.

When 9/11 occurred (Sept. 11, 2001) I was working at Citi Smith Barney and because of 9/11 300,000 people lost their jobs overnight

The financial crisis of 2008-09 was even worse.   Lehman’s stock became worthless as they went bankrupt and Citi stock went to $1.   I had friends that were wiped out because not only had they lost their job, but their retirement was invested solely in the company stock that was now worthless.

It is important to diversify, to have options and be prepared, for whatever comes.  The Coronavirus pandemic is a crisis, so learn how work in a crisis.  Don’t waste time thinking about what you should have or shouldn’t have done.  Take the time to sit down and think strategically.  The food supply, banks and remote connectivity is working so you don’t need to scramble for your next meal.  The problem is there are so many people that are just getting by and they need to learn from this experience.  Today I’m doing what I love, and it wouldn’t be doing what I love it if I hadn’t acted during a traumatic time.

 

Takeaways from Catherine:

  1. Crisises will happen. Be prepared as possible.
  2. Learn from today’s pandemic, but don’t paralyze yourself by what you should or shouldn’t have done prior to the pandemic
  3. Save money, tough times will occur.
  4. Diversification is the key.
  5. Invest in yourself. Use this downtime to learn.

 

 

Rick Lochner

A common theme among the entrepreneurs interviewed for this blog post is that they are upbeat, and Rick Lochner is no exception.  Rick is a leadership coach, entrepreneur, and author of several books including his latest, I’m Still Sayin’…: More Revelations for Making Leadership a Way of Life.

Rick refuses to define the Covid-19 pandemic as a crisis, to use terms like devastation (so when the word “crisis” or similar words are used, it is Alan speaking).  When people use terms like “devastation” or “crisis”, they have strong emotions tied to it.  It creates an emotion of hopelessness.  The mental approach and the terms that are used are very important.  Rick’s business was initially down 40%, but he is energized.

Rick’s website:  https://rpcleadershipassociates.com/

Would you have done anything different, to prepare for this crisis?

“I was prepared for something like this from Day 1.  First, my business is diversified; I have a good mixture of clients (corporate leaders, non-profit leaders, entrepreneurs), all of which are affected in different ways.  It is important to not be dependent on one type of customer.  It is important to have flexibility in your business model.  Small business owners have been hit hard by the lockdown, so that area of my business is impacted the most.”

He goes on to says, “I focus on what I can control, what I actions I can take.  I’ve been a user of Zoom from the beginning and use it to coach, such as webinars and webcasts.  So, the move to a virtual environment has been pretty easy.”

Small Business Challenges

We have too many leaders that are solely focused on the problem right in front of them. The current problem is tangible, it is known, therefore easier to handle. But it is important for them to not focus just what is front of them, but also on what is ahead of them.  There are many things that could happen during the recovery; we are in uncharted waters.  When the curve flattens, people will be looking to effective leadership for next steps.

When this is over, the recovery may be very slow; especially for restaurants, airlines, hotels; any business that has a large concentration of people in one place.

Effective business planning has always had 1) best case 2) worst case 3) most likely case scenarios.  Today, with so many unknowns, there are many possible outcomes.  Therefore, many potential scenarios need to be thought through and planned for accordingly.

But there is a good way to determine what steps our leaders will take.  Based upon the leader’s natural character, we can predict how they will act.  In crisis situations, people act according to who they really are, their natural selves

What Actions are you taking today? 

I’m based in Chicago, so I’ve downloaded the Governor’s recovery plan and am in the processes of reviewing.  Illinois is divided into different sectors, so I examined the source of data for the recovery plans for each sector of Illinois, especially the ones where my local clients reside.  Effective business owners don’t make decisions without proper data.

The leaders in the Chicago area have very different challenges from the leaders in southern Illinois or the western suburbs, so different decision assumptions need to be made.  Understanding the different measurements involved and the likely decisions are the assumptions every leader can build into their re-opening plan.

What is key to understand in this crisis?

There will be a form of Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) from this event.  Perception lags fact by several cycles so the perception will have to managed along with the facts.  People are used to a good economy and haven’t fully realized the new reality of high unemployment and the new rules of engagement.  Mark Cuban, a well-known business leader, had secret shoppers go to retail establishments and found less than ½ are complying with the regulations for how they interact with customers.  The reality hasn’t set in yet.

This PTSD effect will be very emotional when it hits home.  The president of a local chamber of commerce told him that people are very emotional when discussing what is occurring and how it has devasted their business.  While there will be some recovery in the second half of 2020, he went on to say that he doesn’t expect a full recovery until late 2021.  People will be scarred from this for a long time.

 

Key Takeaways from Rick

  1. Use the right language when describing this event. Don’t define it in emotional terms.  If you do, it will have a negative effect on your psyche and will take longer for the receiver to understand your core message.
  2. The immediate situation will pass fairly soon. Plan for the future.  Don’t get caught unprepared for the recovery by waiting for ideal situations to actively recover your business.
  3. The recovery will likely be slower and much longer than people expect. Plan accordingly for multiple scenarios
  4. Understand in a crisis situation, people make decisions based on their natural true character, for better or for worse.

 

 

 

Lou Costabile

Background

We first spoke to Lou on his multiple streams of income and how to diversify your business.

https://babyboomercashnow.com/multiple-streams-of-income-interview-with-entrepreneur-lou-costabile/

 

Lou has 4 main businesses.

All his businesses have been affected by the Coronavirus, in some cases dramatically.

 

ARS Technology

ARS Technology is an IT staffing firm.  With the decline in the economy, businesses have cut back on staff to preserve cash.  The first to go are contractors.  Fewer contractors mean less revenue for his firm.

YouTube Channel – My Car Story with Lou Costabile

With much of US (actually, the world), staying at home, there is a dramatic increase in video demand.  Add to that, that live sports have stopped and there is an even more demand for video, in particular car videos.  There is only one problem.  There are no car shows, which is where Lou creates his videos.  They have all been cancelled for the foreseeable future. However, the Coronavirus has affected some parts of the country more than others.  The Phoenix area (Maricopa county) has had 5500 Coronavius cases, whereas the Chicago area (Cook county) has had 10 times the number of cases (over 55,000).  That doesn’t include surrounding Chicago counties like Lake and DuPage.  While it was challenging to obtain videos in the Phoenix area (everyone is cautious and keeps their distance from others), Lou was able to do so.  He has combined previous videos to create new videos.  The increase in new subscribers and views (53% in April) has been a boon to his business.

True Power Martial Arts

With Social Distancing, his martial arts group doesn’t meet in person, but rather virtually.  Lou is still able to teach classes through the Internet.  Many members of his club endorse the idea of virtual, while others want to spar, which is not possible currently.  Revenue has declined.

CFO Mastermind Group

While all of Lou’s businesses have been impacted, but not all have been impacted equally.  His CFO Mastermind group in Downers Grove (suburb of Chicago) went virtual and the meetings have been a success.  He is also working on creating a downtown Chicago CFO Mastermind with aspects of virtual meetings.  With virtual, it has made him think of CFO Mastermind groups in other cities (he does have real estate business in the Phoenix area).

 

Key Takeaways from Lou:

  1. Have a positive attitude. Don’t ponder what should or shouldn’t have been done, take action.
  2. Pivot, change as business changes and change fast.
  3. Determine what type of action each business needs. The Pandemic is unpresented.  Everyone is flying by the seat of their pants; it is difficult to know what to do; but take action.
  4. Diversification means while some businesses decline, others increase, and that is smart business.
  5. Invest time in businesses have the most potential for growth, however, all businesses need attention (e.g. must invoice clients each month).
  6. Each day ask, which business can I make an impact on?
  7. Address more than one business at a time. A trip to work on real estate in Phoenix is combined with capturing and creating videos for My Car Story with Lou Costabile.
  8. The hunter (entrepreneur) gets less sleep and get it done. Discipline is what is important.  Keep taking action on your businesses.

 

 

Russ Riendeau, PhD.

 

Background

Russ Riendeau, PhD. has a successful executive search company, New Frontier, https://www.newfrontiersearch.net/ and is an author of several books.  We last spoke to him concerning how to get started in writing.  Like the other entrepreneurs we have spoken to, Russ’s business has been impacted by Covid-19.  Yet he is in good spirits and is investing in himself during this time.

Alan:  How are you doing?

Russ:  I’m doing well.  I’ve done a lot of research on resiliency during this time, even writing about it.   It is a quality in successful people.  One of the areas I’m studying is “How do we get resilient as adults?”  It is a mindset; it is part of our DNA.  Some are physically resilient.  And there are others that have an emotional resiliency.  Do people collapse, retreat or even get paralyzed or are they problem solvers? People were going through the pandemic as stages of grief.

 

Alan:  How has the Coronavirus affected your business?

Russ:  It affects executive search, because leaders are in a crisis mode.  They are preoccupied with how people work from home, putting off everything until after the crisis.  They need to replace people, or someone left the firm, but they are paralyzed.

Financial crisis in 2008-09 was different, people had the ability to relocate, travel, could interview, be proactive in their role, whether it be sales, or other business area.  In a Pandemic, you are locked down, business just grinds to a halt.  Currently, entrepreneurs are, as the REO Speedwagon song goes, Ridin’ the Storm Out.

The pandemic will flush out 10 – 25% of the executive search business, because they didn’t have cash reserves or other reasons.  For every week I stay in business, there will be 3 that don’t know what to do and will go out of business.

 

Alan:  What are you doing during this time?

Russ:  Investing in myself and my life.  I’ve been more physically active that before, I’ve organized personal items, am writing music, and I’m working on a book of poetry.

 

Alan:  What actions will you take once Coronavirus passes?

Russ:  I will curtail money for restaurants, travel (had trip to Paris planned). Will not go back to the normal, such as going to big parties (because the spread of disease).  Big entertainment doesn’t hold the same value as it did before such as movies, sporting events, and other big events.

 

Alan:  Will job search change after the pandemic?

Russ:  Companies will ask, “what did you do to improve your personal, skills, mental and physical health during the Coronavirus?”  There needs to be a solid answer that shows a person being proactive.

Or they will ask, “why were you laid off, and other people were kept?”  The response should be something like, “, I understand why they let me go, if I was the boss, I would have done the same thing.  I had not taken responsibility for the upgrade of skills and my learning.  I figured what was wrong and fixed it.”

 

Alan:  Will you do anything different in how you run your business going forward?

Russ:  I will be more particular to how marketing money is spent going forward.  Will really determine the benefits of particular types of advertising.

Alan:  Is there anything that I should have asked that I didn’t ask?

Russ:  I have always been a voracious reader.  It has been easier to maintain that disciple of proactive behavior through this situation, and I will come out on the other side more prepared and I’m grateful to not have to worried about being able to pay a bill.  Gratitude is the only self-help that helps you feel better.

 

Key Takeaways from Russ:

  1. Be grateful to have good health during this time.
  2. Be proactive and work on improving yourself.
  3. Once the pandemic passes, think through how money will be spent in your business and on non-business items.

Is Covid-19 a Black Swan event?

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What is a black swan event?  And why is it important?

A black swan event, a phrase commonly used in the world of finance. …  are events that are unexpected and unknowable. The term was popularized by former Wall Street trader Nassim Nicholas Taleb, who wrote about the concept in his 2001 book Fooled by Randomness.

Wake Up Call

The Covid-19 virus, also known as CoronaVirus, should be a wake-up call for all of us.  It is a Black Swan event.  No one saw it coming, but it was bound to happen.  If it wasn’t a virus it would be something else that had a catastrophic effect on the world. About every decade something happens that has a big impact that changes the world.  Sometimes it is man-made and sometime not.  In 2008-2009 we had the Great Recession and the housing crash that was felt world-wide.  Before that it was 9/11, in 2001, something that changed air travel and politics forever.   I could go on and on, identifying events that had major impact on lives, things we weren’t prepared for.

We don’t know what is coming, but we do know something is, something that could wipe us out financially.

This time it is the CoronaVirus.

In late March, at the time this is being written, the Dow Jones average dropped 8500 points in the first 3 weeks of March and had its biggest one day drop since 1987.

“A record 3.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department said Thursday, as restaurants, hotels, barber shops, gyms and more shut down in a nationwide effort to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Last week saw the biggest jump in new jobless claims in history, surpassing the record of 695,000 set in 1982. Many economists say this is the beginning of a massive spike in unemployment that could result in over 40 million Americans losing their jobs by April.” 3 million

At the same time, Magnify Money notes that “29 percent of households have less than $1,000 in savings”

The government passed a $2 trillion stimulus bill, to rush out checks because people have no savings.

 

We Put off decisions

Don’t let this event go by without taking action.  If you have 3-6 months in savings for emergencies, congratulations.  If you are one of the many that have little to no savings, make a decision to get your finances in order.  Make a commitment to yourself and others that you won’t let yourself be unprepared for the next crisis.

 

Take action

Make a decision to live below your means.  Here is a good rule of thumb.

  • Save 10% of your income
  • Give 10% of your income to charity
  • Live on the other 80%

Develop a budget if you don’t already have one.  Do this by recording your monthly expenses.  Simply record in Excel your monthly payments.  It doesn’t have to be exact.  Car insurance payments are often twice a year, so make an estimate for the monthly budget.  Don’t make this a chore.  A good estimate will suffice.

Take a look at how much you spend each month and compare it to your income.  If the expenses exceed the budget, determine what you can cut right now and do so.

Get a new routine

The CoronaVirus has changed our lives in many ways.  One is which is our routine.  If we are still working, we are doing so from home.  Our spouse or partner may be working from home as well.  We may have children or grandchildren that are home from school or college. All of this is very disruptive to our normal routine.

We are most productive when we have a disciplined routine; get up at a certain time, workout at a certain time, read/think at certain time and that routine is gone and may be gone for weeks or months.  With that in mind we need to develop a new routine.

  • If you normally go to the gym, develop a routine at home.  Dust off that old treadmill in the basement.  No treadmill?  Walk the basement stairs 25 times.  Or put 4 boards on the floor and step up to them for 20 minutes.  Learn Tai Chi by watching a video.
  • Or if you didn’t have a workout routine, start one now.  Take your previous commute time and dedicate it to workout.
  • Let’s be frank, getting ready for work could take 45-60 minutes each day.  While I encourage good hygiene, getting ready for the day now will take a lot less time.  Dedicate that time to something useful.

 

Focus on the positive

There is a lot of news out there.  Most of it negative.  The stock market has plunged, there is record unemployment.  You may be worrying that your job is next.  Concerned for the health of your loved ones, especially the very young and very old.  These are all valid concerns.  Determine what items you can take action on and those that you can’t and focus on the actionable ones.

We will get through this.  Just make sure you are prepared for the next Black Swan.

 

Learn from the Best – Interview with engaging author Paul R. Lloyd

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Paul Lloyd has had a successful marketing business for many years and at the same time has been a prolific writer.  Today, he reveals the secrets to becoming a successful writer.

 

Alan:  Today we are talking with Paul R. Lloyd.  Someone that has had a successful career in marketing and at the same time been a successful writer.  Today we’re going to learn his insights into writing.  Paul, thanks for talking to us.

 

Paul:  Glad to be here.

 

 

Alan:  Let’s get right into it.  Why did you start writing?

 

Paul:  It started back in grade school and continued into high school and even the army.  I’ve always been a writer and an avid reader.  I was an English major in college.  I read a lot of genres, both fiction and non-fiction.  I began my writing career as a reporter for a daily newspaper. I worked for international corporations for seven years before I started my own marketing business.

 

 

Alan:  How does one get started writing?

 

Paul:  Start out writing a blog.  It is less intimidating than to attempt writing a novel or a non-fiction book from scratch.  Later, you can reformat the blog posts into an article or an ebook.

 

 

Alan:  When was your first book published?

 

Paul:  2011.  I wrote one in the 1970s, but it wasn’t published.

 

 

Alan:  Now you have written fiction and non-fiction, correct?

 

Paul:  Yes. I’ve written 3 non-fiction books and 6 novels.  I have 3 more novels in-progress.  I also have a blog and other writings.

 

 

Alan:  What type of fiction do you write?

 

Paul:  I was drawn to the type of horror fiction that Stephen King writes, so I write horror fiction with a twist of humor. I call it “scary humor.” My background includes poetry, so my word play has a poetic feel to it.

 

 

Alan:  What lessons have you learned from writing?   If you were to start writing now, is there anything you would do any differently?

 

Paul:  If I was starting out writing today, I’d do more research in the genre I wanted to write in.  Also, be aware of who you are as a fiction writer.  You write the way that feels comfortable to you.  Stephen King has his style, John Grisham his style, Patricia Cornwell her style.  My style is noir but with an upbeat, positive message at the end. As I was saying earlier, I like to play with words in a poetic way and spice the scary parts with humor. My gift includes writing for emotion so readers should expect to laugh and cry while staying alert for the sound of bumps in the night.

 

Be aware of what the marketplace wants.  While writing gives great enjoyment and is very fulfilling, selling of books brings great pleasure as well.  Understand what your readers want.

 

 

Alan:  You’ve been running a business for many years; how did you find time to write?

 

Paul:  It takes daily commitment to move a book forward.  It is too easy to put it aside for a week of two then having to spend hours figuring out where you were, what you want to say next.  Just start with a daily commitment of 15 minutes.  That first 15 minutes will be tough, but it will get easier and easier as you get into the daily flow.  When you’re writing, especially fiction, you are telling a story, so you need to know how to tell a good story.  The writing will naturally expand to 20-45 minutes a day.  A good pace to have is an hour a day of writing.

 

 

Alan:  What do you feel is your best book and why?

 

Paul:  Steel Pennies.  It’s a thriller set in 1960 in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania.  The story takes place in a mixed race working class neighborhood during the early days of the civil rights movement so readers get a feel for how the young people interacted in that kind of environment. The story features racial tension, but is primarily a love story set in the midst of murder and mayhem. The main characters, a small group of teens, have to figure out who the killer is before they are picked off one-by-one. I’ve had several readers reach out to me, but none have said they were able to solve the murder before the end of the book.  It’s great to hear from readers.

 

 

Alan:  What was the most difficult task on your first book?

 

Paul:  In writing a novel, I know the beginning, the end and the title.    The challenge is getting from point A to point B.  I enjoy the writing part more than the editing, but of course, that is part of the process as well. An editor is an essential part of the book writing process, but I’ve been a professional writer since 1974, so I do the editing myself these days.  I’m also part of a writer’s group which is a big help in that I have a critique from a group of people. Getting the perspective from several people makes for a better book. 

 

 

Alan:  What advice would you give a first-time writer?

 

Paul:   Write every day.  Read about writers and what they have went through to succeed.  Get to know your writing heroes.  When you write, have your work evaluated by a professional editor that you pay.  They have the background to provide valuable feedback.  Also, finish the novel before editing the story.  If you start editing as you go, you will be stuck halfway through the process and potentially give up.  If you edit as you go. you may find that you rewrote chapter 2 six times and you end up throwing it away the chapter, because it doesn’t fit with the rest of the story.

 

 

Alan:  How do you come up with new story ideas?

 

Paul:   Just by going through life, reading and thinking, I constantly come up with ideas for stories.  I make sure I capture them for future reference.   As long as I live, I will continue to write.  I love it!

 

 

Alan:  What is next for you?

 

Paul:  The fourth book in my Snpgrdxz (pronounced Snip-grid-ix) time travel series. More to come on it.

 

 

 

Alan:  Looking forward to it.  Thanks, Paul for your insights.  We really appreciate it.

 

 

 

You’re 50 and broke, but you can still retire a Millionaire IF . . .

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Yes, it is possible to retire a millionaire, however there is action you must take now.

I won’t sugarcoat it. The odds of you being able to retire a millionaire are slim.  After reading a few more sentences many people will stop reading this article.  Why?  Because facing up to the truth is hard.  We don’t have enough money to retire on.  We’ve made good money during the previous decades, but spent more than we made.  We enjoyed the good life and now at the time we want to retire, we face the hard fact that we don’t have enough savings to retire.  I encourage you to read the rest of the article to learn how you can retire a millionaire.

Own up to your Current Situation

Take full responsibility for your current situation.  Earlier in my life I spent more than I made, enjoying the good life.  When I was laid off, it all came crashing down.  It was such a hard lesson to learn, that I had to learn it twice.   So I understand the fear and pain you are going through, but ignoring it wont fix it.

 

Confusion over Rich vs. Wealthy

In thinking like a millionaire its important to separate rich from wealth.  We all know someone that makes a good income, whether they are a doctor, a lawyer, or an executive.  And they are like many “rich” people in that they spend as much as they make and more. Rich people make a lot of money, but virtually no money in investments.  Wealthy people have a lot of money invested.

 

Start Thinking like a Millionaire

Chris Hogan, author of Everyday Millionaires, provides many examples in his book of working-class people that have spent less than they made and by saving the difference, over a period of decades they have become millionaires.  Compound interest has worked for them.  Investing $2000 a year, starting at age 20 with an average return of 7% would grow to $704,540.19 at age 67.  But if you’re reading this, like me, you didn’t put away money for retirement in your 20s.  For those of us who didn’t save in our 20s and 30s it is too late to take advantage of compound interest.

While we can’t take advanate of compound interest, we can take on the mindset that got teachers and officer works to be millionaires.

The mindset to take on is:

  • “I will set up a budget to spend less that I make.”
  • “I will invest the difference.”
  • “I will make my money work for me.”

And an added item to overcome the lack of retirement funds.

  • I will create an ongoing stream of income.

 

Start Thinking like a Millionaire – Part 2

You won’t find wealthy people driving an expensive new car or living in an expensive house.  They take their money and put it to use so that their money makes more money.  They make a conscious decision on how every dollar will be spent.

They aren’t lavish in their personal spending, nor in their business spending.  In Serve No Master, Johnathan Green discusses how he determines exactly how any business tool (e.g. software package) would benefit his business.  He plans exactly how he would it and doesn’t buy the product until he has planned out how it will much money it will make for his business.

Millionaires think about how they can put their money to work.  The focus is generating cash and investing the cash not spending it.  They examine a purchase, whether it is buying a house, a car or a nice dinner and determine if they price they are paying is worth the cost.  And the cost isn’t just the initial monetary outlay.  Luxury cars are nice, but in addition to them being more expensive, the cost of maintenance, repairs and insurance are more than an ordinary Toyota.  Remember our current line of thinking of saving too little and spending too much is what created our current circumstances.  Only a dramatic change in thinking will save us.

 

Create a Sense of Urgency

Due to the lack of funds for our retirement years we can’t sit back and coast through the rest of our lives.  While all of us would like to coast into our retirement years, we can’t do it.  Our past actions (not saving), has gotten us to our current financial predicament.  We have a much shorter window in which to right out financial ship.

To further spur taking action now, Social Security will deplete it’s cash in the years to come, 2035 to be exact. Someone born in 1960 or early retirement age to receive full benefits is 67.  For example, a 50 year old in 2019 would retire in 2036, a year after Social Security runs out of money.  The message being, none of us can bank on Social Security being there when we retire.

 

How to Generate Money-Making Ideas

It has been said that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.  That influence has shown up in your bank account.  It is time to find some new friends.  To think like a millionaire it is important to get around millionaires.  You want to meet and talk with millionaires, to get understand how they created their success.  This process of meeting with millionaires will create money-making ideas for you.  While you can take the Forbes list of the 400 most-wealthy people and make some calls, this won’t likely produce any conversations with millionaires and billionaires.  So start on a smaller scale.  Here is how to meet millionaires.

 

Linked In

First, take a look at your Linked In and search for entrepreneurs.  As you identify a likely candidate, see who you know that is connected to them.  You can reach out to your friend and ask them how they know that entrepreneur.  Ask for an introduction to the entrepreneur.

If you don’t have a large list of connections in Linked In, the time to create a large list is now.  Start connecting on Linked In by reaching out to past colleagues and current friends.  The goal is to have a list of entrepreneurs you would like to meet.

It will take time to generate an entrepreneur list via Linked In, and organize coffees/dinners so you want to have a second parallel strategy to create a sizeable entrepreneur list.

 

Lynda.com

Go to Lynda.com (which is now part of LinkedIn Learning).  Your library probably subscribes to it.  Search there for entrepreneur topics.  Many independent business people create videos on business topics and provide their contact information.  While you won’t have the benefit of a Linked In contact to make an introduction for you, many independent business people are open to making contact and helping others.  Create a list of people on Lynda.com that you would like to meet.

 

YouTube

The third way for creating a list is via YouTube.  Ted Talks are speeches and presentations given by entrepreneurs and world leaders.  Look at Ted Talks, find videos on business topics that are of interest to you and reach out to the presenter. If they are local, set up a time to have dinner.

 

What to say to a Millionaire?

Say as little as possible.  90% of the time you should be in listening mode, soaking up what they have to say.  Find out how they created their wealth.

Find out how they make sure their money works for them (e.g. investing in their business (active income), investing (passive income) and if they have multiple streams of income.

 

After the Millionaire Dinner

Write down everything they said, especially any tips they provided.  There are pearls of wisdom in what they said.  Reflecting on what they said will get you mind working.  Come up with 3 actions that you can take. Put those 3 actions on your calendar so you keep yourself accountable to take action.  And one of those actions need to be taken immediately.  By taking immediate action, it starts the momentum for success.

 

Take inventory of your Skills

While you are taking in this wisdom from millionaires, its important to look at your skillset and accomplishments and decide with skills are valuable in the market place.  Determine how that skill set can be enhanced to create even more value for the marketplace.  Focus on what you do really well.  Leveraging your skill set can be the basis of a new business. In other words, match up your skills with what the marketplace wants.

 

Create an On-going Stream of Income

At some point you will want to retire so its important to create a business that will keep paying you even after you retire.  Authors and musicians are collecting royalties on past work.  You want to create a business that will do the same.

 

Create Multiple Streams of Income

When our only source of income is from the company we work for, a 100% of our income comes from that one source.  If you retire or get laid off, 100% of your income disappears.  By the same token, having your own business, focusing on one area can be disaster if that one source of revenue goes away.  Entrepreneur Lou Costabile started out with one business (karate studio) but today has 4 distinct businesses and expects his new businesses to generate the bulk of his income in the next few years.

Create active and passive income streams.  Active income is one where you take action to create it, such as consulting with clients.  Passive is one where it generates income without any or very little action.  This can be dividends from stocks or royalties from a book.  When creating a business think from the standpoint of how to make the income passive.  The reason being, at some point, no matter how healthy you are, you will need to stop active work and the passive income will be what sustains your lifestyle.

 

Start Now

The clock is ticking.  There is no doubt you will need multiple sources of income with the majority of it passive.  The key is taking action today.

 

Actions:

  1. Examine your skills and determine which ones can be leveraged for income with the focus on passive income.
  2. Determine how you can start the business part-time.
  3. Determine the costs of the business with the goal of making a profit from Day 1.
  4. Determine how much money you need to sustain your lifestyle.
  5. Create a short-term plan to get yourself started. Don’t spend time planning out the next ten years of the business but a plan for the next 90 days.
  6. Identify one action you can take in the next 24 hours.

 

 

 

 

It’s Your Time!

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That’s a quote from Herb Brook’s, played by Kurt Russell, in the movie Miracle.  In the movie, Kurt was the coach of the 1980 US hockey team, and Kurt uttered those words as the team took the ice against the far superior Soviet hockey team, in the gold medal game. See link.

 

 

Over your life, you probably have experienced “your time” moments, whether it was trying to close a big deal; presentation to the CEO; or very difficult situation with your kids, any time that you needed to rise to the occasion.

 

NOW is Your Time

Now is one of those times.  Now that you are in your 50s and see the lines on your face, the gray hair, as you look in the mirror, you realize have lived most of your life.  With that realization comes the fact that if you are going to do something in your life, such as start a business, the time is now.  This is your time.  But it goes beyond just deciding to start a business.  Its time to look at all aspects of your life and determine how you want the next 20-30 years to be.

 

Decisions, Decisions

As you get older and become an empty nester, it is easy to just settle for what you already have, your activities, your way of life.  We get comfortable and let life come to us, without much thought the huge array of choices before us.  But if you are intentional about your life, you have a lot of choices and a lot of decisions.  Let me explain.

 

You Don’t need as much Money as you Think

If you have been reasonably prudent with your money, there is either money set aside in a 401k or some type of company or public pension.  In addition, Social Security will provide some income.  With the kids having grown and are out of the house, your financial responsibilities may have been reduced and here is where the options come in.

 

Take a look at your Finances

Often people will start a business and determine their income needs based on their current financial needs (e.g. I need $10,000 a month income to sustain my current lifestyle).  But this may not be the case.

If the kids have moved out, there is no need for a house.  There may be emotional ties to your house, after all, is this where you raised your family.  Put aside a moment the memories and the emotional impact it could have if you sold the house.  A house is a place to live.  That’s it.  The memories are what occurred with your spouse, significant other, children, friends, pets.  The house is simply where it took place.  Do you really need to keep this house and the mortgage, the taxes, the upkeep?  Comedian George Carlin once said, “That’s all your house is: a place to keep your stuff. If you didn’t have so much stuff, you wouldn’t need a house. You could just walk around all the time. . . Sometimes you gotta move, gotta get a bigger house. Why? No room for your stuff anymore.”

 

What are your Financial Alternatives?

Are there alternatives?  Could you sell your house now, when the real estate market is fairly good.  This is a lot better option than having to sell when the market is down, because you need the money.   Could you lease a place, or buy a smaller house and reduce your monthly income needs?  Could you move to someplace less expensive and then start your business?

Do you really need all the things that have collected in your basement over the years?  Could you donate them or sell them on eBay?

So how much money do you really need to live on?

 

We only have so much time

As I have gotten older, I realize how much time I can waste online.  I blog, I follow my friends on Facebook, and follow various items on Twitter.  I hadn’t spent a lot of time on social media, until I got hooked on Twitter.

 

My Big Time Waster (is it yours?)

There was an organization that I was involved in a few years back and there was corruption that took place at the time I was involved, unbeknownst to me (as well as others).  Some of the former members started checking in to the finances of the organization, including mortgages, LLCs and even expense accounts of executives.  There findings revealed questionable financial maneuvers and potentially fraudulent schemes.  Investigative reporting took place and I was finding articles in the paper, on blogs and especially Twitter concerning happenings at the organization.  It was like a soap opera, people getting sued, people getting fired and I was glued to my phone for all of it.  Checking Twitter many times a day see who was doing what to whom. Who was getting fired, what tawdry episode happened next; I couldn’t put down my phone.  And then it hit me.

 

I Woke Up

I was wasting hours and hours a day on something that was meaningless.

I mean, I wasn’t part of the organization anymore, so what was happening had no effect on me.  I couldn’t get my money back from the organization, so while it turned my turned my stomach at the thought of having wasted tens of thousands of dollars, I couldn’t do anything to get it back.  I couldn’t influence any of the power plays that were taking place.  Many of the people I knew had left, so I didn’t personally know any of the people still involved.   So why was I spending my time reading all the tweets on Twitter?

In following to torrid tale there was nothing being said that was uplifting.  In fact, it was demoralizing to see the depravity of man.

 

Social Media was a Waste of Time for me

Nothing being said were insights I could use for my business. Nothing being said that would encourage me toward my goals.   Nothing being said that would motivate me to be a better person.   Nothing uplifting. There was no benefit at all.

How many times have we went on the Internet to research something and because we saw one interesting link that we clicked on, that led to another link and then another, and all of a sudden an hour has passed and I didn’t research what I went online for in the first place.

Cal Newport

I realized that it didn’t make sense to spend hours and hours following this saga on Twitter, IF I wanted to purse my goals.  I had a choice.  Waste time on Twitter or take action toward my goals.  So, I quit following the saga on Twitter.  I quite cold turkey.  Soon thereafter, I happened onto a book by Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism.  Cal is well-known for his book Deep Work, which makes the case for allocating dedicated thinking time.  A time that is free of distractions.

In Digital Minimalism, Cal discusses how we get addicted to our phones thorough social media and that addiction drives our lives.  We like that someone has retweeted one of our tweets or they have “liked” what we have posted on Facebook.  We feel good when someone does this; it affirms our sense of wellbeing.  We like being “liked”.  So we post something else and feel good when we are “liked” and don’t feel good when our post is ignored.  Our self-esteem is wrapped up in social media.

Cal encourages people to think about how they are using the social media tools.  Don’t get me wrong.  Social media can be used in a very positive way.  For example, I can set up news feeds (blog posts, etc.) that send me information based on what I want to see.  It pulls social media information into one location and I can decide when to read it.   This way I am proactively determining how I will use social media.

 

Slaves to our Machine?

But often, when our phones ping, we instantly pick it up to see if we have a text; if someone “liked” our post; if someone tagged us in a photo.  And we end up depending on it for our validation as a person, because we like being “liked”. And by doing so, we get addicted to our phones.  So how can we use social media to benefit us?

 

Actions:

  1. Take note of how much time you are spending on social media and how many times a day you are interrupted by social media.
  2. What are the social media apps you use and why?
  3. How much time do you spend on social media?
  4. Think about how you can use social media to enhance your life and not be controlled by it.
  5. Does social media help you achieve your goals?
  6. If so, how? Detail out how it helps you.  And if you can’t make a strong argument for the use of the app, consider eliminating it.
  7. Make a plan of what apps you will use and how.

 

Remember, the clock is ticking.

 

Where in the World are the growth markets?

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Things are Getting Better in the World

We read in the paper and online the suffering and tragedies that happen around the global.  We hear about the “Developed” world (the West) and the “Developing” world (the East), basically meaning the have and have nots.  Hans Rosling’s, in his book, Factfulness, makes a strong case that the world is much more than a world of the rich west and the poor rest of the world.  Back in the 1990s the term “BRIC” came about to describe the economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, also known as Emerging Countries.   Rosling says while the world’s population is increasing, it is getting wealthier and living longer as well.  Below are statistics that tell that story.

Category Year Percent Year Percent
Girls in School 1970 65% 2015 90%
Mobile Phones 1980 0.0003% 2017 87.967%
Clean Water 1980 58% 2015 88%
Immunization 1980 22% 2016 88%
Living on less the $1 a day 1980 1.25 billion 2016 <1 billion
% of people undernourished 1980 28% 2015 11%
Life Expectancy (globally) 1800 31 years 2017 72 years

 

Population increasing more slowly

The number of women having 5 of more children in decreasing, mainly due to better education and contraceptive.  At the same time, fewer babies are dying in the first year of birth.  The population is increasing, but at a slower rate.  The children are healthier, the families are wealthier, and with this wealth are buying more goods.  In the western world the birthrate is declining, and this portends is a shift in wealth from the west to the east.

Rosling says in his book that “by the end of the century, the UN expects there to have been almost no change in the Americas and Europe [populations], but 3 billion more people in Africa and 1 billion more in Asia.”  That is a lot of consumers in Asia and Africa.  Let’s examine the changes that have happened over the last 50 years.

India:

  • Population – 1.37 billion (compared to 328 million in the US).
  • Middle Class ($4-10 a day) has grown from 66.4 million in 2004 to 158 million in 2012. See India Middle Class
  • In 1970, less than 5% of India had a high school education, by 2010 it was 33%, see link.
  • In 2016-17 over 35 million Indians were enrolled in post-secondary (after high school) education.  In the US, the number is 19 million, see link.
  • Number of mobile phones in India is 731 million.

 

China:

  • Population – 1.386 billion.
  • In 2015, China surpassed the US in the number of middle-income people 109 million.
  • By 2020, China will have 700 million middle-income people, more than twice the population of the US, see link.
  • In 1970, about 11% of China had a high school education, by 2019 it was over 61% see link.
  • Literacy rate is 96.3%.
  • In 2017, 7.36 million Chinese graduated with bachelor’s degrees, 3 million more than in 2007.
  • Over 1 billion mobile phone users in China.

Amazon, leader in Asia?

Amazon is the big force in the western world and you already know about them, with revenue of $232.88 billion (2018), almost $100 billion more than 2016 ($135 billion). But you may not know about the big players in the Asia world of e-commerce, such as Jingdong and Alibaba.  Note: Currency rate as of March 9, 2019 (Chinese Yuan 6.92 to US Dollar)

  • Jingdong – 462B Yuan or $68.73 billion USD with sales increasing 25% a year.
  • Alibaba – 250.3B Yuan or $37.24 billion USD with 29% yearly sales growth
  • Walmart bought 77% of Flipkart (biggest e-commerce company in India), for $16 billion in August of 2018.

 

 

Africa:

For many years Africa has been considered a poor continent with little hope of ever getting out of poverty.  That is no longer the case.

  • According to the UN, the population of Africa by 2025 will be greater than China (The Economist, March 9, 2019).
  • The tiny nation of Djibouti, located in north-east Africa, is where 1/3 of the world’s shipping passes.
  • More than 320 embassies open in Africa between 2010-16.
  • Sub-Saharan countries (those south of the Sahara) will grow at almost 5% of over the next five year.
  • The number of children enrolled in primary schools in sub-Saharan Africa rose by 75% to 144 million between 1999 and 2012.
  • According to McKinsey, it is estimated that between 2008 and 2020, there is a $40 billion growth opportunity in food and consumer goods in Nigeria, the highest of any African nation, see link.
  • There are 250 million smartphone users in Africa with a total of 444 million mobile subscribers.

Business opportunities abound around the world and the “developing” world has the education and the money to buy what you are offering.  Think about how you want to position your company in Asia and Africa.

 

Key Points:

India has twice the number of cell phones as the US, and 300 million are smart phones.  China has over 1 billion cell phone users and Africa has 250 million smart phone users.  And there is an increase in income in these regions of the world with 5-6% GDP growth a year, much faster than the western world.  These are people who can afford your digital product.

 

Action:

  1. Determine which Asian and/or African markets make sense for your business.
  2. Digital products are much easier to sell in Asia and Africa than are physical products. Do you have a digital product to provide to those markets?
  3. If the answer is no, what type of digital product could you create for those markets?

Leave me a comment on the blog post, I’d like to hear how you will take advantage of the growth in Asia and Africa.

 

 

 

Can you Really prevent Alzheimer’s?

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Here is a sad fact of life.  As we age our bodies start to deteriorate.  We aren’t quite as agile as we once were.   Our energy is not what it used to be.  As we age, we tend to be more forgetful.  But there is an upside. With good nutrition and the advancements that have been made in medicine, we are living longer.  My mom lived to be 91 and my dad until age 94.  However, long before their physical bodies gave out, their minds started to go.  At the end, neither one of them could remember me.

This loss of memory is called Dementia and the most common form of dementia (60-80% of cases) is called Alzheimer’s.  Dementia is a fact of life for many elderly people.  See link  for more details on Alzheimer.

We’ll discuss below the actions we can take to great slow this disease.

 

Positive Thinking has Positive Effects

The first is our mental health.  Negative thinking has a detrimental effect on our bodies.  If we think we are old, tired, worn out, then our physical bodies follow the guidance of our minds.  That’s why it is important to have a positive attitude in life.  Having a negative mindset can and will over time manifest in bodily ailments (see link).

I’m not saying that having a positive mindset will prevent Alzheimer’s however, having an optimistic outlook is one of the attributes for having a healthy mind.

 

Brain = Muscles

Second, your brain is like a muscle.  It had been thought at one time, that our mind doesn’t change much once we reach adulthood.   Research has shown that isn’t the case. Our brain has the ability to modify its connections or re-wire itself.  It’s called Neuroplasticity.  “Without this ability, any brain, not just the human brain, would be unable to develop from infancy through to adulthood or recover from brain injury.” Jim Kwik,

is the founder of Kwik Learning and a widely recognized world expert in speed-reading, memory improvement, brain performance.  Below he gives us some brain facts.

  • Our brains contain about 100 billion brain cells, equal to the number of stars in our galaxy.
  • A piece of your brain tissues the size of a grain of sand contains 100,000 neurons and 1 billion synapses – all of which are communicating with one another.
  • If you laid out the blood vessels feeding your brain end to end, they’d stretch almost halfway to the moon!
  • Your brain is capable of over 1,000 processes per second, making it more powerful than any existing computer.
  • Your brain’s memory capacity is virtually unlimited.

 

Now that we know that our brains can change and improve; that it is like a muscle, how do we exercise it?

Of the 3 Rs, Reading is the most Important

One of the easiest ways to strengthen our brains is by reading.

Reading causes our brain to be active in two ways.  First, reading causes our minds to process the written word, to recognize it on the page and interpret the meaning of a sentence.

The second is our minds create the image of the words in the page.  If the story is about someone in a boat on a stormy sea, the wind is blowing hard, the waves are crashing against the side of the boat, we visualize what is taking place.

 

Your Mind is a Movie Maker

As soon as I said these words, you pictured a boat being tossed about in the sea.  Maybe it was a sailboat, maybe it was a tug boat.

Maybe there was a single sailor on the boat, or maybe it was a family. There are infinite number of images that could have come to mind by reading that one sentence.  Just image the number of images that occur during the reading of an entire book.

Conversely, studies  have shown watching a lot of TV can increase aggression, while at the same time verbal skills diminishing. The brain physically changes with watching extensive amounts of television, thickening the frontal lobe region.

 

Deep Breathing (Yeah it works)

When we are working long hours, it’s important to take a few minutes break every hour.  Get up and stretch. Breathe deep for a few minutes.  “Many of us hold our breath unintentionally while engaged in daily tasks such as reading and writing email (a phenomenon called ‘email apnea’ or ‘screen apnea’. We simply “forget” to breathe. This deficit of oxygen-flow to the brain can result in headaches, increased stress, loss of concentration, and fatigue”, says Ran Zilca in Psychology Today.  Breathing deep brings more oxygen to the brain.

 

Exercise your Mind and Body

While the two-minute break each hour is helpful, it is no substitute for having an extended time of daily exercise.  Set up a time each day to get some type of exercise, even if it just walking.  Stephen Duneier, who at the time was a portfolio manager in London decided to learn German.  “My commute consisted of a 45-minute walk from one end of Hyde Park to the other, twice a day, every weekday. That was 1.5 hours per day, 7.5 hours per week, 32.5 hours a month and 390 hours or 23,400 minutes every year that I was awake, aware, and wasting time. Sure, I was achieving cognitive ease by listening to music through earphones on my way to and from a mentally fatiguing job, and yes, I enjoyed that downtime. Did I really want to inject cognitive strain into my ‘me time’?.”  It turns out he did.  He invested the time to listen to German during his daily commute, such that by the time he listened to the 33 CDs (converted to MP3) three times, he was conversant in German.  Stephen has went on to some very impressive accomplishments which you can read about in the link above or at his Ted Talk link here.

Stimulating your brain through reading and deep breathing are important, but so is providing the raw energy through food that is good for your brain.

 

Brain Food

While its important to get a balanced diet of meat and vegetables to be healthy is equally important to consume foods that supercharge your brain.  Below are such foods.

See link for details.

  • Fatty Fish
  • Coffee (I have no problem with this one)
  • Blueberries

  • Turmeric
  • Broccoli
  • Pumpkin seeds
  • Dark Chocolate
  • Nuts
  • Oranges
  • Eggs
  • Green Tea

 

Sleep

In the 24/7 world we live in, it can be difficult to get sufficient quality and quantity of sleep.  However, according to the  National Institutes of Health, “Sleep is important for storing memories. It also has a restorative function. Lack of sleep impairs reasoning, problem-solving, and attention to detail, among other effects.”  While it is not known for sure if a lack of good sleep in a contributor to Alzheimer’s, research is indicating this is a distinct possibility, see Alzheimer’s disease may stem from protein clearance problem.  So how do you improve your sleep?

 

How to you get a good night’s sleep

  1. Make sure you allow 8 hours of sleep time.
  2. Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day, even on weekends. Note:  I do allow myself to sleep an extra hour on the weekend.
  3. Make sure the room is dark. Light will wake us up.  Install dark blinds or curtains.  And if that is not possible, use a sleep mask.
  4. Minimize distractions. While you can’t stop noisy neighbors, you can play some soothing sounds to muffle their racket.
  5. If you get 8 hours of sleep each night, but consistently wake up tired, get a sleep study. I was sleeping poorly and did a sleep study the realized I had sleep apnea.  Now I get a good 8 hours of rest and my oxygen level is higher than it was before using a sleep machine (feeding my brain that precious oxygen).

So, to love and care for your brain, take the following steps.

 

Actions:

  1. Make a reading plan. Set aside dedicated time of 30-60 minutes a day to read.  Do a mixture of fiction and non-fiction.  Read new authors and new genres to really engage your mind.
  2. Focus on the positive in your life. Be grateful for what you don’t have.  Our minds naturally drift to the negative so read something inspirational every day.
  3. Take a few minutes each day to relax and focus on what is good in life.  Focus on your breathing, taking deep breathes.
  4. Get regular exercise. Try to walk 30 minutes each day.  Work the exercise into your daily routine like Stephen Duneier.
  5. Get a regular helping of the foods listed above. Make them a staple in your diet.
  6. Get 8 hours of sleep daily.   Change your schedule if necessary to get 8 hours of sleep.

 

Do everything in your power to have a healthy brain.  You’ll be glad you did.

 

Leave me a comment, I’d like to know how you take care of your brain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s Never Too Late to Get Started

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It’s never too late to get started in your own business.

The Excuse: I don’t have the Energy

Believe it or not, while starting your own business (the side hustle) will take time, but because you are engaged in it, excited about it, you will have more energy.  Often, when we are in our 50s, we are looking forward to retirement, to slowing down, taking things a bit easier.  The days of pulling all-nighters to meet a deadline, don’t fire us up like they used to.  But working a side-hustle excites us, and that excitement even rubs off on our current work.

 

The Excuse:  I don’t have any Ideas

A research study cited in the NY Times indicates that a 55-year-old and even a 65-year-old have more innovation potential than a 25-year-old.  “Less gray hair sharply reduces an organization’s innovation potential, which over the long term can greatly outweigh short-term gains.”  The gray-haired have years of experiences upon which to build an idea.  There is more raw material from which to connect the dots to create a unique innovation.

Study link is here.

Let’s look at some late blooming entrepreneurs and determine if there is a common thread that lead to their success.

Vera Wang

is known world-wide for her beautiful wedding dresses.  And while she started in fashion at a young age it wasn’t until 1989, at age 40, that she started on her own business.  Frustrated with the slim selection of bridal gowns she designed her own dress for her wedding.  At first, she designed wedding gowns for well-known designers such as Christian Dior but then sold her own designs and today her products are featured in over 55 upscale retailers such Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale’s.  Hollywood stars from Halle Berry to Charlize Theron wear her gowns on the red carpet.  From that single bridal shop she has grown her business to products such as engagement rings, dinner plates and cosmetics.  Today, according to Forbes, she is worth over $420 million.

 

While Vera Wang grew up in the wealthy Upper East Side of Manhattan,

Donald Fisher

didn’t have those advantages.  He went to an ordinary high school and graduated with a business degree from the University of California, Berkeley.   He worked in his father’s furniture business until he started a business renovating hotels.  Donald Fisher founded the Gap in the early 70’s at the age of 40.  His store concept of having all the sizes of a product grew out of his frustration at trying to return a pair of Levi’s at a store and get another size.  Later he added the retailers Old Navy and Banana Republic to his empire.  At the time of Donald’s death in 2009 he was worth $3.3 billion.

 

Julia Child

the famous chef, didn’t get excited about cooking (French) until she was 36, after living in Paris for two years and in 1961 at age 49 wrote her first cookbook. “With its clear instructions and explanations and its many useful photographs, it was an immediate success.  Child was hailed as an expert, and she began writing articles on cooking for magazines and newspapers. In 1963, after appearing on a television panel show, Child began a weekly half-hour cooking program, The French Chef”.   Her fame only grew from there.  How would you like for a famous actor (Meryl Streep) to portray your life?  See Julie and Julia.

 

Anna Mary Robertson Moses, better known as

Grandma Moses,

began her prolific painting career at 78.  “By the age of 76, Moses had developed arthritis, which made embroidery painful. Her sister Celestia suggested that painting would be easier for her, and this idea spurred Moses’s painting career in her late 70s. . . What appeared to be an interest in painting at a late age was a manifestation of a childhood dream. With no time in her difficult farm-life to pursue painting, she was obliged to set aside her passion to paint. At age 92 she wrote, ‘I was quite small, my father would get me and my brothers white paper by the sheet. he liked to see us draw pictures, it was a penny a sheet and lasted longer than candy.’  It was her father’s encouragement that fed her passion to paint and this dream was able to manifest later in her life.”

 

President Harry Truman presented her with the Women’s National Press Club trophy award for outstanding achievement in art in 1949 and when she died in 1961, at the age of 101 President John Kennedy said, “we have lost a beloved figure from American life.”

Synopsis of her life here.

In 2006, one of her paintings sold for $1.2 million.

See more after age 40 successes here.

 

Reid Hoffman

of Linked In fame, started the company at age 36 in the spring of 2003 (I joined in 2004, one of the first 1 million members).  In June 2016, Microsoft bought LinkedIn for $26.2 billion dollars.  Reid’s net worth jumped to $800 million on the sale. Today there are over 250 million monthly active users with a total of 500 million users of Linked In.

 

For more entrepreneur stories click here.

 

Rowland Macy started Macy’s at 36, Gordon Moore founded Intel at age 39, and I could go on and on with the successes from those that started late.  While it is interesting to read these stories, it’s important understand what you can apply to your life from their story.  There are a few insights that I gained from examining the lives of late starter entrepreneurs.

 

  1. You’re never too old to start. You’re only too old if you think you are too old to start a business.
  2. You can make money in many different businesses. All it takes is a good idea and a lot of hard work.  There is nothing innately special about these individuals.  They come from a variety of backgrounds.
  3. You have more innovation potential now than decades ago.
  4. Use biographies of entrepreneurs to learn from their successes and their failures and most importantly, how they overcame obstacles.
  5. Running your own business can keep you young. Donald Fisher was CEO of the Gap until 67 and Chairman until 76.

I’d love to hear when and how you got started in your business.  Leave me a comment on the blog.

 

 

 

 

 

How to Create a Star Team

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Why Creating a Star Team so Important

“It took just 600 Apple engineers less than two years to develop, debug, and deploy OS X, a revolutionary change in the company’s operating system. By contrast, it took as many as 10,000 engineers more than five years to develop, debug, deploy, and eventually retract Microsoft’s Windows Vista”, says Michael Malkin.

Great teams can do phenomenal work, enabling companies to beat their competition.  Star teams are often three or four times or more productive as ordinary teams and that millions of dollars are saved through their productivity.  But how do you go about creating a start team?

 

It Starts from the Top

Star teams need certain things in order to excel.  And these can only be provided by executive leadership.

  1. To excel they need an environment in which experimentation is allowed (encouraged) and failure is accepted as a cost for doing great things. Success comes from failure.  Ridiculing or punishing failure sends a strong signal to individuals and teams to only use tried and true methods.  And doing so is a recipe for mediocrity.
  • Without experimentation, without taking risks, individuals and teams will not learn and the company won’t grow. So, first leadership must create the right environment.
  1. Along with the enabling team to take risks, management also needs to also provide an environment of straight talk. One where individuals and teams are held accountable for results and no one receives special treatment.   At the same time individuals and teams can take actions to achieve the desired results.  Individuals need to trust management there is a level playing field for all.

 

Key Attributes of a Star Team

While it important for individual contributors to be productive it is even more important for the team as whole to effective.  What determines this?  There are several important attributes  for an effective team according to Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, a few of which we will highlight here.

  • Diversity of Skills – its respect for the different skills on the team. This is key in cross-functional teams.  The brilliant software coder who sits by themselves, has just as much to contribute as the premier sales leader.  That respect builds upon itself.  Team members are willing contribute to finding a solution when their ideas and themselves are respected.
  • Resilience – there will be hard times in an organization and difficulty within a team. Resilience shows how well a team and an organization hold together through tough times.
  • Synergy – goes to how well team members play off each other’s strengths to create a cohesive unit, an esprit de corps. The talents and contributions of the team far exceeds that of the individual.  In other words, the sum of the whole is greater than the parts.

 

When a team works well together a lot will be accomplished, as we saw in the Apple illustration.  There is an energy that is created.  The team loves challenges and will take on larger and more difficult tasks.  Individual team members will step up their game without anyone asking them to.  They do this for a couple of reasons: 1) They see other team members stepping up, so they do as well so that they don’t let down their team. 2) They themselves have grown in their abilities, so their confidence has increased.  Their contribution is respected and the pride that comes from recognition of the team encourages them to do even more.

 

Accountability

On top of these attributes is accountability.  Everyone will know the role they play as an individual contributor and part of a team.  The individual needs to know what they need to do to be successful (accountable) and the importance of contributing to the team.

 

How to do this?

The key is communicating what needs to be done and how it will be measured.

The best way for measuring is to apply metrics to the position and the associated processes and Service Level Agreements (SLAs).  Service Level Agreements are the agreement, the goal, that is to be obtained for a certain process or task.  An SLA can be “product shipped to the customer in 24 hours” or “all POs issued within 24 hours of approval”.  In practical terms this means an employee doesn’t go home until all the product that needs to be shipped to meet the SLA, have been shipped, or all the POs that need to be issued that fall within that 24 hours of approval are sent that day.

Go beyond what needs to be done and explain why.  Explain why creating POs within 24 hours is so important.  Explain how the PO creation fits in with the rest of the processes for this area.  Explain how this work enables the business to excel.

In addition to individual metrics, team metrics would be created as well.

Team and company goals are to minimize silos and get different departments working together.  Tying the individual goals to the team and process goals, tied to the corporate goals show an individual how their work contributes to the overall success of the business.

 

So How do you Identify a Star during the Interview Process? Check the Attitude

An interviewee needs to understand from the very first interview, that it is important to have the right attitude.  An attitude of taking ownership of an area, agreeing to the metrics (SLAs) and even improving the process and the metrics as needed.

Going back to the PO example, first explain how they will be successful in their position (e.g. creating POs in 24 hours) and how it will be measured.  Second, explain how their area contributes to the success of the PO process and how the overall process is being measured.  Third, explain how this area, this process contributes to the overall success of the company.  Describe what their area does and how it contributes to the success of the company.  Explain how the teams and processes will be measured.

If they are a team player, their eyes should light up and their heads nod as you go through this part of the interview.  How the interviewee reacts will tell you a lot about their mindset concerning being measured on their and the team’s performance.

 

Customer Focus

Part of the discussion with the individual is to emphasis the concept of customers.  Everyone has customers, whether they are internal or external.  Create the mindset that we want to do our best for our customers.  Creating SLAs tells a customer (even internal) what they can expect for your department.  It tells them how you will measure your success at serving their group.  It communicates accountability for delivery.

Of course, the person must have the necessary skills, however, hiring someone with the right attitude, the right mindset is paramount.

 

 

Actions:

 

  1. When hiring, picture where you see the interviewee in two years. Think about your current team and how they not only fit in, but how this person would contribute, and would they make the current team even better.  Trust your gut.  Trust your emotions when you think through what the interviewee would do interacting with the rest of the team.  Often our feelings pick up something that our conscious minds miss, something that we can’t quite put our finger on it .  Just be sure to hire a diverse team.  A team of different backgrounds, different skill sets, different ethnicity and genders in order to have the best team possible.
  2. Related to number 1, determine if you can see this person growing, again, where would they be in 2 years. You want to hire someone that will grow with your team and your company.  Someone that is willing to do that.  The person in front of you may be very qualified for the current position, but are they the type of person that is willing to learn and grow as team and company does?
  3. Understand that the effort to find the right person is worth it. The right person will be worth many times what you are paying them, and the wrong person will cost you far more than what you are paying.

 

I’d love to hear your feedback on the blog post.  Just leave me a comment.

 

 

Business Trends for 2019 and Beyond

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In this blog post, we’ll look at the declining industries and the ones that are taking off and the impact it can have on your business.

Industries in Decline:

Wireline telecom companies:

I was with Verizon when several states of local phone service were sold to Frontier Communications (including me) in 2010.  Frontier Communications focuses on rural telephone service.  While one would think that rural wired telecom would be a captive market, it’s not the case.  The number of wired line subscribers is declining and will continue.  The farmer wants to ability to use data when they are on the tractor, figuring out how much fertilizer to put on his crop based on the soil conditions, weather forecast, etc.  He doesn’t have time to run back to the house and fire up his computer and use the house DSL.  This trend of declining wireline data will continue as the Verizon’s and AT&Ts of the world rollout more and faster wireless data.  To give you the magnitude of the impact, in Jan. 2011 Frontier Communications stock was about $135 a share, on Jan. 25, 2019, the stock closed at $1.98!

 

IT support shops of all Sizes:

These are IT shops that provide IT talent directly to companies and/or support functions such maintaining servers, switches and routers.  Why is their business declining?  Because IT is moving to the Cloud.  First, with Google Docs, Gmail and other free or near free products, there is no need to buy expenses software packages for the business computer.  Software updates that had to be managed by the small business owner are now handled in the cloud by Google and other companies.  Second, for larger businesses, their IT infrastructure is moving to the cloud.  No need to spend millions of dollars on a data center when the vast majority of infrastructure and software can be moved to the cloud.  Just look at IBM, a premier software and IT services company.  In 2007 they had $98.8 billion in sales and in 2017 they had 79.1 billion in sales.  And while there are some bright spots in IBM’s business, losing $20 billion revenue over 10 years says that IT consulting is a dying business.  The one bright spot for the IT consulting industry will be for consulting firms that show small companies how they can move to the Cloud.

 

Data Storage companies:

Related to the IT Services companies are those in the data storage business such as Iron Mountain.  While Iron Mountain has other business that have growth, their offsite storage business will likely decline with the advent of moving work and data to the Cloud, there isn’t a need for back up storage (your Cloud provider will provide).

 

Traditional Universities:

The introduction of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) which are free online courses available for anyone to enroll have changed the learning environment drastically.  Any high school student needs to consider whether it is worth the money to spend 4 years of their life and tens of thousands of dollars at a 4-year university degree when MOOCs are available.  And the courses are offered by some very legitimate organizations such as MIT and Carnegie. Around 23 million new learners signed up for their first MOOC in 2017, taking the total number of learners to 81 million mooc.  In most cases the courses are free, but certificates are paid.  While utilizing a MOOC may not be a replacement for a 4-year degree, it can certainly supplement it.

 

Logistics Work:

My dad was a forklift driver for a manufacturing company.  He did the job for almost 40 years and retired with his pension from the company.  Today, a robot would his job.  In the future, the product will be loaded into a self-driving truck.  The forklift operator and truckdriver jobs will disappear along with other logistics work.  Amazon’s automated fulfillment centers are more efficient with less workers,  Amazon automation.

 

Auto Sales will Decline, Dramatically:

Three things are coming together that will make auto sales drop off a cliff.

  1. With the move of millennials and companies to urban areas and with using to public transportation, there is less need for a car.
  2. Fewer drivers licenses. “in 2014, just 24.5 percent of 16-year-olds had a license, a 47-percent decrease from 1983, when 46.2 percent did”.
  3. Self-driving vehicles. As stated above, self-driving trucks will have a big impact on employment but will also have an impact on car sales.  Recent Predictions state that fully autonomous vehicles will be available in the early 2020s.  So, with the car doing the driving while you work or entertain yourself, do you care if the car can do 0 to 60 in 5 seconds?  Do you care if it is the “Ultimate Driving Machine”?  Do you even care if the car is gas-powered or electric?  A car will become a commodity.  Something to get you from point A to point B.  Fewer auto sales, means fewer dealerships. It also means fewer repair shops.

 

Gaming stores and DVD rental stores:

Once it was the dream of many entrepreneurs, to open their own video or gaming store.  In the case of the video stores, they are dead with Blockbuster going bankrupt in 2010 and gaming stores are following quickly behind.

 

Retail in General:

Many well-known retailers filed for bankruptcy in 2018, including Toys R Us and Sears.  In 2017, major such as The Limited, Payless ShoeSource, and Radio Shack filed for bankruptcy.  In 2018 Toys R Us liquidated its assets and ceased all operations.

Trends that are Taking Off:

Personalized service:

Personalized Service will become more important as large companies use more and more technology as the interface to their customers.  With your small business, you can take advantage of this trend and give your customers a personal touch.  You use technology to make yourself more efficient but talk directly to your customers whenever possible, engage them how they like to be engaged, whether through text, email, chat or a simple call. And be as prompt as possible.  No response within 48 hours can means a lost customer.

 

Artificial intelligence (AI):


The first prime time AI for the consumer was the iPhone’s Siri (from Apple) and for Android users it was the Google assistant (from Google).  The AI systems respond when key words are used to get their attention, such as “Siri” in the case of Apple or “Ok Goggle” or “Hey Google” for the Android system and these systems can be used to answer verbal questions.

 

Personal Assistants:

The next step in personal AI was personal assistants for the home.  Amazon has brought out its own AI system called Alexa, that can take on various tasks such as playing songs, dimming your lights and adjusting your thermostat.  Amazon uses the Echo Dot, a smart speaker system that you connect your house devices to and the Echo Dot controls them through voice commands.  Google Home smart speakers can do similar things.  The natural progression is for these devices is to conduct voice searches on our behalf.  For example, the ability to tell Alexa, “Alexa, find me the most highly rated snowblower under $1000 and tell me when I can buy it”.  Alexa would search the web for snowblowers based on the criteria you provided and verbally give you the answer.  If the snowblower was available on Amazon, Alexa could order it for you.

 

The Internet of Things (IOT):

Related to Google Home and Alexa in the Internet of Things (IoT), basically smart devices that connect over Wi-Fi and provide data to a central system.  Lights need to be Wi-Fi enabled so Alexa can give the command to dim the lights upon request.  Your washer/dryer, frig, thermostat and other devices are already Wi-Fi enabled or will soon be. There are many things (devices) that will be connected to the Internet that you will be able to control via voice command.

 

Big Data:

As more devices become Wi-Fi enabled and provide data, there will need to be something to manage that data.  The Alexa and Google systems are basic today but will be able to process far more data (become smarter) in the future.  More devices will connect over the Internet and the quantity of data will increase significantly.  These devices will be able to do much more complex tasks.  I can see in the not to distant future that your health stats are continually sent to your AI system and it warns you if you blood pressure gets too high or will contact emergency services if your symptoms indicate you are suffering a heart attack.

 

Mobile Pay:

Mobile banking/transactions will increase as well as online banking.  Two different things are taking place.  More people are using their phones for making transactions whether it be Apple Pay, Google Pay (redesign Google Wallet), Visa Checkout, MasterCard Master Pay, Square Order and others.

Second, more and more people are banking online.  My wife, who takes care of our finances, sets up items for auto pay on our bank account.  When we go to the bank, which is seldom, it is to get cash from the ATM.  We do very little person to person interaction with the bank.  The number of brick and mortar banks will decrease.

 

Telecommuting:

More people will work remote. While there is a trend for companies to move back into urban areas.  See Core Values Study and Companies move downtown, the telecommuting that started in the 90s, will continue.  With more people being at home during the week, but with limited time away from their computer, it opens opportunities for businesses that can deliver their product quickly to busy workers.

 

So, what does this all mean to you?

 

Actions:

  1. If you are looking to start a business or have an existing business, it would be a good idea to evaluate the future of your target industry and adjust your idea or your business based upon these trends.
  2. Technology can be your friend, not your enemy. Look for ways to utilize technology in your business to better serve your customers.  Just remember, technology is an aid, not a replacement for the personal interaction with your customer.

Leave me a comment, I’d love to hear about other trends that are taking place in the business world.

Alan

 

 

 

Creativity – The Life Blood of your Business

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Why we are not Creative

Most people don’t consider themselves creative.  Why not?  “Why aren’t more of us channeling that creative energy?  Blame it on the gremlin—that invisible source of self-doubt that sits on our shoulder and reminds us of every negative adult, teacher, boss, etc. or other influence that discouraged us from embracing those bolts of inspiration.  The gremlin holds us back.  He fills us with fear and tells us to keep our thoughts to ourselves.  He makes us believe that letting our creativity out will make us look foolish or doom us to failure.  At the end of the day, the only sustainable competitive advantage—for individuals and companies—is creativity.” Josh Linkner, from Disciplined Thinking.  In short, we fear rejection, so we don’t try.

 

It’s okay to be Uncomfortable

And just like you run for the first time, where your lungs are on fire, you get shin splits (excruciating pain in your shins) and you feel like you are dying, working on creating ideas will feel very uncomfortable.  But is not just being uncomfortable with creating ideas.

“Not all creatively relies on panic, of course.  But research by the cognitive psychologist Gary Klein indicates that roughly 20% of creative breakthroughs are preceded by an anxiety akin to the stress that accompanied frozen development. . . Effective brokers aren’t cool and collected. They’re often worried and afraid”

If it is so Uncomfortable, why do it?  Because the payoff is worth it, and it doesn’t have to be drudgery.

 

Why Creativity is Important

“If you can solve a problem that is common for any group of people, you can make millions”, says Donny Deutsch, former host of the Big Idea television show.  Think about.  Creativity is what has created products that have changed the world, from the automobile, to the airplane to the smartphone.  But there is an even more important reason.

Technology is going to replace jobs, or, more precisely, the people holding those jobs. Few industries, if any, will be untouched, according to Joseph Pistrui in the Harvard Business Journal.

Knowledge workers will not escape. Recently, the CEO of Deutsche Bank predicted that half of its 97,000 employees could be replaced by robots. One survey revealed that “39% of jobs in the legal sector could be automated in the next 10 years. Separate research has concluded that accountants have a 95% chance of losing their jobs to automation in the future.”

So, whether you are in corporate or in your own business, technology can have a negative impact on your livelihood. But by being creative, you can use new technology to your advantage to create new services and new products.

While most people are concerned about (scared?) of having to be creative to be successful, it need not create angst.  We’ll go through the steps on how to be creative.

 

How Creativity Works

Creativity is connecting the dots

“Creativity is just connecting things.  When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it–they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while.  That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things,” said Steve Jobs.

Creativity is taking ideas from different sources and putting them together in a unique and usable way.

“Almost all the creative papers had at least one thing in common:  They were usually combinations of previously known ideas mixed together in new ways.  In fact, on average, 90% of what as n the most “creative” manuscripts had been published elsewhere—had been picked over by thousands of scientists.” says Charles Duhigg in Smarter, Better, Faster.

 

Need LOTS of Ideas

Just like Madison needed a wealth of information to draw from to architect the US Constitution, so too will you need a wealth of information to create ideas, and you will need lots of bad ideas to create good ones.  “Creativity is not a lightning strike”, says author Ryan Holiday.

And to keep your business growing, you’ll need to come up with new ideas.

Sarah Blakely, founder of Spanx, which generates over $250 million a year in sales, says, “I keep an idea book.  It is at 99 pages, single spaced and a lot of the ideas have nothing to do with Spanx”.

 

Absorb a lot of Content

Along the same lines of making creativity fun, keep at it, even if the ideas aren’t flowing.  There are two reasons for this.

  1. Getting lots of input can be valuable in creating great discussions. “Lincoln and his cabinet began a 27-hour journey and they were anxious about all the work they had left behind.  As the hours passed by, they warmed to Lincoln’s high-spirited discourse and began to relax.  General Viele marveled how Lincoln was always the center of the circle gathering on the quarterdeck, keeping everyone engrossed for hours as he recited Shakespeare, “’page after page of Browning and while cantos of Bryon.  Talking much of the day, he interspersed stories and anecdotes from his ‘inexhaustible stock’”, from Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin.  Whether you are trying to solve a problem for your business, create new business ideas, or to engage and inspire your team, having a wealth of material to draw upon is important.
  2. You never know when you will need the input. James Madison considered to be the father of the US constitution read and studied (need stronger words) various forms of government.  Not as part of his university (Princeton), but on his own with a keen eye on what worked and didn’t work in the various types of government.  “At age twenty-nine, Madison became the youngest member of the Continental Congress, and within a year, the small, soft-spoken, shy young man had emerged as a respected leader of the body. It was a tribute to his hard work and understanding of the issues. No one ever came to a meeting more prepared than Madison.”  If Madison had not rigorously studied governments, the US would likely look very different today.

 

You should bounce those ideas off other creative people.  Madison and Jefferson spent extensive time together discuss political ideas.

 

Creativity Process

Think You are Creative

First Step change your mindset.  You are creative it you think you are creative. Stephen Key said, “Everyone is creative.  Being creative is simply looking at something from a different perspective.  It is looking at it through a child’s eyes.”

“It is much more than having a positive attitude”, says Bernhard Schroeder. “It’s an outlook or internal belief that you are and can be and will be creative.  It is a deeply personal, and it informs how you interact with your creativity from everyday work-related ideas to life-changing goals”.

The reason you should think you’re creative is that ““Only 10% of our creative potential is determined by genes”, www.sciencedirect.com “Brain Research, volume 1069, issue 1, Jan. 19, 2006 p, 190-197.  You are not born with creativity.  It is a skill that you can develop, if you choose to, much like years ago when it was thought that leaders are born, not made.  Other studies have shown a bit less than 90% of creativity is an acquired skill, “Studies have shown that creativity is close to 80% learned and acquired” according to HBR professor Clayton Christensen.  “By making the system a part of your daily routine, you can expect to increase our creative capacity by 20, 30 or 50 percent.”

 

How to make it a Part of Your Daily Routine

Wait a minute!  “Why do I want to make it a part of my daily routine.  What do I want invest time on a daily basis for this when there are so many other pressing matters?  I just need one good idea.”

If life were that easy.  First, in order to have one good idea, there needs to be a lot of bad ideas.  The idea of a brilliant insight that comes after a few minutes thinking just isn’t realistic.  Coming up with ideas will take a lot of hard work.    It is no different than trying to run a marathon.  You don’t get off the couch and run 26 miles.  You run a bit farther each day and with dedicated training you’ll be able to run a marathon in a year; doesn’t happen overnight.  Anything worth having takes time, whether you want to be a chef (just ask my son who spent 2 years in culinary school) or play the piano well.

 

Make it Fun

Sitting in a chair, trying to come up with creative ideas and doing could lead to boredom and the creativity sessions to an end, so mix it up.  However, start off in the chair.

“Take note of a color that you love. Imagine as many things in that color as you can – especially things that aren’t normally that color .” Says Karen Patten.  This will enable your right brain to get the juices flowing.

Spend time in your thinking chair, but go beyond that.  Get outside, go to a bookstore, pick up a book in a category you normally don’t read.  Go to a museum, visit a library.  You can even start your own book club; review and interesting book with others.  Get your creative juices flowing.

 

Review and Reflect on Ideas during daily sessions

While it is good to have lots of good ideas going into our mind, our minds are horrible at being able to retrieve it.  Daily reflection on what you have learned is important for utilizing the information.  Ask yourself, “what did I learn to day?  How can I use this information?”

Categorize and file this information away for further use so that it can be readily retrieved.

 

Creativity is Best when you have a Target

While getting lots of good input from a variety of area, it a good idea to have focused thinking.  Think about a problem you are trying to solve (increasing revenue, scope of a new book, turning around customer losses) and write out exactly what you are trying to solve.  Be as specific as possible.  Think of ideas to solve that Problem Statement and write them down.  Come up with 20 ideas.  The next day, review those 20 ideas, put down your thoughts on each of the ideas.  Write down additional ideas that come to mind.  Brainstorm on Problem Statements consistently and evaluate them.  Discuss them with your team.  Get their ideas.  Make creativity a way of life.

Let me know how you start the creative juices flowing.  Send me a comment at alan@babyboomercashnow.com

 

 

 

It’s All in the Attitude

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Why is the picture of a quiet lake appropriate for a blog post on Attitude?  Because in order to be effective, you mind needs to be clear.

If you are like me, you are a 50 something year-old white collar professional that has experience career ups and downs.  And we are quite concerned about our future.

Global Financial Trouble Ahead

Our federal government debt is at $21.9 trillion, according to the National Debt Clock http://www.usdebtclock.org/ as of this writing on December 31, 2018 and likely over $22 trillion by the time you read this.  This is 105% of the US GDP and is climbing. The only major economies that are in worse shape are Japan with a debt of  9.65 trillion USD, which is 253% of GDP; Italy with debt of 141% of GDP and Greece debt at 189% of GDP.  It’s quite scary.

Even though you are in good health, you know your working days are numbered in the corporate world and only a recession away from being retired . . . permanently.  And while you have the ability to work many more years, your corporate options are likely limited.  And due to the career ups and downs, your savings are not where you would like them to be.   While you are doing well at work and pay is good, you lay wake at nights fearful about what could happen tomorrow.  It’s time to rid yourself of that gnawing anxiety by clearing your mind, getting a positive attitude and take action.  Here’s what to do.

It’s a new year so make your future plans.  I’m not talking about New Year’s resolutions, even though that is not a bad idea.  What I’m talking about is setting your attitude right so that you can be successful in the new year.

Set some goals for yourself.  If you haven’t set goals before, start off easy.  Set some goals that stretch you a bit, but something that you want to achieve.  Something that you will enjoy achieving.  Too many times, we set goals that we wish/hope we will achieve, but aren’t committed and don’t make the effort.  We set ourselves up for failure, because our heart isn’t in it.  If you want to start a side-line business, don’t start with a business idea.  Just work on coming up with a strong WHY you want to start a business.  Set a goal that you will develop a WHY by March 31, 2019.

Companion Goal:  If you have someone that is encouraging; that pushes you a bit to be a better you, congratulations, you have found a real gem.  But often, we don’t have people like that in our lives.  Set a goal for early in 2019 to find someone that would encourage you; someone you could bounce business ideas off of.  Someone that will help you keep  improving your attitude.

 

Get Used to Having a Good Attitude NOW

What does that mean?

Studies have shown that our 80% of success comes from emotional intelligence EQ and only 20% from IQ.  We only have one chance to make a good first impression.  While that is important in the business world, it is even more important when you are an entrepreneur.  People want to do business with someone they like, someone they trust.  Having a positive attitude goes a long way to pleasing customers.  The longer you’re are positive, the more it becomes a way of life for you.

 

 

Change Your Expectations

“Our expectations have a tremendous impact on our attitudes”, says John Maxwell.  Ben Franklin quipped, “‘Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall receive it’.  The good news is that when you change your thinking, you change your beliefs, which change your expectations, and changing your expectations change your attitude.”

Expect things to turn out for the best.

 

Have a Passion for your Business

People know when you love your business; love what you are doing.  One of my first interviews was with Lorena Prakash, owner of DUZU Dates.  I could tell from the moment she first spoke that she loved dates and loved her business.   When I interviewed her, it was during her busiest time of the year (December),;after she had put in a long day, and yet she was full of energy when we spoke.

 

Believe in Yourself

The common theme I have found in the entrepreneurs I’ve interviewed over the last 14 months is they have a belief in themselves.  It didn’t matter what type of business challenges they had, nor the obstacles they faced, they believed they would succeed.  From Lorena Prakash to Rick Lochner to Lou Constabile to Catherine Kaputa, to name a few, they all believe in themselves.  And because they believed in themselves, others did too.

 

You Will Face Obstacles

It is a fact of life, you will face obstacles in your business.

The question is, will you have to fortitude, the attitude to overcome them?  Rick Lochner was a successful executive, had been laid off multiple times and started his business at the worst possible time (2008).  But that didn’t deter him from starting it.  He believed in himself and this year he celebrated his tenth year in business.

It’s not a question of if you will face adversity, but when. The key is to persevere through the challenges, overcome them and come out stronger on the other side.

 

Embrace Failure

The obstacles you face may result in a failed business. Embrace it, learn from it, consider it tuition for being successful, but do not let it stop you.  Take a step back when the failure occurs, look at it objectively, ask your inner circle what you could have been done differently.  Don’t second guess yourself, don’t beat yourself, learn from the failure and move on.  Don’t make failure lasting by not trying again.  Each time you fail and learn from the failure in your business, the better entrepreneur you become.  You will gain confidence and better able to succeed the next time.  Look at the many success stories that I have shared in the blog, see how each person has overcome adversity.  Use their inspiring stories to create the right attitude in you.

 

Leave a me a comment on my blog, I’d love to hear from you at Alan@babyboomercashnow.com.

 

Interview with Andy Molinsky PhD. – Getting out of your Comfort Zone

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Today’s interview is with one of the premier thought leaders in the area of Comfort zone.  He has written over 60 articles in the Harvard Business Review; is the author of Reach and Global Dexterity and is a distinguished professor at Brandeis University.  Let’s welcome Dr. Andy Molinsky.

 

Alan:  Andy, thanks for taking the time to talk with us.

Andy:  My pleasure.

 

Alan:  Let’s go right into the interview, there are so many areas to discuss.

Have you found there are common things that can help someone take the first step on the road to getting out of their comfort zone? Actions such as walking up to a stranger at a party for a 3-minute conversation or buying a stranger a Starbucks coffee?

Andy:  It depends on what they are trying to work on.  People have different comfort zones.  For example, let’s say you want to be more comfortable at networking.  There are two major steps.  The first step is to understand why you want to network in the first place.  What is the reason for networking?  The second step is the conviction that stepping outside your comfort zone is worth it, otherwise, why would you do it?  Once you have done that, you’re able to create a plan for networking.  You’ll be able to create your objective for networking, such as self-promotion, and then you’ll be able to look at the different facets of network to determine where you are most uncomfortable; your pain points.

Also, part of the plan is setting sequential goals that are progressively harder.  You’re not able to go from 0 to 60 overnight.  If you try too much, too fast, you’ll give up.

 

Alan:  Sounds like that approach can be used for getting out of your comfort zone, no matter what the area is?

Andy:  That’s correct.

Alan:  In getting out of your comfort zone is it a good idea to do the same type of activities repeatedly in a short time period, such giving speeches?

Andy:  There does needs to be a frequency to it.  It is a good idea do the activity on a regular basis so you can build on competence and if the activity doesn’t go well, you have another chance.  So, in the example of giving speeches, you don’t want to give one a year.  But in addition, to giving speeches more often, is important increase the difficulty.  And by difficulty I mean the audience would be larger or the topic more complex.  The key point is to stretch yourself; be a bit uncomfortable.  Also, it is important go get feedback on your speeches.  The feedback can’t be from your best friend, who will compliment you, but at the same time not have feedback that is so harsh that it crushes your spirit.  The television show Shark Tank is a good one to watch on how feedback is done well.

 

Alan:  So I would think having a coach would be a good idea.

Andy:  It is for a variety of reasons.   First, your coach would be an expert in the area you want to improve, like a speech coach.  Second, they are able to help you design a plan for progressive difficulty.  Third, their feedback is based on experience in the given area, so they know which areas need the most improvement.


Alan:  Is it easier to get out of our comfort zone when you are younger?

Andy: It is not about age, it is about mindset and personality.  Are you willing to try something new?  Are you willing to learn?  I’ve worked with people that have spent career in an area that is dying and realize they need to reinvent themselves.  Age didn’t have an impact.

 

Alan: Should schools work on ways for kids to get out of their comfort zones?  Are there things parents/grandparents should do to encourage their kids to get out to of their comfort zone?

Andy:  It is important for parents to know their kids comfort zone and pick your spot to work on.    Choose an activity the kid has an interest in, so they want to do it. If the child loves soccer, have him join a team.  Do it in small steps.  Nudge them and build from there. 

 

Alan:  I remember that my son wanted to play soccer, we signed him up and got his uniform.  I took him to his first practice, but he refused to join the others.  He was climbing the goalposts when his mom arrived.  She told him, “You decided to play soccer.  You need to get on the field now with the others.”  He reluctantly joined. He played soccer for 12 seasons.

Andy:  That brings up a good point on getting kids to get out of their comfort zone.  One parent may be better at nudging them to try uncomfortable activities.  Parents need to cognizant of their skills to get their children to get out of their comfort zone.

 

Alan:  This question is in reference to an article you wrote in the Harvard Business Review.  In the 4 types of Ineffective Apologies”, Nov. 25, 2016, How to you apologize to a customer when they are angry at something that happened that was beyond your control; wasn’t something you or your team did?

Andy:  Depends on the circumstances, but in general, don’t take an adversarial role.  Come from the viewpoint, ‘we are all in this together.  I’m sorry it happened and will look into it’ and then get back to the customer.  The respect you show to the customer is important.

 

Alan:  Your book Reach: A New Strategy to Help You Step Outside Your Comfort Zone, Rise to the Challenge and Build Confidence has been very successful.  What’s next for you; a new book?

Andy:  I have a new focus but it is related to Reach.  I’m helping young professionals move into corporate and I’m doing this through a podcast.  I’m working with five undergrads on it.  It about moving from the dorm room to the boardroom and will be available in late January 2019.  One of the reasons I’m doing the podcast is use a new form, rather than just print.  The Twitter page is already up and website will be soon.

 

Alan:  I’ve learned a lot just in the short time we have talked.  What is the best way to reach you and find out more on how to get out of our comfort zones?

Andy:  My website is andymolinsky.com; my Twitter is @andymolinsky and I’m on LinkedIn.

 

 

Alan: Thank you so much for talking to us today.

 

 

What is Design Thinking and Why it is Important to You

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Customers are more demanding that ever and Design Thinking is a good approach to how you engage your customer.  Design thinking is taking a holistic approach to finding a solution to a problem that a customer may not even know they have. 

Most of us have home computers and they are likely Windows compatible machines (those of you that have Macs don’t gloat) and we had difficulty setting them up on our home network.  Apple, who’s moto has been “Think Different” took at different approach to the whole setup experience, a holistic approach.

Why Apple has Raving Fans

My wife got a new iPad Pro as an early Christmas present and we went to the Apple store to pick it up and to set it up.  It was a Friday night and there were a lot of people in the store, setting up their iPads, iPhones and other Apple devices. Immediately an Apple employee greeted her and went in the back to retrieve my wife’s new iPad.  We were led to a table, the “Genius Bar” which is what Apple calls their tech area.  Set up for facial recognition, voice recognition and the downloading of previous items in the cloud was pretty easy. My wife left the store very happy. 

Let’s take a closer look the steps of what occurred with Apple and how they relate to Design Thinking.

  1. My wife had received an email saying her iPad Pro was in the store.
  2. I dropped my wife at the Apple store and went to park.  My wife entered the store and was immediately greeted by someone. So what?  Wal-Mart has greeters.  Ahh . . . but the person went to the back to get the equipment.  They didn’t just say “hi” and tell my wife to wait in a queue until someone could help them.  The Apple employee took action to move us along in the process of getting and setting up the iPad.
  3. By the time I had parked and entered the store, my wife had her iPad.
  4. The device was already charged.  Before the iPhone came into the world in 2007, you’d get a new phone on Christmas morning, be all excited as you open the package and turn on the phone to start using it.  Except it didn’t power up. You spent a few minutes fiddling with the phone to make sure you were pushing the power button when it dawned on you, the phone was dead and needed to be charged.  So, you plugged in the phone to charge and went on with your day.  How did you feel about the phone at that point?  Disappointed,right?  When you returned to the phone, 2 hours later after it had charged, the excitement was gone.  Your first experience with the phone was a bad one.  All that needed to be done was for someone in the factory, or in the store to charge the phone.
  5. Going back to the Apple Store experience.  When the iPad was turned on,it immediately jumped on the Apple WiFi network.  Now whether the tech had set up the WiFi previously or the devices automatically log onto the Apple WiFi as a default setting, I don’t know.  But working with Windows devices I have always need to find a WiFi network and connect to it the first time.  Is this a minor thing?  Yes, but by it being seamless, it made the entire setup process more enjoyable.
  6. The iPad led her automatically through the set-up process; through set up of facial recognition to voice recognition.  That wasn’t a typo.  Facial recognition and Voice recognition, so the iPad knows it is you.  No need to enter a password.   Pretty cool, right?  The item that took the longest time was the downloading of iCloud items and the necessity of waiting a few minutes to ask the tech a few questions and for him to check a few things on the configuration on the iPad.  The total process took 15-20 minutes while videos placed on a giant screen and upbeat music filled the air.  All in all, a very good experience.

User Experiences

Why do I tell you this?  Because these “user experiences” are what consumers and businesses want.  And your competitors are providing these experiences.  Recently Apple passed a trillion dollars in market value.  A trillion!  No company has ever surpassed a trillion dollars in market value.  In addition, they had $237 billion in cash as of Nov. 1, 2017.  237 billion! Only 3 companies had revenues (Wal-Mart, Exxon-Mobil, Berkshire-Hathaway) in 2017 greater than Apple’s cash hoard!  When companies, like Apple,provide these type of experiences, customers will demand this type of experience from other companies, including yours.

We are in the process of remodeling our house.  We buy a lot of items from Amazon. Why?  Because we can choose exactly what I want: I know when it will be shipped to me and it will be dropshipped to my garage.  I don’t need to be home to receive it; I don’t need to be home to sign for it.

We’re remodeling our master bathroom and we couldn’t find a shower door that we liked on Amazon.  The vast majority of our Kohler and Moen bathroom fixtures were purchase through Amazon, however the shower door had to be purchased through a local retailer and then be delivered to our house.  Here were the issues.

  1. Called the store and placed the order, was told 3 weeks delivery, so far so good.  “Can the shower door be directly shipped to my house, instead of to your store, after all, I am paying for shipping”.  The answer, “No”.  “Can you automatically ship it to my house when you receive it?”  The answer, “No,you need to call the store and schedule delivery and be there to receive it”. 
  2. A couple weeks later I checked the invoice and shipping date was 12 weeks out.
  3. Called the store, they assured me the shower door would be in, in 3 weeks. Checked with the store the following week and indeed the shower door had been received at the store (within the 3 week promise date).  “Great,” I said, “can you deliver it tomorrow”.  The answer, “No, we’ll be in your area next week”.  I scheduled a for the following week and they did deliver on the schedule day. 

Now, this was relatively painless, from the store standpoint.  They ordered and received the product at the store and get it to me as they said they would. But keep in mind, I was having my bathroom retiled during this time.  The store added an extra week to the delivery by not being able to ship directly to me.  To the store, no big deal, to me, if Amazon can do it, why can’t you?  I will look first to Amazon for household items first and then to other retailers only if I can’t find what I want on Amazon.

Companies like Apple and Amazon have raised the bar on what the customer experience will be from their companies.  It has also raised the bar on what customers will expect from you.

Another Example

My wife got a new Aeron chair.  The chair, purchased through Amazon, was delivered fully assembled, except for some type of cover that lay in the box.  No instructions, no explanation on where the cover goes, what it is for. After about 10 minutes, we figured out it is a cover that goes under the seat to cover the inner workings of the chair, but we couldn’t figure out how attach the cover  to the chair.  We called Herman Miller for help.  The 800 number provided service for new orders, no customer support and being in the evening, the Herman Miller office was closed. And by way, it wouldn’t have matter if it was open.  The 800 number was only for retailers.  What did we do?  We contacted Amazon to swap the chair for anew one.  UPS came by the next day,picked up the old one and a few days later a new chair arrived.  Herman Miller will never know what occurred,but if Amazon hadn’t fixed the problem it’s unlikely, I would purchase from Herman Miller again.

The major components of DesignThinking

Observe

The first major component of Design Thinking is observation.  Henry Ford, the founder of Ford motor company said, ““If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”  I believe what Henry Ford was trying to say is customers don’t necessary know what they want.  The goal of Design Thinking is to help people to articulate the latent needs they may not even know they have.  People are very adept at figuring out ways around an obstacle so its important to observe the actions they are taking and not just ask where a process or product needs to be improved.  The customer may so used to a workaround,that they don’t realize the process needs to be fixed, until someone fixes.

To be effective in observation the team that is observing needs to have a variety of backgrounds, not just engineering, for example, with a tech product. A side note:  studies have been shown that show that women are more collaborative than men, so make sure your team in diverse both in functional knowledge/expertise and gender.  Have each member of the team make their own notes during the observation.  Having one person make notes will result in the team capturing only one point of view.

The key is to observe the customer in action and take notes on how they interact with your product or service. This can be done with existing customers.  The key is to not set up focus groups or in some way have an artificial environment for this observation.  If possible, it is best to observe them without them knowing and by no means assist them to overcome an issue or an obstacle as they are working with product. And as illustrated above this observation needs to go way beyond just the product or service.  It needs to cover

1.   How someone gains knowledge on your company (e.g. website)

2.   How they order the product/service. 

3.   How you communicate with your customer on the progress of the the order (e.g. send an email on expected delivery date).

4.   Set up and use of your product when it first arrives in your customer’s hands.

5.   Support:  the ability for your customer to ask questions (with a real person), do returns if necessary. See Herman Miller example.

6.   Details on how to maintain the project (e.g. Youtube videos).

7.    And so on.

Think of Many Solutions

Once you have observed and have the data of the customer interaction with your product/service, it’s time to think of multiple ways to solve any issues in a simple, intuitive manner.  Look at the issue from different aspects.  Challenge the constraints.  Challenges the assumptions.  Make sure each observer has a chance to explain their ideas on how solve an issue or make the product better.  Encourage the team to build on each other’s ideas.  Have the team put their ideas on a sticky note and put it on the wall. Once the team has explored each idea it is time to vote on the best ideas.  Provide a limited number of votes for each person and they can put their vote sticky next to the ideas they think are best.  It’s okay if people move their votes during this session.  They only get one vote per idea (can’t put all votes on one idea).  Choose the top ideas for the next step.

Prototyping

Once the voting is done, it’s time to see what the idea looks like and this is accomplished through prototyping.   There needs to be a physical representation of the idea so that everyone is able to see what the product looks like, how it works. And prototyping isn’t just for products. A service should be prototyped as well, but let’s start with products.

Prototyping Rule of Thumb

Rule of thumb: prototype needs to be cheap.  Use basic material like paper, cardboard,tape and ordinary items that are laying around (pens, markers, staplers).  Creating a physical representation enables all of he team to understand exactly what the creator was describing.  It also engages the team to provide alternatives,modifications and additions to the product.

Also the prototype needs to be done fast.  Even the most complex prototypes should be created in less than a week.  Any more time allotted for the early prototype creates a desire by the creator(s) to push for their idea.  The longer time that is spent on the prototype, the more ownership; the more attached the creator(s) becomes to the idea.  It is way too early in the process to do this. As time goes on, the prototypes will get more elaborate, provided the product has proven itself during the early prototype stage.

 

Services Prototyping

For services prototype it is necessary to mock up what the new process would look like.  If you’re redesigning the branch banking process, you would map out each step the customer takes as they enter the bank. Desk configuration, teller location, etc., would be designed to reflect the customer mapping.

This is what Apple did with its stores.  There is no waiting in a queue to get your product.  There are no cash registers(each employee has an iPad to take care of a sale).  Going to an Apple store is liking going to a coffee bar.  Some tables to work at and lots of comfortable chairs of a various types. A very welcoming environment.  Any wonder why Apple is the most valuable company in the world?

 

Actions:

1.    Examine the steps your customer goes through to obtain your product

a.    Order process

b.   The shipment of product (how the customer knows product is on the way, how they receive it).

c.    Set up of the product once received.

d.   How returns are handled.

e.    Maintenance of the product.  How is that maintenance provided?  Does the customer go to your place of business, do they ship the product to you? If it is shipped to you, what do they use while the product is being repaired?

f.     Disposal of the product once it has reached the end of its life

2.    Have someone that is has never purchased from you, the “customer”, order the product.  Be there with them as they go through the above steps.  If the order process goes awry,don’t try to fix the process right then, don’t make suggestions, to correct the customer’s “mistake” in how they order, just make notes.  Also, make sure your people are not aware that you are working with this “customer”, the “customer” receives the normal experience.

3.    Document all the actions the “customer” takes to receive the product and set up the product. 

4.    Gather information on how the “customer” uses the product.

5.    Ask the “customer” what steps they would take to return a defective product.

6.    Have them make contact with your company for support.  Document the steps they go through and identify if there are certain points in the step where the customer is frustrated.

7.    Once all this information has been gathered work with you team to identify the most critical areas to tackle first.

8.    Utilize Design Thinking to come up with solutions, prototype them, refine them and improve the product/service.

Leave me a comment on the blog post at alan@babyboomercashnow.com and let me know how you utilize Design Thinking in your business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A leading expert says this Must be done for your Business

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Today I have the privilege of interviewing one of the top experts in branding.  She is a globally recognized leader in branding, ranked #13 in Top Global Gurus in Branding, and the author of two award-winning books: “You Are a Brand!,” winner of the Ben Franklin Award for Best Career Book and a Top 10 Business Book in China, and “Breakthrough Branding,” on branding and for entrepreneurs, which won the Silver Medal 2012 Book of the Year Awards.

She has been featured on CNN, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, Fortune, WSJ and other media.

Her career has taken her from Madison Avenue to Wall Street to the halls of academe to founding SelfBrand, where she has perfected her ability to market products, places and people. 

She led the award-winning “I Love New York” campaign at Wells, Rich, Greene. 

For over ten years, she was SVP, Director of Advertising and Community Affairs at Citi Smith Barney and taught branding at NYU’s Stern School of Business.

Today she heads her own firm, SelfBrand, specializing in personal branding.  Let’s give a warm welcome to Catherine Kaputa.

Alan:  Thanks for talking to us today.

Catherine:  My pleasure, I really enjoy discussing branding because I am convinced it can help career people and entrepreneurs be more successful.

 

Alan: How did you go from corporate life to being an entrepreneur?  What triggered that desire?

Catherine:  I had always thought about starting a business – someday. My career in advertising was going very well and I was the head of branding for financial firm on Wall Street, but Sept. 11, 2001 changed my world. I was in New York the day the planes hit the World Trade Center.  After the attack, the economy cratered and financial firms were especially hard hit, so I lost my job.  Even though my job was going well, the reality was that I was a bit burnt out.  I decided it was a good time to think about doing something entrepreneurial, which I had been putting off for so long.  I wanted to be a solopreneur and not have 70-hour work weeks like I would have running my own advertising agency.  I saw a need for personal branding that wasn’t being addressed. In starting a business, you always want to find a gap, a hole in the market that no one is serving well. My background gave me the experience to be effective in this area.

Right after college, I started out as a curatorial assistant in Asian Art at the Seattle Art Museum.  At that time, Asian art wasn’t popular in the US, so it was a challenge to develop exhibitions that attracted a large audience. Then I moved out East to pursue a Ph.D. in Japanese art history at Harvard and spent two years living in Japan working on my dissertation when I had my first personal branding crisis. I decided to go to New York to find a job in advertising or journalism two other interests of mine. Because of my background, I was branded as an academic in interviews, as someone who was not appropriate even for an entry level job in advertising.  I realized that I had to take control of my brand.  I redid my resume and elevator speech by downplaying my academic work and emphasing the work that was marketing oriented that I had done at the Seattle Art Museum.  In interviews I said that I specialized in marketing difficult products and compared marketing Asian art exhibits in the United States to marketing a difficult product because you had to be more creative and come up with an interesting theme or angle. I said that working on a Ph.D. gave me the ability to synthesize a lot of information and distil it down into what is really important.

My new pitch got me a job at a medium-sized ad agency. After I was there four years, I wanted to work in a big agency, but I didn’t have the TV and big brand experience most big agencies were looking for. One agency, where a friend worked, had the “I Love New York” campaign, and I was very interested in working there. My friend told me not only did I not have the TV experience they were looking for, It was not an easy account since you had to sell in the campaigns to various government people. The last person who had the job left after 6 months he warned me. He got me an interview, and in the interview, I said that my specialty was working on difficult products AND difficult people. I gave examples of how I had succeeded in working with difficult clients and creative people and I got the job. I used a similar pitch when I moved to a corporate advertising job. Over the years, working with difficult people, whether it be creative types, politicians, or investment bankers, gave me the confidence that I could work with anyone and succeed at whatever I tried.

 

Alan:  I saw that you had made the statement, “If you don’t brand yourself, someone else will”?  What did you mean?

Catherine:  Studies show that we take people in quickly and “brand “each other in as little as 2 seconds. The interesting thing is that these in-the-blink-of-an-eye impressions are fairly accurate. We understand our world by categorizing it or branding it. People will brand you, and I can guarantee you that they are not going to brand you in the way you want to be branded. That’s why you want to take charge of branding yourself like I did in the job changes I described above. I was rejected until I started defining my value.

Alan:  You’ve done a lot of branding work with women.  Do you think the approach for women in personal branding is different for different ethnic groups, (my wife is Asian).  Does culture play a role in it?

Catherine:  The process of branding is the same regardless of gender or ethnicity, but how you brand yourself is different for women and ethnic groups.  In general, if women are too tough, they are labeled with the “B” word. If women are too nice, they can be branded as weak. Asian women are in a double bind because culturally, they need to be subtler in how they assert themselves and how they brand themselves than women in Western cultures.  And within Asian countries, it is quite different.  Women will be more assertive in places like Singapore and even China, than women in Japan, for example.  But as a whole, women don’t brand themselves as well as me do. We have some catching up to do. One male U.K. social scientist who did a meta-analysis of 30 global studies of male and female leadership, found that across all cultures men tend to be better at self-promotion and personal branding than women are.  We need to change that.

 

Alan:  Is the branding approach different for older women starting a business versus younger women?

Catherine:  The branding process is the same whether you are young or old, yet age isn’t an asset for women for the most part like it can be for men (the wise, gray-haired sage). That’s why I’m happy to see more women of all ages starting businesses and running for office. Whatever your age, your brand must be built on authenticity.  Build on your strengths and what’s different and special about you.

I’ve met many women who are baby boomers who tell me “I’ve lost my job because of my age.” Or, if they are looking for a new job, “I feel I’m discriminated because of my age.”  I tell them, “Stop being a victim. Go from your strengths. Do not focus on the negatives. When you are comfortable with who you are and the value you bring, you will be successful”

 

Alan:  You emphasize uniqueness.  Why do people start businesses that are “me too”.

Catherine:  It is in their comfort zone. But building a me-too brand is a recipe for failure. You have to build a brand that is focused, different and relevant to the market.

Every person that is serious about branding themselves needs to do the following:

  1. In a few words describe what you do and the value you bring to a business situation. One of the first ones I created was, “I’m a marketer for difficult products.” It was focused (a short sentence), different (I never had heard that pitch before), and relevant (every company has difficult projects).
  2. Look at your competitors and determine how you are different. Have a different twist, a different take on things. Ask yourself, unlike others who do what I do, I….
  3. In terms of branding your business, look for the white space. What is their product not doing? What is something the product needs, something that is missing?
  4. Look for a niche. Being a product or business for everyone is no-where’s ville in branding. Find a niche that you can own.
  5. Make sure your idea is focused. Can you write your business idea in a sentence on the back of a cocktail napkin? If you can’t describe your business difference in a short memorable sentence, you’ve got to go back to the drawing board.
  6. Make sure what you do has value for people. For example, before Google, people had to do their own time-consuming and expensive research.  Google search provides a lot of value to people.

 

Alan:  What is next for you?  Looking to write another book?

Catherine:  I don’t have plans to write another book at this time, but (she laughs), I said that the last 4 books!

 

Alan:  This really good information that can and should be put in practice.  Where is the best place to go deeper into self-branding?

Catherine:  My books can be found at Amazon, under my name Catherine Kaputa and my website is selfbrand.com.

 

Self Confidence – The New Improved You

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We have all experienced a lack of self-confidence at some point in our lives.  It could be in a certain situation (public speaking); it could be taking a job in a new field.  It could be a familiar job but in a different culture (English is not the primary language).  The question is not “will I ever experience a lack of self-confidence”, but rather “how do I gain self-confidence”.  Below we’ll talk through how to gain self-confidence.

 

Look back to what you have achieved in the past.

If you are running your own business, you’re an achievement person.  You could be an extrovert or an introvert, but regardless of your personality type, you are someone that depends on yourself to get things done.  You’ve done this in school; in corporate, and now in your own business.  But if your experience is in the corporate world, running your own business can be down-right frightening.

Lolly Daskal, an adviser to Fortune 500 CEOs, was being interviewed on Andy Molinsky’s Reach Interview Series and she said often the CEOs have admitted to her they have experienced the “Impostor syndrome”. They don’t believe they belong in the CEO position.  So, what do you do, when the fear hits, especially when your work is something brand new?

Examine your history of success.  All of us has tried new things and have had overcome obstacles.  Looking back can help us in a couple of ways.

  1. Allows taking pride in what you have accomplished. Ability to feel good about what you’ve done.  It may be personal achievement like finishing a triathlon or a corporate achievement, such as closing a deal that you didn’t believe you had a chance of winning.  Take a moment and feel the emotion, the rush of adrenaline, as you crossed the finish line or received a check for $1 million in new business.
  2. Understand the achievement wasn’t by luck. It took preparation and hard work.  What was the type of planning and preparation needed?  What actions did you take?  Which actions are applicable to your entrepreneurial business?  You succeeded before, you can do it again. So, have confidence in your ability to succeed in this new endeavor.

 

Start with something easy in the New Area

Don’t punish yourself by tackling the hard part of something new; start with something easy that you can accomplish.  Whenever I’m working with an organization and dramatic change needs to take place, I map out what needs to be accomplished and changes that will need to be made.  I sequence the changes so that ones that can be easily adopted are first on the schedule.  Thereby, early easy wins.  As the small wins are achieved, I schedule a little celebration for the team.  The team’s confidence increases, and they are gung-ho for trying something more difficult.

In the same way, try something simple, feel the good feelings that comes with the accomplishment, celebrate it and leverage those positive emotions to tackle something more difficult.

 

Determine something you want to be an expert in and gain the skill

Anything worth achieving takes hard work.  Be specific on the expertise you need.  I saw a quote that I like; “you can do anything, but you can’t do everything.”  This is especially true in your business.

Unlike the corporate world where you can leverage functional areas such as finance, accounts payable and sales, in a small company or especially if you are a solopreneur, then all tasks are yours to complete.  You can’t be an expert in everything and you don’t need to be.  Put your time and effort into an area where you can really provide value.  Value that is quantitative.  This means value that someone will pay for and pay a lot.  John Maxwell, a leadership expert, says he is good at leadership and developing others.  But he is not good at the mechanics of his business, so he leaves that to others.

Having a talent in an area and focusing on it will create self-confidence the fastest.  Focus on it.

 

Don’t wallow in a defeat.  It will grow stronger and you can’t build on it

It hurts when we make a wrong decision.  It hurts a lot when we lose money.  Spending money on an advertising campaign that doesn’t provide new business is painful.  Making a bad hiring decision is extremely painful.  It hurts when this happens, but we can’t beat ourselves up about it.  If we allow ourselves to wallow in that defeat, two things will happen.

  1. The defeat will grow stronger in our minds the more time we dwell on it. As we rehash it in our minds; as we discuss it with others; we become preoccupied with it, blocking out other areas we need to think about.
  2. The bigger it grows in our minds, the more fearful we become of making another bad choice. And that makes us gun shy in taking future actions.

 

Learn from it and move on.

There is always a lesson that we can learn from in every bad decision.

  • If mistakes were made along the way, what lessons did you learn from those mistakes? What obstacles did you face and how did you overcome them?
  • Did I use the right process to make the decision? Did I gather sufficient information and was it the right information?
  • Was I in the right mindset when I made the decision (e.g. was I stressed or tired)?
  • Was it simply a case of “I needed to make a decision and under the circumstances it was the best decision I could have made”?

 

Understand everyone has confidence in one area and not in Another

I like what Simon Sinek said during an interview with Andy Molinsky where they were discussing how to handle a situation when you don’t know something and you’re a bit embarrassed to admit it. I’ll paraphrase here, “you know I’m really good in this area but not in this area, I need help.”  No one is an expert at everything.  There will be areas we are not confident in.  The confident speaker on the stage has areas they are not confident.  They are just like us.  Take comfort in that realization.

 

Approach a new area as a student

As a student, you are not expected to be an expert (that’s why you’re a student!).  This mindset alone will reduce your stress and enable you to learn rapidly.

Often where we get into trouble is when is act like we know something, and we don’t.  We are concerned, dare I say, fearful, that we will be found out.  The key is to admit this lack of knowledge upfront.   Here are 3 scenarios and the likely response from others when we hide our ignorance.

 

We pretend to know, but really don’t

Most people will have a bad reaction to this. The reaction could take the form of gossip behind our back, “could you believe what she said in the meeting, she really doesn’t know what she is doing!”  And depending on how serious the situation is, aid in our downfall.  This is especially true if in order to disguise our lack of knowledge, we become overconfident and arrogant.  The longer we pretend to know, the harder it will be to admit our lack of expertise.  Our ego won’t let us.

 

We don’t know, and we admit such, but we go far beyond and demean ourselves in front of others

“I don’t know why I took this job, I really don’t know what I’m doing.  I’m really stupid.”  “I’m just no good at xx, I’ll never be able to get it.”  This is just as bad as pretending. If we look down on ourselves, others will to.

 

Admit upfront that we don’t know and ask for help

People have a sense of right and wrong.  They view it as wrong to be arrogant and pretend to know something but will help us when we admit we don’t know.  It is like rooting for the underdog.  In my travels I have found that to be true in other cultures as well as the US.

By being a student, you can ask the “dumb” questions and learn the answers.  By learning, you gain confidence.  As you gain confidence, you apply what you learn, you teach others with you know and by teaching, you deepen your own knowledge.  It is an upward spiral.

 

If you are in a situation where you lack self-confidence, take the following actions.

 

Actions:

  1. Determine how wide the knowledge gap is. Talk to a close friend and get feedback from them.  Just listen to them, don’t try to justify any actions.  Keep your emotions out of the discussion.
  2. If you don’t know, admit it. Determine who you need to tell this to.  If you have faked it for a while, be humble during the discussion and come away with actions on how to gain the expertise.  Be willing to admit you should have been upfront with your lack of knowledge.  Most people are willing to give a second chance.
  3. If someone is providing help, decide on how you will put their advice into action. The fastest way to get more help is demonstrate the willingness to apply what you have already been told.
  4. Celebrate your new self-confidence! You earned it.

 

 

How to Avoid a Business Flop

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My approach with this blog is to help Baby Boomers create ideas and turn those ideas into businesses.  Businesses that enable the owner to create the income live well and generate funds for retirement.

Often, we come with ideas that we believe will be so earth shattering, so impactful, that we know it will be worth billions.  Our heart starts to race, our palms get sweaty when that ‘aha” moment hits us.  We think, “Can I really do this? Can I really make this work?”  We start dreaming about how this idea will change our lives and how wealthy we will become and the impact we can have on the world.

But the first question shouldn’t be, “Can I do it”, but rather “Should I do it?”

This by no means will be an article that tells you to play it safe and not to dream big dreams.  What is will do is show you how to be pragmatic in evaluating your dream product or service.

 

3 main ways for creating a new business or a new product.

  1. Take an existing product and an existing problem and creating a new product.
  2. Take an existing market and an existing product and change the assumptions of the market thereby creating a new product that resolves the problems of the existing market.
  3. Identify a totally new market or new opportunity and provide the product or service for that market.

 

Offer a breakthrough solution for an industry’s existing problem

Let’s take the first area and talk through it via an example.  What was the problem in the small electronics space in the early 2000s?  Until the iPhone, people needed to carry 3 devices to be able to listen to music, talk on the phone and take pictures.  Going on vacation meant taking a MP3 player for listening to music on the plane; a phone to make a call or text that you landed safety; and camera to take pictures of the sites. 3 devices and 3 power cords.  It created a lot of hassle and a strong possibly of losing at least one of them.  The iPhone eliminated that hassle with an easy to use interface for all three.  One device to listen to music, make calls, take pictures with the ability to have new applications loaded on the phone, making the iPhone an indispensable device.  It was a huge breakthrough.

Uber and Lyft are another example.  What was the problem they solved?

  • A taxi may not be available when you need it.
  • Often the taxis were unclean

Uber and Lyft provide transport that was dependable, clean and safe.  They removed the uncertainty in public transport.  One less worry on your business trip.

But taking on an incumbent head on can be costly and time consuming.  While Apple has phone competitors, Uber has had even more difficulties.   The most vocal have been the taxi associations and drivers.  A few years ago, taxi drivers in London and Paris staged a protest by driving very slowly, creating massive traffic snarls.

Political clout by these organizations have gotten state and city governments and even countries to act.

Some city/state governments have banned Uber:

  • Austin, TX
  • Parts of Oregon

Countries that have banned Uber:

  • Bulgaria
  • Denmark
  • Hungary
  • Italy
  • France
  • Netherlands

All of this is to say, if you take on an industry head on, be prepared to spend hundreds of millions of dollars fighting them.  Not a good way to get a business off the ground.  It is far better to utilize the second method.

 

Redefine an industry’s existing problem and solve it

This is a way to reexamine a current market and the reevaluate how products and services could be provided; how pain points could be eliminated.

What if your industry is operating under certain assumptions and those assumptions limit demand for the product?  That is what Groupe SEB, a French multinational discovered.  As described in W.Chan Kim’s book Blue Ocean Shift, Groupe SEB, maker of a French fryer took a fresh look at the assumptions around their product, which was, French fryers use lots of oil.  Oil is messy; it produces a product that is fattening (the fries) and the oil must be disposed of after use.  Groupe SEB redefined the product by eliminating these two main issues.  With the new product it only took one tablespoon of oil to create 2 pounds of fries and those fries had 40% less calories and 80% less fat; yet tasted delicious.  Product sales increased greatly, even attracting buyers who had never bought a French fry maker.

So often the industry assumptions are so engrained that it is difficult for incumbents to look past those assumptions and create a product that solves the problems inherent in the existing product.  This where you, someone that is on the outside, that thinks differently, can provide a solution.

 

Identify and solve a brand-new problem or seize a brand-new opportunity

The third and final way is creating a brand-new market and create a new customer base.  This is very costly because the customers don’t see a need for the product.  Convincing potential customers to the merits of the product and getting them to open their wallets to buy, takes time and there is no guarantee there ever will be a market.   Below we will look at two products.  One that worked and one that didn’t.

 

A product that created a new market:

The airplane identified a new problem; how to have fast, safe transportation.  Before the airplane, people took a ship from one continent to another, knowing the trip would take days and in many cases weeks.  This was the method of transportation for centuries.  But once the airplane came along, transportation thinking changed.  While it took about 20 years for the airline industry to get established (first flight 1903, first airline 1919), once it was up and running, ship travel began to decline and never regained its market share.  Today, you would only take a ship across the ocean for pleasure.

 

And one that didn’t

But not every breakthrough idea, finds a market.  Segway has been around for almost 20 years (burst on the world scene in December 2001), and was heralded as the next big thing in transportation.  The technology worked flawlessly, and the system was reliable. The scooter was able to maintain its balance using gyroscopes, a pretty ingenious idea, that was destined to be in every home within the next decade.  Except that didn’t happen.  Why not?

Unlike the airplane which solved a problem people didn’t know they had (how to travel great distances in a much shorter time), the Segway didn’t solve a problem.  It didn’t replace the bicycle because it couldn’t be used as a commuter device, (Segway is 47 kilograms or 103 pounds), so it was too heavy to lug into the office.  It is a motorized device so in many locations it can’t legally be ridden on the sidewalk and it is not licensed so it can’t be ridden in the street.  It was too slow to replace motorcycles and at a cost of $6000, it was too expensive to be toy for kids.  So, while Segway is still around today, largely used by security and police forces in pedestrian areas, its impact is very minimal on society.  In a sad note that sums up the company’s history, Jim Heselden, who bought the company from inventor Dean Kamen, died when he drove a Segway off a cliff at this home.

So before starting a new business based on a brilliant new concept, take a moment to examine what problem it solves.

 

Actions:

  1. Examine your new idea and determine which of the three categories it falls in.
  2. Think through the benefit(s) it provides and problem(s) it solves.
  3. Get input from others (e.g. your mastermind group) on your idea, the benefits it provides and the problem it solves. If you see the excitement in their eyes, hear it in their voices, then you may be on to something.
  4. Go for it!

Trends you Need to Know

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Baby Boomers have $7 trillion in wealth, 41% of the value of mutual funds.  This incredible wealth will be spent over the next decade and this article identifies who they are and how you can reach them.

You may have heard the term “the Trend is your Friend”.  While this has been used with the stock market (meaning, if the stock market trend is headed up don’t short the stocks).  This term is also useful for your business.  The business trends are where money is being spent and hold the most promise for your prosperous future.  Let’s look at some of the macro economic trends concerning baby boomers.

 

Never Married

According to Mark Penn in Microtrends Squared, 22% of US adults 35-45 have never been married.  This group doesn’t cook much and therefore indulges in a lot of takeout while also spending a large amount on entertainment.

 

Graying Bachelors

A related group are the “Graying Bachelors”, the 50+ year old crowd.  “Items they need are new clothes, a new car, and dating coach.  They also need to clean the apartment or hire cleaning staff.  Seniors are also taking traveling trend to a new level.  Silversea cruises have Gentleman Host programs for the 55-plus crowd for the “love boat” experience,” says Mark Penn.

 

Roomies

According to AARP, older women who may be divorced or widowed are all getting together as roomies for life.  The American Community Survey shows that there are now around 2 million Americans over the age of 50 who are living with roommates.  “A cottage industry has sprung up in the last few years to help this demographic find roommates. Companies such as Roommates4Boomers, Silvernest and Let’s Share Housing pair renters with homeowners. Silvernest, a Denver-based company, says that 33,000 people have used its nationwide service, which charges users $30”, boomer roomies.

 

Internet Married

While many women and men are room mating in a platonic relationship, there are many that dating.  Older, online daters have doubled from 6% in 2013 to 12% in 2015.  The dating in many cases has turned into marriage, which is now a booming, a $70 billion a year business, with many couples on their third marriage (9 million people).  Pottery Barn and Target are the top of online registry services, but there are dozens of successful online registry businesses.

 

Nonagenarians

Nonagenarians are between the age of 90 and 99.  Both my mom and dad (now deceased), fit into this category, having lived until 91 and 94, respectively.

People living to their 90s means they will need services for years after they retire.

 

Wellness

Baby Boomers have taken a large interest in wellness, from many aspects including eating healthy, physical exercise and exercise of their mind.  Yoga has doubled from 2008 to 2016 to 36 million people.  Yoga classes for seniors, healthy home cooked meals delivered to the door are just two the potential businesses for wellness.

 

Drones

I’ve went on a limb and said drones will be used for personal transportation in the next 30 years.  While the reasons for why I make that claim are for another blog, I do want to point out that drones for delivery are right around the corner.

“If you have a disability, a drone could serve as a health care aide – detecting seizures, high blood pressure, or even diabetes in the way that caretakes now handle patients.  We’re not fair away from drone hives in every neighborhood, resting and charging up, ready to be rented on your phone for an errand, such as picking up a prescription at CVS”, say Mark Penn.

These are some of the main areas Mark identified in his book, where baby boomers are spending their dollars.  I will describe another trend that I have personally witness taking place over the last couple of years.

 

Baby Boomers are headed South

As I’ve talked to people in my town of Chicago and former colleagues who reside in the Northeast, I’ve come to a conclusion.  Baby Boomers are escaping the cold climates as they retire.  This migration will make a huge impact on the cities and states they leave.  This is happening for two main reasons, and likely there are more.

  1. The growth of jobs over the last several years has been in the sunbelt. The lower cost of living and lower taxes has encouraged businesses to relocate to the sunbelt and the companies that are already in the Sunbelt have been expanding.  This job growth has encouraged men and women in their 20s and 30s to move to the sunbelt and in time started families.  With their sons and daughters being firmly planted in the Sunbelt, baby boomers, upon retiring, have moved to the Sunbelt to enjoy the sunshine and their grandkids.  Their money has moved with them.  This means an increased need in products and services.
  2. The rustbelt and the east coast for the most part have high taxes compared to the sunbelt. Baby Boomers, with a focus on having enough for retirement and at the same time, being able to spend on themselves and their grandkids have looked at the high taxes and have said, “I don’t have kids in school, so why am I paying high property taxes.  What am I getting for a high sales tax?  When I go to visit my son in xyz state, I pay ½ the sales tax I pay now.  My kids have move to the sunbelt and I don’t have anything to keep me in this city.  If I cut my taxes in half, I have that much more to spend on myself.”

This conversation is going through the minds of thousands upon thousands of Baby Boomers.

The cities and states that have high debt will be in real trouble.  The people that have money are moving out of their cities and states.  Illinois had the largest outflow of residents in 2017 of any state and it isn’t a one-time occurrence.  “It’s not just a one-year blip,” says William Frey of the Brooking Institute.  “the declines continue to get bigger from one year to the next.”  Illinois loses population

This migration drives the need for higher taxes on the remainder of people.  This in turn drives even more people to leave.  It is a downward spiral and there will be cities and states that won’t recover.

So, if you start a physical business, make sure you are doing so in a low-cost growing city.  And if it is ecommerce, make sure your cost of living is low.

See below the actions to take for creating a business that caters to the baby boomers.

 

Actions

  1. Examine each of the areas and determine what type of products or services could be provided to a group.
  2. Determine what skills you have that can provide that product or service.
  3. Figure which group is your best target market and what you can provide.
  4. Go for it.

 

 

A (Subconscious) Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste

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Your Subconscious is like a Garden

We’ve all seen gardens that are well-kept, overflowing with vegetables, a rainbow of fresh, healthy goodness.  And we’ve seen the gardens that are overcome with weeds that are as tall as trees, with nary a vegetable in site.

Our subconscious mind is like a garden.  It is soil in which we plant seeds.  These seeds (thoughts) grow into ideas and bear fruit as actions.  Ralph Waldo Emerson said:

Sow a thought and you reap an action;

Sow an act and you reap a habit;

Sow a habit and you reap a character;

Sow a character and you reap a destiny.

 

Something is going to grow in the garden of our mind and what grows depends on the seeds we plant.  The seeds can be conscious positive thoughts that we purposely plant or it can be random thoughts from outside stimuli.

We give little thought to our subconscious, however it is the most powerful weapon in our arsenal to achieve our goals.  Our mind is like an iceberg with the subconscious being the 90% of iceberg that is under water.    It is what is unseen that is most important.

“The vast majority of the world focuses on the exterior.  Enlighten men are interested in the world within.  It is the world within, thoughts, feeling and imagery the make the world without (the outside world),” says Joseph Murray.

 

How our Subconscious Works

Our subconscious mind is a dutiful servant looking for ways to help us; to please us.  Our subconscious protects us from harm (warning us thorough fearful thoughts) so that we don’t get our feelings hurt through rejection, or to stay away from danger.

How did our subconscious know to send us a fearful thought just at the right time when we were thinking of some action?  It was because we have sowed seeds of fear.  Keep in mind 80% of our thoughts are negative, so 80% of the time we send messages of fear, doubt, anger, jealousy, uncertainty.  We are sending tens of thousands of negative messages a day.  Our faithful companion, our subconscious has millions of negative experiences to call up and send to our conscious mind when it feels we need to be warned (fear).  It is just doing its job.

You are what you think all day long.  Whatever your conscious mind believes your subconscious takes as gospel. Your subconscious doesn’t try to reason or filter what the conscious mind tells it. Our subconscious is like a 2-year-old child.  It doesn’t understand nuances.

 

We Feed our Subconscious mind over 10 million thoughts a year

According to Psychology Today we have between 25,000 and 50,000 thoughts a day, 70% of them negative.  In 2005, the National Science Foundation published an article regarding research about human thoughts per day. The equates to between 9 million and 18 million thoughts a year.   Of those, 80%  are negative, 80 percent of thoughts negative and 95% are repetitive.  This means we are repeating and repeating the same negative thought, creating a deeper and deeper ditch.  The more we repeat these thoughts, the more ingrained they become in our subconscious.

Research has shown that “Deep down, it turns out that people are much more self-critical, pessimistic, and fearful than they let out in their conscious thoughts,”  Negative Mental Chatter, says Raj Raghunathan, Ph. D., Associate Professor at the University of Texas.

Unless we take conscious action, this negative attitude permeates our lives.  And it goes beyond just us.   James Allen – writer of the classic self-help book As a Man Thinketh – says, “men do not attract what they want, but what they are.”  We attract those that are like us.  If we are negative, we attract negative people and likewise, if we are positive, we attract positive people.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

How to Use your Subconscious Effectively

Make a decision:

Choose to be happy each and every day no matter what. Lincoln said, “I have noticed that most people in this world are about as happy as they have made up their minds to be.”  Focus on having a positive attitude.  “Think good and good will follow.  Think evil and evil happens”, says Joseph Murray.

Only feed good thoughts to your subconscious:

  • Speak kindly to yourself. Don’t tell yourself “why can’t I do anything right”.  Speak positively to yourself.
  • Never finish a negative statement. Always reverse it and turn it into something positive.
  • Never tell yourself you can’t do something.
  • Never tell yourself you can’t afford it. If you do, your subconscious will provide rationalization to why can’t afford it.  A better way to think of rationalization is “rational lies”.  Lies we tell ourselves as to why we can’t have something.
  • Determine what you want to put in your subconscious. Determine the vision of your life.  What kind of person do you want to be?  What type of life do you want live?  Be specific.  Feed your subconscious this vision.

Make your subconscious an ally

Our subconscious only want good things for us.  It wants to protect us and keep us comfortable.  Which means it will bring to mind fearful thoughts we attempt something that will make us uncomfortable.  It wants to protect us from rejection or anything that will make us uncomfortable.

Ever set a goal to lose weight, eating right during the day, only to find yourself unconsciously snacking at night?  Why does that happen?  What causes it?

Your subconscious!

We are fighting against ourselves and are trying to achieve weight lose through will power and conscious thought to not eat fating food.  We are doomed to failure without the help of our subconscious mind.

It’s important to program our subconscious with an image of us being slim and active, enjoying eating healthy food.  Create the strong desire to be healthy and strong, enjoying every moment of our lives.

 

Have confidence our subconscious knows the answer

Our subconscious sends a constant stream of information based on the input we feed it. Our subconscious will work hard for us so put it to work productivity by giving it orders.  Tell it what you want from it.

Believe that it will find an answer to a problem and it will.  Believe that it won’t find an answer; it won’t.  Our subconscious can be a very faithful servant, coming up with good solutions every time or it can be a horrible master, bringing up fears and focusing on negative thoughts, thousands of time a day.

 

Repetition is the key

With our natural inclination to have negative thoughts 80% of the time, it is important to consistently put empowering, uplifting thoughts in our minds.

Repetition faith and expectancy is the way to get good seed of a powerful vision firmly planted in our subconscious.  This is where I have often fallen down.   I started off spending time in the morning on a positive vision of what I want in life and the associated affirmations but didn’t stick with it.  Why?

I wasn’t making that vision compelling enough in my life.  I realized I need to change my mindset from one of a desire to start of my day with a focus on positive thought to one of “I must incorporate the right attitude and a powerful mindset in my life no matter what”.  I must set aside time.  Nothing is more important. I must invest the time daily for visualization and programming my subconscious with the right thoughts.  As Dr. Murray said, “Change your thought and change your destiny”.

As you get into the habit of daily programming your subconscious continually checking in with yourself and directing your thoughts toward the positive, it will eventually become second nature.

 

How to Start Your Day

  • Tell yourself as you are falling to sleep that you will have a good night’s sleep; will wake up fresh and ready to go.
  • As soon as you wake up, get out of bed; no snooze button.
  • Start with being grateful for what you have and what you will have.
  • Picture your long-term goals (e.g. receiving a check for $50,000 from a speech or seeing your book at the top of the New York Times Best-Seller list). Relax and breathe deep as you picture this.  Picture how the upcoming day will be. How you manage yourself throughout the day from a positive, assertive state.
  • Invest 10 minutes in something inspirational whether it is a book, audiobook or video.
  • Spend a few minutes journaling ideas or thoughts.
  • Head out to have a fantastic day.

 

 

 

What is the Secret to Successful Negotiation?

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All of us have negotiated at one time or another in our lives, whether to buy a car, a house, or negotiate the salary and perks for a new job.  Many of us hate negotiation.  Why?  We view it as a conflict where one party wins and other loses.  Because we hate negotiation we may rush to reach an agreement that is not very beneficial just to reach an agreement.  We need to look upon negotiation as both sides wanting to reach an agreement that is good for both and not a Win/Lose.

Before getting into the strategy and tactics of negotiation we need to determine if negotiating is even worth the time and effort.

When we go to mail, we don’t negotiate.  We either the pay the price or go elsewhere.  The closest we come to negotiation is checking Amazon’s price and asking the store to match the price.

We need to figure in the time and effort to research price, compare and negotiate with the chosen seller and the time and effort may not be worth it.  Always remember, your time in valuable and there is a cost to investing in negotiation.

But once decide to negotiate, how do we know if we negotiated a good deal?

 

Know the Must Haves

Know what you need to achieve from the deal.  What are the must haves for there to be an agreement reached?  Too many times during deal discussion, our emotions get involved and we either rush to reach an agreement to get it over with; walk away because of frustration or the discussions have transformed into arguments (divorce) that we must “win” at all costs.  None of these situations are ideal and often the agreement reached is a poor one.

 

Determine your Like to Haves

There may be items that are nice to have, but not crucial (e.g. certain color of a car).  Determine your like to haves in the deal.  In complex negotiations there could be variety of items that would be on you’re like to have list.  These must be listed out and a priority given to them.  The lower the priority of an item, the less important it is to you.  The like to have can be a bargaining chip for the next section.

 

Determine what you are Willing to Give Up

Next, figure out what you are willing to give up.  What are the negotiable items?  In other words, determine what items you can give on that the other party may really want.  For example, if you are selling a house and the buyer is relocating from a different city, a move in date may be very important to them, but not as important to you.  The buyer may want a close date of 3 weeks, which may be doable for you, but still would require you to find another place to live very quickly.  Don’t readily agree to that date. Assign a dollar value to each day and use the move-in date as a negotiation term.  The shorter the close date, the higher the price of the house. You may assign a dollar amount to move in date.  A 45-day close date has a house price of $500.000.  Each day earlier for close is $1000.  If the buyer wants to close in 21-days, the house price if $544,000.

In any agreement, it is important to create value for each party, says Margaret Neale in Getting More of What you Want, “Good agreements are ones that make you better off”.  It means creating value for both sides and capturing as much of that value as possible.    If a company negotiates a very low price from a supplier, the supplier may be making minimal money on the contract and place a lower priority on prompt delivery of their product.

 

An absolute must in Negotiations

Discipline yourself in negotiations and keep emotions to a minimum.  If you decide the deal is not a good one, then walk away.  Do not go back to the negotiating table.  Don’t let your emotions get in the way of making a good financial decision.

 

Preparation

Below are the preparation steps for successful negotiation.

  1. Knowing the must haves of the deal. Items that must be met.  Determine what needs to be achieved in the negotiations?
  2. What are the issues you will be discussing? What outcome do you want from each issue?  Rank their priority in importance. If possible, assign a value to each issue.  Above we assigned a value to each day of the house close.
  3. Knowing what are your “like to have” and prioritizing them.
  4. Understanding what you are willing to give up. There may be items or conditions of little importance to you, but of big importance to the other side.   In discussion, feel out the other side to determine what is important to them.  Giving up something small to you could provide leverage on the items that are important to you.
  5. Know your reserve price. Know what is your bottom line dollar amount.  But at the same time, assign dollars amounts to other important items.
  6. What are your counterpart’s goals in the negotiation? What are their issues?  What is their priority on each issue?  While it is not easy to tell their priorities, it may be possible through discussion to get a good idea.  Just be careful not to reveal tool much on your priorities.
  7. After developing a good draft of the plan, examine it for any holes; areas that don’t have a strategy.

 

Never Give Up your Reserve Price

There are times in negotiation that one party is just tired of the negotiation and wants to reach an agreement.  The temptation by that party (Party 1) will be to offer their reserve price as a final offer.  It doesn’t work.  The reason is the other party won’t believe it is the reserve price (final offer).  They wouldn’t give up their Reserve price so they don’t believe Party 1 has given up theirs.  So, they will ask for a lower price or more concessions from Party 1.  Party 1 refuses and walks away.

 

Let’s hear Insights from a Negotiating Professional

I thought it would be good to hear from a professional who negotiations million-dollar contracts on a regular basis.  Below are insights from Wendy Wilson, who has had successful career in negotiation, through her work for Fortune 500 companies.

Alan:  What do you think is the most important task or item when starting a negotiation?

Wendy:  It is very important to have a game plan or strategy?  What does that mean?  Need to know the terms.  Need to have the must haves, like to have and what are you willing to give up.

 

Alan:  Is your approach different with a new vendor versus one that you have been working with for a few years?

Wendy:  Yes.  The basic approach is the same, but with the new vendor you need to get to know them and understand their operation and how they work.  That is important so you know what they can and can’t do.  An example would be, rebates.  Company policy may be to pay in credits and not cash.

 

Alan:  What is the biggest lesson that you have learned from negotiation?

Wendy:  Keep asking until you get a no, so you don’t leave anything on the table.  With that being said, I don’t grind down a vendor for every last dime.  I want them to deliver a quality product.  But I find that by asking until they say no, means there is room for a lower price or provide better terms.

 

Alan:  Is your approach different with large vendors versus small vendors?

Wendy:  If the vendor is larger than your company, they are usually less flexible.  Smaller companies are more flexible and are more eager to work with you on putting together a good deal.

 

Alan:  What would you say has been your biggest achievement in a negation?

Wendy:  With one of my companies I was able negotiate $1 million in saving on a Learning Management System (LMS) by going with a new vendor, but it had similar features to the old system.

 

Alan:  What is the biggest lesson that you have learned in negotiation?

Wendy:  Sometimes negotiation is like a poker game and you must be prepared if you bluff and the vendor calls your bluff.   For example, I was negotiating with a bank and our S&P rating had been downgraded (during the Great Recession) and I threatened to take the business out for bid instead of renewing the existing contract.  I was trying to get a reduction in credit card fees, but I didn’t have a good bargaining position.  The vendor called my bluff and said, “take it out to bid”.  I had to settle for less than I wanted with that vendor.

 

Alan:  Thanks for the insights.

 

 

Curiosity May have Killed the Cat, but it can make YOU Millions

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Curiosity is not something we hear a lot about.  There are thousands of books and articles on creativity and innovation.  But curiosity; no.  The only time you hear about curiosity is in relation to children.

What is curiosity?

Curiosity is creating a mindset of childlike wonder, or as leadership author John Maxwell likes to say, “beginner’s mindset” when referring to curiosity.

Children

Children have a natural curiosity.  Watch any two-year-old and they will explore every single item in the room.  They will push and pull items all day long.  They want to see how something reacts when they poke it, push it, sit on it, feel it, taste it, put in their ear, put it in their nose.  Their fasciation is endless.

Unfortunately, we got told no some many times by our parents, that the curiosity for world is stifled.  When we are adults we ignore the majority of input the comes through seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting.

 

Entrepreneur’s Need Curiosity

That is most unfortunate, because as entrepreneur’s we need to have that fascination, that curiosity, to thrive in today’s business world.

“If you are an entrepreneur there’s one characteristic, one trait that separates successful entrepreneurs from all the rest.  It’s not resilience, it’s not smarts and it’s not perseverance . . . its curiosity, says author and executive coach, Jeff Boss.

 

Benefits of Curiosity

Being curious and acquiring new knowledge, new ways of doing things provides multiple benefits.

 

Curiosity can Motivate

We all have problems to resolve and issues to deal with.  Utilizing curiosity allows us to step away from our problem and simply learn something new that may or may not be applicable to the problem at hand, but will be invaluable later.

Curiosity is what makes business and life fun.  “It’s inquisitiveness which made people do great things and we have people like the Wright brothers, [and their curiosity, so that today] “we have aircrafts” says Sanchita Dash, Entrepreneur Magazine.  Our subconscious will absorb this new material and sometime later connect A to C to J and suddenly provide an answer from something learned 6 months ago and 18 months ago and 5 years ago.  Any given day, you could receive information from someone that becomes a million-dollar idea 5 years later. That’s exciting!   That’s motivating!

 

Curiosity give you the skills to try things in a new way

Ever had a moment when taking a shower that a unique idea comes to you?  An idea strikes you to take a different approach.  Being curious about unrelated areas provides a breath of knowledge that can be utilized.

 

Adds to Self-Confidence

It provides the acquiree (you), self-confidence.  Self-Confidence that you will be able to find the answer to any problem.  This self-confidence occurs on different fronts.

First, by consistently acquiring new knowledge, there is a vast storeroom of information and ideas in your head that can be accessed at any time.  Even more importantly, this information can be recorded in an accessible area, in your journal or in some electronic format.

Two, by acquiring new information on a consistent basis, you have confidence that if you don’t know something today, you’ll know it tomorrow or the next day.  Someday soon you will acquire it.

 

Disparate Information may be just what you Need

Brian Glazer says, “The results have always been surprising, and the connections I’ve made from the curiosity conversations have cascaded . . . in the most unexpected ways.  My conversation with the astronaut Jim Lowell certainly started me on the path to telling the story of Apollo 13.”  But it wasn’t until he talked with Veronica de Negri, a Chilean activist, that was tortured for months by her on country, did the Apollo 13 story really come together says Brian, (as told in A Curious Mind). 

 

 Curiosity Approach

So how do we develop curiosity and keep being curious?  Below is an approach for being curious.

 

Check your Ego at the Door

Why is it that young children are very curiosity, but adults are not?  In one word, it is ego.  We fear embarrassment over asking a “stupid” question or not knowing something. That fear can even manifest itself into a fear of rejection by the other person.  So, we don’t ask.

To be curious, we need to check our ego at the door.  Neither you nor I know everything.  It is okay to ask questions in a subject we know nothing about otherwise, how do we learn about it?

 

Get Input from New Sources

Get input from new sources.  Interact with people that are in radically different fields from your own.  Ask them what they do.

Albert Einstein said, “The important thing is not to stop questioning”

As you talk to others and come across interesting ideas or content, record it.  But take this a step further.  Don’t wait for chance encounters for new and unusual conversations.  Be proactive.  Decide to seek out new ideas, new information.

John says in, 15 Invaluable Law of Growth, “learn something new every day.  First, wake up with an attitude of openness to something new.  You must see the day as having multiple opportunities to learn.  Second, keep your eyes and ears open through the day.  Third, reflection.”

 

Capture this New Information

Decide how you will store this information so it can be retrieved later. It can be captured in Excel or Word or any number of electronic tools.  And if electronic methods are not your thing; a journal works just fine.  The key is to record it in such a way that you can readily retrieve it later.  John Maxwell keeps a filing system of topics for his books and talks that has over 1600 categories.

 

Be Consistent in Curiosity

If you are trying to find an answer to an immediate problem and present methods or solutions aren’t providing the needed answers, we will scoff at the idea of spending time on something that has no relevance to our current problem.    It is important to have to mindset, that acquiring this new information, is for information sake.  The information may never be used, or if may never be used by itself, but it is still important to gather and retain it.

Brian Glazer, producer of movies such as Splash, Apollo 13, American Gangster, Friday Night Lights and A Beautiful Mind, makes it a point to talk to someone interesting at least once every 2 weeks and often does it more frequently.  He actively seeks out curiosity conversations.

 

Be Patient

Be patient in the acquisition of knowledge.  The more information that is gathered, the more substance the mind has to work with to come up with new ideas and new solutions.  It will be frustrating and many will give up.  You never know when you will learn something valuable.

 

Learn Something New

Use down time to learn something new.  Instead of watching mindless TV, use that time to watch videos on YouTube, learning something new.  Instead of eating lunch at your desk, meet someone for lunch that has nothing to do with your business.

As you meet with someone, take notes on what they say.  While it may be difficult to do while eating, at the very least take the time to record your thoughts and the information right after the meal.  But if you tell your lunch mate that you plan to make a few notes during lunch, they will relish the idea.  You are recording what they have to say and everyone loves to be listened to.  By recording their thoughts, you have taken listening up a notch.  While a one-time meeting (and I encourage you to have more than one), these discussions can turn into life-long friendships.  What can be more exciting than talking with a dynamic, motivated, successful person?  I can’t think of anything else I would rather do.

 

Review this Information on a Periodic Basis

It’s important to keep this information fresh in your mind.  Review it on a regular basis.  This helps on a couple of fronts,

  1. By re-reading information, new insights will come to you. You will read something you wrote 11 months ago and new ideas will pop in your head from it.  It will seem like you are reading it for the first time.
  2. By re-reading the information your subconscious will work on it at night while you sleep. This is where A to D to J is connected and you wake up with a Eureka.

So how do you get started?

 

Actions:

  1. Start with who you know; friends, relatives, colleagues. Tell them you’re curious about their work, what they do.  You’re not looking for anything other than a good conversation.
  2. Ask for about 20 minutes and prepare some questions before hand. The questions could be: 1) describe what you do.  2) Why did you choose this work 3) What is a challenge you faced and how did you resolve it?  What was your first professional success?
  3. Use these questions as a guideline, but go with the flow of the conversation for follow-up questions.
  4. Be a bit formal, dress nice, this is a serious conversation, you really want to know what they do. Don’t talk about yourself and let them control the conversation.  And remember it is a conversation, not an interrogation.
  5. Keep to the time, but if they want to extend it for a period, let them.
  6. Thank them at the end and point out something they said that you found interesting.
  7. Ask yourself, “what did I learn? at the end of the conversation. Record your thoughts.
  8. Send a quick email afterwards, thanking they for their time.
  9. Once you have talked to those you know, go further afield. Let your curiosity lead you.  If you are interested in geology, search your Linked In.  If there is no first line connection, search 2nd and 3rd connections and ask for an introduction.  Make sure you tell all involved, you are not looking for a job or business connection.

 

I’d love to hear about who you’ve interviewed in this manner and what you found most interesting about the conversation.  You can leave a comment on the blog or send me a personal note at alan@babyboomercashnow.com

 

 

How to Make Good Decisions

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In the corporate world, decisions are often made collectively, unless you are the CEO.  And even then, CEO decisions are reviewed by the board.

Not so for the entrepreneur.  In most cases, they are alone in decision-making authority and responsibility.  For entrepreneurs, especially those in small businesses, it all rests on their shoulders.

With so much as stake, any entrepreneur wants to make good sound decisions.  And while there is no guarantee every decision will be the right one, there is a decision-making process that can enhance the chance of success.

 

So, what makes up a good decision?

There are 3 crucial components for a good decision: 1) Determining why the decision is being made 2) Defining the expected results 3) and “do I have what it takes to implement this decision and make it a success?”

Let’s examine each part.

 

Why am I doing this?

What is my motivation for making this decision?   With all that needs to be done, why will I make the sacrifice of time to implement this decision?  What makes this decision important?  How does this decision tie in to other things I’m trying to accomplish?  Does this decision move me toward my goals?

 

What is my Expected Result?

What do I expect to achieve?  Am I looking to increase sales 10%?  Am I looking to cut costs 10%? What is the quantifiable goal I want to achieve?  What metric(s) will I use to measure the outcome; to ensure the goal is met?   What are my success factors?

 

Will I be successful at this?

Do I have the necessary skills to implement this decision?  Let’s say the decision is to expand into a new area of business.  Do I have the experience and expertise in the new area?  Do I need upgrade my skills?  Do I need to partner with someone that has that experience?  Are the known obstacles in the way of expanding into this new line of business?  Are there known risks?  Can I migrate those risks?

 

Two Types of Decisions

There is an old story that applies here.  Five frogs were on a log and the first one jumped off.  The other 4 frogs decided to jump in the water as well.  How many frogs were left on the log?

Four frogs.

Why?

Because the first frog acted by jumping in the water and the other 4 frogs decided but didn’t act on it.  There was no action.

Everything we do or don’t do is a decision.  Inaction is a decision also.  If we decide to expand our business, but delay starting the expansion, the inaction is a decision.  If we put off making a decision, it is still a decision.

“If you are a consistent moneymaker, you will be a good decision-maker.  Sometimes the window of opportunity is open only briefly.  Waiting isn’t a decision, although many people think it is”, T. Boone Pickens, Texas oilman and investor.

 

Be Action Oriented

Nothing is accomplished until action is taken.  “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work, says Stephen King in On Writing.  Stephen goes on to say, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others:  read a lot and write a lot.  There’s not other way around these two things that I’m aware of; no shortcut.”

It is so easy to decide, then procrastinate on taking action. We think we have decided, but through inaction we haven’t made the commitment to follow through on the decision.

 

Determine the most important Action for that Decision

I had decided to start my blog; obtained my web hosting service; obtained my domain names, but it was 3 months before I published a blog.  Why?  Fear.  Yes, I took actions toward the goal, but what was the biggest, most important action I could take?  To write and publish the blog.

List out the tasks to implement the decision, but it is vital to schedule the date and time when the most important action(s) will be taken.

 

Actions:

  1. For any decision and especially major ones, determine the reason for the decision; the WHY.
  2. Write out the expected result for the goal (e.g. increase in of 10% in sales within 3 months, or $10,000 in revenue from the new line of business in 3 months)
  3. Identify the metric(s) for this goal, to ensure you are on track to achieve it.
  4. Examine the goal and the current ability to meet that goal (i.e. gap analysis).
  5. If there is a gap between the goal and the ability to meet it; determine and take actions to close the gap. This must be completed first.  If you lack skills to achieve that goal, it must be addressed before attempting the goal.
  6. Once the gap is closed, take action on the goal.
  7. Regularly review the metric(s) to make sure you are on track to reach the goal.
  8. Change tactics if the tactics are not working (e.g. sales aren’t improving).
  9. Celebrate the goal achievement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is THE indicator that shows your business is headed in the right direction?

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How to you know your business is headed in the right direction?  If sales increased by 10% last month then it is likely the right action is being taken.  Conversely, sales dropping 10% this month means something is wrong.  But is there a way to determine what is causing the increase/decreasing in sales before it happens?  The answer is yes.

There are two types of measurements that should be used with your business and frankly, can used with any goal.  They are called Lag and Lead Indicators.  Lag indicators are those that provide the result (e.g. 10% increase in sales.   Lead indicators tell, by definition, that the company is on the right track to increase sales 10%.  Lead indicators can be and should be added to any goal. Let’s dig deeper into Lead Indicators.

The following information is provided by the terrific book by Chris McCeshney, The Four Disciplines of Execution.

 

Two Types of Lead Indicators

There are two types of Lead Indicators.  Small Outcomes are ones that focus on team performance but allow the individuals the latitude to resolve or achieve it in any way they choose.  An example would be a store that limits it out of stock to popular items to no more than twenty a week.  The number of out of stock items is tracked on a weekly basis.

Leveraged behavior are the lead measures that tracked specific behavior.  An example for a store would be “verifying out-of-stock items twice a day”.  Both are viable lead measures to track.

Let’s go through a personal example. If the goal is to drop 10 pounds this month, the loss of 10 pounds is the lag indicator.  A person can’t snap their fingers and lose 10 pounds overnight.  To achieve the 10-pound loss lead indicators are needed to determine the actions that will lead to the achievement of the goal; the 10-pound loss.  Tracking the lead indicators will tell you if you are on the right track to achieve your goal.  Lead indicators for the weight loss goal could be:

  • Recording what you eat every day (meals and snacks)
  • Drinking 4 glasses of water every day.
  • Working out for 30 minutes 3 times a week.

Lead Indicator Example

Let’s look at the lead indicator of recording what we eat.

By the way, Apps like FitnessPal, enable you to determine calorie intake for a certain height and weight and track that intake.

So, if the recommended calorie intake is 2000 calories, eating less that will mean weight loss.   Your lead indicator could be “tracking what I eat every day of the week”.  At the end of the week, count the number of days your tracked your food.  If you recorded all 7 days, you met the Lead Indicator.  Do this over a period of weeks, tracking how many times you succeeded in a given week of recording all 7 days of food intake.  The more weeks you did all 7 days, the more weight you will loss.

 

How do you know which Lead Indicator(s) to set and how many?

There is no definitive number of lead indicators.  The key is to set enough lead indicators that by tracking them you will achieve your goal while at the same time, don’t set so many that it is so onerous to track the lead indicators that you stop tracking.  It is far better to track one lead indicator consistently than have 5 that you track on occasion.

Let’s back to the example of the goal to loss 10 pounds

First, determine the goal, such as lose 10 this month.  Next determine what are the lead indicators will best provide the desired result.  For weight loss, they could be:

  • Recording what you eat every day (meals and snacks)
  • Drinking 4 glasses of water every day.
  • Working out for 30 minutes 3 times a week.

Determine which Lead Indicator will have the greatest impact on the goal.  While they are all good Lead Indicators, research has shown the first one has the biggest impact on weight loss.  The key to remember  is don’t not make keeping track of indicators a chore.  Keep it enjoyable.

 

What Lead Indicators should I set for my Business?

Different types of business will need different types of lead indicators.  The good news is business normally has two types of desired results, increase revenue or cost reduction.

Let’s take the example of increasing sales by 10%.

First map out the process for making a sale.  We’ll use the example of an insurance salesperson.

  1. Determine the average number of insurance sales in a month.
  2. Determine the number of sales appointments it took to achieve a sale.
  3. Divide the number of sales into the appointments. If there were 5 sales and 25 sales appointments were conducted, then the ratio is a sale for every 5 appointments.
  4. Determine the number of calls it took to get an appointment. Let’s say it was 3.  Then it took 75 calls to make the 5 sales, or 75 divided by 5 is 15 calls to get an appointment.
  5. Determine the Lead Indicator(s) to use. In this case the number of sales call will be used.
  6. The 75 sales calls for an appointment would be broken down into a daily goal. To achieve 75 sales calls in month is 75/20 or is 3.75 sales calls a day.
  7. Set a Lead Indicator of 4 sales calls a day.
  8. Track every day if you achieved 4 sales calls that day.
  9. Track each week if achieved 4 sales calls all 7 days.

 

Actions:

  1. Choose a goal.
  2. Map out the actions that influence the achievement of that goal.
  3. Determine the lead indicator(s) (e.g. writing down what you eat)
  4. Determine measurement for the lead indicator (e.g. how many days this week did I record what I ate).
  5. Review each week how many times you recorded your food intake.
  6. See impact of lead indicator on your results. Adjust accordingly.

 

Do You Make this Mistake in Your Business?

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Have a strategic plan for your Business?  Check.  Have adequate financing in place?  Check?  Put together a top-notch management team?  Check.

Have regular contact with your customers  . . . Huh?

Customers are the life blood of our businesses.  You know it and I know it.  Without customers we don’t have a business.  This is nothing new.   However, do you know what customers think of your business?  Of course, they it like it well enough that they bought from you.  But was it a one-time purchase or do they buy from you on a regular basis?  If they bought from you one time and that was it, it may because of the customer’s perception of your company?

“Customer’s perception is your reality”, says Kate Zabriske, author of Customer Service Excellence, How to Deliver Value to Today’s Busy Customer.  A customer may be buying based on price, when you believe they are buying based on the value of your service.  However the customer perceives your business is the reality for that customer.  The customer is right and will make decisions on whether to buy from you based on that perception.  If the customers’ perception is greatly different from yours, you are in trouble.

 

Differences in Perception

I recently had a painter paint our powder room, a small bathroom.  He had been painting for years for a company and he had decided to go out on his own.  I had known him for several years and I wanted to try him out.  He gave me a very reasonable price.  The price was lower than I expected.  He spent 10 hours painting; completing the small bathroom.  I was out of town at the time of the painting and when I saw the finished product, I was very disappointed.  The paint lines between wall and the doorframe were not straight. The painting between the doorframe and the walls would need to be redone.  In addition, the paint on each wall as it met the ceiling was not a straight line, but was wavy.  That too would need to be redone.  The painter emphasized he had spent all day painting, but to me, I just wanted to see straight lines on the wall and not wall paint on the doorframe and door trim paint on the wall.

He felt that working all day for the agreed to price was sufficient.  However, I would have no problem paying considerably more money for a job well done.  If the painter had done a very good job, I would have hired him to paint the whole inside of the house.  He missed out on several thousands of dollars of business.   In addition, 2 friends needed painting done and asked if I recommended the painter.  No I didn’t.  So instead, I found a different painter.

 

Your Customer is a Human with Feelings, Just like You

“It starts with respect.  If you respect your customer as a human being and truly honor this right to be treated fairly and honestly, everything else is much easier”, Doug Smith, author and team-building expert.

How many times do we wait in line at the checkout, impatient that the person at the head of the line needs a price check on a product?  Or maybe the price that was rung up is different than expected and the person is contemplating whether or not to buy the product.  We look at our watch, as we impatiently tap our foot, while we wait.  I’ve been guilty of doing this.  But if we take a moment to step back, look at them through new eyes and even step into their shoes, our attitude can change.  Maybe the person recently lost their job and is trying to determine if they afford the difference in price.

Just like the person in line, our customers are living, breathing individuals that have unique wants and needs.  We need to determine what they really want.

 

Determine How You Can Serve your Customers

“Until you understand your customers—deeply and genuinely—you cannot truly serve them” Rasheed Ogunlaru, life coach, speaker and author.

For many of us, our only interaction with customers when there is a problem.  Unfortunately for us business owners, only a small percentage of customers complain.  The vast majority, when they are dissatisfied, simply go away.  We are not aware they leave.  And if the issue is systematic, meaning it is a problem for other customers, you will only know there is an issue when your sales drop.  And of course, you only know the result (i.e. the drop in sales) and not what caused the drop.

 

So How do you know what your Customer Really wants?

You ask them.

  1. If you gather emails, send then a note and ask them is you can give them a call and discuss how they like the product/service. Assure them that the conversation is strictly fact finding and not a sales call.  Today, most communication is through email and text and the phone is used so infrequently for communication that by calling customer it adds a personal aspect to the exchange.
  2. Make the call yourself. It doesn’t matter if you are $600k business or a $60 million business, the call needs to come from you.  The bigger the company, the more important it is that you make the call.  A customer will be surprised and impressed when the owner calls.
  3. Listen to the customer, really listen. They may complement your product or service or they may not say much at all.  Quietness is a sign there is an issue, and the customer doesn’t want to bring it up.  Ask them, “I notice some hesitancy, some quietness on your part.  Is anything wrong with the product?  Does it do what you expected?”  And then wait for the answer.  Ask follow-up questions to their answer.  Do not under any circumstances try to justify an inadequate product or poor service.  Just listen and take notes.  Always remember, the customer is taking the time to help you improve your business.  They are taking time out of their busy schedule to talk to you.  This time is gold for your business.
  4. Determine how you are going to resolve the issue they brought up. Tell them what you plan to do for them and by when.
  5. Make sure you meet your commitment. Your word needs to be your bond.  If you don’t, you have lost this customer forever and this customer will tell their friends about their experience.  If you don’t follow through, it would have been better if you had never called the customer in the first place.

 

Regularly Engage your Customers

For this type of customer interaction to be effective, it needs to a part of your standard practices.  Set a goal to reach out to ten customers every month and document their responses.  Use a software tool to capture the comments, categorize them and schedule follow-up actions.  Reaching out to existing customers should a part of your customer service plan.  But most of us don’t do that.  Why?

 

Why We Don’t Engage out Customers

  1. Fear – we are afraid they will complain about our product or service. We don’t want to hear it.  Hearing the complaint is like getting rejected.   This is why many entrepreneurs starting out would rather try to attract customers through advertising instead of reaching out to those they know for their initial sales.
  2. The customer may ask for changes to the product or service that we don’t want to do. We may feel obligated to make the change.
  3. The customer may ask for something free.
  4. Other work has a higher priority.

We need to understand that interaction with our customers is more important than virtually anything we do.

 

Question:

What do you do to interact with your customers on a regular basis?

 

Licensing – How to Make Money from Your Ideas

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This week’s blog will be a lot shorter than normal since my father’s funeral was this week.

 

What is licensing?  It is giving someone the ability and right to produce (manufacturer) your idea.  It is getting paid on your ideas, without the hassle and experience of having to create the product yourself.

There are reasons you should pursue licensing versus producing your own product, so let’s talk about the Cons of manufacturing your own product.

 

Cons:

Let’s say you come up with a unique product idea that is a sure winner.  If you are developing it yourself, controlling the entire process, you will need to:

  1. Develop a defined prototype so that you can test it out to make sure it works. The prototype could cost thousands or even tens of thousands to create.  It is also likely the prototype will need at least a few iterations before it is final, costing thousands of additional dollars.
  2. Of course, if you have a unique product idea, you need to protect it through a patent(s). This could cost you thousands in attorney fees.
  3. The work above costs you lots of money but just as important is that it costs you time while you manufacture and protect the idea.
  4. The time it takes to get your idea to market is a key considering because the market window for your product is fleeting. The market is fickle.  What is cool and exciting one day could be old hat tomorrow.  By the time you create a prototype and go through the iterations on the product; secure a patent; the market has moved on.  You’re left with no market and a lot of debt.  Not a good situation.
  5. What if you create the product and there was no market to begin with? You could have spent tens of thousands of dollars.

“Most people have it backwards”, says Stephen Key, an entrepreneur who has successful licensed many products.  He goes on to say, “They develop a product to solve a problem that bothers them personally without first confirming that it bothers the market universally.”

Now, let’s discuss the pros of licensing.

 

Pros:

  1. You can get the product to market much faster by licensing your idea to a manufacturer. Years ago, companies developed everything in house, but that is no longer the case.  Many manufacturing companies have set up departments to evaluate and bring to market new product that originate from the outside.
  2. The manufacturer, who focuses on a particular market, will have a good idea if your product will sell. They will evaluate your idea with the end market in mind.  While there is no guarantee the manufacturer decides to manufacture it, it is a guarantee that if they move forward, it has a good possibility of selling.  Otherwise the manufacturer won’t waste their time.

 

So How to I go about Licensing?

Find a promising idea.  Ok, sound good, but how do you find the idea?

  1. Find a market where you have interest and a bit of expertise. For example, you may really like to cook and are pretty good at it.  You’ve used various cooking utensils over the years and have found some that are good products, but you are frustrated using it because it doesn’t provide a needed function.  You’re a bit frustrated with the utensil and “if the utensil did XXXX”, if would be a much better product.  Many new products are a twist on an existing product.  Creating a product with this feature could be your idea to license.
  2. Ok, so you think the product with this new feature would be a sure seller. Would someone else buy the product?  Do they find the lack of your unique feature would be a reason to buy your product?  If so, ask them what they would pay.
  3. Figure out what it would cost to produce the product. Manufacture cost is important to the manufacturer.  If you don’t have details on the cost to manufacture the product, the manufacturer will not be interested in the product.  It could be a great product and the market would love it, but if the manufacture cost is too high for the manufacturer to make a responsible profit, they will pass on the product.  You must do your homework; the manufacture is not going to do it for you.   Find experts in the targeted industry and talked to them about the product, to develop a good estimate on the manufacture cost.
  4. Of course, before you spread the word of your idea, protect it with a provisional patent. You can do that for a few thousand dollars.  Consult an attorney about how you can go about obtaining a provisional patent and what type of documentation is needed.  A provisional patent will protect your idea for a period of time and can be obtained much faster and for much less expense than a full patent.  One of my full patents took 2 1/2 years to be granted, the other took 4 years.  But don’t get the provisional patent until you are ready to talk to licensees.

Licensing can be an effective way to generate income from your ideas while minimizing the cost of developing your idea.

 

Call to Action:

  1. I challenge you to spend 30 minutes a day for a week, coming up with ideas for new products.
  2. Leave me a comment about the blog and let me know if you’d like to hear more on licensing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leaving a Legacy

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My dad died this week.  His death reminded me how precious life is.  It seems like yesterday that I was growing up in his home.

I visited him last week, traveling from Chicago to St. Louis.  He was sitting in his wheelchair.  He was in poor health and I knew that in a short while he would be gone.

You may have noticed that I haven’t blogged for a couple of weeks.  I’ve been spending time with my family this last couple of weeks and it has given me time to reflect on my life.

While in St. Louis, I drove by my undergraduate university, someplace I haven’t been to since I graduated 34 years ago, just to see if the place had changed. I drove to the university taking the same route that I drove every day from my parent’s house.  I took note of the many things that remained and those that hadn’t.  Much had changed over the years and not all for the good.  Areas of town were shabbier, more derelict, than I remember.

The drive reminded me how much had changed in the city and how my life had changed in the many years since that day of graduation in 1984.

With my father close to death, I was reminded how short life really is.  I thought his impact on my life and on that of my siblings.  I thought about his legacy which in turn made me think about mine.     What do I what to do with my remaining years on earth?  One day I will be leaving this earth, just like my dad.  How was I going to be remembered?

But a better question is. How do I want to be remembered?

 

You will Leave a Legacy No Matter What

Many people equate “Leaving a Legacy” as some prominent person leaving a large donation to a hospital or similarly creating a foundation, that will live long after they are gone. I take a different view.  I believe every person leaves a legacy.  A legacy is how we will be remembered; or not remembered (e.g. forgotten).  All of us have an impact on other people’s lives, whether that impact is good or bad.  The alcoholic father, who comes home drunk and beats his children, will be remember long after he is gone.  The children will bear the scars of his actions all their lives and in some cases will pass on the same behavior to the next generation.

You will leave behind a legacy by anything you do or don’t do.  Inaction is a legacy as well.  The missed baseball games of your son because you are working too much; the missed piano recital because you are on the road all the time, bears out in your legacy.

But there is hope.  You are still alive, and you can have a positive impact no matter what happened in the past.

 

How Do you Want to be Remembered?  Part 1

Picture yourself in your rocking chair, in your late 80s, early 90s.  Your grandchildren and great-grand children are all around you playing, laughing.  Your children are there, talking with you, remembering the good times you had together; all the wonderful memories.  This could be how your life will be at that age.

Or, based on the lack of relationship with your children, your days in a rocking chair could be filled with loneliness and not laughter.  As a baby boomer, born in 1964 or earlier, you are at least 53 years of age.  Your children are likely in college or may even be married and have kids of their own.  How often do they call you?  How often do you call them?  How involved are you in their lives today?

If the answer is not very often, then pick up the phone.  While it may be very difficult to overcome being an absentee father or mother, it is not too late.

 

How Do you Want to be Remembered?  Part 2

What do you want to do before you die?  What do you want to experience?  Who do you want to experience this with?

What do you want to do before you die is a question every person should ask themselves, but especially baby boomers.  Us baby boomers are running out to time.  There are fewer and fewer tomorrows.  Much of our life is behind us instead of in front of us.  Each day is more important that the one before.

John Maxwell, business thought leaders says, “Almost everyone wants to live a life of meaning and significance whether or not they express the desire.”

 

Make Intentional Decisions

Many of us are guilty of letting life go by.  I’ve have been guilty of that in many times in my life and I no longer want to do that.  I’ve started a list of what I want to do in the remaining time I have on this planet.  It’s not a bucket list per se.  While there are sites around the world I do want to see, it is much more about the impact I want to have on others.  I want to give back and help others.  That’s why I started this blog.  I want to help other entrepreneurs in their journey.  And while be successful in business is a good thing there are many things that are much more important.

  1. Decide today how you want to be remembered. How do you want to be remembered by your children?  How do you want to be remembered by your brothers and sisters (and parents)?
  2. What impact do you want to have on society? How do you want to give back?  Can you help the poor with your time?  Can you volunteer at a hospital?
  3. It doesn’t have to be grandiose gesture, it can be something small. Just make a conscious decision about how you can give back.  Then; Just Do It.

 

Leave a comment.  I’d like to hear your plans on how you plan to give back.

 

By the way, my dad fought in the Pacific in World War II, hence the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima picture.

 

It’s Not about having all the Answers, It’s about asking the Right Questions

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Successful people ask better questions and as a result, they get better answers – Anthony Robbins

 

When we are running our own business, we make dozens of decisions every day to resolve issues and often we think these decisions need to be made quickly.  While that approach may work for some problems, most others will take dedicated time.  Oftentimes, we are too busy and too tired to dedicate time to thinking through a difficult problem or focusing on how to take our business in a new direction.

However, spending a bit of time to think through a complex issue, like starting a new line for our business, can provide a huge payback.  Our minds are wonderful creations that are very good at answering questions for us especially complex issues.  Legend has it that we only use 10% of our brain power.  That may or may not be true, but we will assume it is so use this blog post to push it to 11%! 😊.

When we are trying to solve a problem, we don’t ask thought-provoking questions to stimulate our creative self.  Most times, we don’t ask the right questions.  And if we are tired, we may even ask the wrong questions on a problem such as,” why does this happen to me?”  That is not the type of questions you want to ask yourself.

 

So, what is an effective way to use questions to stimulate your thinking to help you come up with solutions for your business?

First, having the right attitude is important.  When you ask the question, be open to the answers; don’t quickly form an opinion on the idea, telling yourself “that won’t work”.  Even if the answers you come up with don’t provide the answer.  Don’t get frustrated and give up this process.  Just tell yourself “There IS a way” to solve this.

The Magic of Thinking Big   Don’t disregard the answer out of hand because it may seem too difficult; too many obstacles. Just write down the answer.

So how do you know the right questions to ask?  The questioning process begins with defining the problem or challenge you are trying to solve.

 

Define Your Problem

A ‘Problem” is anything you are trying to solve. It can be a issue you are trying to resolve, a challenge to create additional revenue, or a goal you want to achieve, and everything in between.

To define your Problem, set aside time for asking questions and working on the answers. The first step is to define the challenge or issue.  It is your defining question, also known as your Problem Statement.  What are you trying to solve?  Defining the right problem is the most important step in asking the right questions.

I have a friend (let’s call her Lisa) that after many years of working in corporate was let go.  She looked for another job for a year to no avail.  She decided to buy an existing retail business that sells fishing equipment.  The owner of the fishing retail store wanted to retire and none of his children wanted to run the business, he decided to sell.

Lisa made a thorough examination of the financials to make sure the fishing business is a viable business; that it was making money.  It was, so it seemed like a sound investment.  However, the store is in a different state.  In addition, Lisa also had no experience in retail and no expertise in fishing.  Zilch.  Nada.

Most people would say, “Don’t go into a business you don’t know.”  And I agree with that.  I think that makes good sense.

But what does the above illustration have to do with asking the right questions?  While going over the books and asking financial questions was important for Lisa to do, there were even more important questions that Lisa should have asked before examining the books.

  • Why do I want to be in this business? What is it about the fishing business that really excites me?  Am I willing to dig in deep and learn everything I can about the retail fishing business? Put in long hours in the process?  Or do I just want a replacement income for my salaried job and this store meets the financial need?
  • Why do people come to this store? Is it because of the wide selection?  Or is it location?  Or is it the expert advice that is provided?  If it is expert advice, is it provided by the owner (remember, he is retiring), or is it by the staff? Do I believe they will keep coming when it changes ownership?
  • Why do I believe I can run the store as effectively as the present owner? What experience do I have that says I can?  What experience do I have in retail?

There are many, many more questions to be asked, and the ones above just scratched the surface.  But the answers to these questions will tell Lisa if she should go forward or not with this business.  Once those questions had been asked and if there are good, solid answers in the positive, then the financials can be examined.

So, what was the problem that was trying to be solved by Lisa?  She is looking for a supplementary income that will eventually replace her current full time annual salary. There are many ways for her to replace that income without buying a business she knows nothing about.

You may have noticed the main questions above began with “Why”.  The why questions are paramount to getting to the core answers.  So, in creating your questions, keep asking “why” until you get to the root issue.

 

Good Questions for Expanding your Business

Below are a few thought provoking questions that can get you started.

  1. What am I good at? What can I do that my customers’ really like and want more of?  What are they willing to pay for that I’m not providing yet?
  2. What is my greatest weaknesses? What am I not doing or doing poorly that, if it were addressed, my business would take off?
  3. What is working in the business and why?
  4. What is not working and why? Associated question:  Why am I losing customers?

 

Answers aren’t delivered on Demand

Often, we ask questions like the ones above and expect (dare I say, demand of ourselves) an answer, immediately.   But as you know, it doesn’t work that way.  It takes time for your mind (and especially your subconscious) to work on a problem and come back with good solutions.  This process can’t be rushed.  Your mind needs to relax and let the problem percolate.

Donny Deutsch, from The Big Idea says, “The big ideas have always been out there, but it takes a moment of clarity to actually realize the hidden potential.  The moment of clarity is the launchpad for your idea, and it usually comes in the most mundane setting.”

 

Einstein, when he was trying to solve a particularly difficult mathematical problem, would put aside the math work and play his violin.  Low and behold, often after a couple of hours of playing, the solution would come to him.

Below is the approach I recommend for coming up with good solutions.

 

The Approach

If you have a particularly difficult problem to solve, set aside 20-30 minutes each day, at a time when you can be free of distractions.

 

  1. Set aside a quiet time in morning before everyone gets up, to work on the problem. For night owls, it will be time when everyone has gone to bed.
  2. Define your problem. Make sure you have identified the root challenge.  Create your problem statement. It may take a few days to really dig down and uncover the true problem to be solved.  Often, we will mistake a symptom for the cause, so be patient with the process.
  3. Once you have clearly defined the problem you want to solve, write out the problem statement
  4. Determine questions for your problem statement. Let’s say you want to earn $10,000 from your part-time business this year.  Your problem statement could me “Earn $10,000 in my part-time business by Dec. 31.  You’ve defined what needs to be done.  The questions you will be asking are your “What” and “How” questions”.
  5. Example questions are:
    1. What are the ways I can generate the $10,000 dollars by Dec. 31?
    2. Can the $10,000 be done through adding value through my current product or services? What is the additional value that I can add so that I can increase the price of my existing products?  Why do I believe they would pay the additional money?
    3. Can I add a line extension to the existing product or service to create the $10,000? What form would the product or service take?
    4. Instead of the line extension is there a new area of business I want to go into? What is this area of new business and what is my expertise in it?  Why do I think it I can create the $10,000 through this method?
    5. Is there someone I can partner with in a new segment of business? What value can I add to that partnership that would entice them to partner with me?
  6. Write out the applicable questions.
  7. The questions may take a few days and the answers may take even longer. Don’t worry about answering all the questions in one sitting.  In fact, don’t expect it! Just take 30 minutes to go through the questions and write down possible answers.
  8. Take your list of questions and determine which 3 are the most thought provoking; the questions that your mind really needs to ponder.
  9. Then go about your day. When you are doing something else, totally unrelated, the answer could come to you.  If a solution comes to you (and it will), then write it down.
  10. There could be other solutions that are even better so give our subconscious mind a chance to work on it overnight. Read over your problem statement and the 3 most pertinent questions before you go to bed and tell your mind to work on the answers.
  11. Keep something close by your bed to record any insights you get in the middle of the night.
  12. Spend the 30 minutes the next morning/evening (and several mornings/evenings if need be) working on the problem, expanding on any ideas that came to you during a moment of insight (Eureka!). If no insight came to you during the previous day or overnight, just go through the questions, create new questions and write down viable solutions. Add these solutions to your list to review at night so your subconscious can work on it.
  13. While you want your mind to relax so it can create promising ideas, you do want to set a timeframe by when you want a workable solution, (e.g. 10 days). This will create the impetus to find an answer.

 

Don’t do it by Yourself

What if you had spent several days working on the problem and came up with a few ideas, but no real solutions.  Do you just give up?  No, ask “Has anyone else studied or accomplished this or something like it.”  The Internet can be a wealth of information – Researching the topic can help you to find the answers or what others had accomplished. Another way to find the needed expertise is to reach out to a group of entrepreneurs (an Inner Circle or Mastermind Group) who can help.  They can help because:

  1. Your inner circle has had different life experience, different education and different expertise. They will come up with ideas and solutions you had not thought of.
  2. Your inner circle can provide valuable feedback on the solutions you have already formulated. They can point out pros and cons to the solution(s) and potentially how to implement one of the ideas.
  3. While they may not have the expertise to implement the solution, they may know of people who do.
  4. They can be a prod when we need a push to implement a bold idea and a governor when we are simply being too ambitious or failing to see a pitfall due to a blind spot.

Using these steps will definitely go a long way in helping you resolve your “Problems”.

Drop me a line at Alan@babyboomercashnow.com and let me know your method of resolving problems and creating new lines of business.  I’d love to know what works for you.

Alan

Multiple Streams of Income – Interview with Entrepreneur Lou Costabile

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Many individuals believe that starting a business is a risky venture.  If that business fails they have lost their monthly income and potentially their life savings.

 

Even ones that succeed can have an issue of getting the 80% to 90% of their revenue from just one customer.  If that customer goes to a competitor, the company would be in financial dire straits. That why companies diversify away for dependent on one customer for a large percentage of their income.  Most people would agree getting 100% of a company’s revenue from one customer is just plain foolish.  However, many of us are dependent on one source of revenue for 100% of our revenue, because that source of revenue is our employer.  Whether you are in business for yourself full-time or work for an employer, having multiple streams of income is a good strategy for your financial health.

 

Today we are going to talk to a Martial Arts 7th Degree Black Belt and a 20-year entrepreneur veteran with multiple successful businesses, Lou, Costabile.  Let’s find out from Lou how we can create multiple streams of income for ourselves.

 

 

Alan:  Hi Lou, it’s good to see you again.  Lou and I have known each other for several years having met at the Waident Group’s monthly mastermind group.

Many individuals believe that starting a business is a risky venture. If that business fails they have lost their monthly income and potentially their life savings.

Even ones that succeed can have an issue of getting the 80% to 90% of their revenue from just one customer. If that customer goes to a competitor, the company would be in financial dire straits. That why companies diversify away for dependent on one customer for a large percentage of their income. Most people would agree getting 100% of a company’s revenue from one customer is just plain foolish. However, many of us are dependent on one source of revenue for 100% of our revenue, because that source of revenue is our employer. Whether you are in business for yourself full-time or work for an employer, having multiple streams of income is a good strategy for your financial health.

Today we are going to talk to a Martial Arts 7th Degree Black Belt and a 20-year entrepreneur veteran with multiple successful businesses, Lou, Costabile. Let’s find out from Lou how we can create multiple streams of income for ourselves.

Interview Questions:

Alan: Hi Lou, it’s good to see you again. Lou and I have known each other for several years having met at the Waident Group’s monthly mastermind group.

Lou: Great to see you again and it is nice to finally have spring in Chicago.

Alan: Lou, you have multiple businesses. What was your first business and why did you start it?

Lou: I’ve have been a Martial Artist since 17 years old and I’m currently a 7th Degree Black Belt. My instructor moved to the West Coast in 1996 and was offered an opportunity to purchase the company in 1999. So, I purchased the company and we trained at several Park Districts and at Motorola. So, in 1999 I set up a website and learned the business operations of it. The money wasn’t a lot, but it gave a taste of what it would be like to own my own business and I loved it.

Alan: How did your second business come about?

I was working full-time in sales for a IT staffing firm in 2001 and the business was doing well. I didn’t start out in sales but I found it came naturally to me as I moved into that role at the company. I was bringing 85% of their sales. My boss, the owner of the company shared he was planning to buy a new “million-dollar house”. I was excited for him, and asked “Do you think I’ll have a house like this one day?” He said, “No.” Not maybe, just no. That was the beginning to the end of our relationship.

In 2001 in a mid-year staff meeting my Boss said, “Although Lou & our Recruiter Brian have grown the business 20% this year, we are going in a new direction. I just stopped talking to him after that, and seventeen days before I was to get married, I was let go. I was stunned. I had poured my life into that business and felt this was not a fair reward. I ended up sending out 99 resumes, and was rejected 99 times.

I thought why not try my own business with a trusted Partner friend of mine in IT, and that is how ARS Technology Inc. (ARS) started in May 2002.

ARS is an IT consulting firm, focusing on businesses with our sweet spot being 20 to 100 employees. Firms with more than 100 employee’s firms usually hire their own IT staff. Companies with 20 to 50 employees need IT help one or two days a week, so our consultants work with multiple companies.

Alan: How many businesses do you have now?

Lou: I Own and Co-Own 4 businesses. In addition to the two above, I have a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Mastermind Group and a YouTube channel, “My Car Story with Lou Costabile”. The CFO master mind idea in 2013 came from my wife at a lunch where she suggested I Lead / Facilitate a “Master Mind” Group. Most of my clients are CFO’s, so I called one of them and asked what they thought of the idea and would they host? She thought it is a good idea, and said yes.

The group is a way for CFOs to share and solve challenges and discuss new ideas with other top CFOs, and a chance to meet with others in their field in an intimate networking group of 15 of fewer people in the room.

The You Tube channel is the most fun business. I just love cars and this is an opportunity for me to share those unique cars with other car enthusiasts. I have over 1100 different car videos and the Subscriber base has grown over 100% in the last year. There are now over 33,000 subscribers on the Channel. In the long-term, I believe this business will be my largest revenue producer.

Alan: With so many businesses I’m sure you have multiple items that must be done, all competing for your time. How do you prioritize the different tasks?

Lou: The tasks are largely driven by the calendar. I like to keep in shape so the martial arts classes I Instruct are basically paid fitness class for me and forces me to stay in shape. If I do have a schedule conflict I can ask another Instructor to teach the class. For example, if I’d like to go to a car show, another instructor can instruct. The CFO master mind takes a full day and the first week of the month to get the message out to the CFO’s. The rest of the month is dedicated to ARS. The weekends and evening I go to the car shows.

I did want to bring up a reason why you should have multiple streams of income and that is that you never known when technology or the economy or something will affect your business. For example, with ARS, a client can grow and require a full time IT hire, or a project can complete and there is no more projects, or one of my Consultants can take another position and your revenue decreases. That is why I diversify.

The YouTube channel does not pay money until you reach 1000 Subscribers, but is growing and when I reach 100,000 Subscribers there will be sponsors interested in partnering too. I’ve started research and conversations with sponsors that would be interested in the Channel / show and am determine to take the business to the next level.

Alan: Is there anything you would have done differently if you were starting out in business now?

Lou: I would have started my YouTube Channel earlier. There would be more subscribers today if I had done that. Something to understand about every business is that there is a learning process. First, you don’t even know what you don’t know. Then you realize you know you don’t know. Then you become competent, and lastly / maybe you get to mastery level. As an example, I had done 250 videos before a Viewer said, “Hey, I wish you would have started this cars so I could have heard it.” What a great idea, and I never thought to do that!!!

Alan: What are the key insights you have learned from being an entrepreneur over the last 20 years?

Lou: Two things. Number one. Do what your “God Given Talent” is. If you do what you’re talented at doing, the work should come easier to you.

How to you find out if it’s your God Given Talent? You might have done well in a topic in school, or you can ask your mother, friends, and people who know you well you trust. I was great in speech class, and bad in science class. I had the ability to communicate verbally, so areas such as sales or instruction a martial arts class or being a facilitator of a Master Mind Group, and YouTube speaking was a good fit for me

Number two. You have to be determined (this can take about 2 years of dedication to start with). Once determined, you’ll get a bit of success. This happened to me in sales and the YouTube Channel slowly but surely started to get Subscribers. As the business grows you will gain confidence and you will grow as a person.

Here is the greatest challenges. You try something you’re not talented at you work very hard to make it work. So you get exhausted. And / or you give up because you don’t see immediate results, or worst yet, never try at all because of fear of being a failure.

Alan: Last question, and it will be the hardest. You have shot over 1100 videos. What is your favorite car of all time?

Lou: Actually, that’s easy. It is the 1966 Batmobile. It was that car that started my love affair with cars. When I was 4 ½ years old and watched Batman and he got in that car; that was it. That car was the coolest thing I ever saw. My love for cars continues today because of that car.

 

 

 

 

 

Interview with Business Start-up Expert – Jeffrey Wayman Williams

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Jeff is a trainer and coach who focuses on guiding baby boomers to launch new businesses. His writing has been published in Forbes and Next Avenue (PBS), and is frequently quoted in Fortune, Inc.com, CNN Money, and many other outlets. Over his twenty-five years as a business startup coach, thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs have sought his guidance in creating businesses to fit their lifestyle.

 

 

Alan:  Thanks for taking the time to talk with us Jeff.

Jeff:  My pleasure.

 

Alan:  How did you get started in your own business?

Jeff:  I started in 1988 at age 40 by opening a marketing consultancy, Creative Market Solutions.  This was spawned from my MBA in marketing at Northwestern University and 18 years as corporate sales and marketing executive.

 

Alan:  Why do you focus on baby boomers?

Jeff:  First off, I have known from a long time (since early 90’s) that we boomers were not going to look at retirement like our parents, (i.e. just completely stop working in their early sixties and live a life of leisure). We like to be in the center of the action. Because of my belief in this social trend, I expected my boomer peers to be interested in looking at ways to work outside of a corporate job. Starting in 2001, the stream of inquiries on how to start a business really started to grow…the oldest boomers were turning age 55.

 

Alan:  Knowing what you know now, would you do anything different if you were starting over?

Jeff:  Yes, I would find marketing partners much more quickly to build my stream of prospects more quickly than I did.  Also, I wouldn’t have let myself believe that I could do everything in the business all by myself.  It’s a lot more fun when you work with a talented support team:

Alan:  What is the biggest challenge today for baby boomer entrepreneurs starting out?

Jeff; New entrepreneurs need to understand that nothing gets done in their business, unless they push it forward.  Entrepreneurs that worked in corporate are used to having functional support for area such as accounts receivable, account payable, accounting, sales and finance.  These groups would take care of various parts of the business, often beyond the scenes.  For a former corporate employee to go out on their own, it is necessary to change the mindset so that unless they take action, nothing gets done. For example, the entrepreneur must make sure the invoicing for the month has been completed.  While they can hire someone to do the actual work, they still need to make sure it done.  If they don’t, it will impact their cash flow.

 

Alan:  What are the top 3 challenges for baby boomer entrepreneurs?

 Jeff: Number 1:  focusing on a single business idea that is both fun to do and can produce an attractive stream of income (good starting point – figure out how to make $2000 per month).  There must be a business case for the idea.

Number 2:  Finding appropriate coaching and support to teach them new skills that enable them to focus primarily on marketing, sales and delivery.  Too many times new entrepreneurs are caught up in the minutiae of business operations and don’t spend enough time in sales and marketing, which is the lifeblood of any business.

Number 3:  Technology can be overwhelming.  Look for affordable tech help to automate as much of the business as possible.

Alan:  What is the best way for a baby boomer to minimize risk in their business?

Jeff:  Define in writing exactly what they will sell, to whom and why their product/service is superior.  Add to this a realistic projection of the money that can be made from the product/service.  Try out the idea with a sale or two or project or two to see if the business is viable.

 

Alan:  Are there advantages for baby boomers starting a business after the age of 50?

Jeff:  Absolutely!  Baby boomers are very well networked, which is a big advantage over someone that is younger.  In addition, being seasoned in business we have seen ups and downs in the economy and in business in general.  We don’t panic when an unexpected problem happens.  We’ve experienced unexpected challenges and have solved them.  That confidence in our problem-solving ability is a huge plus for the new boomer entrepreneur.  This problem-solving ability extends to being able to research areas that are new to us and learning new skills.  Learning new skills is simply a problem need to be solved.  We figure out how to acquire the new sills.

 

Alan:  Are there disadvantages?

Jeff:  Yes.  We have less stamina when we are older.  We also are less willing to put in long weeks of work (corporate burn-out factor).  Often baby boomers are caring for an elderly parent and family medical needs can create a challenge in finding the time to run a business.

 

Alan:  What advice would you give to a baby boomer starting a business?

Jeff:  Be very confident that there are consumers or businesses who want to buy the problem solutions you can offer.  You do this by getting initial sales and feedback on the product/service to verify you are meeting the need of the market.  Also, make sure the product/service is packaged and promoted properly.  The risk of running a business today is much less than you may think – almost all our startup clients at bizstarters invest less than $25,000 for the first year and most run their businesses for a cost of under $500 per month.

 

Alan:  What resources (books, podcasts) would you recommend to a baby boomer starting a business?

Jeff:  Regularly read three websites:  Entrepreneur.com, INC.com and USA Today Small Business section. View our Business Startup for Boomers podcast series on You Tube.

 

Alan:  Jeff, this information will be a major help to our readers.  What is the best way for our readers to reach out to you?

Jeff:  Visit bizstarters and click on the orange button in the top right to request a free coaching call. I don’t give you a sales pitch, rather we talk about where you are now and how you’d like to do entrepreneurial work.

 

Alan:  Jeff, thanks so much for your time today.

Have a Business Idea but Afraid to Start the Business?

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I have lived a long life and had many troubles, most of which never happened.

– Mark Twain

 

Uncertainty

Taking the first step toward a new business can be a daunting and scary task.  “Many people will cling to an unsatisfactory way of life rather than change in order to get something better, for fear of getting something worse” – says author, Eric Hoffer.

Why would we cling to something that is unsatisfactory?  It’s because we fear uncertainty.  We fear the unknown.  We are afraid the new environment will be worse that what we have today.  So, we are forever trapped in this fear and the more we think about it, the bigger the fear grows.

The stock market plunges when investors are fearful of actions that may be taken by the federal government.  Recently the market dropped because of fear of a trade war with China.  Even when the economy was not doing well (during years 2009 – 2016, the economy averaged 2% growth), the S&P 500 grew from the low of 700 in March of 2009 to almost 2258 by the end of 2016, a gain of more than 300%, stock market trend

Why?  Because even though the growth of the economy was slow, it was predictable.

How does fear come into play with the desire to start a new business?

Overwhelm

The feeling of being overwhelmed is a typical reaction when we contemplate a new business.  There are so many tasks that needed to be completed in creating a new business, so our minds fly from one task to another.  Additionally, because there are so many decisions that needed to be made, the fear of making the wrong choice makes our minds shutdown to avoid the pain of making a mistake.  It is possible to minimize the feeling of being overwhelmed but understand the fear will not go away.

 

Understand that fear will not go away

Courage is not eliminating fear, but rather acting despite of fear.  Think about the fears you’ve experienced.  Chances are high that most of them, if not all, were trying to stop you from doing something that could expose you to failure or humiliation.  Fear has your best interests at heart.  So how do you act in the face of fear?

 

Believe that you can be successful

First, believe that you can be successful.  How is this accomplished?  Think about successes you have had in the past.  Was there a problem at work that you resolved?  Didn’t you have to define the problem, come up with the steps to resolve it and ultimately do so?  You probably found that you needed to do this on a regular basis, no matter what job or industry you were in.  In fact, you got pretty good at it, and were promoted as a result.  In business, we are hired to solve problems.  It is no different in your own business.  Define the problem, come up with viable solutions, evaluate them, decide on an action and take the action.

Sound simple?  Yes, but life is not that simple.  If it was, we would all take the actions necessary rather than be paralyzed with fear.  We need to take it a step further.

 

How legitimate is the fear?

When fear arises, stop and think it through. What type of fear is it?  Is it loss of money or just the potential for embarrassment?  How real is the threat?  What is the likelihood it will happen?

First, determine if the fear is realistic.  For example, if I am opening a retail store, I need to lease a space, which means a long term financial commitment. I also need to buy inventory, advertise, etc.  It is a huge financial commitment and I potentially could lose my entire investment.  To add to it, what if I didn’t have any retail experience? Should I fear the monetary loss?  Absolutely. However, taking the steps to make sure a great deal of due diligence are done before I take the step of starting this type of business, would go a long way to curb that fear.  You’ve done your due diligence and you know the risks; so moving forward in your business is now based on a known calculated risk, and should give you some comfort level. Remember, fear does not totally goes away.

But what if I was asked to speak to the local rotary club on entrepreneurship?  Would I be scared?  Yes, I would be.  My heart pounds every time I must speak to a group of people.

Adam Grant, one of top management thinkers of our time said, “Several years ago, I was invited to give my first public speech and I made a mistake of saying yes.  I was terrified.  As a student, my heart used to race at the mere thought of raising my hand in class.”   Recently I had the opportunity listen to Adam speak live in front of 9700 people and that same speech was simulcasted to over 100,000 people!  Where would Adam be today if he never took the step to speak up in class?

I encourage you to not allow fear to stifle and box you in.

 

A Word of Caution

Sometimes people think that to overcome fear they must take dramatic action to overcome their fear.  They believe that if they just think positive enough and take bold actions that everything will work out.  Think back to the illustration of starting a retail business.  Starting a business that takes a large financial commitment

Do not take grandiose actions in attempt to overcome fear.  I repeat.  Do not take grandiose actions in attempt to overcome fear.  That is a recipe for failure.  Be pragmatic.

Take Small Steps

Don’t set aside an entire weekend to work on your business plan.  Don’t tell yourself you will spend the entire weekend working on it and you won’t stop until you complete it.  If this is the approach you take, the weekend will come, and you will procrastinate starting the business plan and you won’t do it that weekend.  You’ll promise yourself to work on the business plan the next weekend and procrastination will happen again.

Take small steps.  The actual action toward your business doesn’t make much of a difference, it just needs to be action toward the goal.  Determine an action you can take right now toward your goal. Set a timer for 5 minutes.  Write down an action you can take to move you towards your goal.  It can be a phone call, an email, or research on the web, whatever it is, write it down.

 

Take the Action

Once you have written down the action; take it.  Give yourself 3 seconds to take the action. Make the call, write the email.  Don’t think about it, just do it.  If you wait longer than 3 seconds, your mind will come with reasons not to make the call.  Questions such as, “What do I say when they answer?  What if they don’t answer; do I leave a voicemail?  What do I say on the voicemail?   I had better write out a script.  I’ll write the script for if they answer and if I need to leave a voicemail.  That will work.  I’ve got a plan.”  Unfortunately, the call is never made.

 

You will Gain confidence as you Act

Branding expert, Christian Marie Herron says. “My mantra is that: ‘Most people are not brave enough to ever start their own business.  If it was easy, everyone would do it.’  What I have learned as an entrepreneur is that the icky feelings are part of the territory and that as long as we do something every day — write, make a call, learn a new marketing skill — these feelings will always be temporary.  Over time you gain the wisdom of knowing that you are on the right path, even if you can’t see clearly where you are”.

Writer Andy Molinsky, in his book Reach, says “Internalize what’s good and positive and fulfilling about this experience of acting outside your comfort zone, to remember the tinge of pride you felt the first time you did it’.

 

Understand What you will Become

A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions, says Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.  As you act on your goals, you will become more confident.  This confidence will show in your face, in your voice and how you hold yourself.  You will not be the same person you were after taking action.  Author Denis Waitley says, “But we have the biggest breakthroughs when we push through the scary changes don’t we?  Our next level is always on the other side of an obstacle and always on the other side of a challenge.”

Take the action.

 

So . . . expect fear and plan to act in spite of it!

Social Security and your Business

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Will Social Security be there when I Retire?

If you are like me, you have worked in corporate for many years and now you are starting a sideline business (or as Dorie Clark likes to call it “a Side Hustle”).  You’ve paid into social security for many years and would like to have receive everything coming to you.  In the last blog post, Your Social Security could be in Jeopardy , I said Social Security is unfunded and in the years to come there will be a financial crisis concerning social security.  So, will there be social security money when you retire?  If you are retiring in the next 10-15 years, you should be fine.

But I have questions concerning my social security and you may have them as well. How much money am I eligible for?  When can I start receiving it?  Do I have choice as to when to start receiving social security?  Are there limitations or rules in how much I receive?  Are there actions I could take to maximize my social security benefit?

Learn from the social security expert, Faye Sykes

I needed to get answers. That’s why I turned to the expert for this blog post, Faye Sykes, CEO of Social Security Benefits Planners, https://socialsecuritybp.com/.

 

Alan:  Faye, thanks for taking the time to talk to me today.

Faye:  Glad to, I enjoy discussing social security benefits.

 

Alan:  What is the biggest mistake people make concerning their social security?

Faye:  Not doing planning when it comes to social security retirement income.  It takes planning to maximize your benefits and not doing so can cost you thousands and thousands of dollars.  Once you fill out your paperwork to receive social security, you’ve have committed to receiving social security and there is no changing it.  You must do it right the first time. The average person relies on social security for 40% to 60% of their retirement income.

 

Alan:  I’ll admit, I don’t understand social security.  In some countries, what you pay into a retirement program, is what you get out.  But that’s not the case in US, is it?

Faye:  No, it’s not.  There are over 2700 regulations that oversee social security.  There are a lot of factors that come into you play concerning you benefits.

 

Alan:  Wow!  That’s is a lot of regulations.

Faye:  It is, and infuriately, if you don’t plan and take the necessary actions needed to maximize your benefit it will greatly impact what dollars you will receive each month on social security. Bad planning can cost 30% or more in benefits!

 

Alan:  Okay, so what are the major factors in determining how much I will receive each month?

Faye:  Two items.   The first is, your Full Retirement Age (FRA) and the second is Your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA).  Your birth year is used for FRA and is the age at which you get full benefits, if you retire earlier than you FRA, the monthly amount you receive on social security is reduced by 23% to 30%. Waiting past your FRA until age 70 raises it by 8% a year.

The PIA is based on what you paid into social security with your top 35 earning years.

So how much you paid in and at what age you decide to take social security will greatly affect your monthly income.

 

Alan: What is the maximum amount I can receive from social security?

Faye: $2788 at your FRA- it can be higher if you delay until age 70.

 

Alan:  What are common mistakes you see with business owners and their social security?

Faye:  They don’t pay themselves enough.

 

Alan: What do you mean?

Faye:  Often business owners pay themselves very little, so they pay little FICA.  They put the money back into the business or spend it on lifestyle expenses.  If they pay themselves only a $1000, then they haven’t paid in sufficient money to FICA to gain their 4 “credits” for the year according to the Social Security Administration.   You’ll need to pay yourself a minimum of $5280 as of 2018.  The few dollars that are saved on FICA by paying themselves is less than $5280 is insignificant compared to what is lost by not paying at least $5280.

This also can affect social security disability as they require over the $5,280 five out of the last ten years of work history.

 

Alan:  What is someone has a business and their spouse works in the business.  Should they be employees?

Faye:  Yes, they should be.  Have them work in the business and pay them over the $5,280 – this adds more planning options when ready to receive social security benefits.  Once you get to retirement age it’s too late, but for those that are in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s or even 50’s there’s still time to let these efforts build future benefits.

To fully vest you need to earn 40 credit hours, with a maximum of 4 credits per year at $1220 per credit or the $5280.  Spouses who are not vested can still pull a half benefit from their working spouse’s retirement benefit (or ex-spouse’s, if married over 10 years).

 

Alan:  What if I am 62 and want to retire from corporate, start taking social security, and then start a business?

Faye:  That would be a bad idea.  First, retiring and starting to draw from social security at 62 permanently reduces your benefit. Almost 50% of US retirees opt to take Social Security at age 62 leaving 23% to 30% of retirement income permanently off the table. This also means smaller Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) increases throughout retirement.  Let’s use an example.  Let’s say you are 62 and you qualify for the maximum of $2788 a month and you live to age 85.  You would receive 70% of your benefit (100% – 30%) or $1951.60.  You would receive this amount for 23 years (age 62-85) or 276 months.  However, if your retirement age is 67 (for those born in 1960 or later), and you decide to wait to retire at age 67 and you live till age 85, you’ll receive more money.  See the numbers below.

 

Retirement Age 62 67 70
Age of Death 85 85 85
Months of Income* 276 216 180
Monthly Income $1,951.60 $2,788.00 $2,788.00
Total Income $756,915 $878,138 $955,152
Difference $ -198,237 $-77,014  
     
* Total benefit depends on what month you retire and the month of your death

 

 

Another issue that needs to be considered, is if you are drawing income from social security and generating income from your business or part-time job.

So, in the example of a 62-year-old that starts drawing social security, but their Full Retirement Age is 67 and they make over $17,040 a year, the amount they receive from social security can be reduce by $1 for every $2 made over $17,040.

If you’re under your FRA and make over $17,040 per year your benefits can be reduced $1 for every $2 over. But then, in the year of you turn 67, you can earn up $45,360 with no reduction – if earn move than $45,360. Then for every $3 over that amount, social security takes $1 away. This goes away after you turn your FRA. And thereafter, there is no reduction in social security benefit.

 

Alan:  So, let me get this straight.  If I start claiming social security at age 62 and my FRA is 67, I can have my benefit reduced by as much as 30%.

Faye:  Correct.

Alan:  In addition, if my business earns more than $17,040 each year between the age of 62 and 66, then that amount gets reduced by $1 for every $2 I earn over $17,040 in a year. 

Faye:  That’s correct. The limit goes up the year you turn your FRA but if you’re making a decent salary- delay your social security as long as possible.

 

Alan:  Is there anything else we need to be aware of?

Faye:  There are over 2700 regulations.  There are a lot of other factors that can impact your benefit.  Some factors take away some portion of the benefit and some add additional dollars.  To name a few:

  • Divorce
  • Grandparent caring for minor children
  • If you retire to a different country
  • Widows have special rules

 

Alan:  That is a lot to consider.  So how do I know if I need help with my social security planning:

Faye:  We identified a few above, but here are the most common situations where you need help planning:

  1. Individuals with minimal savings, and where a pension is not available.
  2. When a company/GOV pays into a pension but not SS- a need to understand how Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) will lower benefits (e.g., teachers, firefighters, government and police).
  3. Individual is widowed either early in life with children, or later in life.
  4. Individual is divorced after being married over 10 years, whether former spouse is alive or deceased.
  5. Individual has worked outside the US or is planning on retiring outside the US.
  6. Grandparents who care full time for minor children and qualify for Social Security benefits.
  7. Parent, step-parent, full-time care giving grandparents of minor children, and are receiving Social Security benefits, disability income, or one is deceased.
  8. LGBTQ couples that are married, divorced or widowed, and had either a legally binding domestic partnership agreement or have legally married.
  9. Individuals who have turned age 62 by 1/1/2016 (grandfathered in under old laws).

 

Alan:  Faye, this information is a major help.  I can see where not planning can cost us a lot of money.  To get more information, how do our readers get in touch with you?

Faye:  They can go to my website at https://socialsecuritybp.com/ I have a wealth of information there.  I also wanted to tell you that I’ve set up a special program for your readers.  They can enter the coupon bbcashnow to receive $100 off any plan option.

Alan:  That is great!  I really appreciate you doing that for them.  Thanks for talking with us today.

 

 

Time for Change? The Decision is Yours

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Oftentimes change is forced upon us.  This can certainly be the case for baby boomers when they lose a job after 20 years and must scramble to find another job and start dipping into savings to survive.

There are two ways to look at Change when it happens to us baby boomers.  One, refuse to accept it and prolong the agony or embrace it by taking positive actions.  More on that below.

First, as a baby boomer, understand that it is more likely to happen as you grow older.  If you have been with a company for 20 or 30 years, your salary has likely climbed over the years and as companies are looking to shed costs, you may find yourself on the chopping block. Unfortunately, this is a fact of life.  Understanding that it can happen will help you to be more prepared when it occurs.

Being 50+ years of age and trying to find a job can be a daunting task.  Yes, there is pockets of age discrimination in the work place, but you can still find a job. Don’t give up!

 

You have a Choice

I discussed earlier, there are two responses to forced change, i.e. change was forced upon you, but you have a choice in how you react to the change.

You can Wallow in Self-Pity

I have a friend that was laid-off from a tech job.  The technology in his area was changing and he had not upgraded his skills.  He refused to gain new skills and looked for jobs in his current expertise and those jobs were few and far between.  He was very frustrated and angry at the job loss.  He still is. I’d like to tell you he was the only person that responded that way.  He wasn’t.

Or you can look to the Change with Excitement

While no one wants to be out of a job, as a baby boomer there can be advantages.

  1. Your kids are likely on their own.

While there can be valid reasons to stay in the same area because your children and grandchildren live close to you.  However, for many baby boomers, their kids have taken jobs in other cities and in some cases, such as mine, other countries.  There may not be a reason to stay in the current location.  Which leads to the second point.

  1. You can widen your job search.

You may be in a city that has a poor job market.  There is nothing like getting dumped into the unemployment line with like-skilled people, fighting over a diminishing number of jobs.  There are many parts of the country that are doing well (national unemployment is 4.1% as of early April 2018). Being willing to move to another State opens more job opportunities to you.  The sunbelt (those States such as Texas, North and South Carolina, Florida and Arizona) have been steadily growing for years.  As of 2010, 7 of the 10 largest cities were in the Sunbelt.  To give you an example, Dallas in 1970 had 844,401 and Houston population was 1,232,802.  By 2010 Dallas population was 1,197,816 and Houston was 2,099,451.  Impressive growth for each because companies are either moving their headquarters or expanding their footprint.  In contrast, Chicago’s population in 1970 was 3,366,957 and in 2010 it was 2,695,598.

St. Louis has had a dramatic population drop over the last several decades.  In 1950, St. Louis was the 8th largest city with a population of 896,796 and by 2010, 60 years later, it was 319,289, a drop of a whopping 577,000.  People move to where the jobs are.

  1. It can be cheaper to live in a new City

If you live in San Jose, New York or Chicago, where the cost of living is very high, finding a job that pays a little less, but the cost of living is much lower, can be a blessing.  Let me give you an example.  The cost of living in Chicago is 11% higher than Raleigh, NC

Raleigh, NC is in what is known as Research Triangle Park (RTP), which is made up of the cities of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill.  When you factor in rent between the two areas, the cost of living in Chicago is 25.4% higher.  Sales tax in Raleigh is 7.25%, but in Chicago  it is 10.25%, the highest in the nation.  This is just one of the many higher taxes in Chicago.

A $475,000 house in Raleigh has real estate taxes of less than $3,000.  In Chicago, (Cook County), it is $10,600 for a $475,000 house.  And by the way, you get a lot more house in Raleigh.  State income tax in Illinois is 4.95% and in North Carolina it is 5.75% so it is a bit higher in North Carolina.  However, in 2011, Illinois made a temporary tax increase from 3% to 4.95% and after $18 billion that has been raised via this tax, the “temporary” tax increase is still in effect 7 years later.  And Illinois it still broke, owing $200 billion in pensions.

So, if you are in a high tax city and State and you lose your job, there are many desirable locations in the US where you can find an excellent job and have lower taxes.  And that little bit of money that comes from a lower cost of living, (or a lot, in the case of Chicago).

Part of accepting Change sometimes means the need to acquire new skills.

New Skills

There are 3 things you can do when you have additional time on your hands because you are not working.

  1. You can upgrade your current skills, so you are more employable

Studies have shown that there has been an increase in the number of college students that are older than 50.  A survey by PNC Financial Services found that more than half of retirees 70 or younger retired before they had originally intended; 40 percent did so because of health-related issues and 26 percent because of layoffs, forced early retirements or other issues with their employers.

 

  1. You can get skills in a new area

While it will be easier to find a job by upgrading your skills in your current expertise, there are also opportunities to acquire a complete different skillsets. I have a friend that took early retirement from an IT management job and went back to school to get a degree in library management.  Today, he is employed by a local library.

 

  1. Start your own business either on a part-time basis or a full-time basis; but start it

You’ll need to acquire new skills as an entrepreneur because it takes a different skill set to run your own business.  Use this time to learn how to start a business (my other blog posts have information on this).   Take the initiative, don’t lament the loss of a job, but rather have a positive attitude and see this as a new adventure.  Take advantage of this time of change.  Utilize this time to develop business ideas and craft a business for yourself and truly go for it.

 

In his 2011 commencement address at Dartmouth, Conan O’Brien described how he had pursued one dream for 25 years – to host the Tonight Show.  When he lost the dream, he had to develop a new vision of himself as a successful person. “Whatever you think your dream is now,” he told graduating seniors, “it will probably change.”

 

The Federal Government is broke and your Social Security could be in Jeopardy

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“It’s a sad truth that 60% of baby boomers are more afraid of running out of money in retirement than they are of dying”, says Maurie Backman in The Motley Fool, a well-known financial website.

Maurie lists some sobering statistics:

  • A good 33% of Americans have zero retirement savings.
  • Roughly 30% of Americans 55 and older have no retirement savings.
  • 56% of Americans have less than $10,000 in retirement savings.
  • Only 31% of seniors 65 and over have $200,000 in a retirement account.
  • About 25% of Americans 65 and over rely on Social Security as their only source of retirement income.

It gets worse . . .

The US now has a debt of $21 trillion dollars according to the National Debt Clock.  That is $173K per tax payer.  Total debt (or unfunded liabilities) which includes Social Security, and Medicare is $112 trillion or $927k per taxpayer.

43% of workers according to a CNBC article over the age of 50 will rely on social security for a major portion of their income.  Social Security was set up to supplement our retirement income, about 40% of our monthly income, not replace it.

 

But Wait, there’s More

Robert Brokamp, a Certified Financial Planner for Motley Fool, says the stock market will take a hit when baby boomers retire.  “Given that baby boomers make up 44% of all mutual fund shareholders, according to the Investment Company Institute, we’re talking about a massive block of shareholders selling much of those holdings to pay for living expenses.”  This is about $7 trillion or 41% of total mutual fund holdings.  This doesn’t include company pensions, government pensions or individual stock and bond holdings.

It’s hard to hear, isn’t it?

So, let’s all give up and join the bread lines.  There is no hope. . .  or is there?

So as the saying goes there are two sides to every coin 

There are opportunities out there and, Babyboomers, I say again, it is time to seriously consider how you want to take control of the next chapter of your lives.

Think about it . . .

  1. What is the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that is coming your way?
  2. The projected business opportunities here in the U.S. in the next few years is a Trillion dollars. Are you Ready?
  3. Baby Boomers are ready to spend billions. Is your business focused on them?
  4. How to take advantage of a trillion-dollar opportunity by starting a side business while you keep your day job?
  5. How to recognize the coming million dollar business opportunities and how to take advantage of them?

While baby boomers may be pulling money out of the stock market and it could and likely will, cause the market to go down, that money isn’t disappearing into thin air.  Baby boomers will be using it to live.

2014 census data indicated there are 76.4 million baby boomers.

As of 2016 data, there was $16.34 trillion in mutual funds.  Baby boomers control 41% of it or $7 trillion dollars.

Boomers and older Americans own 63 percent of all American financial assets making them a serious economic force to be reckoned with and a highly coveted group for marketers looking to have a serious impact

Huffington Post

 

Key things to know about Baby Boomers

They are generous

Boomers buy for others not just themselves. Neil Patel says ‘ Boomers love to invest in educational products and services, especially for their grandchildren.”

They spend on their pets.

Boomers are technically savvy.

A study by Immersion Active found 66% of boomers regularly buy online, which means they can be reached through social media.  Facebook has been found to be the most popular social media platform for Boomers.

Personal assistants like Google Home and Amazon Echo will become more prevalent.

Focused on Wellness

Baby Boomers are living longer and want to be healthy, well into their 90’s.  According to a US News and World report study, baby boomers will increase their spending on wellness from $200 million to $1 Trillion!

Health club memberships for boomers is one of the fastest growing segments, up 266% since 1987.  Now health clubs have started exercise classes, specifically for baby boomers.

Boomers are also buying fitness equipment.  Pedego, who builds electric bikes, co-founded in 2008 by Don DiCostanzo and Terry Sherry when both were in their early 50s.  Noticed when they started their business?  At the height of the Great Recession.  Today, they have $15 million in sales.  They found an idea and went for it.

In need of Medical Devices

Because of aging, but also because of being so active, boomers will increasingly need hip and knee replacements.  Extreme sports such as rafting, sky diving, and paragliding are common among boomers which puts stress on the body.

Crave Entertainment

Boomers, especially retirees, are watching more TV, giving a boost to cable and video on demand services.

But in-home entertainment isn’t the only entertainment that is growing.  Nearly half (44 percent) of Boomers who attended an event (rock concert) in the last year are going to more concerts now than compared to 10 years ago.  While millennials prefer texting and social media, boomers prefer face to face gathering and it shows in their activities.

One of the top grossing bands of the last few years is Iron Maiden.  Who?

They are a rock group, started in 1975 with their first album launched  in 1980.  They didn’t have a top ten song until the fall of 2006 and just 2 top ten songs since that time.   Yet they have such devoted fans that Lady Gaga, when told concerning her success that she would be the next Madonna.  “I used to always say to people when they would say, ‘Oh, she’s the next Madonna.’ No, I’m the next Iron Maiden”.

Entrepreneurs are Getting into Business

BizStarters – Jeff Williams who coaches older entrepreneurs, 60% want the flexibility in their schedule rather than income.  A study from the Kaufman Foundation puts the number higher at 80% who want income, but not 40-50 hours a week.  There were 452,000 business startups in 2014, which was a 40 year low, however the number business startups is increasing.

24.3% of those businesses were started by baby boomers or just under 110,000 and the percentage is almost the same as the 25% for millennials.  So baby boomers aren’t headed to the pasture, their investing in their own businsses.

 

Lifestyle Entrepreneurs

The majority of baby boomer entrepreneurs want freedom and flexibility of a part-time schedule.  The income is nice but they also want to have the ability to take 3 weeks of vacation.  They can be categorized as LifeStyle entrepreneurs.

Elaine Povinelli is a typical lifestyle entrepreneur. In 2010, at age 54, Povinelli began casting about for a new business idea. She was willing to put in serious startup time in anticipation that later, with operations running smoothly, she could taper off into semiretirement. “As long as I can make a living, I am not looking to get rich,” she says. “I have worked so hard my whole life. I don’t want to work more than 20 hours a week right now.”  So, she started Dainty Wrist Jewelry which focuses on jewelry for women with small wrists.

Full-Time Entrepreneurs

The other 20% of baby boomer entrepreneurs are full-time with their business and their businesses cover the gambit of industries.  While startups have a high failure rate after 5 years, baby boomers starting businesses succeed more often than not.  There are three main reasons for this.  First, baby boomers are more cautious going into business, often starting on a part-time basis.  Two, they are well-capitalized having built up a healthy nest egg over their careers.  Third, they have more business experience and can apply that knowledge to their business.

Whether starting a business or just enjoying life, baby boomers are a force with whom to be reckoned.

The question you must ask yourself is:  How will my business tap in the trillions that will be spent by Baby Boomers?

 

Actions:

If you are looking to start a business, take the following actions.

  1. As a baby boomer, what things frustrates you on a day to day basis. In every problem lies an opportunity.
  2. Why does the “thing” frustrates you? What issue does it cause? Or maybe it causes frustration to others, such as your aging parents.   See story of HDSMedallion
  3. How would you fix the problem?
  4. Write down those steps.
  5. Talk to other baby boomers. If this fixes the problem; what would they pay for the solution?  If they are willing to pay, you are on to a viable business idea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Success Story – Gary Mack – Crisis Management Expert

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Entrepreneurs start a wide variety of businesses and some of the most successful are ones based on Entrepreneurs that leverage their expertise.  Some have started blogs based on their knowledge and others have established consulting practices.  Leveraging your expertise is one of the best ways as a baby boomer to start your business.  We’ll learn key insights on starting a business from one of the best, Gary Mack.

Gary Mack is CEO and founder of Mack Communications, an award winning public relations firm now in its 20th year of business. Gary’s mettle was first forged as a reporter for a statewide news service and later as a reporter covering the state capitol. He became a trusted media advisor to Illinois Governor Jim Edgar, as well as countless business owners and leaders, mayors, and association executives. He is no stranger to controversy or crisis and has counseled clients through crises ranging from class-action federal lawsuits to employee protests, to accidental and tragic fatalities.

 

Alan: Hi Gary, thanks for taking the time to talk to me.

 

Gary: I’ve known our mutual friend Wes Bleed for many years so I’m glad to talk with you.

 

Alan: How did you get your start in your own business?

 

Gary: I was a strategist in the governor’s office in Illinois for 6 years and before that I was a reporter for several years.

 

Alan: Did you go into you own business after that?

Gary: Not at first. I did search for corporate positions and while I was qualified, I think some in the corporate world thought it would be too big of a jump to go from government to corporate. The offers that I did receive weren’t more than I made in government. It was disappointing. A friend of mine said I should hang out my own shingle; be in business for myself. I thought to myself, “this is scary, I know friends whose businesses have failed”. But my friend had faith in me and I decided to do it.

 

Alan: How did you get started?

 

Gary: When I decided to start the business, it felt like jumping off a cliff. But before I started the business full-time I got three clients; 3 contracts which provided by salary for the next year. A lot of people don’t do that.

 

Alan: What is your business?

 

Gary: Public relations and crisis communications. The business can be 24/7 especially if a crisis hits, but normally the event is over in 2-3 days and if it is a major crisis, I have a stable of consultants to work with if I need additional help.

 

Alan: What is one thing you wish you knew before you started your business?

 

Gary: Good question. I wish I had known more on how to run a business, how to do cash flow. I had an accountant and bookkeeper, but I didn’t know the financial planning aspect of the business. But I focused on what I did well and spent the time there. You need to focus on your talents and your strengths. And there is something I learned very early in my business. I had a neighbor who started an engineering firm and he had a list of top 10 things. Number 1 was “It is always easier to keep a client, than get a new one”.

 

Alan: Has there been an “aha” moment of you in your business?  Some insight that showed you there was a new area of business you should go into or a realization that business had changed?

 

Gary: My business changed dramatically about 5 years ago. Social media has really changed it. I knew that I either had to really learn the technology or I need someone who did. I realized this when I was working with Metra, the Chicago rail system. I saw their social media and saw how much social media was needed by Metra. You must be on top of changes and trends and at the forefront of what is going on.

 

Alan: That’s good advice. Thanks for talking to me today.

 

 

 

Key Takeaways:

  

Leverage What you Know

 

Gary had years of expertise in talking with the media, having worked in communications for the Illinois governor, but being a reporter gave him insight into what a reporter wanted and needed for a story.  He was able to understand both perspectives.  In addition, his expertise was respected in the industry and it enabled him to get started.

 

 

Start your Business Part-Time

Gary was fearful of starting a business, of failing.  However, he pushed past his fear and started on a part-time basis with a year of salary on the books.  This reduced the fear of starting the business and is a strategy you should employ as well.  Start out part-time and make sure your idea is viable.  And if the business doesn’t earn enough to be full-time and is always a part-time gig, you still have a stream of income to help you weather any corporate storms.

 

Know What you Don’t Know

Gary didn’t have a business background to lean upon in running his business.  He found the expertise he needed via his accountant and bookkeeper, but he wished he had known more about how to run a business.  If this is the case for you, talk to those who run small businesses.  You can find entrepreneurs on Linked In and at your local Chamber of Commerce meetings.  Glean their insights.  You need to understand the various business areas to successfully run your business such as finance, legal, marketing and selling, to name a few.  You don’t need to be an expert in each area, but you do need a basic grounding in each so if you bring outside help your able to evaluate that talent prior to hiring.

 

Focus on your Core Area

Focus on the areas that make you money.  Focus on the areas the customer values.  For Gary, his customers value his ability to communicate effectively during a crisis.  They value the team he has built behind him; that have expertise in specific areas.  They value his ability to react quickly and scale up as needed and control to conversation during a crisis.

 

Understand your Business is Dynamic

For Gary, social media changed his business.  He either needed to become an expert overnight on social media or he needed to add that expertise to his team.  Either way, technology changed his business and he had to change how he did business fast or risk his business becoming irrelevant.  You must stay on top of trends and determine their impact to your business.  This must be done on a consistent basis.

 

I hope you enjoyed the blog post and leave me a comment.  I’d love to hear from you.

 

Alan

 

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