tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76348438649518090602024-03-14T03:04:20.492-05:00What's Hatchin' @ The CBDNotes and items of interest for entrepreneurs and incubator managersBrad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.comBlogger108125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-86420701874157472522011-12-06T15:38:00.001-06:002011-12-06T15:43:08.261-06:00A new home for the Blog<div style="font-family: inherit;">
This blog is moving! </div>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.meridiantech.edu/business/entrepreneurs/cbd-blog" target="_blank">http://www.meridiantech.edu/business/entrepreneurs/cbd-blog</a></span> <br />
<br />
Thank you for listening.<br />
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<br />Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-89722485078850689212011-11-04T08:52:00.003-05:002011-11-04T08:52:46.555-05:00Marine Corps' LeadershipI had the opportunity yesterday to participate in a presentation by the Oklahoma City Marine Corps office on how they might adapt their Leadership program for entrepreneurship and business leadership (see, for example, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Semper-Fi-Business-Leadership-Marine/dp/0814472729/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320413584&sr=1-3" target="_blank">Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way</a>).<br />
<br />
Among many interesting ideas presented, the following stand out:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Career Progression: "A failure of an individual to advance (promotion) is a failure of the unit." or as the presenter remarked, "No one sits at the same desk for 20 years." Too often, we strive for competency - the ability of the person to complete the duties he has now. Businesses work hard to develop their hi-potential candidates, but the rest are left to their own actions. Which leads to the final most useful point they made which is...</li>
<li>"The reward for success is greater responsibility". Whether in a business or in your own life, the desire for growth is often driven by the desire for simplicity ("if we increased sales by 20% I could hire a salesman to handle that side of the business" or "if I get that promotion I will have enough money to cover our expenses"), yet the reward for growth means complexity, that is, greater responsibility ("if I have a salesman, I now am responsible for his job, benefits, managing him, etc"). </li>
</ul>
<br />
The above two points contrast each other both personally (comfort v. responsibility) and organizationally (stability v. dynamicism). How to create an organization that handles both is something the Marine Corps takes seriously, and so I am very interested to see if they will be able to adapt their program for leadership outside of the corps.<br />
<br />
It might be a real good idea to hire a few ex-Marines for your organization! <br />
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<br />Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-46848339609941888482011-09-27T09:45:00.004-05:002011-09-27T09:47:01.120-05:00Determing the Cost of Solving a Problem<div style="font-family: inherit;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in;">
About 6 months ago, I purchased a new
BlackBerry phone. As I used it, I noticed there was an inordinate number of
double-typing – in typing “how are you?” it would spell out, “hhhhooww arrre
youuu?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in;">
I just assumed it was my poor typing. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in;">
Finally I decided to do a quick Google
search to see if anyone else had reported the same issue. It turns out that
there is a problem with that model phone manufactured during a certain time
period that was causing the issue. I then called my carrier, and sure enough,
they will exchange the phone (for a slight fee as it is out of warranty). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What
lesson we can draw from this situation? </b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in;">
You sell a product that turns out to have a
problem. Do you try and contact all the purchasers and tell them to return the
product for another? Or do you wait until those who report it contact you, before
exchanging it? Most small businesses won’t have an issue the scale of a cell
phone manufacturer, but there will be cases where you need to determine the
right strategy. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in;">
Here is a set of criteria for making this
decision:</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
</div>
<ul style="font-family: inherit;">
<li>Contact: Can you contact the customer? </li>
<li>Scope: How widespread is the issue?</li>
<li>Danger: Does using the defective product harm
the consumer? </li>
<li>Cost: What is the cost of the solution (or
continuing use without solving)?</li>
<li>Reputation: Will not acting harm your
reputation? What is your reputation with
consumers? </li>
</ul>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in;">
Let’s apply the criteria to some
cases.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">A
restaurant serves something that can make the customer sick.</b></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
</div>
<ul style="font-family: inherit;">
<li>Contact: will you be able to contact the
customers who may have eaten the bad food? Not easily.</li>
<li>Scope: do you know how many meals were served?
Yes, of the x number of meals served, you should have a pretty good sense of
how many included the bad food.</li>
<li>Danger: how dangerous is the food? If it is just
rotten, then of those who eat it, some may get sick, some may not. If it is
extremely dangerous – then you have a greater cause to act on.</li>
<li>Cost: usually if someone is sick the restaurant
will pay doctor visit, or at the least a free meal.</li>
<li>Reputation: if some people get sick, will it
affect your restaurant?</li>
</ul>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in;">
Often, a restaurant will just wait
and see who comes in a day or two later – most food pathogens take 24 hours to
germinate, and if the customer complains they were sick, do something to
recompense them. But if you were a small
local restaurant with a very supportive and regular clientele, you may decide
to call those people you remember ate the bad food and let them know.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Apple’s
iPhone has an antenna issue.</b> You may remember back when their latest phone seemed
to have a problem where holding the phone in a certain way meant calls were
dropped or not completed.</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
</div>
<ul style="font-family: inherit;">
<li>Contact: Could reach all the users, since they
are phones.</li>
<li>Scope: All
new versions of the phone had this issue.</li>
<li>Danger: No danger to any of the users</li>
<li>Cost: If they’d had to replace all the phones –
high, especially in roll out with new phone.</li>
<li>Reputation: People generally have a high opinion
of Apple. If Steve Jobs felt it not a big issue, then the users might give him
the benefit.</li>
</ul>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in;">
In this case Apple gave away free
cases for a while, management came out strongly on the issue, and generally the
issue petered out.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">So
in my cell phone example -</b></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
</div>
<ul style="font-family: inherit;">
<li>Contact: Can you contact the customer? While in
some cases it may be difficult to contact the customer, in the case of mobile
phones it is quite easy.</li>
<li>Scope: How many phones are we talking about? If
it is 10,000, that is very different than 500 in terms of cost to replace.</li>
<li>Danger: Does using the defective product harm
the consumer? Will the user be harmed by using the product? In the case of my
phone, it was annoying, but not dangerous.</li>
<li>Cost: Unknown, but I would imagine the cost
would be pretty easy to calculate (# phones x cost of replacement body +
shipping).</li>
<li>Reputation: Will not acting harm your
reputation? What is your reputation with
consumers? I think we can all agree that cell phones are rather balky devices
and we have low expectations regarding their operation. </li>
</ul>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in;">
From the above, the cell phone manufacturer
determined they would let the customer call, and when they do, then replace the
phone. </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in;">
I happen to believe this was a
mistake, mostly on the grounds of reputation. BlackBerry owners generally are
business users, not consumers. As such, they are already disposed to the
strengths of the BlackBerry – reliable, email, voice mail. Since typing on the physical
keyboard is why I use a BlackBerry, a typing input problem is a real issue. Also, I bet that they could know which
business users are most important – those that use the Enterprise server
edition. Why not replace those phones? Since my company allows Apple iPhones to
be used for business email, I stick with the BlackBerry for its keyboard.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0in;">
What would you do?</div>
Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-63247999355699455522011-09-06T14:14:00.000-05:002011-09-06T14:14:51.483-05:00Recommending your CustomersMy wife and I were shopping at Barnes & Noble bookstore this weekend and when we got home, I noticed in addition to our receipt and books, our bag contained a short slip printed after the receipt that gave us 4 recommendations for other books, based on our purchase.<br />
<br />
I am not sure how long they have been doing this, but it is a great means to engage your customers further. The recommended books were not extraordinary (they were on the same level as the recommendations you receive from Amazon), but as their algorithms become better, this will be very helpful. Moreover - why not allow you to scan the book you are interested in the store, and have it give you a list of available books (rather than waiting until you've completed browsing and are checking out.)<br />
<br />
The reason I go to a bookstore is to buy books that are in stock (I can always order online if not) - so give me those choices!<br />
<br />
The same process could be used by smaller retailers as their POS systems become more sophisticated. If I purchase the same products regularly, why not offer me the option to purchase additional items that are liked by people like me.<br />
<br />
The unobtrusiveness of the paper in the bag is also nice since I can choose to review the titles or not (without being "sold" on the books).<br />
<br />Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-43501342411556433122011-08-18T14:15:00.002-05:002011-08-18T14:21:43.651-05:00When the Audience respondsAt the beginning of each Entrepreneur Breakfast, I ask any new attendees to stand up and give their name, company and what it does. This morning because our speaker had to leave early, I skipped that part of our introductions. As the breakfast came to a conclusion, I still had not asked new attendees to introduce themselves.
<br />
<br />One of our regulars asked, "aren't we going to have new attendees introduce themselves?"
<br />
<br />Great question, and something I should have done. I was more heartened that he asked it. When your customers understand what you are doing so well - that they respond this is how it should be done - you've done a good job in creating a community.
<br />
<br />Consider when someone takes their friend to a favorite restaurant. The regular will carefully explain how the restaurant does what it does well, tasty dishes, service. The regular brings the new person into the community of that restaurant. As the restaurant owner, you cannot buy better marketing than this.
<br />
<br />When the audience responds, you know you are reaching them!
<br />Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-22134452783096517672011-07-13T09:17:00.002-05:002011-07-13T10:03:12.205-05:00Same thing,...only different!<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Save-Last-Book-Screenwriting-Youll/dp/1932907009/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310568836&sr=1-1">In his book, "Save the Cat", Blake Snyder describes how to write a good movie screenplay</a>.<br /><br />One of his pieces of advice has to do with the theme of the movie (what the movie is about). He says it's helpful if the movie is the 'same thing,...only different.' The idea is if someone is considering what movie to go watch, he needs to be able to fit it into his mental map of the type of movie it is, before he'll go see it.<br /><br />When working on your business idea - you can use the same type of advice. What is your business like, and yet, different from other businesses?<br /><br />One of our clients at the Center for Business Development, <a href="http://www.physiciansagency.com/">The Physician's Agency</a> is a great example of this rule. They provide an agent relationship for new and current doctors. Their business model is like an agent for a football player or other sports star. It is different from that business by concentrating on doctors, not athletes.<br /><br />When explaining their business model, people quickly catch on to what they are doing - and if it is relevant to them. It also makes it easy to say 'what do they do?'.<br /><br />How about your business: is it the 'same thing,...only different'?Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-48916813054256156112011-07-11T14:04:00.002-05:002011-07-11T14:19:41.691-05:00Pawn Stars Secret to Business SuccessI must admit it is (a little) heartening when I read a news article whose point of view substantiates the advice we provide business owners.<br /><br /><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/06/smallbusiness/rick_harrison/">An article on CNN about Rick Harrison of the tv show "Pawn Stars" describes his secrets of success.</a> The article lists five secrets -<br /><ol><li>Set yourself apart</li><li>Know how to negotiate</li><li>Offer something no one else does</li><li>Treat every customer well</li><li>Embrace social media</li></ol>and gives examples of each (his example of social media is to have the fans design their t-shirts, which not only created traffic, but also saved him money!)<br /><br />Still visiting the Center for Business Development is much easier than going to see Rick - no bouncer at the door, no throngs of other customers and no funny nicknames for the staff!Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-17813215142286668592011-06-27T09:14:00.002-05:002011-06-27T09:34:39.718-05:00Quality v. LocationI have noticed recently that the quality of small business marketing material has increased dramatically. Whether through the printing and layout of menu's online, to business cards, to simple logo design - the overall quality is quite good, especially given the costs associated.<br /><br />What remains poor, generally, is the location - where the marketing is targeted.<br /><br />I have had more than one business owner tell me he is on Facebook, has his own Twitter feed, great logo and design, etc - but no clients!<br /><br />Part of this is due to the quality being something you can purchase/obtain without much difficulty. There are hundreds of qualified web designers who could make you a website - just figure out what you want to spend!<br /><br />But knowing where to locate that marketing can't be easily purchased. It falls back to simple leg-work and doing the market research to know who is the client, where is he located, what does he want to buy/learn/enjoy - and how are you going to reach him.<br /><br />The good news though is that this research can be done without a large amount of money, just time and effort. Since most small business owners have an overabundance of effort, this means they have the capability to actively understand their market.<br /><br />The bad news is that the ease of purchasing quality of marketing material gives the pretense of understanding the market.<br /><br />Where are you spending your time?Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-36603203414033296762011-06-03T14:41:00.003-05:002011-06-03T15:13:25.603-05:00Crossing the Rubicon: No Excuses<a href="http://onproductmanagement.net/2011/05/12/leaders-dont-make-excuses-crossing-the-rubicon-of-product-leadership/">An interesting article regarding Steve Jobs and his management style</a> notes that Steve uses a parable to describe the difference between a VP and underlings: <blockquote><p><em>Jobs imagines his garbage regularly not being emptied in his office, and when he asks the janitor why, he gets an excuse: The locks have been changed, and the janitor doesn’t have a key. This is an acceptable excuse coming from someone who empties trash bins for a living. The janitor gets to explain why something went wrong. Senior people do not. “When you’re the janitor,” Jobs has repeatedly told incoming VPs, “reasons matter.” He continues: “Somewhere between the janitor and the CEO, reasons stop mattering.” That “Rubicon,” he has said, “is crossed when you become a VP. </em></p> <p><em>(Excerpt quoted from a <a href="http://www.macstories.net/news/inside-apple-reveals-steve-jobs-anecdotes-apples-little-known-facts/">MacStories</a> report, accessed on May 11, 2011.)</em></p></blockquote>Great story, great quote.<br /><br />I'd like to turn this on its head a bit - and ask, "as an owner (manager/boss), are you giving your employees the circumstances, the opportunity, to make it so?"<br /><br /><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/09/technology/cook_apple.fortune/index.htm">Here is another story from Apple about Tim Cook</a>.<br /><p></p><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"><p>Tim cook arrived at Apple in 1998 from Compaq Computer. He was a 16-year computer-industry veteran - he'd worked for IBM (<a href="http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=IBM&source=story_quote_link">IBM</a>, <a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2008/snapshots/225.html?source=story_f500_link">Fortune 500</a>) for 12 of those years - with a mandate to clean up the atrocious state of Apple's manufacturing, distribution, and supply apparatus. One day back then, he convened a meeting with his team, and the discussion turned to a particular problem in Asia. </p><p>"This is really bad," Cook told the group. "Someone should be in China driving this." Thirty minutes into that meeting Cook looked at Sabih Khan, a key operations executive, and abruptly asked, without a trace of emotion, "Why are you still here?" </p><p>Khan, who remains one of Cook's top lieutenants to this day, immediately stood up, drove to San Francisco International Airport, and, without a change of clothes, booked a flight to China with no return date, according to people familiar with the episode.</p></blockquote><p></p>Now if Khan had to fill out 15 forms before he could leave, get preapproval from HR for being out of the office, use the 'corporate' carrier, and could not get any money to work from - how would he have been able to 'do whatever it takes' to make it so? For "no excuses" to mean something, the VP has to have some capability to make things happen.<br /><br />You have to trust your employee (VP level or not) to get things done (and get out of the way). If you want them to 'cross the Rubicon' then just like Caesar they have to have their own legion (their own power) to do just that. And organizations are petrified of releasing that level of control.<br /><br />Apple's advantage might be that they do a better job of clearing away those things that keep their VPs from being able to go out and act (without excuses). What about your company?Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-72247556807563775502011-04-22T13:07:00.002-05:002011-04-22T13:23:26.007-05:00Customer FatigueYou've probably noticed I haven't been writing as many blog posts lately. After running the site for a while, I became a bit fatigued; I have a new found respect for daily bloggers (and writers such as Seth Godin, who have good stuff every day, are residents of Olympus!)<br /><br />But this fatigue can often strike a business owner dealing with customers. Growing up, I worked at the local Sears store. The department managers would be called again and again throughout the store during their shift to handle a problem or issue - usually with a customer who wanted 'satisfaction or your money back' from his Sears store. After a while, I noticed a certain bland resignation in each manager's eyes while handling any customer issue.<br /><br />This Customer Fatigue strikes all of us working in our business day after day. Sears had many managers, so they could at least rotate out every once in a while. But a small business owner is there on the front line every day.<br /><br />How do you mitigate your being tired of dealing with customers? One way would be to push whatever decisions you are making (returns/problem with product) down to the staff who work for you. You may have said that all returns have to be approved by you, because someone took something back from another store. Your simple idea has now forced you into being the person to work with every disgruntled customer.<br /><br />Another is to try and discover the underlying reason driving the customer to speak with you. Could your staff need some customer service training? Could your return policy be vague or too liberal? Is your employee Mary causing problems time and again? By acknowledging the causes behind customer fatigue, you can perhaps handle it better.<br /><br />Finally, try to avoid viewing customer interactions as a battle of wills - you v. them (either in selling or in handling disputes). I know this is harder for some of us (drive is what makes us successful!), but if you view an interaction as something to win (or lose), you will lose perspective.<br /><br />Likewise, my fatigue in writing for this blog could be overcome by having another writer help, or not try to compare my writing to much better bloggers. Instead what are my goals for the site and keep those in mind as I think of topics to write about.Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-78703120969354418362011-03-17T14:12:00.002-05:002011-03-17T14:15:43.682-05:00Seasonality - taking advantage of SpringWe are having a beautiful spring day here in Stillwater. If your business can take advantage of the season - do so.<br /><br />Of course lawn and garden stores put out their flowers and new plants, but automotive businesses can sell wash and wax ("Get rid of Winter's dirt"), or painters can point out the peeling paint around the garage.<br /><br />When we get to spring, customer's thoughts turn to activities they've put off through winter. Add to your marketing pieces a bit of spring color and the same message take on stronger meaning.<br /><br />Take advantage of the seasons in your business!Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-34495233438976301492011-02-14T13:28:00.003-06:002011-02-14T13:33:19.989-06:00Technology Ventures Summit, Feb 15-16The <a href="http://www.ocib.org/tvs">Technology Ventures Summit is going on February 15th and 16th in Tulsa, Oklahoma</a>. The first day is devoted to helping new Angel investors learn how to invest in technology startups. The second day has technology company presentations.<br /><br />Three of the Center for Business Development client companies are presenting their businesses on Wednesday the 16th:<br /><ul><li>XploSafe, LLC</li><li>Secure Analtics</li><li>Bluewater</li></ul>If you are attending the Venture Summit and see their presentations, please let me know how they did! It is very helpful to have different people hear the presentation.<br /><br />Email me at Bradr (at) Meridiantech.edu.Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-46604722146217571822011-01-10T09:41:00.003-06:002011-01-10T09:59:00.808-06:00The value of individual dataI received the latest weekly memo from the Guthrie Chamber of Commerce this morning. In it, they described how they were at a travel show selling Guthrie as a tourist destination. 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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]-->A couple of people commented they tried coming into Guthrie at the first exit by all of the car sales and salvage yards but was discouraged and turned around and went back to the highway. (that is good to know)"<br /><br />Guthrie has two entrances off the main highway - the southern entrance takes a long curve up into town, the northern entrance cuts perpendicular to the town. And some people had gotten off at the southern entrance and gave up trying to get into town (which is about 3 miles max) because it did not seem as though they were getting to their destination.<br /><br />The issue I want to raise about this is: "what should you do with a piece of information like this?"<br /><br />You might -<br /><ul><li>discount it, assuming most people wouldn't give up like that</li><li>acknowledge it, but do nothing as it would cost too much</li><li>acknowledge it, and buy a bunch of signage, get a committee together, etc</li></ul>or do any number of a myriad of other solutions.<br /><br />The point is: every day you will receive information like this at your location, store, business - but if every day you get information, how can you possibly act on any of it in a timely manner? You will end up being whipped from one item to the next.<br /><br />A means for helping with this is for items that are not of immediate issue (there is ice in front of the door and it is slippery!) - instead of acting on the information right away, write it down in a list. At the end of the month, set aside one hour to review all the pieces of data, and sort/review according to need or importance. Then try for the next month to resolve one of the items on the list.<br /><br />Returning to Guthrie - it might be easier for them to have a sign on the highway before the southern entrance that says "Downtown - take <northern> #" than to add a bunch of signs after the people get off at the southern entrance.<br /><br />There is value in the data you gather for your business, but the value can only be taken advantage of if you can act on it (and then evaluate its effectiveness). Too often business owners come in to me and say "here are 17 items I need to work on in my business" - who can possibly get that many things done? Collate the data - and solve one item.Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-15444817866835833642011-01-03T14:33:00.004-06:002011-01-03T14:40:39.874-06:00Marketing after the saleMy wife and I had the opportunity to purchase a car over the holidays. Once you have bought a car, you always have the stuff that fills the old car interior you have to move over to the new car.<br /><br />If you've ever done this, you know there can be quite a bit of stuff to move. And the dealerships never seem to have any boxes around to fill.<br /><br />Simple marketing opportunity: boxes printed with the dealership name. Have a stack of them in an empty office, and whenever someone comes in and buys a car, you fold them together, and help the new customer. Make the boxes white, with a cover. Or buy a stack of plastic bins like are sold for Christmas decorations. Make up labels and stick them on the side. Anything to get the dealership name out there, and make the new customer feel they were well cared for.<br /><br />You could even have a local restaurant include a coupon for a meal up to $25 in the box. If people are like me, they have a pit in their stomach every time they have to sign all that paperwork - at least a nice meal will help me leave a bit less queasy.<br /><br />The dealership loves you until you buy the car, then the relationship really begins. Why not keep the warmth for a bit longer.<br /><br />Marketing continues even after the sale.Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-56559248689957613292010-12-06T12:54:00.003-06:002010-12-06T13:03:37.043-06:00Coffee TimeOver the recent holidays, my wife and I visited Kansas City. Thanksgiving Thursday we before we went over to her family for the day, we stopped in the local Starbucks for coffees. The store was slammed - huge lines of people trying to get their coffees and some breakfast. I noticed that less than a block away there was a Dunn Brothers Coffee location - but it was closed.<br /><br />The next day before we left, we stopped in the Dunn Brothers rather than Starbucks. I told the owner behind the counter that we were surprised he was closed Thanksgiving, especially since Starbucks was open.<br /><br />He remarked that he didn't know that the Starbucks was open, and that he took three days off a year, and Thanksgiving was one of them.<br /><br />I bring up this story for two reasons. First, if you are a block away from a competitor on a very busy day is it worth being closed? I do not want to minimize the fact that this small business owner gets three days off a year (and a coffee shop opens early every day), so if he were open on Thanksgiving (and Christmas), that would be one less day he is open.<br /><br />Second, how could he not have checked whether his competitor was open on these days? At worst he could have passed by the shop just to see what was going on, and noticed the cars lined up at Starbucks.<br /><br />Finally, here is an opportunity for a small business owner - put a sign out at the street saying fresh coffee and we are open (and do the same with early morning opening for Black Thursday, say at 4am). Then close at noon those days. I bet he would be way ahead for the overall weekend, and the marketing cost: couple signs.<br /><br />Enjoy your holiday, but don't forget to pry some of those hard earned $ from your customers during the holiday season!Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-22399783913111555432010-10-12T13:32:00.003-05:002010-10-12T13:45:08.369-05:00Two points of differentiationRobert X. Cringely has been writing on technology for many years and <a href="http://www.cringely.com/">his blog is often very good on what is happening tomorrow in technology and computers</a>.<br /><br />Today his latest post is about <a href="http://www.cringely.com/2010/10/show-me-the-money/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ICringely+%28I%2C+Cringely%29">Microsoft Windows 7 phones</a>.<br /><br />I want to focus on his comment that, "the rule of thumb is you need two or more clearly superior points of differentiation in order to gain share from an underdog position in a technology market."<br /><br />It seems natural that a new product in an existing market will have some cool - incredible - wow! - feature that clearly differentiates it from the other products. But is that enough? His rule of thumb says you need a second item. Why?<br /><br />The first item grabs your attention - "you mean the Ultramizer 1.0 can do Xbar1?" But then you ask, "what else does it do?" If the answer is "nothing", then there is insufficient momentum to get them to change (with all the constituent difficulties in change).<br /><br />The entrepreneur devotes so much of her time to the first most distinctive difference, there is not enough 'else' to make it persuasive. Her competitors can say they will add that one feature in the next release - now what?<br /><br />So when you come it to discuss your new technology, don't be surprised if I ask, "what else differentiates it from the other products".Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-85830228234442806442010-09-28T13:10:00.002-05:002010-09-28T13:25:31.065-05:00CredibilityHow do you gain credibility - what makes you credible?<br /><br />The best way to gain credibility is through long experience with a person. Over time, you come to trust that she will carry out what she is supposed to do, and you are willing to trust them with important items.<br /><br />But if you are a startup - none of your clients or early customers have any experience with you. So how to create credibility in that situation?<br /><br />Let's use an analogy: a job interview. How do you know that the person you are interviewing knows the job? How do you decide on the credibility of a candidate? If the candidate seems to know the industry, ask useful questions, can explain how things are done - in this and a myriad of ways, she demonstrates competence in the role.<br /><br />Likewise, you gain credibility in your prospective customer's eye, by doing the same: asking good questions, show understanding of the industry - pay attention to the issues they are interested in. These are ways you can bank 'knowledge' credibility (credibility based on what you know).<br /><br />Another way to base credibility is in 'who you know'. If Jones always trusts you to do the job, and I trust Jones, then there is a transitive relationship. This 'transitive' credibility is harder to build, since presumably there are not other customers you can refer to. But there are people who know the industry and are interested in your work. Be sure they can help you.<br /><br />I will leave you to work out how you can lose credibility - but suffice to say, both lack of knowledge and lack of transitiveness cause it.<br /><br />As you build your business: are you building credibility?Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-45478164029658511832010-09-23T10:29:00.002-05:002010-09-23T10:36:59.502-05:00Use a 3x5 cardA great tip from Bill Gosnell of the Pawnee Chamber of Commerce -<br /><blockquote>"Grab a 3x5 card and one topic, such as the front entry of your business. Now list not more than 3 affordable items that would improve the appearance or functionality of what most customers deal with first...carry the card with you until all 3 items are accomplished."</blockquote>Concentrating solely on overwhelming issues to handle at work often leads to paralysis. By tackling a few smaller items, you can gain momentum on the big issues. Start small. Fix the simple items.<br /><br />When you are done with a card - tear it up and start another.Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-82010090254604083522010-08-30T13:50:00.002-05:002010-08-30T13:55:21.854-05:00Lunchtime Tech Talk seriesOur Business and Industry Computer training services group is offering a series of lunch programs for small business on computer issues. As we leave summer behind and start into the fall - why not take the time to upgrade your computer skills?<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Lunchtime Tech Talk: The Good, the Bad, and the “Oh My” Web Sites<br /><br />Bring an appetite for learning technology tips that will make today’s computer technology work for you!<br /><br />The Lunchtime Tech Talk series will meet from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Center for Business Development building room 104N on the Meridian Technology Center’s campus the first Friday each month: <br />Sept. 03 - The Good, the Bad and the “Oh My” Web Sites<br />Oct. 01 - Excel 2007 Tips & Techniques <br />Nov. 05 - Media Integration in PowerPoint 2007 <br />Dec. 03 - Be on the Edge of 2010<br /><br />You pick and choose the luncheons you want to attend. The price for each luncheon is only $10 and includes a box lunch. <br /><br />Our first presentation in this lunch hour series will highlight the common mistakes made in Web site design as well as recommended planning guidelines. <br />Computer Training Services is providing this lunch hour training series.<br /><br />The deadline to register is 5 p.m. on Tuesday, August 31. <br /><br />For more information call Kim Strom at (405) 377-3333 X265; or to enroll, visit www.meridian-technology.com or call (405) 377-3333 or toll-free at (888) 607-2509. <br /><br />Location: Meridian Technology Center, Center for Business Development room 104N.</span><br /><br /><br />Oftentimes it is easy to forget your local technology center offers a wide variety of computer and training courses. The class instructors are always well trained and the courses are usually very inexpensive. Rather than the training class booklet that came in your mail unbidden, remember your Technology Center!Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-1219968278971544082010-08-24T16:01:00.003-05:002010-08-24T16:11:00.098-05:0010 CustomersI have been seeking a simple question I can ask prospective business owners to judge how far along they are in their business - and whether they understand where they need to be to come into the incubator or get a bank loan.<br /><br />Jason Cohen on his <a href="http://blog.asmartbear.com/">"A Smart Bear" blog</a> states what he looks for: <a href="http://blog.asmartbear.com/customer-validation.html">10 customers. 10 people willing to give you money for your product/service (even if it is not ready)</a>.<br /><br />It is a useful question. If the prospective business owner can't show anyone is interested in paying for his product - then why go forward?<br /><br />Since I am not dealing only with software startups, I might be able to weaken the requirement a bit, but the principle ("Who is buying your product?") is so critical to success that it could function as a single question to get started.<br /><br />So - who is buying your product?Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-17879539031143762552010-08-16T10:56:00.003-05:002010-08-16T11:06:46.883-05:00Judging Business IncubatorsIf you are considering using a business incubator for your startup - how do you know they are any good?<br /><br />Are they benign, but unhelpful? Are they going to push your business in directions you don't want to go? What experience do they have to bring to the table?<br /><br />There is a good posting on <a href="http://www.busyentrepreneur.com/2010/08/finding-a-quality-business-incubator/">Finding A Quality Business Incubator</a> which I would recommend to you. It covers a number of areas to review.<br /><br />Also, is the incubator a member of <a href="http://www.nbia.org/">NBIA (National Business Incubator Association)</a>?<br /><br />Just like when you are hiring a contractor for your house remodeling - the best way to know if they are any good is to ask previous clients. For incubators, the same holds. Get a list of clients. But since those lists tend to be cherry-picked for good referrals - be sure to do some searching on Google, or ask those clients what other businesses were in the incubator when they were resident - then go ask those.<br /><br />Incubators can be a fantastic way to help your business get off the ground, but as always, a bit of considered evaluation can put you in the right incubator for your business.Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-73881496934389887982010-07-26T15:30:00.003-05:002010-08-31T16:42:20.026-05:00Cool your Customers<span style="font-style:italic;">UPDATE: August 31. Now cashiers can no longer just type in the register for the ice purchases - they have to go get a bag from the ice machine, bring it back, wand the price, then bag it. That will solve people stealing ice, won't it!</span><br /><br />In retailing, even the most benign rules you give to your employees can go awry.<br /><br />On my way home today for lunch, I stopped in our local big box store to pick up a bag of ice. I bought a bag of ice and as I was leaving the store, the greeter called me back inside and asked to see my receipt for the bag of ice. The greeter was an older lady in a motorized chair - she had to drive up to me. So I went back in, showed her a receipt and was able to leave. As I did, the man behind me remarked on the absurdity of this situation and laughed.<br /><br />I am sure this greeter was told to 'check all receipts' for ice. I suppose that occasionally someone walks out with a $2.14 bag of ice that they did not pay for. I doubt they are in business attire on a Monday morning at 11am. And if I had been wanting to steal the ice, I could have easily outdistanced the greeter on the scooter merely by walking away!<br /><br />When you give your employees a rule and no exceptions you are likely to get results in ways you probably wouldn't want.<br /><br />I like to buy ice at the big box store as it is cheaper than the local gas station and not too inconvenient. But if I have to worry about checking out with the greeter if I run in for a bag - I will go somewhere else. So a 5 cent bag and a bit of water are sufficient to stalk people as they leave the building?<br /><br />Nothing cools the enthusiasm of your customers than rules that make them seem like they are a crook. Be sure to balance your need for stock control with their freedom to shop. You might need to allow a bit of ice leave - melt away so to speak - rather than risk losing future sales.Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-6642179255784063262010-07-08T16:38:00.006-05:002010-07-08T16:59:07.754-05:00Retailing: of Chocolate and Frozen YogurtMy wife and I stopped into a local retail store that sells specialty chocolates. There were many individual chocolates lined up in the display case, much like a doughnut shop. We selected four chocolates in a couple varieties we wanted to buy and after a wait, the employee <span style="font-style: italic;">weighed the chocolates</span> and charged us by weight, not unit. The price was $2.50 per chocolate; our sale totaled $11.49 for four normal sized truffles. We were shocked - it just seemed like that was expensive for chocolate. We probably would not go back, and would be very careful if we did.<br /><br />A few weeks earlier, we went to a local frozen <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">yogurt</span> shop. You may have seen one of these stores which have 15 soft serve spigots with different flavored <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">yogurt</span>, and then a large selection of toppings. You grab a cardboard bowl and then fill it with yogurt and toppings. The resulting sundae was also weighed and the price set accordingly. The price was a bit higher than we wanted, but we felt like if we returned we would know how much to get.<br /><br />Two retail stores, both using weight as a method for charging customers.<br /><br />I would argue the chocolate shop is making a serious error in charging by weight. Since a chocolate is discrete, you wouldn't normally think about it as something whose value is in the weight. Moreover, this particular chocolate is very high quality - but weight is not usually a sign of quality. If your customers are unable to gain a sense of what something will cost going in, they are likely to shy away from the shop. Consider a father with his kids - he certainly does not want to get caught with a large bill for a small amount.<br /><br />Finally, since there was no signage that the chocolates were going to be weighed, I had no way to know what they would cost. Nor do I have any sense of what a chocolate weighs.<br /><br />But in the case of the frozen yogurt, I know how big a bowl I eat of ice cream - by going once and creating my sundae, even if it is more expensive than I thought it would be, I can now size future sundaes appropriately. How could I do the same with a single chocolate?<br /><br />The moral of this is not to go have dessert with me.<br /><br />Perhaps a more useful moral is that as a retailer, be sure that your pricing model fits with your customer expectations. My example of a doughnut shop above is instructive - we all know that doughnuts are sold per piece. I, as an experienced doughnut eater, also know roughly what a doughnut would cost.<br /><br />If you are going to break that expectation, you had better make sure right up front that the customer understands what you are doing, and in a way that he can know roughly what it is going to cost him to get out of the store. No matter how good your chocolate.Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-40642652316090601852010-06-28T16:27:00.002-05:002010-06-28T16:31:53.194-05:00How to hire a programmerFor all of you with a software idea just waiting to be developed...<br /><br /><a href="http://sivers.org/how2hire">Derek Sivers has a great post today about how to hire a programmer to make your ideas happen</a>.<br /><br />Key takeaway pointer - #7: Hire more than one team or person. Having more than one team working independently on your initial project allows you to pick the better implementation - and protects you and your schedule by not allowing one team to hijack or just disappear.<br /><br />Even within a company, this is probably a great idea for a new product (if you can sneak it past mgmt.)Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634843864951809060.post-50900479101602636012010-06-24T09:34:00.002-05:002010-06-24T09:42:59.442-05:00Welcome Aboard Tulsa Forge Incubator!<a href="http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=46&articleid=20100623_46_E1_VicePr385137">Yesterday we saw the opening of Tulsa's newest business incubator - the Forge.</a>This is a much needed addition to Tulsa and Oklahoma.<br /><br />It is operated under the auspices of the Tulsa Metro Chamber's Young Professionals group, and its director is an executive on loan from Arvest Bank.<br /><br />There will be room for up to 8 companies in the incubator.<br /><br />I was a bit surprised to learn they had about 6500 people in the Young Professionals group, or at least that many in their database. I wouldn't be surprised if the incubator clients are all members of the group.<br /><br />One of the hardest characteristics of a business incubator to develop is the networking that goes on in the hallways and after hours. By its very nature, it occurs on its own, not due to formal programming. And with the Forge operated by and for young professionals, this common set of interests could give it a step up on other incubators.<br /><br />So welcome aboard Tulsa's Forge incubator! We look forward to hearing great things from you.Brad Rickelmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00364339810877699259noreply@blogger.com0