A lesson from nature..

I have always thought the desert to be a beautiful place. Recently my husband returned from a trip to Tucson Arizona, bringing some beautiful pictures with him. Several of his pictures featured Saguaro Cactus, the cactus that bears the state flower of Arizona. This cactus grows about an inch a year from what seems to be infertile soil. That means it takes 50 years to grow is just over 4 feet! They take up to 75 years to develop a side arm. This is so much slower growing than bamboo in the rain forest where in one year, bamboo can grow up to 70 feet!

This made me begin to think about business growth. What does something need in order to grow?

Certainly in the plant world there needs to be energy - the warmth of the sun. There also needs to be nutrients in the soil as well as moisture – rain or humidity. Take these things away or limit them and growth may still happen, but much more slowly. What about our businesses? What does a business need to grow? It’s not a plant, animal or human. However, a business, in its own way is a living thing. It too needs certain things to survive. Cash flow is essential in a business. It’s like oxygen. But just because a business has cash flow that does not necessarily mean it will grow. It may exist but will not necessarily grow. A business needs to have a knowledgeable and skilled leader with relevant and timely strategies and information to make it grow. Unfortunately many business owners operate solely on their gut feeling. They hope they are making the right decisions and when the business runs into trouble – or hard times hit, they become confused and begin having knee-jerk reactions – making decisions too quickly and without enough knowledge. No one is born with a ‘how to build a business’ manual. Many successful business owners have spent years educating themselves before they even open a business. Essentially what they are doing when educating themselves is ensuring that there are enough nutrients (information) to feed the business. Many of us want our businesses to grow – and grow quickly. When it does not – we lose interest (energy) – often the energy that is required to keep the business growing. Many of us lose interest because we do the same things day in and day out without taking the time to feed our minds with the information we need to help our businesses grow. So in addition to losing interest we also do not have the knowledge it takes to get over the bumps. It is kind of like Saguaro Cactus growing in the desert. Our businesses may have lots of sunshine but not near enough nutrients or moisture to help it to grow. Are you growing your business in a desert? Have you taken some time to feed it with good information? Are you willing to grow only an inch a year or would you like it to grow a little more quickly? (I know I would!) It is imperative that we take time to learn about new trends, strategies and meet with other business owners to see how they are handing their businesses successfully. Yes, education does not come for free. We have to pay for it – one way or another. We can speed up the growth process by learning from others or we can learn slowly by making mistakes and finding things out for ourselves! Which will you choose? If you are looking ti increase your business knowledge and improve upon your skills - I have a great event coming up this fall to feed your thirsty mind - check out the preliminary information here!

Business Lessons From My Motorcycle

People say I tell lots of stories. I do this because, for me – a lesson is better remembered (and sometimes learned) if there is a story or anecdote attached to it. This brings me to a couple of motorcycle stories that upon reflection taught me some valuable lessons about my business. Let me begin by saying that I have been terrified of dropping my motorcycle. At a whopping 857 pounds, I know that it is impossible for one person to pick up alone. I knew though that at one point the inevitability of losing control of such a large bike is a given. For those of you who have not seen my bike, it is a big one – but more than big it is just plain too tall for me. I can ride and control it well, however I can only touch the ground with the balls of my feet – which makes maneuvering it in and out of small spaces like garages and parking spots a bit of a dance on my tip-toes! I have been so afraid of dropping the bike that I rarely ride it alone. Usually my husband drives and I ride behind. (it is set up for his height not mine) About a month ago we were on an extended ride. At the end of a long and exhausting day we came off the highway and stopped for the red light on the top of a hill on an exit ramp. Tired legs and uneven pavement contributed to a ‘lean to the right’ where the weight of the motorcycle outweighed the strength of the driver and a smooth and comically slow movement resulted in the driver literally laying the bike down on its side. As the driver laid the bike gently down – I tried to get off the back seat which resulted in me hopping on one foot and trying to get my leg over the back rest. After several hops up and down I realized I was also attached to the bike via my helmet cord that was attached to the receptacle on the other side of the bike. (It looks much like a curly telephone cord) I continued to hop backwards trying to release myself only to realize that now the back aerial was caught between my legs. All I could think of was what it must look like! What a spectacle! In the end after hopping several more times on one foot, I fell on my bum in the middle of the lane we occupied. In the meantime – the light had turned green and red again. After a deep breath I got up off my bum, brushed off my pride and between the two of us we managed to lift the bike up, get back on and head home. We were lucky. There was no damage to the bike (it rolled on a roll bar) so there was no damage to anything except our confidence and pride. For me this event was a defining moment – and I know I will never forget it. It took about a week to sort out how I felt about all of it. I realized that I had learned several great lessons from the event – so I thought I would pass them on to you. Lesson #1. Anyone can make a mistake. I had been terrified of dropping the bike – so I rarely rode it alone. In the end, I realized that dropping the bike was not really such a big deal. So what. The most important part was that together we picked ourselves and the bike up and got back on it to ride it home. (some day I might even laugh about this event) Lesson #2. Stop and rest when you are tired. This applies to everything in life – including business. When we go too long and too hard – mistakes happen. If we are lucky, we can recover from our mistakes. However, mistakes made affect our confidence and pride – and until we get back up and ride it can also affect our performance and confidence. The second fall or shall I say ‘bike dropping event’, I managed to accomplish all on my own! Determined to master the weight and awkwardness of the bike, I decided to ride it to work one day. I was the only one home and so I took my time getting my chaps on, arranging all my things in the compartments and making sure I was prepared to ride safely. I began to back the bike out of the garage and my foot slipped on the cement. I looked at the shoes I had on and thought “I had better get my boots on – they have better grip”. So I decided to do this after I had backed the bike out of the garage. Then my foot slipped again. My gut told me to get my boots on now, but I ignored the intuitive prompting. I backed the bike out onto the cement pad and then down the grade to the gravel laneway. I stopped the bike a little too quickly and the bike began to lean to the right. I knew then as it leaned that I was past the point of being able to right it and so I slowly lowered it to the ground. “Ok” I thought. “No big deal”. But now what? As pointless as it seemed I decided to try my best to lift it back up. (there is a technique to lifting heavy bikes) As you can guess – it was pointless. The bike outweighed me by over 700 pounds. With no one home, there was only one l thing I could do. Call a friend or ask a passing motorist ( a stranger ) for help. I managed to flag down a young man who chuckled as he helped me lift the bike. “Wow” he said. “That is heavy”. I thanked him, gathered what spunk I had left and started the bike and set off to work. Determined to regain my confidence, I reflected on what I could have done differently, and thought about how much I had learned from my bike. I added these to the list of “Everything I learned about business I learned from my honking huge motorcycle”. Lesson # 3. Listen to your gut. I knew I should have changed into my boots after the first slip on the concrete. I might never have lost my balance with a pair of heavy soled boots. Lesson # 4. Ask for help. Sometimes you will need to ask someone you do not know. There is no shame in asking for help. No one can do it all alone. And there is always someone who is happy to help. Lesson #5. Nothing is ever too heavy. You just need to learn how to work with it. There are hundreds of people who ride bikes that are heavy – and hard to handle when still. And sometimes that means asking for help. Lesson #6. Keep moving. In both cases, had the bike been moving, and not in the process of being stopped, it would have never fallen over. But fear in both cases made us stop too quickly – and the bike having some momentum had to go somewhere – so it went sideways. How often in business, when we are fearful do we just STOP? When we are afraid – it is not time to stop. In fact momentum will carry us forward as long as we continue to steer straight. If we need to stop, it should never be a knee jerk reaction made out of fear – but a slow and steady stop – so that we remain in control. We are in uncertain times. Some days the load seems too heavy and even unmanageable. Don’t be fearful. Just remember the following:

1. Anyone can make a mistake. There is no shame in that. Only those who stand still will never fall.
2. Stop and rest when you are tired or over worked.
3. Listen to your gut. When you feel trouble coming on, listen to your gut feelings and act on them.
4. Ask for help when you need it. (I mean really, how hard is it to ask for help)
5. Nothing is ever too hard or too heavy – you just need to learn the right technique. (yes, you may have to ask for help)
6. Keep moving. Momentum will carry you forward. If you become afraid and try to stop too quickly you will fall. If you do get right back up and keep moving forward.

copyright 2009 Mandie Crawford

Do Blogs work? Update on DELL

I have always wondered - do BLOGs really work. I mean how many of us have time to read everyone elses opinions or rants? Secondly, how many companies really pay any attention to one person's blogplaint? Well here is an update. After posting the blog last Monday about the problems with the DELL return policy or shall I call it their inability to admit that there may be a problem with a product - I received several calls from a DELL manager. It had taken me two separate calls to get my complaint escalated to the 'next manager' level. But to their credit, the next-level-up manager called me several times before he could actually reach me. (yes it was a busy week) After a brief conversation with the 'next-level-up' manager, I explained my concern that after over 130 complaints on their site alone, they had not looked further into the complaints about the cord and adapter failing one, two and three times within three years. He explained to me that for the number of computers like mine that they have sold - 130 complaints was not enough to generate a complaint. (Maybe that explains why I am having trouble building a business as profitable as DELL. I try to take seriously a complaint I get more than once) My counter of course was that many people give up before they even write a complaint. Complaining is negative, takes time, drags you down and is often argumentative. Not quite the recipe for a good start or end to a day. At the end of the conversation I received two promises.

1. DELL was sending a new power cord and adapter despite the fact that computer was no longer under warranty.
2. DELL would send a package for the return of my cord that no longer worked and investigate the problem. They would give it a case number and report back to me their findings.

I am glad that DELL is looking into the problem. I wish it had not taken the effort it did. I know we have to choose our battles - and really it seemed that this was a small thing to get upset over. But I had sung the praises of DELL for too long to let this one go. So Monday will tell all. And I will keep everyone updated.

Customer service - polite - but to no avail. I will never buy a DELL again

Ok, so I admit it. I was seduced by the advertising. Despite warnings not to buy a Dell computer, I decided to purchase one 3 years ago. Now let me begin by saying, I love technology, and feel almost as attached to my laptop as I do to my puppy. Unfortunately computers do not have the longevity of a dog. ( I think one computer year is equal to 7 dog years) I have owned several Toshiba laptops and have been very happy with them - but alas the time came when I had to replace them. And so three years ago I replaced them with a DELL Inspiron 9400. Within 9 months the adapter cord failed. As a great customer service company would do - DELL replaced the cord. It took 2 days. Nine months after the adapter cord was replaced the hard drive blew up. At first I thought it was my fault - I know better now. (turns out the adapter cord is not reliable and the current varies causing surges - ergo blowing up the hard drive) I again replaced the adapter cord thinking perhaps that the inconsistent power supply was the problem. I also added a fan driven cooling mat under my laptop because I was told that the DELL model I have over heats. (this would explain the spontaneous shutdown every now and then). Predictably, nine more months later my power cord adapter again failed. So I replaced it temporarily with an "IGO" power adapter - the only adapter cord that will fit a DELL. I went to the Dell site - and voila - found a forum that identified my adapter as possibly faulty. In fact there were 117 complaints from customers that indicated that they had replaced their adapter cord up to 3 times within 2 years. HMMM... one would think this may be a problem! You can read the customer reviews here. Be sure to look under the power cord picture for the "read customer reviews" link. Be aware that DELL does not think that there is a problem, even though this forum on their site is truly very negative. After reading the issues others faced with the power adapter with their DELL Inspiron 9400, I called DELL. Five dropped calls later I spoke with technical support - who advised me that there was no problem with the power cord and that over 120 prior customers were not telling the truth. So I asked the representative.... "are you telling me that 120 customers are not telling the truth and posting these comments for no reason". His answer was that yes, that is probably true and that DELL has not identified any problems with the power adapter cord. So, 120 vocal (I am sure many did not complain, or gave up) customers who have replaced their cords more than once in 2 years are wrong. There is no problem according to DELL. I let DELL know that I have 3000 members on my newsletter list who would be interested in knowing that although the customers have told them there is an issue, that they have their fingers in their ears and are singing "la, la, la, I can't hear you", and they did not seem to care. Apparently there are enough other suckers out there, who like me will be seduced by their marketing. For me - it will happen only once. My advice - don't buy a DELL. It's only my opinion however. And I am sure as time goes by there will be thousands more who agree. Read the customer reviews about the power cord here - click "read reviews" under the photo. Total cost to date: Many missed hours of work, my sanity (which was in question anyhow), computer cost + 2 power cords ($310.00) and 1 hard drive. ($300 in labour and materials).

Why will some small businesses not survive the recession?

Ok – so I admit it. There appears to be a recession. Yes, the media has mentioned it a few times. Yes, it seems to be a little too quiet around the office. And yes, I have seen the going out of business signs being posted on what seems like every corner. Most of them are smaller businesses. So, why will some small businesses not survive the recession? I recently did some research on how to survive a recessions and was surprised to learn several interesting facts. Some businesses come out of a recession in better shape than when they went in! That’s right. They are ahead of their competition. Many are lean mean money making machines when the recession finally ends – and are better positioned to become very profitable. However, none of this happened over night. The truth is – that during the recession, they were as concerned as everyone else about the bottom line – but instead of pushing the panic button – they became very strategic. Here are a few things that they did. Businesses that survived the recession: * Measured everything, their marketing efforts, their employee performance, their time management, their cash flow and their mark up and pricing matrix. * Continued to market their business (above all else) * Invested in systems – positioning themselves for effective customer and product management for future growth * Were patient. They recognized that “Robbing Peter to pay Paul” was a strategy that they may have to use – short term. Unfortunately micro businesses and small businesses are not all paying attention. They are panicking. Some are paying off loans that have interest rates of 3%. Ridiculous! Why not use that interest rate AND take advantage of lower pricing. An interest rate like this and lower prices can cut the final cost of a purchase by 50%. Others are discontinuing their marketing efforts entirely. There is no faster way to kill a business. Finally, others are burying their heads in the sand, hiding in the office and biting their fingernails. What a waste of time and energy! Why not take this time to visit clients, strategize on guerrilla marketing efforts and begin measuring your efforts. It has been reported that there are several companies that sell bargain goods who have increased their sales in the last quarter. Fast food is on the rise – yet middle of the road restaurants are suffering. Macaroni and cheese sales are up. You get the drift. However, upscale companies like ‘Coach’ that sells upscale accessories for women (purses etc) have recognized that they too need to do something – and have looked at bringing in cheaper goods to tide them over. They have reduced staff and closed stores that were not making a profit. Small business owners however, continue to astound me. They cancel advertising costing less than $20 a month – but continue to buy coffee at the local coffee shop. (Which has the ability to make them money, the advertising or the coffee?) Many are paying off their loans and paring services back so far that recovery may be impossible. For many, the recession is a perfect excuse to close a business they are really not interested in running anyway! So what does this mean in the end? It means if you consider the strategies mentioned earlier that the larger businesses use – chances are you will emerge from the recession with a stronger company. It also means that the people who are not dedicated to their businesses or whose customer service is poor, or whose prices are too high will have to close their doors. Finally though, the real trick to surviving the recessions is to recognize - nothing happens over night. Marketing efforts must be consistent and target your market correctly. When considering what you need to do to survive the recession – measure everything. Get rid of bulky, overpriced items and services whether you buy or sell them. Marketing is a 24 hour 7 day a week task. Finding better marketing strategies is a great idea. But getting rid of marketing all together is not a wise decision. If you don't know what to do - invest in good advice. There is no better time than now. You have the time - and need the help. Another option is to meet with your peers in a formal or informal setting. Get to know what is working for them. Share your expertise! Buck up people. Now is not the time to panic. Now is the time to get strategic with all you do, and be patient.

He knows the founding principles behind a great business

This past week we several adventures while on a trip to Winnipeg. (Note to self: Not all adventures are fun at the time - but always funny later!) We left on Sunday morning with the Coaching Coach and headed to Winnipeg to deliver a Small Business Seminar for Grand and Toy. After driving several hours we approached a small town in Saskatchewan (Assiniboia) that had a camping symbol by the highway. We decided to stop for the night. We followed the signs to the campground only to find it locked up - not yet open for the season. I sighed as I envisioned another night at the side of the road in 'no man's land' with the charming sound of trucks rumbling by all night long. This part of our adventure still has me shaking my head in wonder!. I can hardly believe what happened next! We pulled into the arena lot to decide what we were going to do - travel on, or find somewhere we could park for the night. It was then that I heard a car honking at us. Out jumped a middle aged man who ran up to us and began talking very quickly. His accent made it very difficult to understand him, but he continued to repeat himself until the weary travelers caught on to wht he was saying. It seemed he had followed us all through town trying to catch us. He knew that the campground was closed - and offered us his parking lot with hydro to park in. Wow, what a nice guy - I could not believe our luck! We followed him to the 'Starlite Motel' and plugged in under a flashing sign and several hundred Christmas lights pointing the way to his motel. I chuckled as I thought of him seeing us drive by and jumping into his car to follow us! And then I congratulated him. This man knows how to survive a recession. If the business did not come to him - he was going to go out and get it. (As a side note - the owner of the Starlite Motel spent 15 minutes telling us about all his renovation plans.) Yes I still went to sleep to the tune of trucks hitting the rumble strip at the stop sign about 600 meters away - but I saw the lesson in all of this. This business owner was so excited about his business he could hardly wait to tell others about it. He did not care if it was not perfect at the moment - all he could see is what it looked like when he was done. And he was not going to wait until it was peerfect to start bringing customers in. Why then would he chase an RV half way across town to invite them to plug in and park in his motel parking lot? You see - he had just purchased the land behind his motel and was starting to clear it to become an RV park. He was thinking ahead. Vision. Determination. Enthusiasm. These are the foundation blocks of a great business. Wahid Alnadi is the owner of the Starlite Motel - and soon to be the proud owner of an RV park behind the hotel. He also let us know, in broken English, that his website was #1 on Google. I will be marking this one down in 'future places to visit'. ( http://www.starlitemotel.ca )

Plagiarism in a blog? NO Way?

There is a whole new trend that has been going on for several years with social networking. Businesses are participating, writing blogs, using twitter, linkedin and facebook. In fact there are so many people who are doing this that it now becomes imperative to update and write daily in order to have anyone follow you. And it is race to see who becomes most popular!

This of course takes time. Time that many of us do not have. I get a blog up maybe once a week unless something has got my goat so to speak.

And something has definitely caught my attention.

I subscribe to Google alerts - a good idea if you have a business. It will notify you by email if it indexes something or it finds something on the web. This is often how I find out if there are articles about myself or Roaring Women posted online. In fact it was how I knew that a recent article was published in The Edmonton Journal, Vancouver Sun. The Province, The Montreal Gazette, The Hamilton Spectator and the Ottawa Citizen.

Today however I received a Google alert that definitely caught my attention.

It seems that a business owner in California, in her zeal to get 'out there' on the web has posted a blog. She has hired several students to populate it for her as she does not have the time. (which makes one wonder how authentic the blog or the business is.) The Google alert I received linked to her recent blog. As I read the article- I realized it was MY ARTICLE. Word for word. However the byline was attributed to the business owner.

I began to search the site and found 6 other articles from my site. These are copy written articles, written by myself. All of them were word for word. It was a clear example of theft of intellectual property.

As a business owner I know how important it is to be authentic. In fact my business not only represents my beliefs but also represents who I am - it is an extension of me. And maybe this is why when people get to know me, there is a trust built - and they become advocates on my behalf.

I do not take shortcuts. If you read something I have written - I wrote it. It is my opinion, or information I have researched or developed on my own. For this reason I do not blog as often. Although I write all the time - I get few opportunities to write an ongoing blog with any meaning.

The most incredible part of this incident is the name of the blog. (of the person who ripped off my material) Her blog is called "Becoming an Entrepreneur" and the page the article was on 'authentic branding'. It linked to a website for women entrepreneurs and the articles were also posted on this site as well. This clearly was not authentic branding. In fact it was a shortcut to her success. Her intent was to get as much out there as quickly and as often as possible to increase her own web and blog traffic. But at what cost?

To her credit when I called the owner of the blog, she admitted she had not checked the work of the students. She removed the articles right away. However this does not absolve her of responsibility.

What if I had not found the articles? How many other articles are not her own? How can she call this her blog if it is not even her writing?

Are we living in a time where there si so much information out there that the likelihood of getting caught is so small that we just do it because it is easy?

I really am at a loss for words. I had recently sent a sample of my work out to someone - knowing she would not copy and paste. And she has a group of friends who want to use the materials as well and agreed to do so for a fee. But they wanted to print the materials themselves. Now I am hesitant to send them the printable product.

The result of this incident? I trust people less. And then I examine my own actions. Have I ever stolen intellectual content? No. Have I ever used software that I did not pay for? Hmmmm.....

Heading off to the electronic store now. I need to replace a program....

I have one word left to say: Karma.