planning and execution

8 Leadership Articles from a Whirlwind Year

January 30, 2018by Mike Chalmers Mike Chalmers No Comments

As we race through the year, we look back at ten significant leadership articles. It’s been a whirlwind politically, economically, and socially—locally and internationally. As world events rage on, we’ve tried to keep you informed of how to operate your business with excellence under every scenario.

We’ve also looked at some of the more important leadership issues of our day, like the modern recurrence of antisemitism and the necessary response, in the workplace and in every domain. This week again reminded us of our responsibility as leaders, of the dire consequences of inaction, as International Holocaust Remembrance Day was marked around the world.

1. Take Five and Outlast the Competition

Jazz piano was a key component of the Brubeck sound

A leader’s Work-life balance is something we all know is important, but all too often the busyness of life, making deals and completing projects place family and relationships on hold. We squeeze out even downtime with a book or a stroll through downtown because we think our stress will only be eliminated if we just press on and work harder. But the research shows otherwise. See how you can do better by making time for things that matter.

Read: Take Five and Outlast the Competition

2. The Myth of the Ideal Customer

The fairytale image of a common legend

There have been both helpful and unhelpful trends in every era of market strategies, and sometimes it’s important to step back and ask some basic questions about the validity of how we reach real people and solve actual problems. We’ve all heard people tell us about the great relevance of targeting the all-important idealized customer for our products. Is the approach legitimate?

Read: The Myth of the Ideal Customer

3. Don’t Just Dream Big

SwivelBlog article on Dreaming in Reality

In a year of big promises and big problems, we wrote about the need to do more than just dreaming great big dreams. The world needs more people who can connect their dreams to reality.

Read: Don’t Just Dream Big

4. High Performance Entrepreneurship

How to perform at a higher level.

It’s a wonder business schools don’t have required courses to study the musician’s approach to high-pressure performance. Leaders have much to learn from musical artists about how to do excellently, consistently.

Read: High Performance Entrepreneurship

5. How Not to Over-Promise and Under-Deliver

Don’t Over-Promise

It never ceases to amaze how many people are experts at promising the world and amateurs at delivering. It doesn’t have to be that way. And it shouldn’t. Little erodes trust more in a business relationship than the inability to achieve the minimum results agreed to in a deal.

Read: How Not to Over-Promise and Under-Deliver

6. Holocaust Remembrance and the Leadership Dilemma

Auschwitz (Holocaust Remembrance and the Leadership Dilemma)

Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum

In 2017, this article was posted for Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel. Only this past week, with the marking of the international remembrance ceremonies, politicians and celebrities like Israel’s own Gal Gadot took to social media with the #WeRemember hashtag. It’s critical to learn, to remember, and to educate others about the leadership role in such dark events.

Read: Holocaust Remembrance and the Leadership Dilemma

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. A day to honor the Holocaust Victims. May we never forget. #WeRemember pic.twitter.com/iinponofd2

— Gal Gadot (@GalGadot) January 27, 2018

7. Tesla’s Value Proposition is a Lesson for the Airlines

Tesla Model S at a Supercharger station

Time will tell the ultimate outcome, but when the United Airlines debacle unfolded last year, CEOs of major companies the world over were trying to determine how to position their own customer service levels and commitments. Even now, this article is one of our more read pieces. Is it because of the challenges airlines face? Is it because of the continued excitement around Tesla? Let us know what you think.

Read: Tesla’s Value Proposition is a Lesson for the Airlines

8. How to Find a Great Domain

What should your domain name be?

While the world faced many challenges in 2017 one thing was steady and strong—since 2014 the number of new founders has increased substantially and going into the last year the Bureau of Labor Statistics put the number of self-employed workers at 8,602,000 in the US alone. That activity is mirrored in Canada and elsewhere around the world, especially with the growth of several new industries (see our piece on 10 Emerging Markets as Big as the Internet). One of the greatest founder challenges is naming a firm or product and choosing a web domain. So we produced this article to help with searching for and finding a gem worthy of your brand.

Read: How to Find a Great Domain

Succeeding in 2018

Take the best lessons of the past year and apply them in 2018 as it unfolds. Remember to be diligent, but take the time to reflect and regroup. Lead with character, insight and wisdom. Avoid the sinkholes of moral and political dilemmas and build a brand your grandchildren would be proud to call their own.

Learn, teach, lead, adapt, and share the road ahead.

Take Five and Outlast the Competition

November 6, 2017by Mike Chalmers Mike Chalmers No Comments

Take Five is one of the great jazz hits of the 20th century. It’s also a good phrase to remember for project-consumed managers, geniuses, and entrepreneurs.

Work Beyond Work

Leaders often face problems others don’t understand—especially related to evenings, Fridays, holidays, and days off in general.

Most people look forward to finishing up their workday or workweek and taking the evening or weekend off to spend time with friends and family. But innovators typically enjoy some of their most productive hours after others go home. It’s when they can think and process the day. And work more.

The problem is that this leads to a lack of any real time out—any break to be spent with real people outside the corporate enclave, any respite, or even personal growth in other areas. It results in work from early morning to late at night with no letup. Such individuals even dream about the tasks at hand, or don’t dream at all because of a lack of adequate sleep (you know who you are).

The Model Leader

There are some intuitive reasons for this pattern. Leaders can’t always plan when those they lead need direction and accountability. The best leaders don’t micro-manage their workers, but if they’re good at what they do, key players want access to them during critical workflows. Their knowledge and insights concerning important decisions, or during crises is often seen as critical.

Innovators lead by example, demonstrate excellent habits and routines, and show what it means to contribute. So they can’t be seen slacking or dropping the ball. The perception is that if a leader pauses, the result is a loss of productivity.

Self-Adapting Teams

The truth, however, is that leaders who can’t pull back from the action, haven’t trained their teams to self-manage, self-regulate, anticipate and adapt. They haven’t modeled good leadership. They’ve taught people that they are indispensable, rather than a guide along the way.

Sometimes leaders do this intentionally because they want to feel valued, but teams have the greatest respect for leaders who develop the entire group’s capacity. Such groups are far more capable even if left alone.

The best leaders plan and determine direction a few steps ahead of their teams. They do this so they can delegate responsibility and back off. They work to show their teams the big picture, and give them the space to find a way to achieve a shared vision.

Great leaders also don’t overvalue themselves or care if they receive the proper praise. Organizational researcher Jim Collins has ably demonstrated that what he calls “level 5 leaders” are less concerned about public accolades than they are that the companies they build thrive. They’re concerned more with fact than perception and outperform their competitors.

The 24/7 Entrepreneur

Recently making the rounds again on social media is a reputed quote from Bill Gates, which goes something like this: “I never took a day off in my twenties. Not one.” I’ve also seen it attributed to Richard Branson.

Perhaps some billionaire tycoon out there said it. While you can find it in tabloids and quote sites, the factuality of it is in many ways irrelevant, because it’s crazy.

If you teach your people to never take a break—never have a day off—you are teaching insanity and paving the way to burnout. You’re advising people to throw away the very friendships and family ties that make success worth achieving.

Medical Risks

It’s no secret that beyond damaging relationships and missing out on real life, there are physiological and psychological effects from overworking.

Is it true that some people work 24/7 and make millions—billions even? I don’t care. And you shouldn’t either.

Success achieved by being unethical, habitually unsafe, or self-destructive (as in leading to your or others’ untimely death), is not success.

The underlings in this equation have little control; overwork cascades from the top of the organizational pyramid to the bottom. —S.G. Carmichael

Sarah Green Carmichael in her Harvard Business Review article outlines they cyclical nature of bad managerial habits: “Managers want employees to put in long days, respond to their emails at all hours, and willingly donate their off-hours — nights, weekends, vacation — without complaining. The underlings in this equation have little control; overwork cascades from the top of the organizational pyramid to the bottom.”

In other words, leaders not only mess up their own lives but impose the cycle on everyone around and under them.

Is Hard Work and Balance a Paradox?

Too many managers believe that it’s impossible to get ahead unless you work yourself and your teams into the ground perpetually. But research continues to show that this, just like the idea of the ideal customer, is a myth. As reported by Yale School of Medicine, a study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in June 2016 demonstrates that “working long-hour schedules over many years increases the risk of heart disease, non-skin cancer, arthritis, and diabetes.”

Beyond 50 hours per week, men and women both suffer negative effects over time.

In a study of more than half a million participants in the US, Europe, and Australia, researchers “found that those who work more than 55 hours a week have a 33% increased risk of stroke compared with those who work a 35- to 40-hour week. They also have a 13% increased risk of coronary heart disease.”

Long hours has also been linked to depression.

Don’t Replicate Reckless Abandon

Carmichael points to several issues including a “mix of inner drivers, like ambition, machismo, greed, anxiety, guilt, enjoyment, pride, the pull of short-term rewards, a desire to prove we’re important, or an overdeveloped sense of duty.”

A sense of purpose is important but an overinflated arrogance leads people to prove to themselves and others that no one can do what they do. They are “essential” to everything in their care.

But great leaders develop other thinkers and doers and help them to see their own purpose within the organization. They often do this by being intentionally absent for one or more days, and leaving a project in what they trust to be capable, if imperfect hands.

Over time, the greatest managers can be gone for longer periods of time, or be focused on completely different efforts, even while present. When their leadership teams fail at something, they don’t immediately castigate them for poor performance. They debrief, regroup, and induce the kind of critical thinking and ingenuity of others that fosters real personal growth and trust.

As a consequence, the individuals they mentor don’t need to be told where they went wrong. They accept their own failures and own the path to reinvention and success.

Go Where the Data Lead

The corporate world is beginning to realize that as the general public learns how unhealthy it is to work incessantly, promotion of a new work-life-balance is actually an incentive to attract and retain new hires. In 2010, Netflix was among the first to offer unlimited vacation time to its workforce, and the trend has continued.

Virgin more recently followed suit saying, “Flexible working has revolutionised how, where and when we all do our jobs. So, if working nine to five no longer applies, then why should strict annual leave (vacation) policies?”

This is not to say you need to have unlimited vacation time for your employees. Some now rather have mandated vacation time, where the company removes the stigma of a “break”, and people are required to take time off. Others incentivize vacation time—One company provided $1,000 to workers to seize the opportunity and take a break.

As a leader, it starts with you. You could implement any plan you want for your employees, but if you don’t model it, they won’t believe that they really have the latitude to rest.

Plan to Reboot

It’s less about your particular strategy than it is about having a strategy, and a way to recharge, and nurture your people—even protect them from physical or mental health issues.

The research is clear: the human frame will break down when abused. Don’t destroy the body you have, and don’t permit those around you to suffer either.

Like a car without engine oil or coolant, so are people without the reinvigoration of fresh air, downtime, and social interaction.

So reboot every now and again. Take five throughout the day, take a day or two each week, and take a week or two every so often to recalibrate and resume your work with increased energy, focus, and purpose.

*Inspired by the song “Take Five” by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, recorded in 1959. A jazz masterpiece, the track is eponymously named for its unusual 5/4 time signature.

The Myth of the Ideal Customer

October 5, 2017by Mike Chalmers Mike Chalmers No Comments

“Target your ideal customer, and you’re more likely to succeed.” So say many marketing experts. But is that really good advice? Should you only seek to acquire the perfect buyer? And what would that mysterious creature look like anyway? Let’s talk about the myth of the ideal customer.

In theory, it makes sense. You need to have a target audience in mind or your lack of focus will result in poor sales and unenviable revenues. And, a customer with easy-to-solve problems and a Walt Disney-like enthusiasm about working with you sounds like a great idea.

Unrealistic Targeting

The problem is that too many people target customers based on superficial metrics. We tend to say thinks like, “Our ideal customer persona is an individual or company with a lot of expendable income, who will recommend us to others, and is not easily upset or disappointed.”

In other words, we want to have minimal troubles for maximum revenues. Who wouldn’t jump at such an opportunity? This, however, is more like a get-rich-quick scheme than a realistic formula for success.

Real ventures require diligence, experimentation, occasional failure, disaster recovery, team building, social graces and communications savvy. In short, hard work on repeat, day in and day out. Companies must adapt and reinvent themselves, and not only during the startup phase.

Don’t Target Your Ideal Customer—Target Your Ideal Challenge

A better phrase might be to target your ideal challenge. Your company has strengths and weaknesses that are compatible with a host of industry problems. Discovering which problems you can solve is part of the process of discovering the customers you can serve.

What do you do if the problems you solve are connected to difficult or demanding customers? As in every question related to your business model, you need to be sure the numbers make good financial sense. However, in many cases you will discover that there is much revenue to be gained by solving problems for demanding—even difficult—customers. And the reward is in the challenge.

Businesses Targeting Sub-Optimal Customers

Arguably, some of the most radically innovative companies over the past decade or more have targeted ideal challenges, irrespective of the ideality of the customer. Just as often, those companies have had extremely difficult customers but have served them so much better than other companies that they gained massive market share over time—over a period of prolonged hard work, problem-solving, and stellar customer service.

Examples of Innovative Firms with Sub-“Optimal” Customers

Company	Challenge	Sub-“Optimal” Customer	What Happened
Amazon (AMZN)	Initially, to establish itself as the go-to online book retailer; eventually as the predominant online retailer bar none	Initially, an erudite group of readers, eager to search for and acquire books more easily; eventually the average consumer—discontent, cynical, hard-to-please	Amazon targeted challenging customer segments and delivered greater satisfaction than incumbent retailers could. And it turns out those challenging customers rave when satisfied and multiply
Netflix (NFLX)	Take on big box video rental companies with an entirely new model	Individuals spending under $10/monthly with high expectations of audio/visual quality	Netflix began to beat big Blockbuster et al. before its Internet features took off (remember DVDs by mail?). It was the new subscription business model and relaxed policies that ultimately won the day
PayPal (PYPL)	Work within (and around) the financial services sector to create a new way to transfer money, with or without incumbent banks	Individuals transacting small amounts of money and banks with old ways of doing things	PayPal made the offline equivalent of handing cash to a friend an online reality. It took a piece of the pie and the banks had to participate
Tesla (TSLA)	Create and market the world’s first minimum viable product (MVP) electric car for mass distribution	Educated, environmentally conscious consumers, futurists, and high-tech users	Tesla was arguably first to a true MVP. The company created its own market, selling direct to customers to keep costs down, iterating with each model, ultimately launching the affordable Model 3
Wired (parent: Condé Nast)	Serve a new, burgeoning audience largely unreached by old world publishers	Futurist thinkers and dreamers with vociferous appetites for geek-level content and global news	Wired was the most popular offline and online content in its category among the small but growing segment of “techies.” Today, tech consumers are more rapidly expanding than ever and Wired is among the more significant publishers to have helped to fuel that drive

As you tweak (or destroy) your own business model, consider these examples and add your own to the mix. You can easily see that the most exciting stories in entrepreneurship, innovation, and leadership have been in industries with very, very difficult customers.

Give An Old Idea the Boot

So forget about targeting your “ideal customer”. Target instead your ideal challenge. What problems are your teams most suited to tackling, regardless of customer difficulty?

It’s not that you should ignore opportunities to serve customers who are easier to please. But remember the adage “no pain, no gain.” Apply that to customer acquisition and satisfaction also.

Sometimes the greatest gains come through higher risk endeavors. Don’t pursue risk for risk’s sake. Rather pursue those projects and opportunities that you are well suited to tackle, and find ways to mitigate the risks posed by challenging customer segments.

Plan, architect solutions that change the game, and deliver on your promises.

Don’t Just Dream Big

June 13, 2017by Mike Chalmers Mike Chalmers No Comments

Little is more monotonous and platitudinous than the phrase, “Dream Big.” No doubt every few minutes someone on Twitter repeats or paraphrases the saying with emoji-filled sincerity. But what does it mean? Is it useful to think and dream big without a plan or framework for success?

Granted, many will interpret “dream big” in different ways, but generally speaking, the idea is that the stars are the limit. “Don’t let people downsize your vision when you could otherwise achieve so much more,” they say.

Distracted Dreaming

But the problem is not that most people don’t dream enough or don’t know how to have a bigger idea. The popularity of celebrity entrepreneurs with world-changing ambitions and larger-than-life plans is sufficient evidence that people do dream big. Arguably, people envision greatness all the time while they sit on couches and marvel at what others accomplish.

Perhaps they even imagine themselves achieving similar feats. But most people are distracted by some vision of what success looks like. Quite frequently the picture of perfection is so abstract and centered on externals that there really is no way to know how to get there.

Dream Big with Focus

One of the best ways to stay focused is to write out dreams and objectives and to brainstorm logical paths to achievement. If you can’t find a logical way to achieve something, then logically, you can’t achieve it. That’s not to say you have to know how to get from Point A to Point B in all circumstances. It’s just to say that you need to be able to hypothesize (and you need to be able to kill unrealistic dreams).

We’re a generation that prizes scientific inquiry and advancement but too often treat our hopes and plans like they are outside of the logical realm. That’s exactly how to make them unachievable. But the sooner we bring our dreams down to reality, the sooner we can analyze our situation and determine what to do next.

Dreamers are a dime-a-dozen. Those who can execute a plan by staying motivated and motivating others to get on board and stay on board are far fewer.

Other People’s Dreams

One of the most important and yet hardest life lessons to truly comprehend is that you need to focus your plans based on who you are. You aren’t your favorite entrepreneur or well-known personality. You have different skills, different capacities, different limitations and weaknesses. And all of that is an asset if you acknowledge it but a liability if you ignore it.

If you accept that your vision of excellence and achievement will be different than someone else’s, you are already way ahead of the pack. Don’t obsess over what others plan to do. Focus on what makes sense for you to do.

Beyond Talk

Perhaps this sounds cynical compared to the usual “Do whatever you want; achieve whatever you will” kind of talk. But that’s not because I want to sound like a naysayer. It’s actually because realism is a key ingredient to excellence, as is planning, review, and repeated incremental improvement.

The hotelier who only wants to make guests feel welcomed but has no actionable plan will never achieve his goal. The tech CEO who wants her new cloud offering to receive 5-star reviews has no hope of realizing that ideal without meeting targets consistently. The parent who wants their child to see them as their biggest supporter can’t only dream of being a super-mom or a hero-dad. They need to put detail to their designs, understanding what that really looks like. Then they need to begin to put one foot in front of the other and begin to climb that mountain.

High Performance Entrepreneurship

May 6, 2017by Mike Chalmers Mike Chalmers No Comments

Professional musicians know something about performance under pressure that most leaders don’t. On stage or in the studio, artists must consistently perform with great skill and precision in order to succeed. How they prepare is instructive.

I’m not talking only about famous musicians. There are far more artists who earn their primary income with their craft than those who become household names.

Think of instrumentalists in a symphony orchestra or those playing on the soundtracks in your favorite movies. Most do not have their own albums or headline concerts. Yet the demands on them are essentially the same as for virtuosos, pop stars and festival headliners.

They must perform at a high level and do so consistently—day after day, night after night. They play well when the ‘recording’ light is on because wrong notes mean delays in production and longer hours for crews; or when in concert and a botched part results in disappointing a live audience, bad reviews, etc.

High Performance Entrepreneurship

If you’re working hard to advance in your career or grow your business, take note of the musician. Without understanding your own ability to perform at your highest level, you may be hindering your own progress. You may also be delaying the success of your teams.

You might think that you are the local expert in your field of business. Maybe you are. You may believe your company has a breakthrough product that could revolutionize your industry. Maybe it does. But that won’t happen if you don’t perform consistently well in various situations—especially when dealing with investors, customers, and the media.

We’re not talking about perfection—there’s always room for improvement—but rather excellence as a pattern.

Beyond Facebook and Twitter

Further, entrepreneurs today need additional skills—especially soft skills—like public speaking, socializing, entertaining and writing, among others. It’s no longer acceptable to be so specialized that you can’t interact in meaningful ways with real live people.

Social media is only one part of your communication platform. How do you do better in your core competencies and also improve soft skills for you and your team?

Seizing Opportunity

The answer is not to simply hire more people to make up for your shortcomings. A conductor can’t cover up loud, squeaky strings playing by adding a violin prodigy to the mix. Underperforming players will improve or be replaced.

Your weaknesses are still yours and they will surface at times. But if you own them and improve upon them, you will be more like the musician, dissatisfied with mediocrity, striving for excellence. It also shows to others, especially those you lead, that you’re a perpetual learner, never boasting that you’ve figured everything out.

The Method to the Musician’s Excellence

Musicians use neither magic nor rocket science to improve their skills. Generally speaking they have natural abilities combined with years of training. After this they continue to improve primarily in two ways. They practice regularly and they perform as often as possible. Some may argue that these are really one and the same practically speaking, but each is illustrative in its own right for entrepreneurs.

1. Practice Often

In the first case, musicians understand that “practice makes perfect.” Nobody wants a pianist to guess at a song they’ve never played and hope it sounds good. We all know that the one who mesmerizes audiences is the one who has played something a thousand times over until there is no one better at it.

There’s a saying among musicians that “amateurs practice until they get it right; professionals practice until they no longer get it wrong.” While the origin of the saying is debated, its validity is self-evident.

2. Perform Often

In the second case, musicians know that performance—doing what was learned in the safe confines of a home or practice space—adds a fear factor and risk level due to live pressures, increasing difficulty.

The more musicians perform live, the more those added factors are mitigated and the easier it is to perform under pressure.

How It All Applies

Think of any area of weakness in your sphere of business. Do you struggle to present your products well or to give product demonstrations? Practice much and present often.

Do you speak well but you don’t make new connections very often? Either put yourself in situations where you can network with others (e.g. local chambers of commerce or business associations), or make your own business gatherings and invite friends and clients. Do anything to improve and do so regularly.

Do a personal strengths and weaknesses analysis of your self (be honest!) and commit to to apply the ideas of Practice and Perform to every area of your career.

How Not to Over-Promise and Under-Deliver

April 30, 2017by Mike Chalmers Mike Chalmers No Comments

In life, one of the most common relationship strains is caused by over-promising and under-delivering. Most people don’t set out to offer what they can’t follow through on, but too many do it. Some learn from it. Some can’t seem to get out of the cycle.

The Problem

In business, over-promising occurs when a supplier believes the client company wants to hear certain things about cost, quality, and timelines. They work hard to prove they can meet even unrealistic expectations.

They know it will mean longer hours for their teams, time away from family and lower profits, yet their preoccupation with a sale overrides those concerns. In the end, the result even with herculean efforts is to fall short, and under-deliver.

The Alternative

But there’s a better way when you understand that most clients would rather an upfront and truthful conversation about the real costs of doing business with you, than to hire a firm that downplays the issues just for new business.

Don’t promise figures without knowing the real costs to your own company. Ask for more details so you can negotiate intelligently on the particulars. Offer what you know you can deliver at a price that’s worthwhile for you both. Then deliver with excellence.

Smart clients aren’t looking for a supplier that will forego profitability to work for them. They know that when you do well, there’s more opportunity for you to pass on benefits to them. Don’t cut out your own profitability thinking you are gaining a partner.

Your inability to pay your bills will not serve them or you in the long-run.

Three Key Differentiators

Clients are typically looking for at least three differentiators when first learning about your company, even if unspoken. These are just as important as cost, timeline, and quality and will greatly impact the perceived benefit they’ll receive from you:

1. Trust

They want to know if they can trust you with their business. They’re looking for signs of integrity and evidence you care about their success—not just your own profit. Trustworthy suppliers help companies grow and thrive.

If you over-promise, trust is one of the first things to suffer. On the other hand, sharing actual costs and issues up-front demonstrates trust is important to you. You’d rather lose a sale than pretend you can accomplish the impossible.

2. Value

This is a two-part evaluation. Clients want to know if you understand (a) their value, and (b) the value you bring to the table. When they know you understand value, they have greater confidence in your ability to add value to them. If you over-promise, by definition you are underselling your own value. You have promised more for less than your time is worth.

Additionally, your ability to receive better remuneration is tied to your knowledge of the value they bring to their own marketplace. If you can’t learn their value proposition well enough to know how to add value to it, your own value proposition has just diminished.

Take the time to learn about your client, their industry, and how they do what they do. Then see how you can maximize your value to them.

3. Investment

Smart clients always want ROI. They don’t have time to continually switch suppliers, nor do they want to waste dollars vetting new companies frequently because of bad partnerships. They want to know they’ll see returns for every dollar they spend with you.

When suppliers over-promise with hopes of charging more for future business, the client detects a diminishing return for their dollar. Conversely, if they know that you can dependably deliver consistent value, they have more opportunity to innovate and produce greater gains of their own.

The Bottom Line

Neglect these three differentiators to the detriment of your own success. They will help a company understand that your quality is better, that you are capable of executing on projects, and that your cost is lower for the true value you deliver.

Ultimately, being trustworthy, adding value, and being a sound investment for your clients takes more time than over-promising and under-delivering. But then, so does any legitimate business endeavor.

Do the Math and Grow Your Business

April 7, 2017by Mike Chalmers Mike Chalmers No Comments

Last week, Rebecca Knight, business journalist and contributor to Harvard Business Review, wrote “How to Improve Your Finance Skills (Even If You Hate Numbers).” It’s worth the read. Here’s a snapshot of what she covers. We’ll apply her findings more specifically to entrepreneurs, and provide additional resources below.

Takeaway #1: Without Basic Financial Know-How You Limit Your Opportunities

Knight cites Harvard’s Richard Ruback, who asserts that knowing the language of money leads to greater success. More specifically, when presenting on products or strategies, “decision-makers… want to see a simple model that shows revenue, costs, overhead, and cash flow… why it’s a good idea.”

Takeaway #2: “It’s not rocket science”

So again notes Richard Ruback, who likens business finance to keeping score in a ball game. “It’s mostly addition and subtraction and occasionally some multiplication and division.”

Takeaway #3: Dive In

Knight suggests finding a mentor or enrolling in a community college course. Anything to get you started down the path of learning how business numbers work is helpful. (Even Google is cited as a resource).

In our experience, it’s never enough to simply have that finance guy/gal cover all the details. You need to understand your numbers, and for these reasons:

Increase the profitability of your business
Explain your business with greater confidence (to employees, investors, and customers)
Make calculated decisions

Read Rebecca Knight’s complete article here.

More Online Financial Resources to Help You on Your Way

HBR Blogs Finance and Accounting. Harvard Business Review consistently provides solid resources for your business. Their finance and accounting articles will serve you well

Financial Metrics and Ratios. Fidelity provides explainer videos on several key metrics.

4 ways to assess your business performance (BDC). The Business Development Bank of Canada is a good resource of knowledgeable articles for any company. When those they help succeed, their programs are available to greater numbers of entrepreneurs. Whether Canadian, American, or international BDC resources will help businesses do well.

Nasdaq Company Financials (e.g. HP). This is an example link to HP, as one of America’s largest technology companies. Change the URL to reflect any Nasdq-listed company ticker number. You’ll see their key financial metrics. Even if your company is not publicly traded, these figures will give you good insights into what makes these firms thrive or dive.

5 financial metrics you should know. Mary Ellen Biery is succinct and explains how to know whether your company is successful, providing five metrics important to entrepreneurs.

65 Questions Venture Capitalists Will Ask Startups. This Forbes list is a great one to go over in your next strategy meeting. How would you answer these questions? More specifically here, look at how many of them require some basic financial acumen. Use these to determine how far you need to go in learning your numbers.

Image by Getty/iStockphoto

How to Find a Great Domain

March 31, 2017by Mike Chalmers Mike Chalmers No Comments

Entrepreneurs know the importance of choosing a good business name, but that doesn’t make the process any easier. Even when you do come up with that zinger of a moniker, chances are someone has already snatched up the associated domain name, right?

Well, maybe not. With a proper strategy the process will be more enjoyable than frustrating. Many of the ingenious domain names you think of will already be taken, to be sure. However, I’ve often found domain names for customers that are easy to remember and unused by other businesses. You can have good success and greatly benefit your business if you work at it.

Remember these points to find a great domain name:

1) Research, research, research.

You may already have great ideas, but your great ideas without due-diligence could be second-best compared to your competition. List the 10 brands and names in your industry that you admire most. Don’t just concern yourself with the biggest or most profitable. You’re the one who needs to be passionate about your brand so you’ll want to compare your ideas to your most respected competitors.

2) Search Creatively and with Purpose.

Be creative and begin your domain name search. Don’t be discouraged if your initial choices are already registered to someone else. That’s common. The trick is to search every possible iteration of your name, looking for key words and combinations of terms.

3) Don’t buy on impulse.

If you find a domain you like, ask yourself why nobody has registered that name. It certainly could be because you were the first to think of it, or it could be that the name is not a very good one. Make a list of all available domain names as you search. Once you’ve built a list of numerous available names, select your candidates, registering only the very best of the bunch. Your favorites should be comparable to the names on your respected competitor list.

4) Enjoy the process!

This is not a school project. This is for your business success. Domain name buying can be a great adventure in itself. The bottom line however, is that the value of a domain name in most cases will be the value you assign to it as an address or name for your business. If you find domain names you believe are going to be useful in the long-term for your needs, that is the single most important determiner at the time of purchase. Don’t buy domain names you cannot use or reasonably sell in the future, but enjoy the search as you look for those untapped gems.

The main requirement for acquiring great domains is a lot of creativity with an even greater measure of patience.

Now you can search more intelligently with Swivel Domain Search.