It was just too gorgeous out to stay in the office and work, so at about 1, I hopped on the bike and rode down to the Bay. The sun was almost blinding, the wind was whipping and the water was on the choppy side, but it was so clear I could see over to Fire Island. I couldn’t help thinking about what I would have been doing on an early April weekday seven years ago when I last had a “regular job.” I may have been in San Francisco on a sales trip for the magazine I published, selling advertising to agencies and technology companies with my West Coast sales managers. Nothing wrong with that, except my heart wasn’t in it. I didn’t care at all about the magazine or the company. I was very loyal to my boss (who is still a good friend today) and had great respect for my co-workers and colleagues; but the company’s owners had very different values from mine. The place was a political minefield, and I had a way of triggering the “Bouncing Betty” every chance I got.

If it was a Thursday seven years ago I might already be heading back to New York from SFO on a dreaded American Airlines flight. I hate, hate, hate to fly. Want to make me miserable? Put me in close quarters with a few hundred people from whom there is no escape for six hours. Or eight. Or maybe 14!

It was around that time, late 2001, that I got off the plane, the bus, the treadmill, the hamster wheel, whatever the right analogy is. I found a way to make a business (two of them in fact) work for me. No boss. No big bureaucracy. Work that doesn’t feel like work. Work that feels like play. No more Sundayitis.

I know there are millions of Baby Boomers out there (and non-Boomers, too) who get what I’m talking about, who have created their own new reality or want to. I’d love to hear your stories. Drop a line if you see this. And I hope you have a great bike ride today.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQCM0p4p_cU]

Tags: small business, work-life balance, Ziff Davis

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One of the great ways of business-building for a small business is for its owners and executives to do public speaking. When used effectively, talking to groups about what you do and how you can solve their problems can give you credibility, help you get slightly famous and garner new business opportunities. Your speaking time may be short (and shorter is better). What can you get across to an audience if you only have 10 minutes? A natural impulse is to talk faster and say more–to get as many words and ideas into 600 seconds as possible. But the speaker’s message gets diluted when she tries to tell too much. No doubt you have found yourself in a similar situation or you will be in one soon. Here are some things you can do to be sure you make as much of your 10 minutes (or longer) as possible.

1. Have no more than three to five points you want to make, and preferably closer to three. People won’t remember most of what you say. They will come away with one underlying theme, if you’re doing a good job in your presentation. You want to be associated with one important idea that has urgency and a need for follow up (with you, of course).

2. You want to leave people wanting more. Don’t try to tell your audience everything. If you do, why do they need you? Tell them enough to pique their interest and motivate them to action.

3. Before you start talking, wait until you have everyone’s full attention. Take a moment, wait for the chatter to stop and for all eyes to be on you. Let a moment or two pass and then begin. Open with a powerful statement about a significant problem audience members face. Now you have their attention.

4. Avoid PowerPoint. It’s easy to get caught up in the technology of the presentation instead of the material itself. We hide behind PowerPoint. The focus of the audience is on the pretty graphic instead of the speaker. You don’t need it! And if you have handouts, give them out at the end unless it’s important for people to follow along. Anything you do other than speak and make a connection with your audience is a distraction.

5. Rehearse. Unless you are a professional improvisational actor, you should spend some time rehearsing what you are going to say. Use your spouse, your kids, a mirror, your dog (but not your cat–they don’t listen) as an audience. Just say the words and get comfortable with the content.

For more information on public speaking,check out I Can See You Naked. It’s available used on Amazon for a penny! It’s the best book on public speaking I’ve ever found.

Tags: books, powerpoint, public speaking

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New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote a fascinating piece this week in which he talks about a book called The Mental ABC’s of Pitching by H.A. Dorfman. The article, and the book, are about the importance of focus and reducing extraneous thoughts when you are working toward an objective. It’s incredibly important for entrepreneurs to read Brooks’s article (ignoring his concluding paragraph).

The biggest problem I see in entrepreneurs is a short attention span and a propensity to get into the weeds. And I include myself in that group. It takes real concentration to focus smaller, like a good pitcher does. Brooks says, “When a pitcher is on the pitching rubber, Dorfman writes, he should only think about three things: pitch selection, pitch location and the catcher’s glove, his target. If he finds himself thinking about something else, he should step off the rubber.” A great metaphor for how to get things done as a business owner.

Another excellent book on the subject of focused thinking is S.C.O.R.E. for Life: The Five Keys to Optimum Achievement by Jim Fannin.The acronym stands for Self-Discipline, Concentration, Optimism, Relaxation and Enjoyment. Fannin has coached sports superstars and corporate executives on a system that has to do with reducing the thousands of thoughts that clutter our minds and training ourselves to visualize and focus on a few specific things. He calls this championship thinking. It’s a very powerful book and while I believe that the only system people can truly follow is one they invent themselves, you can pick and choose exercises from what Fannin offers and incorporate them into your life. Anyone thinking of undertaking an entrepreneurial venture is going to have to master being in the “zone” Fannin talks about, so if you’re possibly headed in that direction, check out the book.

Speaking of Fannin and his concept of championship thinking, the kind all leaders and business owners need, here’s a perfect example. In this year’s NFC championship game between the Giants and Packers, the game was decided by place kicker Lawrence Tynes, who kicked a 47-yard field goal in overtime to win the game for the Giants.

He did so after missing two other opportunities in the final quarter, either of which would have provided the game-winning points. So how did he feel going into the third attempt in the most important game of his life after missing two? “I felt good about all the kicks,” he said. “The operation on the second one obviously was not what it was supposed to be and I didn’t make a very good attempt at it.” Wow, he felt good about kicks that nearly lost the game! And notice how distanced he sounds, almost like he was looking at it from above. That objectivity and ability to distance himself from the immediate outcome, plus his ability to put a bad performance behind him when most mortals would have broken down sobbing, defines championship thinking. Think about that when you have your next difficult day in your business.

Tags: David Brooks, entrepreneurship, H.A. Dorfman, Jim Fannin, Lawrence Tynes

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Many people look at franchises when they are cut loose from the corporate world or contemplate a life apart from the mothership. I have been a franchise owner for six years and have learned a lot about how to be successful in a franchised business. I coach many of my fellow franchisees on critical success factors. I receive frequent phone calls from people considering buying into the franchise. They always ask the same question: If you could go back, would you choose it again? The answer is yes, I would, but many franchisees in my system would not. Most people are ill-prepared to succeed in a business of their own. Even though the pitch of virtually every franchisor is that you will be in business “for yourself but not by yourself,” the truth is: success is all up to the franchise owner. Even though the statistics say franchised businesses are less likely to fail, if the franchisee doesn’t execute a well-conceived plan to make the franchise work for her, she still has a high risk of failure.

If you are thinking of buying a franchise, get some advice (but not from the franchisor) on evaluating and increasing your probability of success. There are lots of franchise “consultants” out there, like FranChoice, Entrepreneur’s Source and others. They are perfectly good firms with a great base of knowledge–but they are paid by the franchisor when you buy one of the franchises they represent. So they are not exactly objective. You may be better off finding a consultant or coach who is fee-based and not on any franchisor’s payroll.

A few things I think are important to consider when you are thinking about a franchise are:

• Have you really reached the end of the line with regular employment? It’s so much easier to have a job than a business. Regular paycheck, health coverage, vacation…not so bad! Unless you absolutely, positively can’t tolerate the idea of working for anyone but yourself from now on. If you don’t pass that test, you probably should go get another job.
• Are you falling in love with a franchise concept? Are you thinking that this pig looks really nice with that shade of lipstick? Love clouds your judgment when buying a franchise. The process is a lot like buying a house (and it could cost you as much). There’s a big emotional component to it–and franchisors know this. They will play on your psychological investment in learning about the franchise and yearning for a different life. It may not be possible, or even desirable, to make a decision like this without emotion. But recognize that you are not being totally objective, either. You are being sold, you are selling yourself, and buying into a dream. Dreaming is good, if you can live the dream.
• Do you have the skills to be in business? I’ve seen a lot of IT managers, engineers and other non-sales professionals start businesses and struggle. Not a knock against those folks, but I know of no franchise in which you do not have to be competent at sales and marketing to be successful. A transmission franchise doesn’t require you to know how to fix cars–you just need to know how to get people into your store. That requires outreach, community participation, guerrilla marketing, networking, referral business, and a heavy dose of operating excellence (which the non-sales types often excel at). If you don’t have the skills yourself, do you have a partner or someone who can fill in your gaps? Don’t think the franchisor is going to drive people into your store and all you will have to do is serve them well. Remember, it’s your business, not theirs.

Tags: Enterpreneur's Source, Entrepreneur, franchise, FranChoice, IFA, Maui Wowi, small business

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