Posts in Business Consulting

Startup Resources — Funding

Business Consulting Meandering Genius Start-up Saturday Strategic Planning

Here’s a fantastic resource for startups in San Antonio. This information covers all sorts of topics from education to funding. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to feature some of these resources.

Funding is always a hot topic for startups. Where am I going to get money to make this thing happen? How much money do I really need?

Liftfund is local organization that has been microloans and small business loans to deserving entrepreneurs for over 20 years. They are just one of the many funding options in San Antonio and elsewhere.

Money is always crucial when starting or growing a business. When building your business plan, determining startup costs is very important. Here is an idea to use.

Draw a line down the center of a peice of paper. Top-left, write Must Have. Top-right, write Nice to Have. Sit down with your partners, spouse, friends, etc. and brainstorm money and things needed and place them in the appropriate column.

Write down everything…even if it doesn’t cost money. For instance, “Facebook and LinkedIn Business Pages,” should be Must Haves, but are free. A LinkedIn Premier Business account; however, will cost you.

This rather activity will help you think through the money you need to start and what you need to grow.

Bad vs Good Leaders

Business Consulting In Your Face Friday Leadership Meandering Genius Organizational Commitment

Poor leaders ask you what you think about them.

Good leaders know!

Let’s face it, if you’re a good leader, you are “plugged into” your people. You know what they’re doing. You know what they’re thinking. That’s because you’re engaged with them!

In reality, bad leaders know they suck. Who wouldn’t know? No one can be that clueless! Why are they bad…so many reasons: micromanagement, absent, unengaged, poor communicator, etc.

These are the leaders that ask you for you opinion of them in 1:1s. Why, because they know they’re bad…and they know you won’t be honest, because their life will be a living H$%% of honest. Bad leaders know you will lie to their face to prevent retaliation.

And, in their sad, demented, world, this will make them feel good about themselves and confirm their veiled delusions that they’re a great leader.

How do we “flip the script?” How do we stop the madness?

Faith and Start Ups

Business Consulting Life Meandering Genius Organizational Commitment Strategic Planning Take A Leap Wednesday

Faith is a huge factor in your success of your new startup. You must believe in what you’re doing and that you will be successful.

Three years ago, my wife and I bought a run down horse farm in Bulverde TX. Our vision was, and still is, to create a “premier equestrian destination.” Officially, we had our Open House two years ago and we’re still running Fine Print Farms today.

I remember back about a year and a half ago, I was over at Cowboy Church, next door. The pastor was talking about “being called by God to do something in life.” The lady sitting next to me asked me, “What did God look like, when he asked you to buy that broke down farm next door?” My response, “Suprisingly like my wife!”

Trust me…we’ve had some significant rough patches and we will have more. Our faith of our vision has often been tested. Our faith will continue to be tested!

In any and all startups, you need three things:

🔭 A VISION of what your business will look like in the log term.

🔒 A BELIEF that the vision will come true.

🕯 And FAITH in your belief of that vision.

You will be tested…and it will be hard. Everytime you’re tested, close your eyes, picture your vision, and believe. Have faith in what you believe!!!

Who Am I — Success Incubator

Business Consulting Change Management Leadership Life Meandering Genius Organizational Commitment Process Improvement Promotion Tuesday Strategic Planning

Your success is my success…I’m a success incubator!

In the early 90s (Air Force cop), I got involved in quality. In 1998, I retrained as a fulltime internal coach and consultant. I was always the problem solver, so I moved from job-to-job every couple of years.

When I retired from the Air Force, I really wanted to help people–the business person. I created my own consulting business, Crosscutter Enterprises. Crosscutting is a jeweler’s way to bring out the brilliance of a diamond–I crosscut your business.

A month later, Booz Allen Hamilton (top 10 consulting firm) called me about a job they hadn’t posted and I hadn’t applied for. My interview was more of when can you start. Over three years, Booz changed and I left to work again with business people who need my help.

A month later, USAA called offering a contract. A month later, the exec I worked with told me he was going to hire me at the end of my contract–he did. For seven years I led four strategic engagements.

Today, I’m back…looking to work with you–businesses that need an expert to help them grow and solve problems.

Let me be your success incubator!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Business Consulting Meandering Genius Start-up Saturday Strategic Planning Tips

Recently, I was talking to a Branding Coach at a networking mixer. She said, her most difficult challenge in working with new business clients is that they don’t even know what business they want to be in.

Many people dream of starting their own business … striking out on their own as an entrepreneur. However, they don’t really know what they want to be when they grow up.

There are so many challenging questions that start-ups face, but this one is daunting.

Here are a few ideas … I would love to hear yours:

▶️ Take what you do today, and turn it into your own business. You know you’re already good at it. You can create a side-hustle or create your own company.

▶️ Turn a hobby into a job. I love golf, and about 15 years ago, I came up with a pretty neat business model around the sport.

▶️ Buy into an existing business. There are many franchise opportunities that exist. Also, businesses are always being sold by others for various reasons. If you don’t know what you want, take a look at what already works that you can buy.

Consider four things when starting out on your own. 1. You love what you do. 2. You are good at it. 3. People need it. 4. People will pay for it. At the center of these four, is PURPOSE.

Stop Dumbing Down Your Work!

Business Consulting In Your Face Friday Leadership Meandering Genius

I’m not sure who started teaching leaders that “less is more.” I have watched the move away from presenting and providing detailed information about an issue, project, effort, etc. Today, we’re sharing so little detail on the item that leaders don’t have enough information to make sound decisions.

This is a terrible trend! This is creating a culture of employees only doing enough work to provide three bullet points on a single slide–the result of an organization becoming “PowerPoint Deep.”

Leaders think they’re too busy to need all the data and information to make a decision. The higher you go, the less detail. I’ve attended training classes on executive level presentation. We expect people to be brief and concise in their message to the point of obliterating the facts.

Stop!

Leaders — get out of their glass tower, walk around, and really understand what’s going on. You need to see the data and research. You need to understand the problem. Otherwise, the culture you’re setting is that no one that works for you understands the work. Why would they go to the trouble of researching a subject, collecting data, and analyzing the findings if the you aren’t going to look at it?

What is your culture like at work?

Business Consulting Leadership Meandering Genius Organizational Commitment Strategic Planning Thoughtful Thursday

Gallup reported, in August, employee engagement at its highest in nearly 20 years: 34% of U.S. workers engaged. That still leaves 66% disengaged. What is your culture like at work? Do the words like: positive, motivating, challenging, exciting, energetic, and rewarding describe your office? Or would you describe it more like: toxic, controlling, complacent, corrupt, backstabbing, and unhealthy?

Where does culture come from? Leader and employee behaviors create cultures over time. Statements like, “That’s the way we do it here,” reflect an accepted culture. Artifacts on the walls often represent a culture at work.

Good cultures are measured and cultivated. They begin with assessment of the values being represented every day in the office. Then the desired culture is codified in values for the organization with a description of the expected behaviors. These behaviors are actively monitored and measured. Leaders hold everyone accountable.

An example is when the US Air Force created their values of integrity, service, and excellence. Then they documented them in their Little Blue Book.

How does your organization define its culture? Have they documented their expectations? Do they live by them?

Take A Leap Hump Day

Business Consulting Meandering Genius Process Improvement Strategic Planning Take A Leap Wednesday Think Big

Happy Hump Day!

Voltaire said, “Great is the enemy of good.” While Cardone said, “‘Thinking big’ simply isn’t enough.” Which statement do you believe?

What is your passion? Are you living it? Are you aiming low and hoping to hit the mark? Are you accepting the status quo…the, “We’ve always done it that way,” or “That’ll never work?”

Taking a leap doesn’t mean completely throwing out the old for something totally new and scary! You can take the leap, just by doing one thing a week that scares you. It might be enrolling in a new college class, taking a different route to work, parking in a different location, or even eating at a new restaurant.

Taking a leap is a way to hijack your sedentary brain and shock it into awareness. Wednesdays are perfect days for taking little leaps. Simply start doing one thing different that improves your work or life.

What’s your one thing this week?

Why Do You Do What You Do?

Business Consulting Meandering Genius Speaking Strategic Planning

imageMany people start their own business for a variety of reasons: extra income, want to be their own boss, freedom of when and when not to work, stay at home parent, and a whole host of other reasons. However, many of these businesses fail over time, often because the owner didn’t document, follow, and constantly update a strategic business plan. The often overlooked and seldom thought about aspects of any strategic and business plan, is deep down, why you’re doing what you’re doing and where you want it to go — the mission and vision. Sure, many companies have an idea and even some of them they write it down. But, how good are these statements for your company?

Join John Knotts, a strategic business advisor with over 25 years’ experience working with companies of all sizes to improve their business operations. The first questions he asks in any engagement are: what do you do, why do you do it, where are you today, and where are you going. These questions begin to form, what he calls, the ‘Strategic Bridge’, a visual representation of your strategy at work.

Bring your current mission and vision statements for you company and let’s examine, along with John, what you do and why you do it.

Bulverde Spring Branch Business Networking
Friday, August 18, 2017, 8:45 am
St. Paul Lutheran Church of Bulverde (The Red Roof Church)
29797 US-281, Bulverde TX 78163
Free to attend

Developing the Leader Within

A Lesson from Life in Leadership

Business Consulting Leadership Meandering Genius 3 Comments

Here is the perfect lesson in leadership. Not to be political, but to share a point. Clearly, if the results were different, I’m wondering if the actions would have been any different. However, this was a poignant lesson in leadership just the same.

Election night thousands of Clinton supporters waited for hours throughout the day. They stood and watched, all exuberant when the initial polling reports came in. They stood and watched as the numbers started coming in. They stood and watched as the expected New England states started flipping for Clinton. They stood and watched as critical swing states like Ohio and Florida were lost. They stood and waited for their leader.

They stood and waited for something that never came!

Behind the scenes, Clinton was calling Trump to concede, while on stage she had sent her Campaign Manager, John Podesta, address her supporters. “Go home,” he said, “we’re not done yet.”

Yes…yes, you are. 

The moment the leader fails to be a leader and abdicates their responsibility to another is the moment the leader stops becoming a leader. 

By sending Podesta to address (and lie) to her thousands of supporters, she has shown that this is all about her and not about them. A servant leader would have empathized with her people and would have known that they needed her to speak.
Instead, she called, conceded, and went home to bed. The next day she called a press conference at 10 am, but didn’t speak until almost noon. This time it was only to staff, aides, and cameras. Worse yet, the loss was blamed, through veiled statements, on a system designed to keep a woman from the Oval Office. 

This was the best display of poor leadership, demonstrated at the highest levels. What to learn from this:

1. If you lose, something fails, it breaks, etc., get out there and address your people. Be transparent and provide them closure.

2. You’re in charge. Accept the blame and move on. Blaming anything and everything else on the failure might make you feel better about yourself, but it robs you of control of the situation. Taking ownership, means taking control and that’s what your people want to see–it provides hope, not defeat.

Please take a lesson from this and not be like this.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.vox.com/platform/amp/policy-and-politics/2016/11/9/13572218/clinton-concession-speech-not-speaking?client=ms-android-att-us