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On my radio program, beginning in 1998, I started interviewing telecom experts on something called broadband Internet connection. It would be the replacement for dial-up over POTS – plain old telephone service. At that point, like the Internet itself, the “big pipe” was so new that less than 4% of households and almost no businesses had broadband Internet connection.

Reporting on this emerging capability, I made the easy prediction that the world would change when broadband became ubiquitous and broadly adopted – which it did. But the harder prediction – which I didn’t make – would have been that the real game-changer would take the form of mobile computing on the tiny screens of magic wands we call smartphones. Today, with mobile networks delivering fourth-generation connectivity – 4G – almost everywhere, and 5G on the way, mobile computing has disrupted the marketplace in unprecedented ways by giving consumers exciting new expectations.

But perhaps what caused mobile computing to make a quantum leap is found in this slogan: “There’s an app for that.” Anyone with access to paved roads and/or electricity knows this refers to an application that converts content otherwise consumed with a browser on a PC, to a hand-held device, like a smartphone or tablet. Mobile apps have proliferated because they’re almost always handier – and sexier – than their website counterparts.

A generation before my broadband prognostication, a real prophet, John Naisbitt, published his landmark book, Megatrends (Warner Books, 1982), in which he prophesied, “The more high tech we have, the more high touch we will want.” I’ve termed that quote, “Naisbitt’s Razor,” and it foresaw a kind of unlikely equilibrium between digital technology and analog humanity. This will be on the test: For a small business to find success in The Age of the Customer, Naisbitt’s Razor must be at the heart of your business strategy.[Continue Reading]

If you don’t like making decisions, small business ownership will not be your cup of tea.

If just the thought of having to choose between two undesirable alternatives gives you a headache, don’t quit your job.

If you obsess about which direction to take because you know you’ll have to live with any mistake you make, be sure to clock in tomorrow and thank your employer for the job.

Clearly, making decisions is easier for some than others, and it’s human nature to put off hard decisions. But there’s nothing easy about being a business owner, including having to make lots of decisions that are difficult, frightening, and sometimes even professionally and financially perilous.

Not only do business owners have to make many decisions, but in his book, Tough Management, my friend Chuck Martin proposes that one of the seven principles of effective management is the ability to actually force tough decisions; to cultivate a management practice that gets the toughest decisions right out front and dealt with as soon as possible.

But in his research, Martin discovered that the difference between what management thought they were doing with regard to effective decision-making, and what their subordinates felt their bosses were doing, made it look like these two groups weren’t watching the same ballgame. [Continue Reading]

Since humans are capable of abstract thought and sophisticated language, our behavior often blurs the lines between black and white into what is known as “the gray area.” Consequently, the desire for order in the marketplace promotes 1) the establishment of ethical standards to encourage acceptable personal behavior; 2) contracts to establish legal behavior; 3) courts to sort things out when a final authority is required.

When it comes to ethics, the so-called professionals have lots of help. Attorneys, CPAs, doctors, architects, investment professionals, etc., have established and published very specific ethical and professional standards, plus monitoring entities with sanctioning authority. Indeed, their education includes, and sustained certification requires, knowledge of that profession’s ethical standards and practices.

But when small business owners find themselves in the gray area with a customer or other business relationship, there is no rule book we can call on for guidance. We’re on our own because The Universal Code of Small Business Professional Conduct and Ethical Standards doesn’t exist. Yet.[Continue Reading]

Whether you’re dreaming of being a business owner or are actually working on that dream right now, one thing is the same: You don’t want your dream to become a nightmare. And one of the best ways to accomplish this is to learn as much as you can about how this dream will play out.

Of the many motivations that would cause someone to have a business-owner dream, allow me to introduce four that are common to all of us. And just below each one, I’m including a counter-balancing reality following a quote from a popular movie. In “The Karate Kid,” reluctant sensei, Mr. Miyagi, imparted the following broken-English wisdom to his protégé, “Daniel-san,” when he said: “Ev’ryting not always as seem.”[Continue Reading]

When the jury was still out on your business’ survival, you probably didn’t want to enter into a long-term location commitment. But if you think you’re going to make it, now might be a good time to take a serious look at where you want to establish your business.

Long-term business real estate planning means either direct ownership or long-term lease. I’ve covered the direct ownership issues and advantages quite a bit, but let me remind you of a few key reasons I consider it to be the stealth benefit of business ownership.[Continue Reading]

Among the people I admire are those who have the courage to make bold statements based on their beliefs and experiences. Early in his book, The Road Less Traveled, the late M. Scott Peck endeared himself to me when he declared that the people he saw in his counseling practice essentially fell into two categories: neurotics and those with character disorders.

Peck wrote, “Neurotics are easy to work with in psychotherapy because they assume responsibility.” He went on to say, “Those with character disorders are difficult, if not impossible, to work with, because they never see themselves as any part of the problem.” Thus missing the invaluable opportunity for self-examination.

Contemplating Dr. Peck’s declaration was a true watershed moment, helping me better understand why some people – including me – behave as we do. Both types of Peck’s patients sought his help because they were experiencing difficulties in life. But if we’re honest, we don’t have to be dysfunctional to realize that each of us falls on one side or the other of this behavior coin. It’s an either/or default circumstance, where we’re either more likely to take responsibility for what happens in our life, or we aren’t.

How you would respond to these business scenarios. [Continue Reading]