Start Ups

Who’s Doing The CEOs Job In Your Small Business?

May 3, 2022 by Jim Blasingame

Every business has specific assignments that must be performed by the Chief Executive Officer, a.k.a CEO. Not the founder, owner, or manager; the CEO.

It’s not difficult for a small business owner to understand the role of general manager, because that assignment comes preloaded with day-to-day operation stuff, which is always chock full of actions and reactions. But it’s another matter to get that same person to isolate a CEO’s strategic foresight assignments from a manager’s tactical tasks required to open the doors and serve customers today.

A CEO’s job is to carve out and commit to the time, energy, and assets to develop the strategies that make sure the business’s doors are still being opened next year and the year after. Let’s look at the three focal points of the job of CEO. [Continue Reading]

Change Will Happen, With Or Without Your Input Or Guidance

April 25, 2022 by Jim Blasingame

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every purpose under heaven.”

On its face, this well-known King Solomon wisdom from the 3rd chapter of Ecclesiastes delivers hopeful encouragement. But implicit in this passage is a somewhat hidden, and often troublesome, paradox: A time for everything also implies nothing can be forever, and therefore, change is inevitable.

In the abstract, we accept the reality of change, but in practice, we regard it as the medicine we know we need but don’t want to take. And knowing change is inevitable doesn’t make the pill any sweeter.

In the marketplace, it was challenging enough to implement a change when we had the expectation of not having to do it again anytime soon. But in the post-pandemic 21st century, the bitter pill of change has acquired an unfortunate new characteristic: a frighteningly short duration.

Organizations that enjoy consistent success will make change an abiding element in their business model, rather than an intrusion into “the way we’ve always done things.” They’ll create a culture and environment where change occurs when necessary, without creating a casualty list.

Rick Maurer, my friend and author of Beyond the Wall of Resistance, surveyed organizations that have implemented change. He identified four things they did to create a culture compatible with change. Here are those findings, followed by my thoughts. [Continue Reading]

What’s Love Got To Do With You And Your Small Business?

April 18, 2022 by Jim Blasingame

In her second-most-popular song, Tina Turner sang, “What’s love got to do with it?” Out here in the Main Street marketplace, the answer is a lot.

Indeed, love is the reason people start businesses. We love to make and sell things: shoes, tires, hamburgers, cars, soap, computers, bread, air conditioners – you get the picture. You love your business; I love my business. Starting and running a business is a love story.

Yes, I know. Sometimes our businesses are not easy to love. In fact, our business is often like our teenagers: You may not always like it, but you always love it. Which is a good thing, because if you didn’t love your business you wouldn’t come back the day after it gave you the worst day of your life.

But love can also be a problem. Is it possible to love your business too much? As business owners, we know how to fall in love with our businesses, but we usually don’t know how and when to fall out of love with it. Here’s a great American love story that went wrong: [Continue Reading]

Beware The High Price Of Free Information

April 12, 2022 by Jim Blasingame

Stone Age humans had about 2.5 million years to prepare for the Bronze Age, followed by 2,000 years to transition to the Iron Age, which lasted about 800 years. Meanwhile, modern humans, barely in the third decade of the 21st century, are dealing with the 50-something Digital Age transmogrifying into the Information Age at the speed of light, literally in front of our eyes.

No other human generation in history has ever had to make this kind of shift.

A wise person once said that the most powerful force in civilization is information. Well, today, humans are awash in that power in the form of digital records of everything from “Breaking News!” to virtually everything that’s ever been said, written, or happened since Og and Gog invented the wheel in the Stone Age. And the following points represent the two sides of the Information Age Paradox: [Continue Reading]

I Know What I Was Feeling, But What Was I Thinking?

April 5, 2022 by Jim Blasingame

“I know what I was feeling, but what was I thinking?”

This title lyric of a country song by Dierks Bentley is about a boy letting a pretty girl get him into a whole lot of trouble on their first date. Of course, there’s often no accounting for the unintended consequences of affairs of the heart.

But when these words are in the head of a small business owner, it’s due to an ill-advised decision that causes the proverbial winged sack of money to fly away.

“I know what I was feeling, but what was I thinking?” is often the financial post mortem lament of the passionate but too impulsive start-up entrepreneur. Being passionate about starting a business is very important, [Continue Reading]

Should Mamas Let Their Babies Grow Up To Be Entrepreneurs?

March 28, 2022 by Jim Blasingame

“Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys.”

Country music fans recognize this title and opening passage from the Ed and Patsy Bruce song made famous by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. If there ever was a honky-tonk anthem, this is it.

Every good anthem has a hook lyric and in this song, it goes like this: “He ain’t wrong, he’s just different, and his pride won’t make him do things to make you think that he’s right.”

Wish I had a nickel for every time someone watched an entrepreneur doing what entrepreneurs do, and asked, “What’s wrong with him?” Well, entrepreneurs are a lot like cowboys — they’re not wrong they’re just different. For example: [Continue Reading]