The Entrepreneur's Mentor

Why Them and Not Me?

I read the newspapers every day, just like everybody else. When big companies start to go bad, do their banks call their loans? Do their creditors cut them off or sue them? No, of course not. When Bear Sterns looks like it is going to collapse, what happens? The federal government arranges for an influx of funds...

Then there is the world of small entrepreneurs. Hiccup once and the bank is all over you. Hiccup twice and you find yourself in workout. Where is the government to help the little guy who needs a leg up?

It is interesting that small business is the lifeblood of the American economy, yet there is no safety net out there. It is supposedly what sets the United States apart from other countries, yet we have no way to cut it any slack.

Small business people put up their homes and their personal assets to get financing.  They have "skin in the game."

I understand that the market decides which businesses are worthy and which not, which should survive and which should not. Some businesses are ill-conceived and probably don't have a chance from the beginning. Others are innovative and have good ideas, good products or good services and occasionally hit a traffic bump. Look what 9/11 did to so many businesses. Imagine what Katrina did to small business in the affected areas.

I don't have THE solution, but would love to brainstorm and come up with a bunch of good ideas.How do we support entrepreneurs and help them to overcome temporary financial difficulties? How do we encourage entrepreneurs to be innovative and to take reasonable risk without having them feel like tight rope walkers without a net?

Airlines and auto companies rack up big losses and keep on going. The government has bailed out many big companies. Financiers have bailed out others. What can we do to create some breathing room for our brothers and sisters, the entrepreneurial majority? Remember, many of the great ideas are derived from the efforts of small business people. How many will die on the vine if their companies are not sufficiently financed or capitalized?

Micro-banks have been wildly successful in Asia, giving small entrepreneurs a start or a leg up. Where is that same thought process in the US? On many projects, developers are required to build a certain percentage of their units for low income housing. Why can't banks be required to lend a certain percentage of their assets to small business with few assets? Why aren't there venture firms that are set up to help small business rather than to just make the investors rich?

Ideas anyone?

Time Management Again-Another Look

During the current ongoing Presidential campaign, I have heard it said more than once that if you have to change what you say depending on who is in the room, you have an issue with truthfulness that will come back to bite you in the rear end. For NAFTA in front of one group, against it in front of another. For gun control until you speak to hunters and then you love guns.  It is an issue we all have. We want our audience to identify with us.

Blogging is sort of a free ride until the people that really know you start reading your blog. Then they can say "Boy, it is interesting that he says that, because that is not what he does." It can quickly become a place where your words are clearly visible and maybe different from your actions and from where you can get called out.

So, this week I have had my own work/life balance issues. I have my regular schedule of two out of town clients, one on Tuesday and one on Thursday. I have a  major legal transaction on which I am working for a client that has a deadline of tomorrow. I  have another major client coming into town today with whom I must find time to meet. And I have my out of town grandkids in for a few days and they really want time with me. And I really want time with them? Where is the time?

I cannot afford to shortchange anything in my schedule. I need to manage my day from 6:00 AM to midnight and find time for everything in there. So, what gets left on the cutting room floor?  My down time. That seems to be the least important item this week, although I am left feeling exhausted. But there is time to rest and sleep after the perfect storm has blown past.

Keeping a focus on what is really important is critical. And importance lies in all areas of life, not just work. Being entrepreneurial means being innovative and if we can innovate in our business, we can innovate in our life to find ways to make all of the pieces fit. And if it is a short-term situation, it should be a no-brainer.

Don't throw up your hands and think it is impossible to do what needs to be done. Prioritize and innovate and use your time well. Remember, we are investing our time, not just spending it.

So there, it is is out there. Those that read this who know me can pass judgment on whether my actions speak louder than my words.

Keeping Track of What is Important

This blog is important to me. I like to feel that I am reaching people who need some words of encouragement or a "wake up call." I want to help people keep from making some of the mistakes i have made in a long entrepreneurial career.

So, I am surprised when I see that I haven't posted in close to two weeks. What has kept me from it? Going back to my calendar, I find I have been on the road nine of the last thirteen days. Three other days I had meetings all day long. I actually had one day where I was doing desk work, and I didn't get to posting.

Is it a priority? Absolutely! Is it important? Positively. But in the greater scheme of the demands on my time, it didn't fit in. Does that ever happen to you? It is important to work on what is important as often as possible. Within that category, you need to prioritize your activities and handle the high priorities first and then the lesser ones.

Some of us dream of being as busy as I have become. But there is a down side. And that is that some things that are important get delayed or don't get done. They fall down the list, or even off of the list.

Time management is critical, but even with it, we may find we have too many balls in the air.  Which ones to drop? Maybe the ones somebody else in the organization can do. Maybe the ones that are not the absolute best use of your time. If we ask ourselves the question "Is this action getting me closer to or farther away from my goals or my vision?", maybe we can decide more easily.

Some of us try to do it all, even in the face of evidence that we cannot.  What will it take? Total failure? A nervous breakdown? An ulcer?

Blogging is relaxing for me, so I will need to fit it into my relaxation time, when I have some. What tasks can you hand off? Do away with? Do less often and be okay with it?

Leonardo da Vinci said there is time for everything, but I doubt that he had the foresight to envision the 21st century and the speed at which things happen and move.

We need to cut ourselves a break some time. It is okay not to do it all. It is okay to be human. It is okay to say "no mas." Make it okay with yourself.

The Law of Process

Last week a colleague and I were co-facilitating a session with a group of middle managers. These folks are smart and motivated but beaten down from above and not really supported from below. In our session, my colleague brought up the Law of Process, which I have used many times in the past, but not recently.

While she was showing its applicability to these managers, I was thinking about how much it applies to entrepreneurs.

There is a nice graphic that shows this law clearly, but I'll be darned if I know how to add graphics to a blog post, so I will just explain it.  The graphic shows a square divided into four equal quadrants. The first quadrant is the state of Unconscious Incompetence.  We exist in this state when we are pretty clueless, when we do not even know what we don't know and we don't know what questions to ask.

For many entrepreneurs, the state of Unconscious Incompetence shows up in areas of business management and leadership that are unfamiliar territory. You could be in violation of labor laws that you don't even know exist. You could think that by putting all of your employees on salary you are avoiding the need to pay them overtime. You would be dangerously wrong.

The next quadrant is the state of Conscious Incompetence. Here we at least begin to realize what we don't know. We know enough to ask questions. In this state someone may have said to you "Are you sure you can do that legally?"  All of a sudden you realize you don't really know the answer.

The third quadrant is that of Conscious Competence. Here you have done research yourself or have called your lawyer and have found out the real story. You are now aware of the issue and you know the answer to the original question. You are also now conscious of the fact that there are areas where you do not have knowledge and you now know you need to do research or get advice.

The final quadrant is the land of Unconscious Competence. Here you are on autopilot, confident that you have the whole picture understood, you have done your homework, and you are functioning like clockwork.  This can be a good place to be.  But it can also lead to disaster.

Why, you ask? Because things change constantly. We really should not get too comfortable that we have a handle on anything. If we get too complacent, guess what happens? We end up Unconsciously Incompetent again.