Archive for December, 2009

Diary of a Start-Up: "Why Didn't We Think of That?!"; Why you should seek input on your Startup business

There’s an old saying that goes something like this:  The only way to end up on the same side of a war as the Italians is by switching sides twice.  I bring this up because this post may seem to contradict a previous posting (the one advising when to shut up about your business).  As we have promoted KikScore among friends and through social media, we’ve gathered a lot of feedback.  Some good and some really good.  We’ve found that we’re not alone in our experience.  The more you get feedback, the better your business planning and product can be.

This is not to say that you should seek input from everyone you meet and change your product willy-nilly.  Instead, when seeking input look for advice from someone that knows your industry and, when you receive the feedback, take it with a grain of salt — knowing that you’ve spent a lot of time on your business, but are open to making improvements with valuable input.  Sounds easy enough…but why the hell did I feel like a complete dolt the other day?  Let me explain:

My partner, Raj, and I were talking about KikScore with a good friend,  who is very familiar with the Internet and ecommerce space (Let’s call him “Internet Sam”).  Sam liked our service and gave very solid advice on tweaking the current business model.  Then he suggested a potential channel for KikScore that is large and perfect for our service (I can’t get into that now…see, I’m not completely disregarding the advice about shutting up).  Raj and I sat silently, slack-jawed, completely stunned that Sam, who has thought about our business for 5 minutes, could think of an application that we hadn’t in 2 years.  We called each other later and my exact words were “I feel really stupid”. 

But is it stupidity?  Isn’t that the point of seeking some one’s advice and input — the hope of valuable insight that you wouldn’t gain easily on your own?  I’ll let these questions remain rhetorical, because I really don’t want to know the honest answer.  Oh hell, if you want to answer them, go ahead.

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Archive for December, 2009

Choosing the Right Smartphone to Manage your Business While you Aren't in the Office

I recently made the decision to move out of the pre-iPhone ages (believe it or not that was only a little over 2 years ago) and get a smartphone that allowed me to better manage my work and personal life while I wasn’t in the office. After I made this decision I started researching the various smartphones on the market and determined that there were some features that I really needed and others that were nice to have but not vital to managing my business while on the go.  I thought that I would share a few of these features to consider the next time you are looking for a new smartphone:

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Archive for December, 2009

Inc. Magazine: A Must Read For Small Businesses & Entrepreneurs

I have read a lot of magazines in my life from the Economist, Mens Health, Time, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated….ok you get the picture.  I have also read a lot of business magazines ranging from BusinessWeek, Forbes, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, etc. There is not one magazine that gets me so energized and enthused  like Inc. magazine.  I realize that most of those other magazines do not cover small business, entrepreneurship and startups, but none of those magazines’ content makes me passionate about what they are covering even though  I am very interested in each magazine’s subject mater.  Inc. simply makes me more passionate and motivated to be a entrepreneur and have a successful business with each issue that I read.

Some of you may say, wow you lead a pretty boring existence.  Get a life.  Look, I like a lot of different types of forms of entertainment – Will Farrell as Chaz Michael Michael in Blades of Glory and an occasional AC/DC concert included, but I  honestly look forward to getting Inc. magazine every month.  I also really like the Inc. magazine website and the blogs, especially the staff one called Fresh Inc.  Here are the reasons why every entrepreneur and small business should read Inc magazine cover to cover:

1)   Many writers are real successful entrepreneurs:  Joel Spolsky and Norm Brodsky write monthly columns on real business issues.  Norm Brodsky has been giving us a play by play of the sale and then resale of his business, CitiStorage, and it has been tremendously insightful for anyone going through a sales or negotiation process.  I remember his Rule of 3 from his stories- Three issues will always arise at the very end of a deal, that can kill a deal.  It s so true and your challenge is to overcome them, if you want the deal to close.  Joel Spolsky who is co-founder of Fog Creek Software, has excellent monthly articles about a range of topics from software development, sales, strategy, pricing and management that  often relay real examples from his company.  These first hand accounts are incredibly informative to any small business because so often we are facing the same issues that are covered in their columns.

2) Tone of Small Business Success: The tone that weaves its way into nearly every Inc. article is how to make your small business or startup succeed.  Inc. does a great job of profiling successful entrepreneurs.  But it does even a better job of profiling entrepreneurs and startups that may have failed in some way.  The writer or interviewer always does a great job of getting the entrepreneur to describe how they may have failed, what they learned and what they should have done differently to be even more successful.  Each of the articles then has a rich value of showing not only the successes of these entrepreneurs but also the lessons learned.  No better article from Inc. does this than the “How to Kill A Great Idea!” profile of the founder of Friendster, Johnathan Abrams.  Its a must read for any startup and especially any start up getting venture capital.

3) Micro-Articles on Strategy, Marketing and Management: – Inc also covers the main areas of a small business each month.  In these separate articles devoted to specific areas such as marketing, strategy  and management they often give valuable and very practical business tips that businesses can incorporate into their daily operations immediately.  Last month, they had a great strategy tip of using interns to develop talent and even using contests at schools to attract recruits.

4) Small Business Tools, &Applications:  In nearly each issue, Inc. profiles tools and applications that can make your business more productive and efficient.  The magazine often tries to look out for the most cost-effective tools and even give you recommendations for what tools are best for what types of businesses. I have found out about tools and applications such as Zoho (free productivity and collaboration applications), BaseCamp (project management), Guru (outsourced software and web design and development) and many more from these profiles.

5) Learnings From Cover Stories:  I have read every Inc. magazine cover to cover from mid-2007 to November (I am a little behind, have not read this month’s yet!).  Nearly every cover story that Inc has had has profiled a small business or entrepreneur that has not only a noteworthy story, but has powerful lessons for every businessperson that is reading the article.  The cover stories are deep, insightful and tell the story ofl real life successes,, failures, challenges and obstacles that businesses, partners and entrepreneurs lived through while operating their company.

There are so many other valuable parts of Inc. magazine including the “How to” guides that I have used that describe how to buy the best insurance, how to hire the best small business lawyer, or how to make the most of trade shows.

I can not tell you how many times my wife and I have sat down and discussed one of Inc.’s great articles about a business, startup or entrepreneur from that month’s issue.  We recommend it wholeheartedly to any small business, entrepreneur and startup. Keep it up Inc. Thank you for being such a great magazine.

Let us know your views on Inc. magazine.

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Archive for December, 2009

Customer Reviews and Blogs: Do They Matter?

There are a lot of websites and blogs that track the good and bad customer experiences with online sites and service providers.  The general notion is that these past experiences will help predict what future experiences will be.  The concept makes a lot of sense, but it presumes a few things to be true.  I just finished reading SuperFreakonomics, so I think I’m more than qualified to address these issues in a rigorous manner (did I mention that I am a scientist?  Yep, I graduated with a degree in political science, so you’re in good hands):

Sample Issues: The review sites and blogs are very much slanted towards those actually inclined to share their experiences, and those who actually know how to share them.   There is a large bloc of people not interested in telling the world about how they were ripped off by an unknown online seller (it’s called “loss avoidance” and most of us engage in it at some point…see I told you I was a scientist).  The sample of these comments are further vexed by the fact that some people don’t know how to voice their opinions (or which sites to do it with) — so the sample will likely skew towards more positive and be made by those familiar with technology/online industries.

Fraud: This is also a concern, and likely why most ratings skew overly positive…online sellers/service providers rate themselves (via fake accounts or their friends).  It’s not “fraud” in the sense of defrauding someone out of their money, but it’s not honest and defeats the purpose of customer reviews.  It’s similar to how I used to inscribe my own yearbook to make it seem like I had more friends.

Low Visibility/Little Negative Impact:  An online seller isn’t likely to promote their customer reviews unless  they are positive, so it takes a consumer extra effort to research the negative reviews.  And once you do come across those reviews, what do they mean?  If you’re about to save 20% on the new plasma t.v., it’s likely that you’ll take your chances — it’s likely the previous customers were just complainers. 

Time for the anecdotal: My wife bought a new light fixture online.  She receives it and finds out it can’t be used in a bathroom because of a potential fire hazard.  The contacts the owner of the site, he tells her “she should be fine putting it in the bathroom”).  After realizing she is not going to be able to return the item, she threatens to “blog about her experience”.  Of course, she has other things to worry about and in time she moves one — no negative review, no blog posting, no negative effect for the online seller.

Of course, we here at KikScore think we’ve solved the issue, but until we’re ubiquitous, we’ll have to determine whether customer reviews are helpful.  What are your thoughts?

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Archive for December, 2009

Join the Small Biz Celebration in NYC at Shustir's Holiday Party on Dec. 16th

KikScore’s friends over at the small business martketplace site, Shustir are having a holiday celebration in New York City.  Join them and many other small business friends on December 16, 2009 for an open bar at the Spur Tree at 76 Orchard Street, New York City between 7-9pm.  For more information and registration, click here.

For more information about the small business benefits offered at Shustir, check out our blog interview of Shustir from yesterday.

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Archive for December, 2009

Look Who's Talking: Shustir.com, The Online Marketplace For Small Business

We here at KikScore are excited about teaming up with Shustir.com…a very unique marketplace and community for smaller and newer businesses.  After talking to the Shustir Team, it’s clear that their business is based on a passion to help everyone get online and connect.  As part of our effort to get to know what is important to the online and small business community, Shustir is letting us interview some of their members on a weekly basis — introducing their business and hear their take on what’s important to grow in the current economic environment.

Our first interview is with Shustir, to introduce them to our readers and readers at large (we’re targeting the literate demographic these days).  So, without further delay, we’re proud to introduce you to Shustir.com:

1. Tell us about Shustir.com and who it focuses on serving? Shustir.com is a social networking site that provides its members with top of the line e-commerce storefronts at an unbelievable rate. Imagine being able to start a store and sell anything you want to anyone in the whole world for a few dollars a month!

We also provide an excellent marketplace for consumers to come and browse businesses in their own neighborhoods and local businesses around the world.

2. Where is Shustir focusing most if its energy in 2010? Shustir is making its online marketplace into a vibrant community in 2010. Vendors and service providers from every neighborhood in the world can come together to participate in this virtual bazaar. The activity in the marketplace will give individual storefronts a new level of web visibility and dramatically increase their click-through traffic.

3. If you had 2 lessons learned from the start up experience that you could pass on to others, what would those be?

a. Establish who you are as a company early on and develop that personality. If you don’t have a strong company identity people will always have a hard time grasping exactly what it is you do.

b. Set clear goals that lead to actual monetization and achieve them. It’s fun to have a company but if you aren’t always moving towards making it a profittable one, you won’t be a company for long.

4. If Shustir could be any movie or movie character, what movie would it be and why? If Shustir were a movie character it would be the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella. With almost no effort at all Shustir can turn your humble business into a beautiful online storefront and give you the transportation to get to the internet ball where you can meet the handsome prince, your new customers! But unlike the Fairy, our magic doesn’t wear off at midnight.

5. If you could buy a potential customer a drink, what drink would it be? A Martini. Shustirred, not stirred.

6. While having that drink with the potential customer, what would you like to talk about with them? About how good that pun I just made was! Then I would talk to them about what they thought they did better than anyone else in the world. And then I would talk about how that thing could become a Shustir storefront in the next 15 minutes. Then I would ask if the wanted another Shutini.

7. If you could give that potential customer one CD from a 1980’s band, what CD would it be and why? Well first I would ask why we are using CDs for 80s band? Why not a cassette tape!? But if I could pick one album to give our customers from the 80s it would have to be Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It”. Because Big Business has dominated American commerce for too long and now that we have the internet and wonderful tools like Shustir, we’re not gonna take it anymore!

8. Do you have any parting thoughts? Local businesses have been really suffering over the last decade. Main Street has given way to the Big Box and Mom and Pop have lost out to the Board Room. The democratizing power of the internet is going to change all of that and Shustir wants to be part of this movement. Come to Shustir.com and see what all the fuss is about.

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Archive for December, 2009

Is your business a trail adventure?

A favorite route - Apex Trail

Living in Colorado is refreshing and rewarding… and can force one to tackle adventures with a free spirit. The assumption is that if you live in Colorado, you are hitting the slopes every weekend. Well, I’m not a skier, but give me a good pair of trail running shoes, a crisp morning and a trail that winds up a mountain or hillside – now that’s what I call adventure! Will there be the unavoidable tree root to navigate or an elevation change that I wasn’t quite prepared for? Maybe encounter a snake or snow/ice which forces one to slow down and proceed with caution. Starting a business is a similar adventure in putting on those running shoes, climbing up the mountain, yet not certain what you may encounter along the way.

When launching a new business, we are forced to be selective of which trail to tackle first and more importantly to keep track of where we’ve been so as not to make repeat mistakes. The path of a new business needs to be able to react and learn from last weekend’s trail run and plan accordingly for next week’s adventure. My favorite poem, Robert Frost’s The road not takencan be interpreted many ways. In the success of business, we over analyze which can paralyze… How complex should your beta launch be? How are we going to support customer inquiries/issues in a timely manner? What enhancements should we concentrate on? How will we measure success? I can go on…

In trail running, I cannot be afraid to take that challenging trail and have an incredible story to share from my adventure. In starting a business, we need to be brave enough to take that less travelled road that can pave the way for others to follow, which will be our loyal customers.

When in doubt, run uphill! What twists and turns, and unexpected elevation changes have your business taken you on? Share your experience with us.

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Archive for December, 2009

Small Business Grit & Social Media Buzz Turn Zhu Zhu into Holiday Bonanza

Have you purchased your Zhu Zhu?

I have to admit, I never heard about a Zhu Zhu until this past weekend.  I did not even know what the big holiday toy was this year.  Chalk it up to traveling, being busy, not having any kids (yet, my first is due in 4 weeks!), or being distracted by our last minute (before baby arrives) home renovation that my wife and I are undertaking (its being chronicled over at another blog).

That brings me to opening up the Saturday Washington Post and reading all about the Russell Hornsby who has had a family toy business for over 35 years.  He has spent a lifetime fighting the likes of Mattel and Hasbro who each have million dollar marketing and R&D budgets.  His story and the story of the family business that is behind this year’s holiday must have toy should bring a smile to any small business and inspire everyone. Zhu Zhu is this year’s Pokemon and Furby (my wife actually still has this must have gift of holiday past).

The Zhu Zhu Idea

In Spring of 2008, Hornsby and his daughter, who are employees in the family business named Cepia, literally put their thinking cap on and debated whether a hamster toy could sell.  As market research, he literally watched hours of YouTube clips of hamsters to learn their peculiarities, unpredictableness and just how they can be plain cute. From this research came the Zhu Zhu idea.  But not just the pet hamster, but a bunch of accessories such as a ramp, slide, skateboard and even a fun house.  So they had the idea, the product, accessories but how the heck did they plan on marketing the Zhu Zhu and all of the accompanying accessories?

Social Media Creates the Zhu Zhu Buzz

Most small businesses face the same challenge of a limited marketing budget, Hornsby and his company were no different.  This is where social media and some very thoughtful planning lead to a smashing small business success.

Mommy Party: Hornsby with the help of mommy marketer, BSM Media first, held 300 “mom mavens” parties where 10 moms and their children were invited to parties where they could play with the Zhu Zhu toys and all the accessories. Brilliantly, nothing was for sale at these parties, but the kids and the moms got hooked and went home thinking about Zhu Zhus.

Mommy Bloggers: Then the moms who went to these parties started blogging about how great the parties were. They also posted pictures on Flickr and uploaded videos to YouTube.

Zhu Zhu Twitter Party: Then they decided to have a party for moms and kids on Twitter to talk about…….Zhu Zhus.  According to the article, more than 1,000 people attended and there were over 8,700 tweets in a one hour period.

Buzz Sells!

All of this buzz helped start the Zhu Zhu craze.  From there it was word of mouth marketing and further coverage in the lead up to the holiday season.  The rest is truly history.  Hornsby’s Zhu Zhu has crushed anything comparable from the big guys of Hasboro and Mattel.

The Zhu Zhu story gives me hope that through a good idea, great execution via social media and word of mouth marketing, that any small business can recreate this success.  This type of glass half full optimism that we highlighted before is the fabric for small business success.

Tell us your thoughts on the Zhu Zhu success story.

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Archive for December, 2009

Brett Favre and Business

I may be starting something I shouldn’t with this post, as most of us on the KikScore team are ardent professional football fans (except Raj, who likes the Cleveland Browns).  The first 20 minutes of our Monday meetings are consumed with rehashing Sunday games (we get a lot more done during baseball season).  This year my favorite team, the Minnesota Vikings, signed Brett Favre and, in turn, they are having a great season.  So, to the disgust of Mike Collins (my business partner and Green Bay fan), I’m going to write what Business lessons can learn from the Brett Favre acquisition.

Patience:

Everyone assumes that when you come out with a new product or service, it has to have immediate market success, as-is.  But as Nassim Nicholas Taleb makes clear in his book “The Black Swan”, one of the greatest strengths entrepreneurs have is the ability to tinker.  Tinkering with a concept until it suits the market is the whole point of business.  What’s the tie-in to Brett Favre?  Well, his first year in the NFL wasn’t notable.  He was a back-up quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons — and didn’t show any indications of being a future Hall of Famer that he is.  But over time, he changed his work-out methods, how he approached the game and now, at the age of 40, he’s having one of his best years ever (that’s after 20 years of tinkering).

Talent:

Last year, the Vikings had almost every member of the current team.  They lost in the first-round of the playoffs.  Now, who knows how it will end this year, but this year’s team is much different than last year.  The biggest difference is Brett Favre — his experience and talent.  The business lesson is pretty obvious.  You can have all the supporting pieces, but talented leadership (or lack of it) can raise or sink the level of everyone else around him/her.

Brains Over Brawn:

Somewhat related to patience, is the importance of experience/intelligence.  There are a lot of faster, younger players than Brett.  In fact, the Vikings have two younger/faster quarterbacks and they still chose to hire Mr. Favre at $14M/year.  When it comes to business, it may be tempting to promote the new HBS graduate — she knows all the cool Malcom Gladwell terminology and interned at some investment bank (that no longer exists).  But maybe you should look again at the company veteran, the one that knows your product and industry well.

This posting could go on and on…so out of interest of preserving my dignity, I’m going to now end my love-letter to Brett.  Feel free to send any jeers or life-sports lessons.

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Archive for December, 2009

Small Business Funding: Tarp Banks, Goldman Sachs or Powerball?

We’ve posted earlier about funding a start-up, talking about whether to get venture or angel investment, or self fund.  So, if you go the self-funding route, small business owners face a question of dipping into their savings or seeking a small business loan.  But is that really a choice for small business owners?

A recent article examined small business lending by the banks that are the Top 22 TARP recipients — which just so happen to be the largest lenders to small businesses.  According to CNN, though TARP was intended to provide liquidity to small businesses as well as large, it’s just not happening.  The top TARP recipients have trimmed back lending to small business by over $8B.  Though the new administration required $15B be set aside for small business lending, that money has gone untouched.

So if a small business can’t get a loan, what about a charitable fund for small business?  Doesn’t exist, right?  Well, maybe not.  For 10,000 businesses, there is a chance for a cool $50k gift card…thanks to Goldman Sachs.  Goldman, with the encouragement Warren Buffet, has created a $500M fund to benefit 10,000 small businesses — providing access much needed liquidity.  Some media outlets are a bit cynical about Goldman’s motivations, but really what does it matter?  Goldman paid back its TARP funds and really didn’t have to create the small business fund. 

If your business can’t get a loan, and doesn’t luck out with the Goldman Sachs free money give-away, there is also the Powerball — with a 1:195M chance to win.  Or, you could do what KikScore is planning — a lemonade stand offering $100k organic lemonade.  It only takes one customer.

Let us know if your business has had any good or bad experience in obtaining a small business loan/credit line.

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