Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

Pricing in Trust: Baseball Tix and Lessons to be Applied

This week I’m spending time back home in the lovely state of Minnesota.  In addition to spending time at my parents’ lake place, I had the opportunity to visit the Minnesota Twins new baseball park.  Because it is the first year in existence, tickets are hard to come by.  In such situations, you ask yourself a question.  Do I go to StubHub.com or do I buy from a scalper on the street.

Now the benefits from buying from a scalper is that you can be spontaneous, negotiate a bit, and also avoid paying any “service” fees tacked on by StubHub.  So, with these advantages, why did i go with StubHub?  One simply reason: trust. 

A few years back, i thought i scored some great seats, only to learn that my tickets were fake.  So from that point on, I’ve been pretty wary of scalpers — opting for the certainty of getting legit tickets (and paying more for that certainty).  It seems that the same could be said for other businesses.  Competing solely on price is a war of attrition.  But if your service or site provides additional safety or features surrounding trust (or giving greater security that the shopper will get what he thinks he’s paying for), you can command a premium for identical goods. 

I’m sue there were other business lessons to be drawn from my baseball experience, but after 4 beers, this was the most obvious one for me to conclude.

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Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

Bad Calls at the World Cup: Any Business Lessons From This Pain?

My KikScore partner, Travis, challenged me to find any good that has come from all of the terrible calls made during the World Cup.  Not one to turn down a decent challenge (sorry Raj, but that White Snake challenge was weak at best), I am presenting the business lessons from the referring debacle that is the World Cup:

1.  Any Press is Good Press:  Let’s face it, all the terrible calls (and the video replays of the terrible calls) prove the point that there really is little difference from being famous versus infamous.  Either way the event is well known.  For the first time since 3rd grade, I’ve been paying attention to soccer — and so have a lot of other non-soccer fans.  People unfamiliar with the sport are now watching the games, learning the rules, just so they can talk about the bad calls.  The business lesson here is obvious.  Getting the word out trumps pretty much everything else.

2.  The Best Team Doesn’t Always Win:  England should have trounced the U.S.  The U.S. should have beaten Algeria.  But that’s why you play the games.  And sometimes the best team doesn’t win.  Same goes for products and businesses.  Sometimes the best service becomes a niche player.  And sometimes a third party (a referee, a very litigious individual, or a government) intervenes and makes the decision for the marketplace.  Just like soccer matches, your product has to survive in the real world, which isn’t a completely efficient marketplace of ideas. 

3.  Anger enough people, and The Rules Will Change:  The flip side of my first point is that if the current rules set in place promote incompetence and anger enough people, tradition will be sacrificed and the rules will change in an attempt to prevent a recurrence of the same issue.  So there is no instant replay for FIFA games.  With all the anger about the blown calls, there is now serious talk about creating instant replays.  Same goes for business.  If you creat enough ill-will, the rules will change for your business.  Just ask Goldman Sachs.

Feel free to share any other business lessons learned from this outbreak of bad calls.

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Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

Is a Start Up the Same as Gambling? I Hope Not

This week I’m in the city of New Orleans for a conference.  I’ve never been before and it has been eye-opening.  As with anything, there are pluses and minuses.  The minuses — the weather and 3 inch long cockroaches.  In fact I just left a fancy dinner, barely eating my food because one NO’s finest cockroaches scurried across my table. 

The upside to N.O.?  First, if I lived here, I would lose a lot of weight — as I don’t eat sea food.  The second: they have a great casino dowtown.  Last night I played blackjack for 2 hours, and I was thinking about joining a poker game. 

You often hear that starting a new business is a gamble.  Well I certainly hope that’s not the case.  I get the point that starting a business involves risk, but risk doesn’t equate to risk for me (so long as it’s a calculate risk).  Last night, as I was playing cards, it seemed pretty clear that most of what was happening was pure chance — no strategy.  I mean, you could have a betting strategy, but if you followed it perfectly, it still gets you to a coin-flip chance of winning. 

I don’t envision the same type of discipline (or lack thereof) with starting a small business.  Sure, you still may go bust, but that doesn’t mean strategy was essentially pointless.  With a business, a good team and idea should get you a better than toss-up chance to succeed.  Whether you recognize if you have a good team or idea is another story.  By the way, I lost $100 last night…so I hope I’m a better business person than gambler.

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Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

Don't quit on me!

When starting a small business, everyone wears multiple hats and jumps in to assist where needed.  As your business grows, you work to hire people to fill specific roles so that:

1) the founders can focus on more strategic direction

2) to drive the business forward

3) effectively execute on key initiatives.

You proudly get your entire team staffed up and people are working hard in their roles and the business grows exponentially – everything is on the up and up, customers are fascinated with your product line and you have a backlog of requests to implement… and then, somebody quits.

So this perfect (well at least manageable) entourage you have created to implement your product roadmap now comes to a screeching halt, or at least imposes a very large mountain to navigate around. To keep business moving, you must revert back to wearing multiple hats, which in turn impacts growth and forces you to re-prioritize efforts, at least until you can back fill.

In larger companies, the back fill process can be lengthy and daunting.  What tends to happen is until the position is refilled, the tasks of the resigning employee are dumped on other employees… it becomes a juggling process to continue forward momentum.

While you cannot 100% prohibit turnover from happening, you can implement processes to ensure smooth transition in the event and also back fill (or redistribute effectively) so that you don’t end up pushing further resources out the door from overload.  People leave for a variety of reasons, but when building a team for a small business and growing your company, retention can be critical.  Then again, sometimes, that resignation is music to your ears…

How do you motivate your team to stand by you? What transition plans do you have in place in the event of a mutiny?

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Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

When Virtual and Real Worlds Collide

Last night the real and virtual worlds kep colliding.  How did it start?  With a happy hour.  Which is always a nice way for the evening to start.  My good friend from my old workplace was in town.  He was there for a conference and met with some of the attendees after the first day. 

Here comes the first collision.  I didn’t get a call from my friend that he was in town…instead he tweeted me the location.  My wife and I showed up. 

The second collision was that most of the happy hour attendees knew each other from social media.  When I was asked how I was connected to the happy hour, my answer of being a former co-worker of the organizer seemed so antiquated.

I’m having a very nice time at the happy hour — talking technology, KikScore, other businesses (like BumperTunes.com).  At the end, as I was leaving, I realized that I knew the Twitter handles of people instead of their actual names. 

As we decide to go to dinner after the happy hour, we of course jump on our available smartphones and make a reservation on OpenTable.  We go to dinner and my buddy proceeds to take pictures of the food and outline what his Yelp review i going to be of the establishment. 

At the end of the night, we said goodbye and then my friend thanked us on Facebook and Twitter.

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Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

Elevator Pitching: Better than it Sounds

We’ve been talking to a lot of folks about KikScore these days: potential partners, press, associations and investment types.  They all want two things: (a) a “deck” — i.e. Power Point presentation; and (b) and “Elevator Pitch”  that they can carry back to others.  I’ve already made clear my general dislike for Power Point, but I think the Elevator Pitch is a good thing.  Why?  Well let me list the reasons:

1.  It forces you to think differently about your product.  When you’re working on a service or product, it’s all about adding features.  You’re constantly expanding the functionality in an effort to be the “best” or provide a more bundled solution.  The goal is to make sure customers can’t live without you and won’t stray for some piece of functionality that they may want from another source.  The Elevator Pitch makes you get away from listing out features and functionality.  Instead it makes you describe what problem you’re actually solving.  And if you’re not solving a problem, and this problem isn’t evident from the short pitch, you probably don’t have a very compelling service or product.

2.  Helps you with Messaging.  You’ve got to describe your service in a way that is free from industry buzz words or meaningless technical jargon.  The Elevator Pitch requires a generalist message.  For it to work, you’ve got to be clear, concise and persuasive.  We’ve already thought of some new marketing hooks while putting together our 2 lines of description on our service.

3.  Makes you think of what’s important to others.  You’re so involved in creating the product and serving customers, you sometimes forget what’s important to others (e.g. “what’s your business model”, “is it scalable”).  The pitch makes you think of things that you normally don’t consdier day to day.

Now the only question is how long really is an elevator ride.  Do you have any advice on the Elevator Pitch?

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Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

3 Small Business & Startup Blogs That You Should Check Out

Over the last few months, I have come across three really good blogs that consistently have excellent information and incredibly useful tips for small businesses and startups.  Since KikScore’s blog is focused on both of those areas – and pop culture with our recent posts about the Human Centipede, AC/DC and Lebron James – it is great to see the great content that these blogs are putting out.  So I thought I would pass these blogs along for the community in case you have not come across any of them.

The three blogs are:

1. The Small Company Blog – This is an excellent blog that covers all things small business.  But it goes beyond that and focuses on providing real practical tips for operating your small business. For example they have an excellent post on Developing a Comprehensive Marketing Plan for your small business as well as this post on 5 Ownership Mistakes that Will Kill Small Company Growth.  That and many of the other posts there are worth a read.  Also follow @TSCB on Twitter, Eric Rudolf the founder of this blog put out some great tweets.

2. Startup Marketing Blog – This blog goes way beyond its name and covers much more than marketing.  If you have a startup, this is a must read blog because of the breadth of topics that it covers related to building and growing a startup.  Beyond covering issues for marketing, this blog also has great tips on startup strategy, approaches to running your startup and tips on bringing your product to market.   The caveat is this is not an every day blog that you check since the content is generally updated about once or twice a month.  Nevertheless, when there is new content, it is excellent.  The blog is the brainchild of Sean Ellis who has run the marketing for two startups that have gone from launch to IPO so he has super street credibility.

3. Keys to Growth Blog – This blog is focused on giving guidance for software startups and especially their CEOs, but I have actually found that the content is just as applicable for small business owners.  The thread that weaves through most posts is positioning yourself and your company for growth through having the right people and right leaders in your startup.  There are also highly practical tips that are included such recent posts on strategies to cutting your company’s expenses.  Adam Ross runs this blog and he has two mantras: “Call your shot, then execute”. “Leadership is action, not position”.  That spirit is the basis for this blog and that is why it made this list of ours.

As we come across other good blogs, we will continue to tell the world like we did previously in our Go To Small Business Blogs Part 1 and Part 2.

Let us know if you have any good blogs that you have come across lately.

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Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

Vegas: Good For Business, Bad For Relationships

Here’s the situation:  Raj and I are going to be speaking at a conference in a few months.  It will be a great opportunity to talk about KikScore and learn from fellow entrepreneurs.  Sounds good, right?  Um, did I mention it is in Las Vegas?  Did I mention that my wife is not really into Vegas?  I guess she doesn’t mind Vegas in and of itself.  She minds me going to Vegas with Raj — unsupervised.  I’ll let it go that she thinks I need supervision and get to the main point. 

Sometimes what is great for business — e.g. new partnerships, conferences, new channel development — is not necessarily great for your personal life.  I’m not even talking about work/life balance (which i’m convinced is not every achievable).  Instead it’s a matter of value conflict.  Let’s say that KikScore could sign a lucrative deal with a deplorable company.  I would at least think about it.  My wife would be dead set against it — and I think she’d judge me a little for doing the proposed deal. 

So what’s the end result of my Vegas dilemma — I’m going to Vegas with Raj…and Raj and my wife.  Geez!

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Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

What AC/DC Can Teach Small Businesses About Staying Power & Success

As some of you know I grew up in Northeastern Ohio back in the 1980’s and 1990’s.  One of the staples of my youth was the sound of AC/DC‘s hard rock classic “You Shook Me All Night Long.”  I played that song and so many other AC/DC songs while I got dressed before high school, on the drive in to school, in between Algebra 2 and Biology class, before, during and after soccer practice — well you get the picture.  It was AC/DC really 24/7 not just for high school, but through college and even those during brutal times in law school during the 90s.

The interesting thing is AC/DC has put out so many songs and albums so consistently over the last 37 years (yes, I said 37!) that they have fans that span multiple generations.  They are such an iconic band that one of this summer’s blockbuster hit, Iron Man, made its entire movie soundtrack a greatest hits anthology of AC/DC’s best tracks spanning four decades.  Now that is impressive! In fact, this is the second time in AC/DC’s career that they have had a movie soundtrack exclusively devoted to them. The first being Steven King’s “classic” Maximum Overdrive.

AC/DC’s decades of continuous success, incredibly loyal fan base that spans generations and nearly 70 million records sold in just the US  could probably be the basis of a business school case study – just maybe not at an Ivy League school!  So there are lots of lessons to be learned from my favorite Australian band (besides maybe the eternal Little River Band who sang “Lonesome Loser“- just kidding!).  Here are just a few items that small businesses can take from AC/DC’s years of success and ability to keep cranking out hits:

1. Pick a Theme & Stick to It Relentlessly – AC/DC has had a simple and very straightforward theme for their music over the last four decades.  I will not get into the substance, but lets just say there is a reason high schoolers and especially teenage boys like the lyrics and the stories in their songs.  Listen to AC/DC classics like Who Made Who, Thunderstruck, Highway to Hell, TNT, Shoot to Thrill, and Heatseeker. The theme is consistent in almost every one of these songs. So AC/DC takes this theme and pounds away at it so it is woven into nearly every song, every album and through their lead guitarist’s Angus Young’s antics at live shows that theme plays out in their concerts too.

So if you are a small business, pick a theme or core idea like AC/Dc has and make that theme be the central focus of everything that you do as a company.  Let that theme define you.  The most famous current themes for companies in 2010 are Zappos fabulous customer service and Apple’s innovative devices.

2. Avoid the Fads – Disco, 80’s hair bands and then grunge.  These were three fads that have come and gone over the last 40 years in music.  Some bands tried to ride the fad and they faded into obscurity when those fads died.  AC/DC instead kept to their core and avoided these fads that popped up over the years.  Their avoidance of these fads helped keep AC/DC’s fan base happy with the music they had grown to expect from the band.

For a small business, its takes discipline to avoid the fads like AC/DC has.  Stay very clear of the latest fads that are out there because those fads can be the death of your business – ask all of those dot com companies that vanished back in the late 1990s!  If your business sticks to what it does best and makes an effort to avoid the fads and latest gimmicks, that can help to keep your company focused on what is important to your customers.

3. Give Your Fans a Great Show Each Time – I have been to multiple AC/DC concerts in my life.  My first one was back on November 23, 1990 (actual ticket stub is pictured at the top of this post)!  I have also seen a lot of videos of them playing live too.  AC/DC consistently gives fans a great show.  Lets think about that for a minute.  This band has to play the same songs over and over again in different cities, states, countries and continents.  But each time AC/DC brings down the house when they play “Hells Bells” or when they end the concert with their famous “For Those About to Rock, We Salute You.”  Great shows means happy fans which then translates into more album sales for AC/DC!

So small businesses, rock out each time you have the opportunity to be in front of an actual or potential customer.  Treat every experience as a unique experience because it certainly is for that customer.  When I left the last AC/DC concert, I was exhausted it was such a great show and I wanted more!  That is the way small businesses need to leave their customers, exhausted and wanting more – in a good way.

4. In Adversity, Stay on Theme and Do not Waver – In February 1980, AC/DC lead singer who sang on classics such as Highway to Hell, Walk All Over You and Let There Be Rock, Bon Scott, died of an alcohol overdose in London.  The band considered quitting all together.  Lucky for us they did not.  Not only did they keep going, but they hired Brian Johnson to be the new lead singer and put together arguably the best hard rock album of all time, Back in Black.  The solid black cover with only the title of the album served as a tribute to the fallen Bon Scott.  In its darkest hour, AC/DC came back from near break up and put out an album that is the second best album selling worldwide ever beyond only Jacko’s Thriller.

We can all learn the trait of resilience and the ability to get back up after a devastating loss from AC/DC.  Small businesses, there will be those dark days and tough hours especially as you deal with competitors, new technologies and angry customers.  The trick is to push through because when you come out on the other side of the difficult times, you will be stronger and you can be super successful too!

5. Keep the Band Together so Your Fans Stay Happy –AC/DC has had a relatively stable core set of band members that have been continuously centered around around two brothers – Malcolm and Angus Young. In fact, four of their five members have been with the band at least 30 years!  That is amazing.  AC/DC could have gone the way of Van Halen – another great rock band – but instead of multiple line up changes and replacement of lead singers like in Van Halen,  AC/DC’s stability has significantly contributed to band’s years of success.  It sure is a lot easier to stick to a core theme like we discussed in #1 above, when you do not have moving parts.

For small business, it is all about getting the right people in place like AC/DC has done.  Once you get the right people in place, give them the core theme for your company and then just let them do their jobs – even if they are outsourced vendors or part time employees.  The ability to keep a good team together for a long period of time and have appropriate succession planning for people who may leave increases your chances of small business success.

This really has been a fun post to write. I hope it has been a fun one to read too.  With AC/DC being one of my favorite bands, I am pleased that they could bring me even more enlightenment than they did in my early years.  If you can all be a little more like AC/DC in your business – there probably not too many people outside of the hard rock music world who say that  – your chances of having a successful small business will increase!

Did you think AC/DC would ever teach us small business lessons?  Or are you like my partner, Mike, who thinks I should have picked Whitesnake (probably his favorite) as the band to discuss here. By the way, I challenge him to incorporating Whitesnake into his next post….lets see if he can meet the challenge.

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Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

The Need for "Holistic" Security

After seeing the title of this post, I know you’re thinking I’m now into yoga or alternative medicine.  When I’m saying “holistic” security, it’s meant more in terms of taking a more global view of security…not making sure you bring a gun while shopping at Whole Foods. 

Here’s an example of what I mean: I’m sitting in a Starbucks yesterday doing some work.  I drop my computer bag and walk over to make an order.  Even though I’m only 15 feet away from my computer, and I can see it the entire time, I get nervous about someone stealing it.  So I get out of the line, grab my computer and stand back in line with my Dell laptop (and my iPad…because I’m a big nerd).  What strikes me about this is how concerned we are about the physical security of property, but are more cavalier with online/non-physical security — e.g. we go to countless sites with dodgy security and no idea who the site owners are. 

This is crazy.  I mean a lot more negative things can happen to me from online security issues than someone stealing my laptop (let’s not talk about anyone stealing my iPad…i couldn’t bear the thought).  My identity, my credit, my bank accounts can all be compromised with an online issue.  With the physcial security issue, all they get is a laptop that is encrypted and can be remotely zapped to prevent any compromise of data. 

I know this sounds like a set up for a sales pitch on KikScore, and I guess it is a bit, but the main point is that being “protected” or “safe” should also consider online activities.

I’m done preaching.  Any thoughts?

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