Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

Do You Need To Travel To Succeed in Business?

If you work for a big company, travel seems less like a luxury and more like a nuisance.  Sure, everyone talks about the need for “belt tightening”, but even through the most severe economic crisis we’ve faced in years, I traveled more for my day job than ever before.  How could this be?  The rationale is that during the difficult economic conditions, retaining customers is the highest priority (so off we went, visiting customers). 

I’m about to do a three week stint, traveling to the East Coast, the Midwest and the South.  The trips are all important, but if this were on my own nickel, I’m not sure if they would be necessary.  Which brings me to my point…I do have a point.  For small/start-up businesses, the math involving the cost of a trip and the benefit from it becomes crystal clear.  There are no meet-and-greet trips when  you’re financing the trip.  You only go when there is a contract to sign or an important relationship to forge.  Otherwise, conference calls and webinars work just fine.

Shouldn’t that be how large companies also opertate?  If I the travel budget were more tied to executive pay, I guarantee that there would be a higher scrutiny of costs and need for a trip.  Of course nothing can substitute a face-to-face meeting, but do you need a perfect substitute?  What if I can only do webinars with a customer, but give him a 5% break on his bill?  Would that engender more good will and customer loyalty than a steak dinner and forced conversation?

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Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

Just Say No, But Say It Nicely

One of our main distribution strategies for KikScore is working with partners.  Our ideal partner is one with that has a lot of interaction with small online businesses, or small businesses that want an online presence.

In my day job, I work with with partners quite a bit (or as Corporate America calls them…Channels).  As with any type of sales, reaching out to partners involves a lot of rejections.  Either they don’t have time or the proposed relationship doesn’t fit into the partner’s strategic vision.

What has surprised us at KikScore is the overall interest that our product has received from a partnership standpoint.  We’ve approached 10 different channels and we are in deep discussions with 6 of them.  That type of success rate would get you in the baseball hall of fame (as a hitter, manager or pitcher).

This type of positive reaction has likely twisted my perception.  So when I reached out to a larger company today — with a contact from a mutual friend — I thought it would be a warm reception.  Uh, wrong.  The person I contacted not only said no, but almost chastised me for bothering her.  Sorry, delicate genius.  Let’s hope you never lose that corporate job and have to start approaching people on your own.

Also, I’ll never be a customer of this company.  It’s not because she said no, it was how she said it.

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Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

Business Roadblocks — Is Growth Our Own Worst Enemy?

One of the reasons I enjoy being part of the KikScore is the fact that it is our own business.  Sure we have meetings and on big decisions we need to get a majority vote, but generally I can do whatever is in the best interest of the company. 

The flip is true for my day job.  No decision can simply be made.  I must first draft a compelling email, then create an attractive power-point presentation, and finally convince our legal/compliance department that I’m not the anti-christ (which is harder than you may think).  I would say that despite having a full-time job dedicated to creating new opportunities,  I spend less than 50% of time actually doing it.  The rest is overcoming internal process.

So is that what is really meant when we say that small businesses are “nimble”?  Is it that they don’t have internal machinations dedicated solely to preventing risk or is it because entrepreneurs are able to make quick decisions (and why they are their own bosses in the first place)? 

A better question is: can you ever avoid creating your own business roadblocks?  Every small company that is successful eventually becomes a larger one.  At that point, the larger company has a business to actually protect and risk takes on new meaning.  Certainly a small business doesn’t fret about risk as much, because they are “judgment proof” — meaning that if they are ever sued, the business simply packs it up and the owners move onto something else.  With a larger business, it can actually pay a judgment and risk means something (at least to the shareholders).  Perfect example is my day job.  10 years ago, it was a start-up with 3 employees.  Decisions were fast and the business grew faster.  Now we are part of a larger organization and our growth is a fraction of what it used to be.  On the other hand, we’re very profitable now (and were not in the beginning).  So risk means something to us.

What do you think…is there a way to avoid this?

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Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

Quick Tips on Pitching the Media for Small Business

All of us small businesses and startup owners wonder how can we get more publicity and buzz about our product and business. Many of us also wonder what do we have to do to become a thought leader where the media actually comes to us for comment on industry matters.  Well I came across this excellent short video by one of the best small business evangelists that is out there, Anita Campbell, the owner of Small Business Trends and BizSugar.  Anita gives us some very common sense and practical tips for every small business and startup to use when they are pitching their business and product to the  media to try to get covered.  She also touches on how to build up your credibility with the media so you can be considered a thought leader.

Here is the video and its only a few minutes long, but it is packed with great tips from Anita Campbell.

Some of the tips Anita mentions in the video are:

1) To help get the attention of journalists and writers, blog about their stories.

2) When you blog about their stories, use the writer’s name and also link to their article. That will help get their attention.

3) When your product or company finally gets covered by a journalist, make sure you blog about the story and again include the name of the writer! We actually did this in a recent post when KikScore was covered by PressTV on issues of cybersecurity and safe online shopping.

4) When you are pitching journalists, give them useful information that will help them write a story.

5) During your pitch, give them other information besides about your business, including data about the industry, trends and even other influencers that the writer should interview.

6) Help the writer by giving them the names, contact information and as much information about those other people for their story.

7) Your pitching should not stop when you finally get some media coverage. Keep trying to build goodwill with the journalists and writers and that will increase the chances that they will come back to you for future stories.

These are excellent tips that we should all follow.  Anita really is a great source that we previously named one of her sites as one of our top small business blogs that we like.   I have met Anita on a couple of occasions including my day job out in Herndon, Virgina and at last year’s Grow Smart Business Conference in Washington DC.  If you own a small business or run a startup, we at KikScore highly recommend following Anita on Twitter and also checking out her sites.  Also she is from my hometown of Akron, Ohio – so I am sure she (and many others) may identify with my recent post about Lebron James and Small Business.

Please tell us how you pitch the media? Any tips would be appreciated!

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Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

Organic or PPC — Which is Your Flavor?

The debate currently rages — where should you spend your time on marketing — cultivating organic traffic or spend the money on pay-per-click?  We here at KikScore are trying to find the right mix for our small business. 

If you research the topic, most of the arguments go as follows: organic is free, it is long-term and builds on itself; PPC is tailored, expensive and, in the short-term, effective in driving traffic.  A funny thing also occurs if you research this topic — you definitely see the battle-lines drawn by self-interest.  The SEO experts all push organic search while the sellers of PPC keywords all push…well PPC keywords.  Even funnier, the SEO folks often purchase PPC keywords on the topic “organic versus PPC”.  What?

I’m not taking sides (I think both approaches have their merits), but I do think the argument that organic search is “free” is a bit misleading (or woefully undervalues your time).  To take advantage of organic search, you’ll have to create content on a regular basis, spend time on social media networks, and monitor the your competitors’ activities.  This is not a “free” avenue to traffic. 

Oddly enough, I equate the debate to grocery shopping.  If you want to do the things that are good for you long term, shop exclusively at Vitamin Cottage or farmers markets.  On the other hand, if you want to eat now, go to Chipotle.  Fast food is not a viable substitute for having a well-stocked kitchen (though its probably cheaper to go to Chipotle every day).  Of course, if your business needs customers sooner rather than later, you probably can’t wait on the garden.  So the balanced approach is probably where I shake out — in other words, do both.

What’s your position on this?

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Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

SurePayroll's Michael Alter Talks Small Business & Online Payroll Services

In today’s KikScore blog interview, for the first time we are not profiling an actual small business.  Instead, to change up the pace for the community, we are profiling a company that small businesses rely on every day to perform a critical function – payroll.  As we do with many of our interviewees, we came across SurePayroll on Twitter and they graciously agreed to give us some insight into who they are, what makes them tick and also provide some fabulous guidance to the small business community.  Today’s interview is with Michael Alter, President of  SurePayroll.

1. Tell us about SurePayroll and who you focus on serving?

As the online alternative to ADP® and Paychex®, we’re dedicated to providing a simple, convenient and accurate online payroll service at a price small business owners can afford. Tens of thousands of small business owners across the U.S. rely on us to process payroll on demand, in as few as 2 minutes. We also offer efficient small business solutions for managing 401(k) plans, health insurance, workers’ compensation, HR compliance and employee screening. Our combination of online payroll service teamed with a small business focus has garnered recognition from PC Magazine, Inc. 500, Accounting Today, the American Business Awards and many others.

2. How did you get the idea for SurePayroll?

In the late 1990s, Chicagoland entrepreneur Scott Wald was running one of many successful small businesses and hated all the time he wasted faxing in payroll then rectifying the inevitable payroll goofs. He thought, “I should be able to do this online — and I bet I’m not the only small business owner thinking the same thing.” Because Scott’s the type of person who turns such thoughts into realities, he assembled a small team to make his idea a thriving business. He asked me to join him in this new venture, and I left my position with McKinsey & Co. We hit the scene in early 2000 with a staff of 10 in a small office in Highland Park, IL.

3. If you had 2 lessons learned from starting SurePayroll that you could pass on to others, what are those?

First Lesson: The last thing a small business owner needs is something that takes time. If you’re in business to help small business, your product is probably designed to save your clients money, but so does every other product like yours. Ensuring it also saves small business owners time is the emotional jolt that pushes them to buy — most sales aren’t closed on a logical rationale alone. Once you’ve saved them time, you need to own their worries. For example, SurePayroll tackles the most time-consuming aspect of payroll: paying and filing all federal, state and local payroll taxes. But this aspect is also the most difficult for most small businesses, and many who run payroll themselves incur frequent penalties from the IRS and other agencies. So we handle everything related to payroll taxes. If our clients receive notices from the IRS or other tax agencies, we’ll work directly with the agency on the client’s behalf. And if we make an error, we pay the fine.

Second Lesson: Never think what you’re doing today is what you’ll be doing 10 years from today. Markets change and products evolve. Learn to adapt quickly. While we’re still an online payroll company, we see the office moving from the computer to the smart phone. We’ve created a Mobile Payroll app for the iPhone® to keep up with our customers — and attract new ones.

4. Where will SurePayroll focus most of its energy in 2010?

The end of the twentieth century saw a massive expansion of the home office, and twenty-first century is greeting us with the burgeoning mobile office. When small business owners can keep their businesses running anywhere, anytime without computer access, they can spend more time closing deals and keeping clients happy. We started planning for 2010 a bit early with the launch of our Mobile Payroll app for the iPhone® in late 2009.

As the only company with a payroll app, we’re here to blaze the mobile payroll trail. This year we’re developing and launching an iPhone app for our customers’ employees to access their pay stubs and records. Later this year we’ll launch a payroll app for the Droid®, providing customers on two of America’s most popular wireless networks access to payroll from their smart phones. And, of course, all of our mobile apps are free to customers.

5. What do you see as 2 new trends in small business for 2010?

We are quickly reaching the tipping point when it comes to expectations that all things capable on a PC should also be capable on a mobile device.  More and more business applications continue to be built for smartphones, and more and more business owners consider the smart phones an essential business tool. Whereas most people rely on their iPhone, Blackberry or Droid to check and respond to email, smartphones will soon be a standard business tool for business owners and employees to conduct nearly all business functions.

Additionally, business owners will continue to see the value of Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions to enhance productivity. More business owners will turn to hosted software solutions that free them from the responsibility and the cost of updating, maintaining and securing and traditional software solutions — and most importantly — free them from having to be in the office, at a PC to use the software.

6. If SurePayroll could put together a top 5 list related to your business, your industry, your customers or anything else what would that top five list be and what would be on it?

If we could create a top-five list for our industry, it would be the top five benefits of outsourcing payroll.

The list would go a little something like this:

A. Avoiding IRS Penalties. It is estimated that 40% of small businesses pay an average penalty of $845 per year for late or incorrect filings. We take responsibility for all IRS penalties that are the result of our error.

B. Reducing Costs. Our research indicates that a small business of 10 employees will typically spend $2,600 per year in direct labor costs associated with payroll. We’re usually well less than half the cost of doing payroll yourself.

C. Offering Direct Deposit. Employees want direct deposit. More importantly for business owners, direct deposit eliminates time-consuming and error-prone paper handling and the need to reconcile individual payroll checks every month. Direct deposit is included with SurePayroll.

D. Leaving Technology to the Pros. Using the wrong tax tables in outdated software can result in stiff penalties. Our constantly updated technology removes those risks and keeps payroll running smoothly.

E. Ensuring Payroll Knowledge Doesn’t Walk Out the Door. If your bookkeeper or controller gets a new job, they will walk out the door with their knowledge of the payroll process and how you do it. We eliminate that business risk.

7. What guidance can you give based on your experience to help small businesses out there that are facing difficult times?

First, take some solace knowing you’re not alone. From Main Street to Wall Street, nearly everyone’s business plan required major readjustments starting as early as 2007.

Entrepreneurs are the most practical and simultaneously innovative group out there. If there is a less expensive, more efficient way to get business done, they’ll find it – and a lot faster than the big businesses that are weighed down by red tape and processes. This is true about staying in business in tough times, too.

As their workloads increased and it become evident they required more employees, many small business owners turned to contractors instead of new full-time employees. While certain stipulations apply to contract workers, if it’s a viable option, it’s worth looking into. You’ll save money on matching FICA contributions as well as other employee-paid taxes, while providing employment during tough economic times. While you’re operating on a project-by-project basis, using a contractor labor force enables you to hire on a project-by-project basis.

Now’s also a great time to save money by review your existing contracts. For example, if your workers’ compensation insurance, health insurance and 401(k) plans come from different providers, see if one company offers everything and can give you better rates. And it never hurts to call your phone company, Internet provider and consulting services to see if you can create a package deal or negotiate cheaper rates. Some of the services we’re convinced we’ll use when signing up turn out to be an expendable luxury.

8. Tell us one thing that is unique about the SurePayroll culture that you want small businesses to know?

We’re like a lot of Internet companies: casual work environment, foosball table in the break area and a relatively flat organizational structure so employees aren’t confined by an insurmountable chain of command. But unlike many of our peers, we embrace and encourage length of service. To show our appreciation for the number of years an employee invests in us, we offer an all-expenses paid trip to an exotic locale (like Mexico) for our employees after every five years of service — we even let each qualifying employee bring a guest. A good number of our employees will soon be eligible for their second “5-year trip.” Quite a statement for a company that opened just 10 years ago.

9. If SurePayroll had a theme song, what would it be and why?

Perhaps No Doubt’s “Simple Kind of Life” because that’s exactly what we provide our customers — at least as far as payroll is concerned.

10. Do you have any parting thoughts for our readers and the small business community?

Kudos to you for your resiliency during this tough economy. You’ve probably had to adapt your business to survive. The upside of doing this is that you’re learning adaptability, like I mentioned earlier. Once the economy hits and upswing, the adaptability you’ve learned will prove invaluable in the new economy.

If you have questions for SurePayroll, please leave them in our comments section.

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Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

Cleveland Cavs Killer Lebron James Gives Small Business & Startups A Few Lessons

As many in the sports world today are talking about, last night’s Boston Celtics victory over the Cleveland Cavs to eliminate the #1 seeded Cavs from the playoffs was a real shocker.  It was made worse by the fact that it accelerated the summer of Lebron James’ free agency.  For the city of Cleveland and Cavs fans (like me), this was as close to a sporting apocalypse as they have seen since Cleveland’s past sporting meltdowns that are so famous, they have one word names attached to them: the Drive, the Fumble, the Shot and  the Wedge.  So from this debacle…actually they are calling it LeBacle in some circles, there has to be a few lessons learned for us small businesses and startups.  Here are a few quick ones that come to mind:

1. One Star Teams Often Fail– the ongoing critique of the Cavs is that they only have one star on their team, Lebron James.  In the NBA its generally known, that you need to have a team made up of at least two stars and several excellent roll players to win in the playoffs. The Cavs have failed for years to get multiple stars on the team to play next to Lebron.  They have tried, but each time the players have massively underperformed like Mo Williams the last two years. So lesson learned for us businesses is to make sure your team has multiple stars and if you have roll players that may be your contractors/vendors, ensure you have folks that can deliver in the clutch.

2. One Person Should Not Hold A Team Hostage – the Cavs have let Lebron James hold the team, the city and frankly Cleveland sports to some extent hostage.  Everything he wants, he gets.  New players, new coaches, new lineups, even new travel plans like when the team is playing in Miami because Lebron wants to stay out and party instead of returning home, guess what the coach orders – the team to stay an extra night in Miami (well who would blame him for that one – I would take an extra day in Miami too!).  That need to make one person hapy has lead the Cavs to make continual changes to their team to find just the right fit of players to Lebron’s liking.  This has had the effect of destroying any team chemistry. That was so evident in the series against the Celtics.  Cavs players that had succeed for the entire regular season (7 months!) found themselves on the bench. Suddenly the team that dominated the regular season, looked absolutely lost.  Startups and small business can learn from this and aim to have a consistent team, where folks play key roles, keep each other accountable and management makes every effort to not take people in and out of the lineup to match one “star’s” whims.

3. Play Your Heart Out & Show it – the now famous Game 5 where it looked like Lebron James wanted to be anywhere but in a sold out arena of Cavs fans (who absolutely adore and support him to no end) in one of the biggest games of his playoff career.  He played scared, he looked timid and in such a big game the star played so small that the whole world saw it.  This should be an easy lesson for us small businesses and startups.  Go 100% and go with passion and enthusiasm.  Even when you may get down, get back up and fight.  In the biggest “games” for your business, step up and seize control of the game.  Dont wait like Lebron did in Game 5 and let the “game” come to you.  Success will come to those that seek it out.

4. Do Not Ignore Your Fans – No one looks at it this way, but they really should.  The Cavs fans are Lebron’s customers.  If no one showed up to see him play, would he get those multi-million dollar contracts?  No! The Cavs fans have enthusiastically supported the Cavs and Lebron since he first put on that jersey.   There is simply no fan base in the US that will support Lebron the way he has been supported for years – even without the championships.  These fans are Lebron’s customers.  Can he get other fans/customers in multiple other cities?  Yes, or course he can but will they be as rabid, as passionate and will they literally make him the face of the entire city like they would in Cleveland if Lebron delivers that long lost championship that has eluded the city for over 40 years? Never.  So lesson learned for small business and startups, when you succeed and you start growing, do not be so easy to turn away from your bread and butter – the customers that got you to your success. That means be very careful because the grass is not always greener on the other side and be very careful in not serving and supporting your core customers.

5. Life/Business Goes On After A Loss – Ok, this lesson should actually be taken from the Cavs fans and less from Lebron.  Its maybe also a little self-healing from me.  After the loss and likely departure for Lebron from Cleveland, life goes on.  DO NOT LAUGH, but I will move on to the other team that I swore off a few years ago for their ineptitude, the Cleveland Browns.  As we likely close the chapter on Lebron in Cleveland and the chance of winning that elusive major sports championship that Cleveland fans so want, we just adjust and say well now our hopes are that Mike Holmgren can take the Browns to the promise land and end the 40 year drought.  So for your business, always be flexible and if someone/something or a major project is let down, bounce up and move on because that success will come.  It will come one day and it will feel so good…..just like I know I will feel when the Browns finally win the Super Bowl! (as my wife, the Steelers fan and Pittsburgh native, mocks me from across the room).

Tell us what you learned from Lebron’s and the Cavs collapse.

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Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

Fringe and Small Business

I must admit, I am a Fringe junkie… the X-Files of the new generation… if you are a follower of Fringe, or Fringe science one can see how an obsession with a theory (or a job) can overtake you.

Let’s take the Walter Bishop of ‘our world’ vs. the Walter Bishop of ‘the other side’… why is it that he within our world is attempting recovery from insanity whilst the ‘other’ Walter seems to have done quite well for himself and been spared the asylum visit?  One could theorize that our world Walter became so obsessed with not only bringing Peter across but also with protecting him all these years and it eventually overtook his entire psyche.  Where the other side Walter has been focused on finding Peter, he seems (at least in our brief introduction to him last week) to be well put together, so perhaps not as ‘obsessed’ with this mission or at least capable of keeping the sanity surrounding his zeal.  An entrepreneur can easily be led astray down one Walter path vs. the other… so how do you keep the sanity while trying to get your business off the ground?

Here are some key areas that have helped us at KikScore:

Organization and Time Management

Know your market/customer  and react to feedback

Delegate – If you have a team, you can’t do it all yourself

Set clear goals for all team members and communicate

Keep track of lessons learned

What are your Fringe theories?  And how do you keep your sanity in your start-up?

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Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

KikScore Interviews Zadyball Creator Alayna Slinker

While recently shopping for a unique baby gift for a friend’s newest arrival, I stumbled upon Zadyball – a unique toy that combines the things babies love best: putting soft stuff in their mouth and having a snuggle buddy.  If only I’d found this when my daughter was that small!  Zadyball is a small company that is doing wonders for moms and babies around the globe!  We are very thankful that Alayna took the time to  share the exciting Zadyball journey with KikScore.

1. Tell us about Zadyball and who you focus on serving?

A Zadyball is a handcrafted toy designed with babies in mind. They are soft to hold and cuddle, and have lots of knotted fabric strings to grab and rub. Zadyball is easy for young babies to hold on to, and it quickly becomes a favorite!

I made the first Zadyball in 2004 when my son was about 6 months old. He had a stuffed animal with a knotted string for a tail. He loved playing with the string, and would rub it to help him fall asleep. Since the string was his favorite part of the toy, I decided to make a toy for him with lots of strings for him to play with.

He loved that ball SO much and took it with him everywhere we went, and refused to sleep without it.

We got comments on it all the time, usually to the effect of “what is that thing?” And, after I explained it, many people said “hey, my kid would like that too!” So, I decided to start making them for my friends and giving them as gifts at baby showers. Other shower guests started offering to buy them from me, and I eventually started selling them online and in small stores all over the world.

Our focus is to bring a little bit of happiness to the lives of babies and their families.

2. Where will Zadyball focus most of its energy in 2010?

This year, I’ve been focusing on giving the website a bit of a “facelift”. I’ve been working on improving the product images as well as optimizing the website for search engines.

3. If you had 2 lessons learned from your business that you could pass on to others about having an online business, what are those?

One thing that I’ve learned is that quality pictures are CRUCIAL to online sales. In a “real” store, people can use all five senses to view a product. They can pick it up, shake it, feel it, throw it, even smell and taste it if they really want to. But, the only sense that is available when buying online is SIGHT. So, what they are seeing had better look good!

The second thing I’ve learned is how important it is to be unique. When shopping online, buyers can view products from all over the world side-by-side. You have to be one of a kind in order to stand out.

4. If your business/store could be any movie or movie character, what movie/movie character would it be and why?

Well, I think that to run my business, I’d like to be like Elasta-Girl from The Incredibles. I have to be flexible in order to make everything work. And I couldn’t do it without my family by my side – with all their super strengths!

5. If Zadyball could have a dream spokesperson for your company who would it be and why?

A fabulously stylish mom who wants to have fantastic toys for her children.  Someone who people can relate to.

6. How do the folks at Zadyball let loose after a busy day working?

In addition to running my business, I am a full-time mother of three, so I don’t have a lot of down-time.  Most often, my work is done while they are sleeping. But, my best times are spent just hanging out with my favorite people – my little munchkins, and my wonderful husband.

7. Do you have any parting thoughts for our readers and the small business community?

Never become complaisant. Always be on the lookout for ways to improve your business and your product. And listen to your customers – they are the best source for great ideas!

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Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

Follow Iron Man to Get Small Business Success – The 5 Steps

Probably my favorite of the super hero movie characters, Iron Man, makes his much anticipated return today in Iron Man 2.  I remember when the first Iron Man came out – about at the same time when The Dark Knight was out – and thinking this movie and the character are just going to be another lame super hero movie.  But I was soooo wrong.  The movie, Iron Man, had an awesome story, great visuals, it was really funny and a great cast.  It truly was so different, at least in my eyes, than the typical comic magazine turned big budget movie.

So can small businesses (and even startups) learn a few things from the movie and Tony Stark who is Iron Man? Absolutely and it would be fitting that we do because after all Tony Stark is the entrepreneur and the head of the fictional Stark Industries.  So here are a few learnings we small businesses can all learn from Iron Man:

1. Be Innovative:  At the beginning of the first Iron Man, Stark was not only holed up in a cave-prison in Afghanistan, but also surrounded by a massively armed set of guards called the Ten Rings.  What did he do, he improvised and out of basically scrap Stark created the Iron Man suit (v1.0) in that cave to take on his guards.  Here is where small businesses may really identify with this parallel of being surrounded and having to break out in order to get customers to recognize that you exist.  By being innovative in a way that helps your customers and solves a problem for them, you can break your business out and get more exposure.  Lesson Learned: Continually look to innovate and improve not only your product, but also your business processes to make yourself more efficient, nimble and flexible in the marketplace.   That way you can break out of that cave and get your customers attention. By the way, here are 4 Tips to Spark Innovation in Your Small Business by Prasad Thammineni, the CEO of OfficeDrop.  It is an excellent post.

2. Avoid Distractions & Stay Focused:  The man underneath the Iron Man suit, Tony Stark, is a serious playboy who likes the wine, women and parties (kinda like that joker QB from Pittsburgh!).  What’s wrong with a few martinis before a big fight, Tony probably thinks?  So he has ample distractions to take him away from his efforts to protect the world against the “bad guys.”  But, Tony does ultimately succeed and actually innovates by building a new Iron Man suit and some seriously awesome weaponry. He does this by putting those distractions aside and staying focused on the tasks at hand.  Small businesses and startups suffer from the same issue of being bombarded by near constant distractions from achieving our goals.  We have to learn to channel our inner Tony Stark and put aside the distractions so we can always remember to focus on our core business goals.  Lesson Learned:  Know your weaknesses that can lead to your business being distracted and set up a method for steering clear of those distractions so you can remain focused on your goals. Here is a good post that has tips for small businesses on Staying Focused on the Tasks that Matter by Ali Hale.

3. Have a Great Advisors and Business Partners:  Pepper Potts is Stark’s assistant and James Rhodes is Stark’s military advisor.  Potts continually works to keep Stark on the straight and narrow away from his numerous vices.  Rhodes, on the other hand, bails out Starks and also gives him continual guidance on all things military and weapons capabilities.  Both Potts and Rhodes play a pivotal role in helping Stark live up to all of the Iron Man hype and deliver on his important promises.  Small businesses and especially startups are just like Tony Stark in need of that guidance.  With all of the distractions, endless choices that small businesses have to make and the pressures to stay ahead of the competition by being innovative, having strong business advisors and partners is critical for success.  Without their guidance and direction, being successful in your business is that much harder.  Lesson Learned:  It really is worthwhile to take the time to run ideas by mentors and seek out advisors that have been there before!  Getting guidance from others, especially successful entrepreneurs, on key business decisions and strategic goals may really pay off in the long run for your business. Here is a post about how we have found advisors to be helpful at KikScore called, Why Didn’t We Think of That.

4. Take risks:  Stark’s original Iron Man suit was not only innovative, but it was a huge risk.  But with the help of his cellmate, he measured his risks and builds that suit of armor.  Stark was surrounded by risks before he created his new invention – having limited time to build it, creating it in hiding while being watched by his guards and all of the while being severely injured and getting no treatment.  But Stark believed in his invention and had laser-like focus to quickly build the suit with the help of his cellmate partner, Dr. Yinsen.  His risk paid off in that he was able to escape from the Ten Rings.  Being risk-adverse, is simply not an option for small businesses especially in our hyper-competitive marketplace.  Therefore small businesses need to be prepared to take acceptable levels of risk after understanding and appreciating the consequences of the risk and taking steps to mitigate those risks.  Lesson Learned:  Instead of running away from risk, sometimes small businesses need to accept and take the risks in implementing (or even changing) your business strategy and tactics to create major success.

5. Be Resilient:  In the movie, Stark’s spirit and will are continually tested either by himself or by the villains.  During his slugfest with the Ten Rings and later in the movie with Obadiah Stane’s much bigger suit, Spark in his own Iron Man suit keeps taking vicious hit after hit.  But Stark  continually gets back up time and time again after these multiple and brutal hits.  Then at the very end, in the heat of battle Stark enlists Potts to help him out.  After all of the hits Iron Man has taken, he and Potts creatively lure Stane to his doom and Iron Man finally prevails.  Small businesses and startups should remember that need for resiliency and the ability to get back on your feet again after falling or even taking a hit from a competitor.  That ability to repeatedly get back up, learn from your mistakes and take those hits, can really pay off in the long run by making your business stronger.   Lesson Learned: Your small business may make mistake or take hits, the key is to keep fighting.  If you adjust, stay flexible and keep fighting back, your business can eventually prevail. Remember, as the management and business guru Jim Collins and author of Good to Great has said, “Resiliency (not perfection) is the signature of greatness, be it in a person, an organization, or a nation!”

Small business and Iron Man really do have a lot in common.  So try to keep your small business  focused, resilient and take those risks while being innovative and seeking out guidance from partners and key advisors.

How do you think a small business can be like Iron Man?

Enjoy Iron Man 2!

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