Business Record - Iowa Biz

Mission Statement Blues

Picture this - you're on stage ready to share with the world why your company is so great.  The lights go on, the curtain is raised and the first thing that happens is this question - What is your company's mission statement?  It seems to be an impossible request.

Sadly, most of us really have no clue what our company mission statement is.  Even more depressing, it is not the fault of the employee or manager.  It is up to the leadership of the organization to initiate a process that makes a mission statement meaningful.

I know people that make thousands of dollars helping companies develop their mission statement.  The board, management, or key people spend days developing it and walk out of the session feeling that they have accomplished something phenomenal. 

Sometimes it is simple, others take pages, but the common problem is that the mission statement does not connect with employees.  In many cases these mission statements add to the resentment that employees feel towards the organization.

I do believe that mission statements can be valuable, but you need to do your homework and you must live the mission in your organization.  Words are cheap, actions are truths.  Is your mission statement based on words or actions?  I hope you choose action.

Flickr photo by Brian Indrelunas

Who can I be learning from?

We lived in Billings, Montana a few years ago. 

When we were there, we lived in an older established neighborhood and we had one of those neighbors.  You know -- the one with the perfectly manicured yard? 

One day as I drove by, I noticed that that neighbor had added some river rock to his perfectly sculpted landscaping.  I had to admit that it looked great. 

You know... rugged yet refined. 

My first instinct was to think: "I like that.  I'd like that for my yard."  My second instinct was to ponder, "How I could do it quick and cheap?"  (Can you identify?)

So that weekend, I decided to go get some rocks. 

I thought "Heck, I live in Montana.  Rocks are everywhere.  Why not?"

The result? 

I spent about 3 + hours loading rocks.  I spent $50 in gas not to mention $250 in repairs to the suspension on my truck.  And I spent $ 8 for a bottle of motrin to help my aching back! 

All of it... for a relatively small pile of rocks.

So, what did I do next?  Well, it's what I should have done first.

I went to the neighbor.  I asked him about his rocks.  I asked him how he'd done it.   

As it turned out, he was great.  He explained that there was a quarry outside of town and that they brought him a HUGE load of rocks for $50... in less than 24 hours! 

Yup... 50 bucks... and no heavy lifting!

What did I learn?  What was the lesson?

I learned that I need to always be asking the question: "Who could I be learning from?" 

Then... I need to seek out those people for help. 

I also learned that it sometimes helps to seek those people out BEFORE I try something new.

Again, can you identify?

A few weeks ago I challenged you to put together your "Love or Loathe" list.  How did it go?  Did you give it a try?

As a result, some of you might be thinking about making a change... or wondering whether you need to try something new.

• Maybe you're thinking that you want to try a new hobby or sport.
• Maybe some of you are thinking about a career change.
• Maybe some are pondering the idea of buying a new business or selling an old one.
• Maybe some of you were inspired to add something to the mix... a new challenge... a new idea.  You know... a new mountain to climb.

If that's the case why not take a next step and ask yourself the question: "Who could I learn from?"   

Why not look around and see if you can find someone doing what you think you might want to do? 

Then give them a call or buy them some coffee and pick their brain.   

I know, I know, it's almost too simple.  But if I had heeded this advice a little sooner it would have saved me some time, money, and... back pain!

What could it save you?

Think about it. Give it a try. And let me know how it goes!

What do you think?  Who are you going to call?

Photo credit: Cobalt123

Medical payments - and the trip to the store

The other day I was in the grocery store minding my own business when two children came out of nowhere and ran right into the side of me. 

I gave them that look any parent would give –  and they ran off around the aisle. I then heard a sneaker squeak, a thud, and then crying.  Under my breath I’m muttering, “where is their mother or father?” 

I quickly walk around the corner and see the young boy has fallen and cut his head on the shelving of the store.  His head is bleeding quite a bit and I’m not quite sure what I should do other than try and care for this little boy.

Do I shout 911 and make a scene?

Being an insurance agent my mind starts to wonder about the potential things that could happen in this situation. 

• Did this boy slip on water? 
• Was there something else that was in the area that caused this injury to occur? 
• Am I going to be asked to testify? 
• Maybe I shouldn’t be helping. 

Finally someone from the store comes over and pulls some items off another shelf and starts to clean up the child.  Further investigation reveals he is going to need some stitches.  Mom arrives after an announcement over the intercom asking for the guardian of the child to come to the aisle we are in.

What happens next?  Is the store going to be sued? 

The store will more than likely make sure the boy is taken care of and pay the medical expenses. 

Why would they do this? 

Medical payments coverage is not liability insurance. 

In that sense, medical payments are viewed as a means of making prompt settlements, satisfying potential liability claimants, and avoiding possibly larger liability claims. 

• What does it cover?
• First aid administered at the time of an accident.
• Necessary medical, surgical, X-ray, and dental services, including prosthetic devices.
• Necessary ambulance, hospital, professional nursing, and funeral services.

The only way I will ever know if the store is being sued is if I get a knock at the door. 

I have to tell you though that the floor was not wet. The children were horsing around and I could not see what exactly happened.  In this case I would think the store went out of its way to provide care and would not be sued.

Or will they?

De-Plane! De-Plane!

I'm currently in New Orleans, presenting at the LavaCon Project Conference workshops on Project Communication and Office Politics.  The Saturday morning trip was relatively uneventful... except for the layover in Chicago (gee, I wonder how many travelers' stories include that phrase?).  After we were all aboard our jet, and everyone was comfortably settled in, we were informed that there were "maintenance issues" with one of the de-icing valves and that there were two choices:

1. Fix the valve (90 minute minimum)
2. Find a new plane (God only knows how long)

Hence, to avoid the passenger-hostage-on-the-tarmac mistakes of Jet Blue, the kind folks at United encouraged us to disembark and to take all of our carry-on luggage with us. 

We didn't have to wait or go far.  As we left the ramp, two gates down, our flight was being announced to leave an hour later than our originally scheduled flight.

Occasionally, our projects work like this.  We may be plugging along, all comfortably working toward a goal when the brakes are hit... hard... and the project comes to a screeching halt.  And we have to "de-plane" while somebody assesses whether our project is flight-worthy. 

While this is often the work of executives lacking prioritization skills, it can sometimes be the legitimate result of a business environment change.  As James MacLennon writes on the Cazh1 blog:

If done correctly, this also allows a project to make significant course corrections, and even get canceled. If it made good business sense to start a project, it's reasonable to think that when conditions change, it can make good business sense to stop a project. Scheduled checkpoints are built-in escape hatches.

Good point, James.  So what happens next?  If you need to "de-plane" everybody from your project journey, how should it be done?  Here are a few pointers:

• Document - ensure that all documentation up to that point is in one location and can be easily retrieved by the correct stakeholders if and when the project is to be restarted.
• Release - formally let go of the resources working on this project, once their role has ended (i.e., their tasks to transition or end are done).
• Celebrate (if necessary) - if the cancellation is outside the control of the project team, show them your appreciation for their hard work up to that point.  Nothing elaborate, but a little "thank you" goes a long way in building good will should they be called back.
• Inform - let all of the stakeholders know that the project is in suspension, why it was put there, and set some expectation for follow-up (re ignition of the project or a simple touch point to assess the status).

As I was grateful to be on a working plane and be a little over an hour late, our project stakeholders will be grateful to complete a successful project, perhaps a little behind the original schedule.

Now Carpe Factum!

Give Customers a Reason NOT to Hang-up

I was call coaching in a client's call center the other day. The Customer Service Representative (CSR) and I listened to a call that was technically proficient, but when it came time to close the customer hung up the phone before the CSR had a chance to say "You're welcome" or "Have a nice day."

"That happens to me all the time," the CSR said. "Customers just hang up before I can respond to their thanks."

As we dissected the call and the CSR's quality scores, it began to dawn on him that he wasn't giving the customer anything to stick around for. His tone was flat, he never used the customer's name, he didn't personalize the call in any way and he never said more than what was technically necessary. He came to realize that customers were hanging up on him because he didn't give them any reason not to do so.

Most customers want a courteous, friendly, personal service experience. Like the driver of the airport shuttle who remembered me from the previous week and welcomed me back with a smile, or the manager of the gas station in Clear Lake where I regularly stop for gas who remembers me by name and makes me feel like I'm dropping in on a friend - customers like to feel that they are more than just another "call", another  "transaction", or a number.

Together, the CSR and I devised a plan to improve his service delivery and make it more personable including, but not limited to (goodness, that last phrase made me sound like a lawyer - Rush and Brett will be proud):

• Use your voice tone as a tool to communicate to the customer that you're happy to hear from them and enthusiastic about serving them.
• Use the customer's name conversationally. Don't use it repeatedly with every sentence so that it sounds awkward or forced. Comfortably lace the conversation with it.
• Tell the customer you're happy to help ("Sure, I can help you with that.")
• Be courteous. When asking for information, turn what sounds like a demand ("Account number?") into a friendly request ("Could I have your account number, please, Mr. Fritterbottom?").

When you deliver a friendly, personable experience, customers are more likely to pick up on it, appreciate it, and respond in a friendly, personable way.

Take a Drive Along Web 2.0

Many businesses are in a state of confusion over Web 2.0. Is it easy? Is it complicated? What's the ROI? What if we get negative feedback? Do we have to hire more IT people?

I'm not a big fan of the term 'Web 2.0' My new Corolla is the fourth I've owned (and one of two in my garage). I don't call the new one Corolla 4.0. It's simply a newer version of a tool I use often.

The primary focus of Web 2.0 is people.  Connecting people sharing thoughts, experiences and expertise through social interaction. 

If you think MySpace, YouTube, Delicious, Flickr and Facebook are for the lunatics -- think again. There are looneys out there, just as there are lunatics on the road.  But that doesn't stop me from hopping in my Corolla 3.0 (my wife drives 4.0)

A few thoughts on how to keep your Web 2.0 running smooth:

Think Simple, not easy:  Most applications and networks are very simple to use. However, it's not easy. Web 2.0 strategies take time and effort. Strategy is more important than tactics, so make sure you have a plan going in (and be open to an organic plan).

Think dialogue, not monologue: Web 2.0 is a conversational space. Give and take.  If you're doing all the talking...you probably won't have much of an audience. Engage with your audience, nay...become part of the audience - then engage.

Think authentic, not glass-house: Transperancy is a buzz word amongst social media gurus, but it seems many are scared off by that word.  Rather than thinking you must wear the emporer's new clothes, just be real. Who you are offline, should be who you are online.

Web 2.0 is still in its early stages, so don't think you've missed the boat. Have a presence in all the tools, choose a few to be active in. But get out there. Consumers are already out there (as is usually the case). Be part of the conversation.

And if you're one of those that doesn't like the term "blog," get over it. It's short for "web log"  I don't like the term "car" but I drive one. And car is short for...it came from...how'd we come up with car from automobile?

Quality. Service. Value. Who needs them?

It's time to stop beating your chest in your marketing.

There are some words, like quality, service and value that are so overused in marketing materials that consumers just tune them out. 

They've lost all meaning and credibility and using them can actually hurt you. They don't enhance your message, they cloud it.

These words have been so watered down and are so generic that the consumer makes the assumption that you don't really have anything to tout, so you'll just pulling out the generic words to take up space.

That doesn't mean you cannot market your quality, commitment to service or value. 

Just find other ways to get the message across.   Let your customers talk about your quality.  Let satisfaction survey results brag about your high level or service.  Do price comparisons or a 110% price difference refund speak to your value.

Just don't use the words.

Don't Write Your Own Cease and Desist Letter

Blowing up in your face.
When faced with someone stealing intellectual property, some companies opt to craft their own little witty missive to the perpetrator. Sometimes these letters work. More often they don’t. The problem is that when they don’t, the letter writer typically miscalculates the blast zone by a rather wide margin. Like Wile E. Coyote after a failed bombing, the scrivener stands addled and smoldering, wondering how things could possibly gone so horribly awry.

What is the point?
Getting an infringer to stop infringing is merely one, lesser, goal of a cease and desist letter. The primary goal of a cease and desist letter is to set the stage for a subsequent lawsuit. By laying out your rights and the application of the law to the infringer’s acts, a properly drafted cease and desist letter puts the infringer on notice of the alleged infringement. The better positioned you are to win a subsequent lawsuit, the more likely the other side is to settle.

Why write your own?
An improperly drafted cease and desist letter is a lawyer’s dream. While bad cease and desist letters rarely accomplish their intended goal, their unintended consequences can keep your lawyers busy for years. Most clients assume that the worst thing that can happen from a bad cease and desist letter is that they will have to try again with an attorney.  I find it strange that no one has the same perception about taking out their own appendix. Perhaps because not enough companies have legal insurance.

The Good . . .
A bad cease and desist letter, which convinces an infringer to stop infringing and drop a bag of pecuniary repentance, at your doorstep, may exist. The flying spaghetti monster might exist too. It’s just that I have never seen either one. 

. . . the Bad . . .
Unintentionally undermining your legal position, by providing the infringer ambiguous statements the infringer can twist to its advantage, is common. Often time the only thing the infringer has going for it is a poorly worded cease and desist letter. Infringers will even argue that a poorly drafted cease and desist letter actually gave them permission to continue with their infringing activities.  A bad letter can undermine your credibility with the jury, disclose your theory of the case (allowing the infringer time to reinvent its story), undermine licensing opportunities and encourage the recipient to start pulling an Ollie North on the which might otherwise have helped you.

.  . . and the Ugly.
One of the worst results of a bad cease and desist letter is that YOU sued in the infringer’s home courthouse. Infringers can find many causes of action to throw into a lawsuit. The obvious choice is a request for a Declaratory Judgment from the court that they are not infringing. Depending upon whom you send the cease and desist letter to, other claims may include misuse, defamation, interference with contractual relations and/or interference with prospective business advantage, just to name a few. The worst thing about the infringer suing YOU, is that you are no longer in control of the case. You can no longer decide to “just drop it” and go on your way. You are in until the infringer says you are out, which may be tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars, later.

Run the Numbers.
There is no “standard” cease and desist letter. There are hundreds of different types posted all over the Internet. The type of infringement, the licensing potential, the history between the parties, the likelihood of litigation and the damages at stake all bear upon whether the cease and desist letter is going to be soft, medium of hard. Before you write a cease and desist letter, find out how much it will cost to have one professionally drafted. Next, estimate what a bad cease and desist letter can cost you and your company in time and money (You might even want to factor in the potential that upon receipt of your adroitly worded cease and desist letter, the recipient might attempt to take out THEIR own appendix).

Brett Trout

Will your last quarter throw you into midquarter?

When you want to maximize your tax deductions -- very much a normal and healthy impulse, by the way -- usually you think in terms of spending more money.  In our last post, for example we talked about using "Section 179" to get current deductions for fixed assets placed in service before year-end.

Yet sometimes getting more fixed assets on the shop floor, can actually reduce your current deductions. 

Unless Section 179 applies, the tax law makes you capitalize your cost for long-lived assets and depreciate them over a period of years.  For property other than real-estate, the tax law normally computes depreciation for new property as if it were placed in service in the middle of the tax year.  This is called the "half-year convention."

But if you put 40% or more of your new personal property for the year in service in the last three months of the year, the "half-year convention" goes out the window.  You instead treat all property acquired during the year as if it were placed in service at the midpoint of the quarter in which it was placed in service - the "mid-quarter convention."

For example, lets say Bobby, a calendar year taxpayer, places in service $201,000 in fixed assets in the first quarter, $200,000 in the second, $200,000 in the third, and $399,000 in the fourth quarter - all "five year" property.  This means he put 39.9% of his new personal property fixed assets in service in the last three months of the year; as 39.9 is less than 40, this means the half year convention applies, and the depreciation deduction for the year under the current tax law (200% declining balance x 1/2 year) is $200,000.

If instead Bobby put only $200,000 in service in the first quarter and $400,000 in service in the fourth quarter, he would hit the magic 40% figure for the final three months.  That means the depreciation deduction for the year would work out instead to only $190,000.

Tip: Section 179 property doesn't count in figuring the mid-quarter convention; sometimes avoiding the mid-quarter convention is a simple as electing the Section 179 deduction for property placed in service in the last three months of the year.

The Moral?  Watch your fourth quarter fixed asset additions; sometimes saving some fixed asset additions to next year can actually increase your deductions this year.

Get Out Of Your Cave

I wish I could take credit for the title of this post because it is so true when you speak of an entrepreneur and the necessity of a network. 

The title came from Matt Owen of US Rodeo Supply and he just happens to be the person I decided to interview for this post. 

He and his brother Nathan have built quite a business and their story is one that needs to be told.  His comments are in italics.

Question 1 - As a small business and an entrepreneur, you and Nathan have been fighting a hard battle.  Can you describe how plugging into outside resources and networks have helped to ease the pressure on you two operating the business? i.e. can you outsource certain things like financials, etc.

Initially it was difficult to embrace the concept of seeking outside resources. Each attempt we made tended to be a dead end or required unrealistic amounts of capital to have "expert" advisers. We became extremely frustrated and found ourselves reluctant to proactively look for outside advise. However once we had exhausted all of the traditional forms (Bank, SBA, SBDC, SCORE and others) it was a cross-roads and we needed to find a trusted source that could assess our situation and be able to advise us to either "Kill It" or "Double Down". Fortunately we were able to find this in part through a connection made during the SBA FastTrac Program. Kreamer Law offered us our first real "realistic" look at our business. We mapped out our plan and indicated that we did not believe at that stage that we could secure traditional financing. We needed to connect with resources that we could vet the Model to and see if we had a realistic shot at securing Angel Investors or Venture Capital. In hind site this was the first "networking" effort that we had engaged in. Since then we have been able to find numerous external resources to "outsource" expertise.

Question 2 - Could you briefly describe the benefit of accessing a mentor and/or vetting your business model to someone who has successfully exited a like kind business model?

We have been able to remove the "emotion" and drive the business based on facts. The confidence gained from being plugged into people who have done it before (failing or succeeding) has totally changed our use of time. We have since moved beyond the starting line and we are seeing traction with the business. The amazing part is we stopped being focused on securing capital and focused on driving the required changes internally and the sales doubled since the initial networking started.

Question 3 - Have the presentations/connecting you've done with SEMEE and the local universities prepared you for future presentations that involve direct capital growth for your business?

ABSOLUTELY. The opportunity to share our story and learn from others has been an amazing early stage proving ground. This exercise has allowed us to clarify our vision and define what steps we need to take to move the business to the next level. The personal confidence gained through a non-threatening "resource" environment positions us to bridge quickly into a "Road Show" if/when we do have a need to secure venture capital.

Question 4 - Looking back, what would you say the turning point in your business was, after you started your networking process, that validated your business model?

Finding others that can see the vision of creating an Enterprise Model has been difficult. However once plugged in, we have found an array of respected Executives that do see it. When you start to have resources align with the same shared vision (not blinded by capital~however interested in creating something impossible) I think that is when it starts to gel and gain traction.

Question 5 - If you had one piece of networking/collaborating advice for small business owners in Central Iowa... What would that be?

Opportunities are only wasted if you let them be. Get out of your cave. Be proud of what you do and share your story with others. Iowans want to help Iowans. Businesses enjoy helping other businesses. Go to events...even when they have nothing to do directly with what you do. Odds are someone there knows someone who can directly change your business. Don't go out looking to make Sales, go looking to find ways to help others.

Many thanks to Matt for taking the time to answer a few questions. I recommend that everyone take the steps necessary to get plugged into the community.  We live in an ever changing world and it will be our networks that ultimately cause us to succeed.