Category: start up

How Entrepreneurs Go From Good to Great

Credit:NeONBRAND

As an entrepreneur you are a risk taker by virtue of your chosen profession: to be a leader instead of a follower takes courage. But how good do you have to be to succeed? How is success defined in your professional and personal life?

My last blog, COVID Economic Recovery Solutions, discussed the benefits of investing in employees, and seeing the return of professional development in productivity, profits, and increased word of mouth marketing.

In the same way you may invest in your staff, you can also invest in your company's other assets.

Don't Settle for Good Enough Go for Great

We walk a fine line between "just good enough" and "great." To the average suburbanite, just being able to pay bills without a boss breathing down your neck is a huge success.

But the line between good and great, while being thin, is what separates the quitters from the Elon Musks and Steve Jobs of the world. Entrepreneurs benefit from a daily check in and brainstorm sesh on how to make what's good even greater.

You will feel the difference, those few extra hours here and there add up to the bling, the shine, the razzle dazzle of a clean mean business machine. Your customers will feel the difference too when you put in the energy to fine tune and improve what's "just good enough" into something truly excellent.

Drive & Dedication

It feels good to solve a problem - this is at the heart of 99% of all marketing messages. When you've gone through the rigmarole of questioning how to fix something until that eureka moment - it's satisfying to arrive.

But don't rest on your laurels. The allure of complacency is strong and keeps you at mediocre instead of embracing your brilliance. You have to cultivate the inner engine to improve. It has to be an attitude. A mantra.

Once you create the habit of improving, you can't help but get better. This is across the board, personal, romantic, business, family, social life, hobbies, sports - attitude is gratitude.

What I mean is, you'll thank yourself for creating the habit of dedication to improvement. It's a new routine that once developed will help you reach the next level of your potential.

Self Sustaining Networks & Teamwork

There are plenty of entrepreneurs who can wear 10 hats and play multiple instruments. But to be truly successful as an entrepreneur, this means building a strong network. Creating a team that fills the gaps in your own competence is part of what crosses from 'just good enough' to something great.

I chose to use the word sustainable with a specific intention: The personal and professional networks built must be mutual, reciprocal and headed towards a destination that is beneficial.

If only one business is benefiting, see where you can help the other business benefit even more. This goodwill will not go unnoticed. It's all about who you know right? You may catch the eye of an affiliated interest that yields even greater return.

At the very least, you've increased loyalty to your brand and secured a better professional network.

The Self Efficacy Question

Self-efficacy is, in a nutshell, increasing your abilities by believing that you can increase your abilities. And of course taking action to increase them.

It's shown remarkable results in test scores in children in Kansas City, Missouri, and strengthening people's beliefs that they have what it takes to succeed produced even better results in college students at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.

Student underachievement brought about by low academic motivation is a major factor contributing to school dropout levels according to the Department of Teacher Education and Higher Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Beyond Social Cognitive Theory in an academic setting, self-efficacy has huge potential to help businesses improve. 7 League Boot leaping over obstacles with emotional resilience is achieved by believing that you can overcome these obstacles.

The consistency and commitment to keep on trucking, and examine your methods for achieving success along the way is the key to making that success a reality.

Live, Breath, Sleep the Mindset of a Champion

Whether you're fighting cancer, winning an olympic gold metal, or mastering the art of public speaking - the mindset that you have frames your ability to perform at low or at peak levels.

To even consider quitting a day job requires a whole shift of mindset. But let's take that one step further.

When you believe your company will succeed, in addition to making the efforts to ensure it will, the mindset of a champion means that that needed grit to not only survive but to thrive is present.

Having the mindset of a champion doesn't mean you ignore the less-than-great realities of a situation or sugar coat the gaps in your business.

It means you don't hesitate to face these head on, and do what it takes to succeed. With of course, no moral ambiguity. Doing the right thing, for your business, only improves who you are and the quality of customers you attract.

I've mentioned this before, but one of the defining moments of my life was when my childhood mentor drove me to a homeless shelter when I was kicked out of my mother's house.

He let me know that while he doesn't support this happening, I also needed a wake up call and realize that even if I didn't like my step father, I had to do what it takes to survive with a roof over my head.

Hows that for a gut check?

I didn't have the mindset of a champion then. But 3 days ago I graduated the University of Texas at Austin, having gained acceptance into UT with a recommendation letter from the president of Austin Community College.

It was a hard struggle but once my mindset changed from victimhood to proactive reluctant hero - life aligned to produce the results I wanted.

The same is true for entrepreneurship.

What separates us from the 9-5ers is our ability to innovate, think outside the box, create solutions, and have an unshakable belief in ourselves, our brand and the goals we set out to achieve.

This is the mindset of a champion.

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I’m Not for Everyone Here’s Why…

Do we trust people we like with less experience more than we trust people we don't like with more experience?

Yes and the reason comes from caveman times. If we felt that someone was going to be able to stick with the herd and provide consistently they were always the safer choice.

Times have changed though, and many build their entire careers from being immune to social niceties. Whether it's Gordon Ramsay or Gary V these public figures have disregarded wanting to be liked. Or at least trying to sugar coat their social interaction skills and language.

There is a lot to be said for the walk-away feeling one gets after shopping at a store. Whether this is an online marketplace, or a retail establishment, we tend to remember the last thing more than the first thing.

On the opposite end, there are people who will say anything to get you to like them. Some have personalities that cannot stand to feel the disapproval of others. Crippling social shyness aside, there is a magnified effect of personal dishonesty that goes hand in hand with trying to please everyone.

How can a business please everyone, and still remain true to the core values that founded it? There are a few businesses that deliberately take confrontational stances on an issue to gain media attention and customers. The crazy thing is it works. (Look at whose president right now).

However, there's something to be said about caring for what kind of CX your company provides and the residual income that is purely from testimonials being shared. I think there is a balance between kowtowing to every little thing your client base needs and drawing the lines for ethical behavior.

One of my clients asked me to do work on making sure their client, who was running political ads on Facebook, was Facebook policy compliant.

I Had to Take a Step Back

There are some crazy people out there right now that want to encourage unsafe behavior, and many are political. I had to do a gut check and ask myself,

"Can I live with myself, if my FB Policy Analysis helped a candidate get elected who endangered the lives of others?"

It wasn't easy. Times are hard, business is slow, and you take money from the money tree when you can grab it.

I gave my client an ultimatum and said that I would need to review the goals of their political ads client and end game before I could say yes.

I wasn't going to walk into this with blind faith or just wanting to make a profit.

What I stand for, and the ripple effect of my business decisions matter.

I would rather starve than steal.

But that's just me. If I was having to feed a bunch of mouths at home, with mounting bills and little options, would I have chosen differently? I can't say as that's not the reality.

The reality is that I have to trust the people I work with to do business (and their clients) otherwise I won't sleep easy. In the last blog we discussed the power of showing up and this counts for showing up for what your business stands for.

Profit Over Principles

This also made me realize that there are lot of businesses that don't factor ethics into their business decisions. Walmart has dumped tons of toxic waste into Texas tributaries and was almost sued by the EPA before they stopped.

There are plenty more examples of behavior like this that puts profits over principles. I think I learned something about myself through this last experience: I'm not for everyone.

I'm fine with that.

As an Entrepreneur I Get to Choose Who I Do Business With

Abdicating that choice because I was being lazy, or too eager doesn't seem fair to the many people who don't get to choose who they work with. It also doesn't do justice to the hard work I had to put in to become a startup founder who has options I didn't have in my 9-5er past life.

What experiences have you had that made you question your business choices?

Comment below:

If you want to hire me to freelance write for your blog email: [email protected]. Need FB Policy help? Book a time on my calendar here.

Startups: Power of Showing Up

So you've got this great idea - you want to start a business. Or launch a new product, or service for your current start up business. The stars seem to align, the universe is on your side and you're so excited. Then what happens?

It's like having a wonderful dream (Nice Dream) and then you wake up and can't remember the details - but the beauty of that moment is on the tip of your tongue.

What happened?

The fact is consistency works like magic to reach milestones, achieve goals in the short term and the long term and yet it's like there's this ingrained flaw in entrepreneurs and startup founders to avoid commitment. Perhaps we fear that getting too routine is a soul-killing spell reminiscent of the cubicle-laden 9-5 jobs we barely escaped from.

And Yet...

Every startup needs a certain amount of routine tasks to reach critical mass - the tipping point where we get investors, or consumers discover the beauty of our creation and rush to the aisles (or one-click Amazon buttons). Part of what's amazing about starting your own business is the ability to Be Yourself (with SMART Goals).

We enter Startup life to escape the false roles and identities we have to wear to appease oppressive overlords.

Being eccentric, socializing in ways that are 'imaginative' or just having our own, sometimes nonlinear approach to reaching business solutions is something we have always wanted but were unable to articulate in the office (aka "hell with florescent lighting"). The Trail Blazers of our time were known for their ability to be themselves. Being yourself is a powerful message other people can receive, relate to, and believe in.

So is the Power of Showing Up

"There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself.It is the only true guide you will ever have,"

- Howard Thurman

We live in historical times right now: 2-3 generations in the future they’ll look back and talk about the corona virus pandemic of 2020. The startup founders I’m either friends with or business associates with are one of the most unflappable, unshaken demographic I can imagine.

We’re prepared. We already work remote. Social distancing isn’t the exception - it’s the norm.

Social skills don’t always come hand-in-hand with entrepreneurship or tech. So we’re uniquely prepared and already adapted to taking this pandemic in stride and still create new inventions, new services, new apps, new ways to help brick and mortar and other businesses pivot towards sustainability.

And yet…some of our most lofty goals are still dusty on the shelf. Just like that nice dream we had and can almost remember. It’s because we aren’t showing up. Showing up to do what needs to be done to move the needle. The power of consistency to move mountains, redesign bridges connecting the gaps between who we are and who we see ourselves becoming. I’ve got a tip for you. I’ve got a tip on showing up.

5 Magic Minutes

It’s easy to go all out, make a big promise and then get so overwhelmed we do exactly the opposite. Happens all the time working out. Building a startup is working out just using different muscles, but both rely on creating muscle memory. When we use self-management in focused in 5 minute increments, this helps to initiate a 3rd drive that connects our ambition to the image we have of ourselves. Taking action, with intense focus, for 5 minutes at a time, consistently, builds muscle memory and makes it easier to self-identify as someone who is taking action to make dreams come true.

The 3rd Drive

The power of showing up depends on the unlikely 3rd drive, beyond the drive for money, and success. It's the drive to trust ourself to achieve the impossible. Or at least achieve a modicum of progress in our path towards greater things. Stephen Covey, who wrote the timeless classic, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People had a son who was also author. Well technically son(S) who are also authors. One (also named Stephen) wrote in the book, The Speed of Trust, that there was a formula for results.

(SXE)T = R

Or in other words, Strategy times Execution multiplied by Trust = Results.

The idea is that we as founders, must trust ourselves to lead with integrity for our business practices, inspire trust in customers and business associates, and achieve a type of startup leadership that gets results in a way that inspires.

Startup Tips: The Power of Showing Up

Science Daily States when making decisions, our perception is influenced by judgments we have made in the past as a way of remaining consistent with ourselves. Consistency breeds trust, in ourselves and the trust we inspire in other people. A book published in the 60s, called Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Volume 14)studied the power of consistency on human behavior.

One of the central themes is that attitudes predict behavior and the strength of how behavior can change or improve the quality of one's life (or startup business) depend on the consistency of the behavior.

How often you show up for yourself and for your startup is up to you. Start small and go big. The power of showing up, even in just 5 minute increments, is you are creating values of the person you want to be, that runs the business you want to run. Or envision someday (soon) creating.

Showing up consistently and doing small actions that move your startup forward adds up, every minute, hour, day and month of the year. This small amount of accountability for what you are creating, is a momentum-generator.

So generate your own momentum. Show up. Startup. And keep going until you reach the horizon line.

Power of Perception: Business & Life

Is Struggle Always Necessary?

Have you ever heard the saying "struggle leads to success" ?

There's a lot of talk about how life has to suck before it can get better. But is this a false dichotomy? That's a fancy way of saying, do we have blinders on and just aren't seeing all the options?

I agree working hard can produce results - IF you're aimed in the right direction. But is hard work always a struggle?

Labor of Love

"Labor of love" is often a term ascribed for when you ARE working hard but, you believe in your work, your steps to the big goal, the pay off, and every act that gets you closer is worth celebrating.

Is THAT a struggle?

Isn't 'struggling' just mental for how we choose to think about actions?

I mean, physical pain aside, generally, being on the grind, if you always frame it as 'a struggle' wouldn't that make it harder for you than framing it as necessary steps towards becoming that bad ass you know you already are?

We can go deep on this one.

If you do become successful but are an a$%hole to everyone, and don't have good social skills (Steve Jobs, asperger et al) - is that success?

How We Look at Ourselves
The World
Our PROCESS

All of these things...determine how hard life is, and if work is really a struggle or just a system you use to become el jefe. If there's one super power you can opt in to having, without being bit by a radioactive spider (which would make you sick in real life), it's the power of perception.

The Power of Perception

Being able to look at how we look at things is a strange gift I've had since I was fighting tooth and claw to not become my father, fighting for scraps living on the streets as a teenager. It's the one thing that led to getting accepted into the University of Texas, working at Facebook, and starting my own businesses.

It's easy to fall into a habit of if this, then that.

This is SQL terminology for how results of a search are defined by certain parameters.

YET...

IRL this means we tend to start to draw conclusions before actually looking at what's happening. Our eyes are not really seeing. We are going through a series of automated emotional habits.

However, it's mainly unconscious. And it can have draw backs when you want to innovate your company but are still coloring within the lines and not thinking outside the box. The habit-thinking of expecting the same thing despite there being different variables and inputs limits our growth, professionally and personally.

How Good Becomes Great

Taking the time to look at your business and ask the hard questions, without sugar coating is how good becomes great. The challenge with thinking bigger is we tend to self-impose mediocrity, and creating artificial ceilings that limit our flight path. These ceilings are due to the habitual way we think about potential. The definition of identity, of a company or a person, if it's habit-based, is going to suffer adapting to a changing world.

Do your self a favor, and begin to cultivate a sense for how you look at things. For how you look at how you look at things.

---------->Start Here<------------

What are habits you have on how you think of yourself or your business?

Are there conclusions you assume about people or situations?

What is a new way to think about this and rewire your process?

Think, be, explore - it's an adventure.

Not So Secret Weapon

What's the one thing that brings people together?

Common ground. Community. Shared Purpose.

In these trying times, it's easy to look for ways to cast judgy eyes onto those that are different from you. In business, there are seldom second chances to make a great impression. As a result, if there is contention, often this loses customers.

For good.

Ever been to a restaurant where a waiter was rude and dismissive? This makes an impression.

Impressions cost money.

One time I was in a restaurant with a friend, enjoying some chips and queso. Everything was going great, until one of the waitstaff started talking loudly to the bartender about their life. The things they had to brag about. The intimate personal details I was not volunteering to hear or participate in - like being locked in an elevator, with someone on their cell phone pouring out TMI stories as if no one else exists.

This experience cost that restaurant a customer (and perhaps more than one, if others also weren't keen to learn the backstage view of their waiters personal life).

While it may seem like a small loss, word of mouth alone can magnify this loss - if I were to say the name of the restaurant and other locals read it. Shoot, one place I ate at with another friend, she found a metal screw in her sandwich - hows that for customer retention practices???

Ironically, I still go to that restaurant. Why? Because the attitude and impression the waitstaff made on me before and after the 'screw-gate' incident was supportive and understanding.

A big contrast to self-absorbed life-story narrative waitstaff whose superpower is ignorance of the world around them. (Not sure who her arch-nemesis would be...Self-Awareness Girl? Kind of an anti-hero set up).

I can't solve national political debates, or bridge the divide between differing religions, beliefs, and social constructs - at least not with just one blog alone. However, we can all do our part both in business and in our personal lives to build community.

Community helps those with different view points find gaps we can bridge in eachother's skillsets by virtue of our shared membership in a tribe. That's our common ground. Whenever something goes down that requires team work - that sense of unity creates friendships, rebuilds relationships and helps others.

I was freestyling rhymes about living with intention at a local freestyle rap cypher here

What many may not realize is that finding common ground has to be a conscious decision to be effective. Well, I guess not necessarily if you are just a community-minded person. What I mean is most people have to make an effort to start finding what they have in common with other people.

I'll never forget...riding in the peach colored F-150 Ford truck my father drove and listening to him yell at other drivers. He'd insult them and make up all kinds of reasons why they weren't ANY good.

It always stuck with me because of the intense effort he made to find reasons to belittle strangers. I wondered if he knew how exhausting it was to listen to him yell insults. How exhausted this made his own life? I bring this up because I had a real epiphany when I was working at Facebook.

I'd take my breaks outside, and walk around downtown Austin. I started remembering my dad's judgements when people walked across the intersection at 6th and Congress entering coffee shops, jewelry stores, delis, comedy theaters and more. His words floated through my brain about how this woman is probably like ___ or that man is probably just___ [insert insult].

I don't know why it hit me at that moment.

I thought of how much control my dad completely let go of by doing this habitually. But I started to realize, as I heard my father's voice inside my head, that I had a NEW choice:

I could look for reasons to compliment people. I could find reasons to celebrate people.

I could choose to be positive. Being positive sometimes gets a bad rep from some who feel it's negating reality or practicing avoidance of harsh truths that need to be dealt with. But this wasn't it at all.

It is more of a choice on what to focus on. And when your attention is focused on adding details, filling in the blanks, with the intention of veneration, the intention of giving people back their humanity from these bullshit static labels we fall in the habit of accepting - this creates a new opportunity to build community.

Even if this is silently, just watching, enjoying little moments. Not creating negative imaginary backstories for why someone appears a certain way but instead creating positive, supportive opinions about people. Believing in their goodness. Believing in my own goodness. Feeling the glow of selflessly loving strangers just because I can and I choose to.

Does this relate at all to business?

To entrepreneurship?

Yes. And to enjoying life. When we pause, and look beyond trying to make money and focus on building relationships, nurturing a community, those who receive these messages respond in kind.

Humans have an innate urge to support positive socially constructive behavior.

Taking the initiative to create this within your customer's journey will not only empower you to extend the life time value of a client and build brand loyalty - you also won't feel like a shitty human being trying to manipulate others to buy from you.

Living with intention is not another millennial buzz phrase - when you start to fill in the details. What is your intention, specifically?

And in regards to which part of your life, or your business - how do you fill in the gaps for your intention? How does your intention manifest itself in each part of your life?

This is where you are the sculptor, molding the clay of creation, deciding to create a life that celebrates diversity, new ideas, the raw unpolished surface of the planet where all these little creatures live and die and share moments of joy.

We are part of this. We continue to choose which moments to nurture, to dwell in and continue to make. We choose which thoughts become our dominant narrative.

Yes, life is hard sometimes. We lose people we care about (RIP Kobe Bryant), sometimes money is tight, hospital bills pile up, impossible obstacles seem to face us - even if that obstacle is just waking up the next morning. I've been there. Some things we overcome quicker than others.

But when we focus on building a community, locally, within our business's customer journey, among fellow professionals, sharing hobbies like horse riding, golf, sailing, gaming, photography, education - these shared values, moments, and people create a beautiful caring network that is sustainable.

Money aside - this is the legacy we can build and contribute to - the networks and communities we build and are a part of that nourish each member with a sense of belonging and support.

This is the not-so-secret weapon against apathy, isolation, pain, ads that don't convert into sales, and brick walls we hit sometimes when deciding on our next move.

The people I know, friends, family, fellow entrepreneurs - all have given me great ideas and vice versa because we chose to listen to each other.

So keep listening. You may learn something new.

Are You On the Right Track?

Bonjour!

The world is changing at a rapid pace and as we enter the next year the often trivialized concept of "specifies survival" has become an intriguing concept in business.

The popularity of sustainability is indisputable.

But it's a paradox.

As many celebrities, and social movements have popularized "going green" there are often disconnects. People with "don't support the war" signs in their yard after 911, and the invasion of Iraq for their oil, still continued to buy oil guzzling SUVs.

Consumers still mindlessly buy products from companies that dump toxins in local tributaries (Walmart has had lawsuits threatened by the EPA for doing this in Texas - it isn't just 3rd world countries suffering). The motivation to actually do a little bit of research - I promise you, it's not any more time than you spend scrolling the FB newsfeed per week - is very little.

That's kind of mysterious.

The survival of the human race appears to depend on how popular an idea is, which Kardashian endorsed it to their fans (like the fires in Australia destroying an entire country ignored by the west, until more celebrities jumped on board and publicized it), and if it's convenient.

If there was some sort of complete trust in political leadership, around the world, to:

Care more about the long term survival of our species than getting re-elected
Prioritize resource preservation over doing arms races
Look at impacts of companies more than business deals subsidizing the very companies dumping toxins into our water supply

...then active citizenry wouldn't be as pivotal.

The World Grows Smaller & Bigger

Increasing access to technology and education are providing greater opportunities in developing countries and contribute to the expansion of the middle class as well. India is rapidly becoming more of an industrialized nation than ever before. New issues such as pollution are going to come to the forefront with this progress as well.

Per to the World Economic Forum, the world has fewer people living on less than $1.25/day by one-half. We are on the path to meeting the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) 2010 forecast that the global middle class may double by 2020 and triple by 2030.

Many say this is a result of urbanization, the increased access to education (no doubt increased by access to the internet as well), tech and growth expansion opportunities.

So while Walt Disney may have banned plastic straws from its theme parks we the people have a ways to go for changing our buying habits. It is from within society that lasting change happens.

Change starts with us.

For most people it's incredibly difficult to analyze their own buying behavior in relation to large changes in the world. We have 2 contradicting mindsets:

1. I don't matter, I can't make that big of a difference by myself

2. Everyone is looking at me, I have to be careful not to embarrass myself

The latter is called the spotlight effect - the idea that more people are staring at us than actually are (as the mass self-absorbed public rarely stares long at each other before power walking on).

The majority of consumers resist change to habits & established behaviors. The comfort of ignorance, the benefits and luxuries of not taking responsibility for anything we do with our money is the luring siren call of a real zombie nation.

Unthinking, feeding, breeding in large comfortable chairs like Wall-E's cast of characters or Jabba the Hutt (By the way Mandelorian is a great series..no Disney did not pay for that name drop)...we march on into oblivion. But wait. There's more. Hope.

Entrepreneurship+Sustainability = Opportunity

Entrepreneurs have discovered the benefit of sustainability as a business model due to it's popularity in pop culture. New ideas for new products that are eco-friendly pour out in the thousands every day.

Jason's Deli has little cards on the table talking about their sustainability work, more notices about where and how GMOs are used are no longer hidden but front and center.

Stating that your vegetables are organically grown not GMO isn't just an About section; it's a marketing tool and brand development asset.

I take heart in these type of changes. It's more than a business opportunity: being conscious of how what we do affects the world and being motivated to act on this knowledge helps save the world.

Saving the World

More than a general hippie euphemistic statement - but actually implement sustainable systems for land, air, and water and solar - it's simply incredible what is available now.

But the turning point, before we reach another critical mass for resource deprivation, deforestation, and water scarcity is going to come from a value shift in buying habits.

The 3 seconds it takes to make a buying decision based on the business practices in relation to resource-management is going to be what really helps us as a species survive.

These little decisions multiplied by the billions add up.

Every choice you as a person make - adds up. You are not alone. You are part of something greater.

Consumers are smart. Startup founders can make use of the growing consensus that companies should do more than tout 'sustainable' as an empty slogan. People are now expecting facts and data to back up a business's sustainability claims. The fluff just isn't enough anymore.

I take hope from this.

It's new opportunities to do a new kind of business: one led by less selfish money acquisition and more global heart-conscious decision-making skills. Entrepreneurs have can build partnerships with environmental organizations, 501c3 nonprofits and sustainability research groups to verify the sustainability claims of a product, service or company.

I like this. I like this a lot.

My thoughts are that once it becomes a core value, inherent as 'do no harm' and 'try to not be a douche bag if you can help it' that we'll see values and companies align easier and in greater quantities. Yes, fossil fuels will fight this every step of the way until they start building better cars with less of a carbon footprint.

While there may be a dark before the dawn, the way things are trending is that we, as a global consciousness are continuing to evolve. I tip my cap to you, sip my Texas Pecan Coffee, and wish you a good day!