Tag Archives: small business

The Business Plan Paradox

Should you or shouldn’t you write a business plan?

Yes and no.

The academic or theoretical wisdom is that a business plan provides you with a road map of where to go in your business. And, to the extent that it gives you an opportunity to think through all the multitude of challenges you will face, writing a business plan is certainly a good idea.

However, the cold, hard fact is it does not prepare you for all the challenges you will face because you are bound to encounter an infinite number of surprises, not all of them pleasant.

A road map would be more akin to a document you could pick up from AAA to direct you in your drive from Houston to Dallas or New York to Chicago. Fairly straightforward and based on known reality.

What you really need, as an entrepreneur, however, is a guide for how to hack your way through an unknown and previously unexplored jungle with a machete, not knowing when a baboon, swinging from a vine was going to whiz past your head or a water buffalo was going to charge you at a crossing. Which is to say that navigating your way through the entrepreneurial jungle can be a risky business, requiring quick wits, lots of ingenuity and occasionally, nerves of steel.

Thomas Frey’s “10 Rules for Bootstrapping Your Business” refers to:

“The Business Plan Fallacy – In Quest of Low Hanging Fruit. Contrary to what academicians teach, successful bootstrappers seldom write business plans. I’ve not met many that have. This is a luxury few can afford. But more importantly, bootstrappers have a constant need to keep their options open. Their relentless drive for revenues forces them to keep their peripheral vision intact as they view the opportunity landscape.In the early stages of a startup, bootstrappers have little accountability for their actions. Their primary need is to prove a viable concept in a viable market. And this means revenues come before anything else.”

I think, to put it another way, the need to survive comes before anything else. That’s why one has to watch so carefully for sinkholes. There’s also that need to focus like a laser, not get distracted and keep your eye on the goal. Having been through the entrepreneurial jungle many times myself I can’t overstate the importance of training yourself to be aware of all the factors that can impact your business, keep your options open and be ready to respond with lightening speed.

So should you write a business plan? Sure. But keep it short. And carry a big eraser.

Surviving The Recession: Conserve Cash And Network Like Your Life Depended On It

Now that recession is upon us, let’s put our heads together and figure out how to survive it.

I’ve already mentioned Surviving The Recession: Morph Your Expertise, which is about figuring out how to pivot your business model to “roll with the punches” in the new, black economy.

Generally speaking, we all must keep our eye on the ball. Keeping up with local, national and international news and thinking through how they impact your field and your particular business and profit relationships will help. Staying on top of news from your professional journals and organizations is a must. You can’t roll with the punches if you don’t know when the punches are coming and where they will land.

The two most important tips

Bill Roth gives them in Going Green

Conserve Cash: If you’re running your business or household right now on credit, you know exactly what I mean by conserving cash. During a recession, debt is an expense most can’t afford. Businesses should try to operate within their cash flows, despite the fact that their cash flows will probably fall during a recession. So do what you have to do now to create cash. Sell assets, cut costs and access the best path for creating cash: become more efficient.

Reach Out: You’re not in this boat alone. I speak at churches that host career planning for those in transition. Unfortunately, the attendance is growing along with individual pain. But the key point is that these people are not failures–but rather very talented people who’ve been caught up by this economy. Reach out and find meetings like these to network with talented people who can lend their first-hand experience and advice to you.”

I think networking may be the most efficient way to really understand the impact of events happening in business because you receive and share the distilled expertise of someone knowledgeable in her field. Your networking should include not only your own field, but related fields which have an impact on yours: buyers, suppliers, advertisers, bankers.

And , if you are a proficient networker you will have sufficient information, resources and contacts to constantly re-invent yourself and your company according to what the world needs today.

John Jantsch, of Duct Tape Marketing, in 7 Recession-Busting Marketing Basics has several thoughts, that reinforce the prove tactic of networking to re-energize your marketing and get out of any hole the recession may be putting you into:

1) Get out from behind the computer – Building personal relationships is always in style. It’s very tempting to sit and write blog posts and participate on social networking sites. And while these aren’t always bad things, sometimes you need to go out and shake some hands. Make it a point to go to several industry conferences every year. Join an industry or chamber type group and go to events where you can make connections with prospects and partners. Join a referral group such as BNI and participate. Go visit your customers and ask for referrals.

2) Speak at events, hold workshops – Marketing is essentially a trust-building game. Few things build trust more efficiently than getting in front of a group of potential customers and sharing your expertise in an educational setting. Go propose to conduct a hot sounding workshop for your bank, accounting firm, law firm and insurance firm. Check local libraries, chambers, and associations for opportunities. Look in your local business papers and see what groups have speakers listed in calendars of events. Get two of your best customers to help conduct peer2peer webinars to discuss best practices and issues with peers you invite.

When this recession ends, anywhere from 18 to 36 months from now, you will have survived and have a much sounder, stronger business emerging from the steps you’ve taken now.

Want To Survive? Forget Profits, Focus On Cash Flow

When I was starting out in business I had a difficult time understanding cash flow. I thought in terms of profit. Making the big score. Incredibly I saw people making big bucks but still teetering on the edge of disaster. I saw business people who thought they could spend their way to success, and, instead crashed and burned. I determined then that cash flow was a mystery I had to master if I wanted to succeed.

You may find it hard to believe there are individuals with $100,000 a month income who find, at the end of each month, they’re spent more than that. There are businesses in the same position. No matter how much cash comes in, it’s always possible to spend more. The reason some people and businesses bump into this reality is not because they are wanton spendthrifts, but because cash flow itself is a more fluid and dynamic process, more subtle and challenging to master than a simple balance sheet. But master it you must, if you want to be in control of your money; master it if you want to survive in business, because without cash, no one cares if you’re worth a million dollars on paper or in widgets, the doors will shut and you will be out of the game.

If you get a handle on the dynamics of your cash flow, that act alone will both improve your business and improve you as a manager, the beginning of a very positive and powerful cycle.

Jeff Cornwall has some thoughts on that in Why Cash is King:

“There are four key reasons why watching cash flow in a business is more important than ever.

First, you can anticipate greater uncertainty of sales over the next several months. Most businesses are seeing smaller and less frequent purchases by customers.

Where a strong cash position is particularly important is during “sales shocks,” which can occur when large, steady customers suddenly stop ordering. If this is because they have found a better price from a competitor, you have a chance to win them back. But, more and more businesses are waking up one morning to discover that one of their longtime customers has suffered a business failure.

Secondly, as I have written about in the past, bank credit is getting more difficult for small businesses to obtain and some entrepreneurs are beginning to have their loans called by their banks.

SBA loans are drying up

The news last week that the Small Business Administration loan program funding also is drying up makes finding credit even tougher. SBA loan funding is down more than 50 percent from this time last year. The SBA program offers guarantees for qualified small-business loans.

Third, just as your business may be feeling the effects of the economic slowdown, so are your suppliers. You should anticipate that your suppliers may begin to tighten their terms on trade credit to help shore up their cash flow.

Some may even begin to refuse to sell to you on credit, even if you have been paying on a timely basis in the past.

Finally, even in a bad economy you may find new opportunities. Don’t count on any external sources such as banks or investors to fund new initiatives.

If you do not have the cash to fund expanding into new products, new markets, or even to buy up struggling competitors, you may not be able to pursue these opportunities.

If you do not do so already, watch your cash flow statements very carefully. And if the business starts to have consistent negative cash flow, you need to also measure and monitor how long your current cash will last.

Develop weekly, monthly and quarterly cash budgets to help make decisions on which bills need to get paid, or can get paid, and when.”

As I mentioned in a previous post, using Mint.com to track your cash automatically might be a big help to watching over those nickles and dimes and greenbacks. Because a Mint screen shows the cash you have on hand and the debts you owe….your credit cards, for example, it can be a bit of a bracing shock, if you have less cash on hand than the amount you owe, even though you’re paying your credit card debt off over time. Nonetheless that shock of staring your finances square in the face and watching them shift may be the shock you need to swing into action, get vigilant, get thrifty, make changes and survive.

What You Probably Don’t Know About Angel Investors

The handful of angel investors I’ve met were moderately affluent, 40ish yuppies who seemed to enjoy the thrill of having a front row seat at the game of business. Being an angel investor is nothing like the risk of being an entrepreneur, since all their eggs aren’t in one basket and a deal gone South is not going to make or break them. But, hey I’m glad they’re out there and occasionally willing to take a flier on a young company.

Angels usually invest in groups of 2 to 5, so when you hear how much money each of them invests, remember there will likely be more than one looking at your deal, so the amount of cash invested could go higher.

Angels invest in 50 times the number of deals venture capitalists invest in, which is a pretty good clue as where to look for money, at least in the initial stages of a business. Another differentiating factor is, angel money is very patient money, and they are willing to wait a number of years, far longer than a venture capitalist, for a return on their investment.

There are probably active angel investor groups in your city. Ask your banker, lawyer or accountant to help you identify them, and, if possible, introduce you. I’ve also provided a list of angel directories below, but the best course is always to find a business person or lawyer to give you a personal introduction to a local group.

For more detail about angel investors Anita Campbell over at | Small Business Trends always has a sound and pragmatic take on business issues. She has written about a new book by her colleague Scott Shane, one of the Small Business Trends Experts. Anita says in Fool’s Gold: The Truth Behind Angel Investing in America :” Scott (is) someone always ready with the facts. Often those facts are contrary to popular belief or common wisdom. Very often he floats a provocative idea that challenges you to think.

For instance, you may have had the notion that individual angels are rich — or at least very well off — and invest a lot of money in each business. Not necessarily so, says the new book “Fool’s Gold: The Truth Behind Angel Investing in America.”

You might wonder how a book of facts and data could help you as an entrepreneur. That’s easy. From information gleaned you can get a much better idea of such things as:

why angels invest (it may be as much about having a hobby as making money)
how angels decide on which businesses to invest in (with less investigation than you’d expect)
how angel investors come up with valuations and what kind of ownership interest they will expect (most don’t do formal valuations and they demand smaller ownership stakes than you might expect)
where and how to find angel investors (hint: look locally)

All of these things will help you understand how to appeal to angel investors. I put together the following chart with a handful of the many misconceptions and the corresponding real facts, so you can see the kind of information the book can give you (this is a small sampling):

Thanks to Anita for that eye opening chart!

To help get you started, if you’re searching for an angel, Inc. compiled a list of U.S. angel networks. Because many angel groups limit their investments to a particular geographical area, we’ve divided the list into eight regions: Pacific Northwest, Southwest, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, North Central, California, South, and Midwest. There is also a category for those groups that consider investments anywhere in the country. In addition, there is ACE-Net (The Angel Capital Electronic Network) developed by the U.S. Small Business Administration‘s Office of Advocacy for those who can sell security interests in their company.

Again, the best bet is always to get a colleague, a lawyer or accountant to give you a personal introduction to a local group. At the very least you may make some new and interesting friends who are plugged into the local business world.

Networking Is A Skill You Can Develop – And You’d Better Start Now

: Cover via Amazon

Are you a master networker? Some of us are born to network; these are the extroverts that seem to have been born with a flashing smile, exuding warmth and amiability, skillfully dropping tidbits demonstrating their unquestionable expertise into any conversation. They appear to have a deep and seemingly endless well of anecdotes which all circle back seamlessly and unobtrusively into tales which underscore their professional success.

Others of us, for whatever reason, do not find this a natural skill. We have to be coached, cajoled and coddled to do it at all. Others occassionally remind me of my long gone cat, Redford, who, when I gently tried to pull him out of someplace he shouldn’t be, clung mightily to wherever he was and dug into the rug, leaving a long trail of claw marks along the way.

Remind you of yourself? Well, whether you are a natural or have had to be coached, we all know we have to network as that is the path to success.

Think about it. Which is more likely to lead to actually getting business for you or your company: Sending out 100 brochures or emails, getting 100 clicks on Google Adwords, or networking and spending one on one time with 100 colleagues with whom you will find something in common, exchange contact information and explore what you might offer each other? It’s a slam dunk. You have to network.

Ivan Misner, author of The 29% Solution: 52 Weekly Networking Success Strategies and a leading expert on business networking, has a great deal to say on this subject. Misner, the founder and chairman of BNI (Business Network International), takes his title from a study that launched the six degrees of separation theory, which actually revealed that only 29% of the population is connected within six degrees. So, imagining you are only six degrees away from someone has now been debunked. You have no choice but to stop thinking your aunt’s hairdresser will connect you with the perfect business contact ( although, don’t rule it out). You really have no choice but to start networking, in a purposeful and methodical way.

Develop a networking plan. Set goals, both near term and long term. Start developing within yourself….yes, you can…the top 10 traits of master networkers:

Timely follow up
Positive attitude
Enthusiasm/Motivation
Trustworthiness
Good listening skills
Commitment
Gratitude
Helpfulness
Sincerity
Dedicated

Become what Misner describes as catalytic people; those who make things happen. They possess a blend of initiative, intention, confidence and motivation which sets things in motion.

I’m as daunted by networking as anyone else……except those born extrovert networkers. But I just focus on my passion….. and, if you’re like me you are passionate about whatever you’re doing, whatever business you’re in….( and if you’re not, change businesses)…and I know I’m going to be discussing that with like-minded souls, so I just get out there and do it: network!

Guy Kawasaki’s The Art of Bootstrapping

Image via Wikipedia

The Art of Bootstrapping

There is probably no one smarter, more capable and creative on the Net….. and friendly, approachable and outgoing, in addition…. than Guy Kawasaki He has a string of successes as long as your arm. And, from that, he has really honed his knowledge of entrepreneuring or, as most without really deep pockets wind up doing, bootstrapping.

You should read his entire post, The Art of Bootstrapping and, if you like that, you might consider buying Kawasaki’s latest book, Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition.

I’m going to point you in the right direction with five of Kawasaki’s guideposts, but if you’re planning to bootstrap, you should definitely read the rest of them at The Art of Bootstrapping. If I had read his guidepost on How to Forecast From The Bottom Up, I could have saved myself a lot of heartache when I used a “top down” forecast, because I didn’t know any better. The best advice any entrepreneur can give you is to learn from their hard earned experience and their mistakes so you don’t have to make them yourself. Here’s how to start:

Focus on cash flow, not profitability. The theory is that profits are the key to survival. If you could pay the bills with theories, this would be fine. The reality is that you pay bills with cash, so focus on cash flow. If you know you are going to bootstrap, you should start a business with a small upfront capital requirement, short sales cycles, short receivables terms, long payables terms, and recurring revenue. It means passing up the big sale that takes twelve months to close, deliver, and collect. Cash is not only king, it’s queen and prince too for a bootstrapper.
Ship, then test. Perfect is the enemy of good enough. When your product or service is good enough, get it out, because cash flows when you start shipping. Besides, unwanted features, not perfection, come with more time. By shipping, youll also learn what your customers truly want you to fix. It’s definitely a trade-off your reputation versus cash flow so you can’t ship pure crap. But you can’t wait for perfection either. (Nota bene: life-science companies should ignore this recommendation.)
Start as a service business. Let’s say that you ultimately want to be a software company: People download your software or you send them CDs, and they pay you. That’s a nice, clean business with a proven business model. However, until you finish the software, you could provide consulting and services based on your work-in-progress software. This has two advantages: immediate revenue and true customer testing of your software. Once the software is field tested and battle hardened, flip the switch and become a product company.
Pick a few battles. Bootstrappers pick their battles. They don’t fight on all fronts because they cannot aff ord to. If you are starting a new church, do you really need a $100,000 multimedia audiovisual system? Or just a great message from the pulpit? If youre creating a content Web site based on the advertising model, do you have to write your own customer ad-serving software? I don’t think so.
Go direct. The optimal number of mouths (or hands) between a bootstrapper and her customer is zero. Sure, stores provide great customer reach, and wholesalers provide distribution. But God invented e-commerce so that you could sell direct and reap greater margins. And God was doubly smart because She knew that by going direct, you’d also learn more about your customer’s needs. Stores and wholesalers fill demand, they don’t create it. If you create enough demand, you can always get other organizations to fill it later. If you don’t create demand, all the distribution in the world will get you nothing.

(Kawasaki says) As my friend Craig Johnson, the great Silicon Valley corporate finance lawyer, likes to say, “The leading cause of failure of startups is death, and death happens when you run out of money. As long as you have money, you’re still in the game, and outlasting the competition is one of the hallmarks of bootstrapping.”

Amen! The Art of Bootstrapping might well be called The Art of Belt-Tightening, Ingenuity and Persistence.

Recession Can Be an Opportunity For Small Business

Run A Business? Your Job Is To Create And Manage Change

Clearly, in a business, you want change. If you wanted things to stay the same, you’d just hire a couple of staffers, figure out a way to put your existing operations on auto-pilot, turn out your lights and go home…..or to Tahiti, or to climb Mt.Kilimanjaro, if that struck your fancy. Or, smarter yet, you’d just sell the busines. Because nothing ever stays the same. It grows or it diminishes. The only constant is change. And the only choice for you, as a business owner, is to manage that change.

As your business morphs and changes, the rules of your business change, and you’d better know what they are. As Chaitanya says in The changing rules of the game in a small business | p2w2 blog:

“When you play Basketball, which game’s rules do you follow?”

Do you know that in your small business, you could be playing by the rules that are no longer relevant? If you are a small business, you have to morph as per the new rules or die. When you play by the old rules, you become irrelevant; customers and employees leave you; profits lag; people don’t scale. The rules of the game change fast. Are you aware of the changing rules or are you busy in the routine of the day?

What do I mean by the ‘rules’? They could be:
1. Extent and the nature of marketing you do
2. Extent of work you delegate
3. Cash reserves and working capital required
4. Number of employees on bench

And when do these rules change? Some events happen that trigger off the change. E.g.

1. When you win a large contract
2. When your product goes beta
3. When you hire an employee; when you hire substantially large number of employees
4. When you get investment from someone other than yourself or immediate family.”

Whatever causes the change in the business and the rules you now need to operate by, it has been said there are basically only two kinds of businesses: growth businesses and liquidation businesses, those that will cease to exist over some period of time.

The challenge for a growth business is to staff up for the increased workload. I’ve done it. You can do it, too. In today’s online and virtual world, that should be a simple matter. For specialty workers of every type, search companies like eLance.com and p2w2, People To Work With. For more on how to outsource almost everything go to
How to Start an Online Business for $100 – Ramp Up As Needed Or Just For Surges
Growth of Solo, Self-employed, Freelancers, Independent Contractor Businesses – How Do They Do It?

What Is An Online Business Manager And Why Do I Need One?

What the heck is an online business manager? If you’re like me, you may have never heard the term before. It appears to be a relatively new job description…..at least formal job description.

The reason you should be interested is because you might be one, without realizing it. You might already have the skills to be one, or on the path to be one. Or you might need one.

If you’re Net savvy, this could be a job for you. If you don’t think you’re ready to be an online business manager yet, you could start out as a virtual assistant ( we’ll describe the difference later), or work on an online business manager’s team.

The flip side of the coin is, if you run an online business, organization or association, you might need an online business manager to handle the day to day tasks and free up your time for your core skills or to grow your business. Perhaps you just never knew such a position existed or put together all the elements you need to have for an online business and realized you could get all that implemented for you by a single person, who knows the right tools or manages the right team.

Tina Forsyth is the person who really crystalized this concept in her new book, Becoming an Online Business Manager.

Tina describes a situation in which business owners “already have teams of virtual assistants, webmasters, designers and other contractors, but what they really need is someone to manage all of this; to play a bigger role in their business so that they can grow to the next level.”
Now, as online businesses have grown and increased in complexity, with more sophisticated online tools available, Tina says she is “seeing more business owners who are ready to hire at the management level.”

When I started reading Tina’s writing, it was with a mild shock of recognition I realized I had been doing what she described for a number of clients for some time. Since I had operated a major website since 1996, I had ample experience on the web, so a number of businesses and organizations I had come into the same orbit with had asked for me to help them set up shop online. What happened, in every case, was that I was not just setting up or overseeing the set up of a website and collaborative and marketing tools, but helping them think through the business processes they would need to succeed and grow their businesses. It was a collaboration where I implemented their vision, more like a doctor collaborating with a patient, to diagnose the state of his or her health, determine the level he or she really aspired to reach, then prescribing a regimen for increased fitness to ultimately reach that goal. The actual construction of the website was more like being the pharmacist dispensing the medicine.

Why Aren’t More People Hiring Online Business Managers?

First of all, they don’t know such people exist. I didn’t. And I was one. I just hadn’t realized it. Tina says:

“For business owners, it is a matter of not knowing who or what they are really looking for. They may have a faint idea they could benefit from hiring someone to help them manage and grow their business online, but they often have no clue what that role looks like. They aren’t clear themselves on what it is they need, which of course makes it quite hard to find someone! Quite often, when we describe the role of an oBM to the business owners we speak to, we hear, “yes! that’s exactly who I need on my team … now where do I find someone?” and that leads us to the other side of the gap, that there just aren’t a lot of people out there who are actively working as oBMs, consciously or unconsciously. So when these clients start looking to fill that role, they are having a tough time finding the person they need.”

Let’s start with a job description so we can learn a little more about what the job looks like.

A sample oBM job description from the book reads like this:
The Online Business Manager will:

Have 5+ years experience in one or more of:

the fields of marketing, ecommerce, programming, coaching, business management, human resources, project management, personal development or other related area of study, or equivalent.
Work with the very energetic CEO/Owner of the business to create new passive revenue streams, taking them from idea to sale
Manage administration, logistics, human resources and infrastructure of a growing online business
Recruit additional team members and train/manage them into their respective functions
Be familiar with and/or practically experienced in all facets of Internet marketing including:
- Product planning and research
- Copywriting
- Website design and creation
- Creation of graphics and user interface
- Product packaging
- Traffic generation
- Conversion and
- The overall strategic marketing plan that creates a cohesive whole out of these elements
Have experience creating and implementing a business plan in a competitive environment
Be a relationship builder, client service oriented and a team player
Understand advertising, affiliate programs and joint ventures; be able to hold and cultivate key relationships
Diligently maintain and create a standard operating procedure or business training manual for the business
Be fiscally responsible

So why isn’t it easy to find these people? Tina says:
“I believe that there are .. professionals out there who have the skills to be working as an oBM; they just haven’t realized that this opportunity exists… This way of working is still quite new to most people and because of that there is a gap between the business owners who are looking to hire oBMs and the people who could potentially be working for them in this role.”

In fact, I believe there are two levels of workers an online business owner can turn to. A good virtual assistant, or VA, with substantial experience could oversee the technical tools and processes and probably has some tricks up her sleeve about marketing tools which could help expand your business. An online business manager would be a step up from that: someone who could analyze your business and its processes and collaborate with you to design the elements which would create more value and help you reach your goals.

So, if you’re Net savvy, there could be a job in here for you. Most small business owners, or growing organizations will definitely reach a point where they are either unable to handle all the tasks before them, or don’t have sufficient background and experience online to know how to proceed. When that point comes, don’t hesitate, look for an online business manager.

Author: Gretchen Glasscock, AdvancingWomen.com

Rorschach Test For Entrepreneurs : If You See Opportunity, Start A Company

I have built start-ups throughout my life and also have been fortunate enough to be surrounded by successful entrepreneurs throughout my life. And I can tell you one thing: They may be fazed and affected, like everyone else, but they are unstoppable and undaunted by droughts, depressions, recessions, and natural or man-made disasters. Entrepreneurs and steely businessmen or women don’t stop, don’t look back, don’t complain, they just keep on powering through, whatever the tough times are. The key is these people know they are in it for life, good times or bad, and they may have to adjust their strategy but the game remains the same and they’re in it to win it. They just keep on going, like the famed energizer bunny.

I got onto the Net, riding the wave of the Netscape browser, surfing on the crest of an Internet boom, then weathered the dot com bust, really not so much the worse for wear, just with a little belt tightening, as I have learned to be a lean, mean operator, which I recommend to you as well, at least when you’re starting out. See Start Your Own Small Business Using More Ingenuity, Less Cash.

In 10 Reasons This is the Best Time to Build a Startup, NewsCred Blog gives it’s reasons why it’s a great time to start:

“I’m not a blind optimist, but I think the best suggestion in this situation is simple: forget the depressing “reality” painted by the so-called pundits, and just get on with it. Why? Because I really believe the naysayers are full of it, and it really is a great time to be building a startup. Here’s why:

10) You can’t dwell on what you cannot control and change, so this is the perfect opportunity to concentrate on the present and focus on delighting your customers TODAY. I don’t practice Buddhism, but I think Buddha got it spot on: “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future – concentrate your mind on the present moment.”

9) Capital efficiency is your friend (thanks Fred). You always wanted to do it, but now you have no excuse. Optimize spending, optimize investing, optimize hiring, optimize everything. This one is Buddha version 2.0: “Yesterday is a canceled check. Tomorrow is a promissory note. What we have today is ready cash – so spend it wisely.”

All your competitors with million dollar burn-rates are in trouble.

7) The current crop of startup winners were all created right after the Dot-Com bubble burst. Naysayers were out in droves in 2001 as well. Look at what happened to some of the entrepreneurs who chose to ignore the doom and gloom and just got on with it. $$$.

6) There are fewer distractions. All the hype surrounding web startups and the Web 2.0 bubble will disappear. Rather than worry about flipping your company or XYZ buying ABC for $100 million dollars, you can focus on your product.

5) Yes, product. In times like these, let your product speak louder than anything else. If you build something people want and need, all you need to do is make sure you can continue providing it. If you stop today, it’s going to be pretty hard for people to get to your product. Don’t disappoint them.

4) Build a great team, and don’t worry about paying them boatloads of money. You don’t have money, they don’t expect money, so its a pretty decent ZOPA (zone of probable agreement). There’ll be plenty of talent available. If said talent comes with high salary requirements, slap them across the face. Then tell them “thanks, but no thanks.”

3) Necessity is a big … mother (of invention). You’re brain synapses should be firing on all cylinders and creative juices flowing non-stop. A little creativity will go a long way, and no one will dismiss your crazy ideas if it can a) save money or b) extend your runway or c) get you sales. Also guerrilla marketing is fun.

2) Remember that business model you’ve been putting away for a while? Well, dust it off and starting focusing on it now. During the good times, things like business models often seem like perks or bonuses. Bad times are a blessing in disguise – you can bring back the biz model and put it front and center. God help you if you don’t have one.

1) You’re an entrepreneur. Your whole purpose of being is so that you can take scarce resources, optimize like hell and get maximum output from the least input. This is your time to shine.

The most important thing to remember is if you quit, there’s a 0% chance of success. Life’s too short to worry, so just go out there and have fun. Build a kick-a.. product that’ll delight your customers.

And don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It’s already tomorrow in Australia.”

Now, I happen to wholeheartedly agree. And I can say, looking back, even in the middle of the dot com bust, I said: “Are they kidding? Not even 10% of the world is on the Net yet. The Net is only beginning. This is a blip on the map.” And this is only a blip on the map as well. Work now and you’ll be better positioned for when the economy roars back as it inevitably will

Marketing With Free Ebooks

Book cover via Amazon

I want to share with you a couple of books you definitely want to read, for their marketing content, as well as for a couple of templates on how to market by giving away ebooks.

The latest project by marketing guru Seth Godin project is Tribes. This book explores the idea of tribes and how leaders “lead” in today’s world. One of the many ways he’s marketing it is by giving way an ebook about it:

“The Tribes Q&A ebook is here and it’s free

Dozens of volunteers, working together, put together this ebook:

Download TribesQA2.pdf

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Yours to share or print or email, but please don’t sell it or change it.

Not only is there a juicy insight on every page, but I’m comfortable saying it’s the best designed PDF I’ve ever seen, worth making into a template for your next project.

Enjoy it.”

Social Media for Small Business by Duct Tape Marketing is also giving away their own ebook on using social media for marketing.

“You know I’m a big fan of the use of social media for marketing a small business. Having said that, I’m really a fan of social media done right for small business. That means that some of the tools won’t be right for you, the ways others use some of the tools won’t be right for you, but the power contained in the new way people expect to communicate – and therefor you must learn to communicate – is something that every small business must come to understand.

Standing out and marketing a business takes work, but many of the social media tools make that work much easier and, for the small business that gets that, creates a tremendous competitive advantage. In my ongoing effort to help small businesses understand, prioritize and use social media tools, I teamed with Microsoft Office Live Small Business on a new very practical e-book called Let’s Talk: Social Media for Small Businesses. It is available for download for FREE.

Becky McCray at Small Business Survival suggests adding value on the back of your business card by including a conversation starter, such as offering something for free related to your business. In this instance she’s offeringa free ebook on the back of her card.

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“The Tribes Q&A ebook is here and it’s free

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