Up and Running Blog

August 2009

A List of 8 Types of Entrepreneurs

by Tim Berry on August 10, 2009

I think it’s important to recognize how different one startup is from all others. I’ve posted here on this blog about how different startups can be. So I liked reading how they break entrepreneurs into eight different types in The Cheap Revolution post “Entrepreneurial types: quick descriptions and poll.”

I couldn’t find my exact type–escaping boredom and needing the money–in the list, but I suspect that’s a mix of passion maven, expert idea generator and freedom builder.

1. Get Big Fast (Tagline: Scale)
Commentary: I’ve encountered a number of student entrepreneurs who fit this category. Their unbridled enthusiasm and optimism are a double-edged sword.

2. Freedom Builder/Industrialist (Tagline: Creating Value in Emerging Markets)
Commentary: Often approaching a new venture with a been-there, done-that attitude about business, this entrepreneur brings business acumen but sometimes encounters a culture clash as he or she moves from more traditional business settings to the fast-paced technology world.

3. Passion Mavens (Tagline: Change the World)
Commentary: These are usually loving, caring people who are filled with optimism. Oftentimes they need to fill big business gaps like defining a clear value proposition, a go-to-market strategy or a business model.

4. Spice of Lifers (Tagline: Play for Synergy)
Commentary: This entrepreneur seeks a second-career and is often willing to invest evenings and weekends to research, detail and pursue the dream. Often bound by existing time constraints, they usually realize the need for, and seek out, a team that can help them reach their goal.

5. Solopreneur (Tagline: Independence)
Commentary: Independence and balance form the cornerstone of the solopreneurs. They enjoy working with teams, but will keep their distance as a “virtual team member.” They often need help with infrastructure.

6. Expert Idea Generator (Tagline: Immortality through Ideas)
Commentary: The true inventors of the world are driven to create: create to improve, improve to help, help to be remembered. Aspiring to be the next Dean Kamen (Segway) or Thomas Edison, they can work with relentless energy. Oftentimes communication skills present opportunities for optimizing.

7. Freedom Builder/Technologist (Tagline: Believable Growth)
Commentary: These entrepreneurs have typically grown in the cocoon of a corporation until they realize that they have wings. Many times they will seek business degrees just before or immediately upon leaving the corporate world to round out their technical experience.

8. Serious Competitor (Tagline: Play to Win)
Commentary: This group represents the entrepreneur most adored by venture capitalists. They are typically very conceptual, fast on their feet and go way deep on the markets they are pursuing. They see and ride waves and–as near as I can tell–they all have a formula for “businesses that work” (but not always the same one).

Check out the list. Where do you fit in?  You can click here to take the Team and a Dream poll. Or here for more background about the types, with questions.

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5 Business Lessons to Start a Business With

by Tim Berry on August 7, 2009

Yes, I’m biased, but still, this is a good list of tips from Sabrina Parsons on the She Takes on the World blog.

  1. People are the most important asset in your business. People are also much harder to manage than products or services. As an entrepreneur, you may have heard this from other people: Hire slowly, but fire quickly. This is a very true statement. People will make or break your business, so get the best and don’t settle for less.
  2. Set the culture for your company early on. Think about the “culture” you want to maintain and what it takes to do that. For me and Palo Alto Software, being a company of entrepreneurial-minded employees with a very family-friendly attitude is what works. I could never get upset at an employee who puts his/her family first, because that is what I do. People know that; the people who work here love it and appreciate it. Many people say this is the best place they have ever worked. In my opinion, that is not necessarily because it is the best place to work–it is because it is the best place to work for the people who work here. They are a cultural fit with our philosophy.
  3. Planning is an ongoing process that helps manage the business. Your plans will not always be right, but they will help you understand where you want to go, how you will get there and what to do when obstacles get in the way.
  4. There is more to life than business. Business will be here today and tomorrow and the next day. A healthy approach to running your business includes time off to focus on things that make you personally fulfilled, whether they are family, kids, hobbies, etc.
  5. You will never be able to do it all. There is no such thing as “super mom.” Compromises will have to be made. Be honest about the compromises and compromise where you can without losing the morals and values that make you who you are.

Sabrina is CEO of Palo Alto Software. She blogs at MommyCEO.wordpress.com. Why mommyceo, you ask? You probably get that from the picture, which was featured in a profile on USA Today. She’s expecting her third child.

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The 3/50 Project to save local businesses

by Jay Snider on August 6, 2009

How much thought do you give to where your dollars are going when you buy a new pair of shoes or go out for a meal? With small local businesses struggling to compete against big box stores and corporate chains, it’s more important than ever to try to keep your money in your community.

That’s why we’re keeping an eye on a new, interesting “buy local” movement springing out of Minneapolis. The 3/50 Project aims to save “the brick and mortars our nation is built on.”

How are they going to save it? By encouraging consumers to pick three local businesses they’d really miss if they were to close down, then having them commit to spending $50 (combined) each month at those stores.

The 3/50 Project isn’t an “all or nothing” campaign that insists consumers stop shopping in chains or franchises. Instead, our message is about balance—of the money you currently spend each month, we simply ask you to redirect an affordable $50 back to the locally owned independent businesses that have been forgotten of late.

According to the website, 68 percent of every dollar spent in a locally-owned business returns to the local economy –  in the form of taxes, payroll, and other expenditures. By comparison, when you buy at a national chain, only 43 percent of that money stays local. That’s a significant amount of money that can easily be funneled back into a community.

Enlisting business supporters, consumers, and organizations to get behind the movement, the 3/50 Project has gone national with supporters across the country holding events and community projects.

Palo Alto Software has teamed up with Rick L’Amie of Moxie Marketing in Austin, Texas, to support one such event. Moxie issued aB2B challenge to Austin business owners to help other businesses in the city. Each business that takes part in the challenge will be entered into a drawing to win one of three copies of Marketing Plan Pro we’ve donated to the cause. Winners will also receive a free 30-Day Moxie Quick Start Coaching program.

If you happen to be located in Austin, click here to enter the 3-Step Buy Local Challenge. All you have to do is name three local businesses, describe why you like them (stories will be shared on Rick’s blog), and pledge to support them.

If you don’t live in Austin, consider taking part in the 3/50 Project by making sure to spend some of your hard earned dollars in the stores and businesses owned by your neighbors. They’ll thank you, and you’ll be doing something simple to help your local economy.

Take the 3-Step Buy Local Challenge

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10 ways to market when cash is tight

by Guest Author on August 6, 2009

A while  ago, Staples and Angus Reid released their latest “STAPLES Canada Small Business National Quarterly Index,”

dollarsignIt looks like we believe we are over the hump. 70 per cent of business owners expect at least some improvement to their business over the next six months (compared to 58 per cent in March 2009).

Now that you’re feeling better, get out there and make sure that your customers will come to you rather than your competition when they are ready to buy.

Chances are you are a little tight for cash, so here are 10 low-cost ways to market better we’ve worked out with help from Joanna L. Krotz, co-author of the “Microsoft Small Business Kit”. (If you haven’t already, check out Advice for Entrepreneurs at www.microsoft.com/canada.)

  • Stop servicing break-even customers. By now you know this is a theme with us. every second you spend with a customer who doesn’t help you make money you are short-changing those who do.
  • Make every customer feel special. Always add something to the purchase,whether it’s a hand-written note to a consumer or a recommendation on the latest greatest business book to a business customer.
  • Create business cards that prospects keep. How about a good-looking notepad with your contact info and tagline on every page? Or a free or low-cost trial offer on the back, real estate that’s valuable and often wasted.
  • Develop an electronic mailing list and send old-fashioned letters too. E-newsletters are cheap to send, but you can quickly stand out by occasionally sending personal, surface mail letters to customers and prospects too.Just make sure the letter delivers something customers want to read.
  • Boost your profile at point of sale, trade shows and conferences. You can quickly create your own signage, glossy postcards with your contact information, product news inserts or an event mini Web site even if you are not a software pro.
  • Combine business with pleasure — and charity. Spearhead an event, party or conference for a cause you care about. That puts you in the position of getting to know lots of people, and shows off your small business leadership skills.
  • Create a destination. Indigo Books & Music has its coffee bars. Ikea offers child-care centers and cafeterias. Steal this idea. Add a free advisory service. Add customer loyalty services, such as free delivery for second-time buyers.
  • Become an online expert. This is the “free sample” approach to bringing in business. Research active e-mail discussion lists and online bulletin boards that are relevant to your business and audience. Join several and start posting expert advice.
  • Court local media. Editorial features convey more credibility with prospective clients than paid advertising does. (Check our recent article on how to get PR.)
  • Finally, don’t let customers simply slip away. It costs a lot less to retain a disgruntled or inactive customer than to acquire a new one. Send a personalized e-mail (you can automate this process), inquiring whether all is well. For a customer who suffered a bad experience, pick up the phone, acknowledging the unpleasantness and ask if there’s anything you can do. A discount can’t hurt either.

Being kind to customers is the smartest low-cost marketing you can do.

ducttapemarketingbadgeKen Burgin and Elizabeth Walker are the Marketing Masters (www.MarketingMasters.ca), a full-service marketing and advertising partnership that helps build busy businesses. Send your ideas on How to Thrive in Times Like These to liz@marketingmasters.ca or ken@marketingmasters.ca, or call 1-866-908-5720.

web: http://www.marketing,masters.ca
blog: http://thebuzzwithkenandliz.blogspot.com/

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The Blog Week in Review — 8/6/09

by Jay Snider on August 6, 2009

Fear Is An Entrepreneur’s Friend — Tim Berry says fear, in the proper measure, is good for management.

Get help: Any row, any time — Business Plan Pro is full of information to help you complete your plan.

She Takes on The World Interview with Sabrina Parsons — Palo Alto Software’s CEO is interviewed about entrepreneurship, business plans, and being a Mommy CEO.

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formspring 004

Let them eat cake!

by Jason Gallic on August 5, 2009

formspring 001Today, Palo Alto Software got a taste of good business practice (and you just got a bad taste of pun).

The team at FormSpring not only integrated our customer email management service, Email Center Pro (a process we’ve been working on for a couple of months), but they sent us a cake from the best bakery in Eugene, OR, to announce it.

That makes this short post about three things:

1) Good business etiquette: Both companies have worked diligently to connect FormSpring and Email Center Pro. Now that the integration is complete, sending a gift — particularly a cake — makes an impressive statement.

2) Solid marketing approach: FormSpring sent a cake. Here’s the blog post to prove it. You can also find chatter about it on Twitter. And the buzz around the office is not due exclusively to the chocolate. Want to have an impact, be remarkable.

3) A very useful integration: FormSpring is an easy and efficient way to collect data online using customizable forms. It’s a terrific way to begin — or continue — a relationship with a customer. Email Center Pro is a customer email management tool, and serves as a tool for developing relationships. Together, they create a powerful solution. Learn more about it here.

All that said, I’m not 100 percent sure that free cake is good for productivity. I considered being more eloquent in this post. Then I realized that there’s cake here.

Jason Gallic
Product Marketing Manager
Email Center Pro

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Venture Capital–Time for V3.0?

by Tim Berry on August 5, 2009

I try to read Stu Phillips’ Soaring on Ridgelift whenever he posts. He’s a venture capitalist. He’s also, judging from his posts on the blog, a smart person, thoughtful about business, a good writer. And his latest–about the future of venture capital–is important.
He acknowledges a lot of talk about venture capital being broken, but disagrees.

Like any “system” that has been “enhanced” over decades, the architecture of the venture capital business isn’t broken but has fundamental issues that slow or even limit its ability to adapt to new market requirements.

Instead, he says, venture capital is caught in “an architectural transition.” He cites four factors:

  1. Too much capital. Interesting, no? You wouldn’t think that would be a problem, but it turns out that it is.

    The supply of capital into venture funds isn’t balanced by the market exit potential (IPO, M&A) to generate an acceptable rate of return.

  2. Too little expertise. Also very interesting, but a bit unnerving, too, because the VCs I’ve dealt with in my career were always at the pinnacle of the startup business. Stu says there are “a lot of smart people with very little operating experience.” Consider this thought:

    You wouldn’t want a medical procedure to be performed by someone who had been trained but was about to conduct their third or fourth procedure–on YOU. Yet in the VC world, this happened with new VCs sitting on the boards of private companies and dispensing guidance and business advice. The rapid growth exceeded the capacity of the experienced VCs to mentor the new folks coming into the business.

  3. The Internet effect. This is my personal favorite. Fascinating. He calls it a “little-known side effect” of better information flow and decreased latency.

    But this same improvement means that ideas, concepts, description of problems, etc. quickly spread to be known by many people. The time advantage of knowledge has been reduced and places an ever larger premium on being the first mover and flawless execution.

  4. Technology markets are mature.

So where does this take us? He has an interesting view of declining searches for startups and venture capital. He says venture capital 1.0 was the birth of Silicon Valley (my summary, not his words) and 2.0 was the internet boom.

And what’s 3.0? Still to be determined. AndPhillips doesn’t venture a guess. But his conclusion about either fire or water is worth repeating:

Big problems or unmet needs create a fire–big pain and urgent need. If you decide to play with fire, you must execute with perfection and precision. You won’t get a second chance, and VC investors should quit funding the moment execution becomes flawed or someone else does a better job.

Difficult problems or emerging trends benefit from an approach like the erosion of water. Relentless and slow like a river or getting into the cracks and freezing to break down the problem faster, like ice. Build entry barriers with fundamental IP, good execution and careful deployment of capital–together with deep and meaningful strategic relationships with established companies that realize they need your help.

Pick one!

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Cash for Clunkers

by sara on August 4, 2009

Cash for ClunkersLeaving aside questions of whether the “Cash for Clunkers” legislation currently up for additional funding is good for the economy, it presents a good opportunity for re-evaluating your business use of vehicles.

There are three main questions for business owners in deciding whether trading in an old vehicle is worth it:

1. How much money do you save in gas, for a more fuel-efficient car, in relation to money laid out for purchasing it?

2. Can you depreciate the value of the new car as a deductible business expense, thus offsetting the purchase price with additional tax savings?

3. How much does your more fuel-efficient vehicle reduce your environmental impact (and is this part of your branding)?
Continue Reading »

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Setting up a Google Store

by Tim Berry on August 4, 2009

I just read How To Set Up A Google Store In Minutes by Lisa Barone on Small Business Trends. Lisa lays it out in very simple steps.

Last week, Google released yet another gadget that may win them friends with small-business owners. It’s called the Google Checkout store gadget and it essentially allows you to use Google Checkout and Google Docs to to easily create your own online store in a matter of minutes. What makes the gadget especially interesting is that because it’s tied to a Google Docs spreadsheet, small-business owners can keep product inventory without having to use another third-party program like QuickBooks. Something many of us can probably appreciate.

I’m not a store user myself anymore, but I went through this hassle early on in my Web days, working with an Amazon.com store first. Our company grew beyond that and we ended up with a much larger system, but it involved a lot of programming by one hard charger in the beginning and a team of four within a year. Happily, we had revenue to match, so it all worked out.

Since then I’ve often recommended the simple turnkey store option to early-stage entrepreneurs and solopreneurs. Without it, the hassles are enormous. Yahoo! had a good option even 10 years ago, Amazon.com does, I’m told eBay does (but I hear different things on this one) and Lisa Barone’s post makes the Google store option look very good, too.

The simple store option let’s you start selling quickly. Link the store into a simple site and see whether people will buy what you’re selling. And if people do buy, then a store is the best possible market validation.

Lisa lays out the steps very well, and also comments on some tradeoffs:

I don’t think you can call the new Google gadget a PayPal killer any time soon, but if you’re looking to get an online store up and running quickly, this may be a good way for you to go. The gadget does what Google does best–simplifies Web activities so that even us regular people can take advantage of them.

Do practice some caution, though. The gadget is still in beta so we don’t fully know what Google plans to do with it. You don’t want to launch a huge online store, only to have Google decide to take it down or make adjustments to it without telling you. Still, I think it’s worth experimenting with, especially if you’re simply looking for a quick way to get started in the world of e-commerce.

Well written, and very useful.

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Contest: A Product Launch Challenge

by Tim Berry on August 3, 2009

Cornell University is celebrating a new online product design and development certificate program with an inauguration event contest on this blog awarding the best story about “your biggest challenge when launching a new product or service.” The winner and, for that matter, any other good entries, will appear on this blog as long as it or they are good reads (and I will edit). And the winner will also appear at the www.ecornell.com website.

Contest rules: Tell your story. Send it to me using this form on my timberry.com site. Aim for no more than 300 words (“aim for” means don’t sweat it if you have 325, OK?), give me some web addresses so I can see for myself (if possible). Do it within the next week (from the day this appeared: August 3, 2009).

Nothing confidential: Remember, please, that I’m a blogger. If you don’t want your story posted where anybody can see it, then don’t send it.

Why enter? Just for entering you get $100 off of $3,000+ tuition for this certificate program. The winner gets 10 percent off tuition. Tuition is either $3,750 or $3,375 for early enrollment. I choose the winner.

What do I get out of it? Stories to tell. Nothing more. Organizers asked me to use my blog to do this, and I said yes. There’s no money involved.

Legal stuff: This isn’t a drawing or a lottery. Entry is free. You don’t have to buy anything. The prize is a 10 percent discount off of the certificate program’s $3,750 (or $3,375 if you enroll early) tuition to the winner. And Cornell offers a $100 discount off of that tuition to everybody who enters, just for entering.

The program itself, brainchild of Cornell’s systems engineering professor Peter Jackson,

“. . . takes entrepreneurs through an eight-step methodology and structured process for taking an idea or product to the point where it can be handed off for completion.”

That’s from the Cornell press release about the new program. A “certificate program” means what it sounds like. If you take this course and complete it, you earn a certificate from Cornell saying you did. That’s not a bad thing. Education is nice, and certification makes it even nicer. You can go to this page for enrollment and more detailed information.

And while I may be partial to the schools I have degrees from, this is Cornell. That’s a great logo to have on your office wall.

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