De-Automate Accounts Payable

Most of us run businesses considerably smaller than Bank of America - or even Exxon. A good way for us "mere mortals" to keep track of things is to enlist more of our coworkers to review expenditures - by signing or approving checks. I know that check generation and bill paying can be automated, but the time saved sometimes deprives us of valuable oversight and coworker education. Few things help coworkers appreciate the business more than reviewing a month's checks, and understanding - in very concrete terms - the real costs of doing business.

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Management Skills | Entrepreneurialism | Finance | Economics

2 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 10:57 PM

When Opportunity Beeps

It takes time and practice to see things that can hide in plain sight, like addiction and opportunity.

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Categories: Creativity | Entrepreneurialism

18 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 3:32 PM

Develop An Eye for Opportunity

Because I couldn't read well as a youngster, I learned from direct experience. Experience is a harsh teacher, since the test comes first and the lesson follows. Still, I embraced every chance to participate in life. I started businesses, like my vegetable stand. I skipped school to watch my father's stockbroker at work. One thing I saw for myself was that to succeed in school, you had to be good at everything, but to succeed as an adult, you only had to be good at one or two things.

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Categories: Creativity | Education | Disabilities | Entrepreneurialism

6 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 3:37 PM

The GST Approach to Marketing Plans

by Dean Zatkowsky

"Strategy without tactics is the slow road to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Faced with a product or service marketing challenge, a lot of people immediately brainstorm tactics: "Let's have a sale! We should hold a workshop! Let's do some direct mail!"

At my marketing workshops, I recommend a slower, more methodical approach that simplifies and focuses the problem and its solution. We use a simple, one-page form to identify Goals, Strategies and Tactics.

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Categories: Marketing | Management Skills | Entrepreneurialism | Competitive Advantage

0 comments - Posted by Dean Zatkowsky at 10:38 AM

Don't Think Too Much

Each month, a woman who owns a little coffee shop allows local artists to hang their works in her business. It's a very busy café, so the artists get a lot of exposure. But every time a new artist is offered the space, he or she bombards the owner with a long list of questions and concerns about the hanging process. Eventually, she has to tell the anxious artist, "Just show up with your pictures and a hammer. We have ladders. If you don't think too much, it will all come together just fine."

"Analysis paralysis" hobbles giant corporations and sole proprietors alike, so I like the café owner's advice to not think too much. Instead, she wants people to think about the right things.  In a way, this fulfills management's primary responsibility to remove obstacles for coworkers. Thinking about the right things reduces distracting anxieties and lets her coworkers - and guest artists - think clearly and, more importantly, take immediate action.

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Creativity | Management Skills | Entrepreneurialism | Leadership

2 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 12:46 PM

The Entrepreneurial Artist

by Dean Zatkowsky

In the April 12, 2009, issue of The Boston Globe, James Reed wrote that "a growing number of musicians are looking to fans, not record labels, to help fund their albums and tours."

I was already aware of this trend, because two of my favorite artists are in the vanguard. Fans funded Jill Sobule's new record, "California Years," while Amy Correia is currently soliciting support for a record she'll be recording this summer. Correia is using blogs, Facebook, Myspace, and email to communicate directly with her fans.

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Categories: Creativity | Entrepreneurialism | Leadership | Optimism

7 comments - Posted by Dean Zatkowsky at 6:53 PM

The Opposite of Leadership

Discussing populist anger during his interview on The Daily Show, CNN Commentator Jack Cafferty said his thousands of daily emails suggest that the American people "... hate congress, they hate the auto industry, they hate government, they hate Wall Street, but they like this man (President Obama) and his family."

I see this too, and I think it's because the people crave leadership, and unlike those other entities, President Obama is trying to lead. Congress, the auto industry, government agencies, and Wall Street, on the other hand, are engaging in behaviors that look to me like the opposite of leadership.

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Management Skills | Entrepreneurialism | Leadership

16 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 6:22 AM