It’s been said that it’s not the journey of 1000 leagues that wears down the mighty soldier, but the tiny pebble in his shoe. Here are some philosophical considerations that can help lay the foundations for your business and make the journey less wearing:

1. Have you put yourself in your customer’s shoes? Does your product add value to your customer’s life? Is it dependably available? Are you willing to do what is necessary to provide exceptional customer service? How will you gain feedback and keep your product relevant?

2. Have you put yourself in your distributor’s shoes? Do you know why he would carry your product? Are you willing to help him sell it? Do you understand the processes involved? Do you know why his retail customers buy your product? It might not be for the reasons you think.

3. Have you put yourself in your own people’s shoes? What are their goals, expectations, and aspirations? What kind of training and direction do they need? Are you willing to write down policies and procedures? What kind of culture will you provide? Will they be compensated to perform?

4. Have you put yourself in your creditors’ shoes? Are you willing to provide honest communication even when you can’t perform? Are you concerned about their payables? Will your integrity give them a reason to increase your credit and terms? Would you lend money to yourself?

5. Are you willing to take a smaller slice of a larger pie? Are you willing to share in the increased profits with those who make it possible? Are you going to reduce the cost of turnover by providing financial opportunities to stay with your company?

6. Do you know how to make mistakes right? Will people be fired because they made a mistake? Will your staff hide mistakes as a result? Or will you reward those that solve potentially reoccurring mistakes by identifying how they were made and suggesting new documentation?

7. Do you understand that sales provide all the income for your business and pay all your salaries? Will you organize you company, pay structure, and culture accordingly? Will the customer be on top, then the sales and customer service people, then everyone else?

The answers to these questions will determine the philosophical foundation of your business. Everything else that follows is influenced and shaped by those answers. Make sure you have answered them honestly before you begin to structure your business. The journey is hard and long enough without a pebble in your shoe.

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post A Solid Business Foundation is Necessary for Success appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

Small start-ups face a myriad of challenges. They are undercapitalized, unproven and have no market traction. They are up against the status quo that will use its established power and influence in the marketplace to suppress any new challengers. Buyers are reticent to take a risk on anything new or unproven.

The big boys have might and muscle, but there are still several advantages the little guys have that can move them ahead:

6. Being New. The small start-up has not yet established its direction and can turn on a dime. This advantage affects everything from plans to budgets, from design to being responsive to consumer feedback.  Flexibility is a big advantage when it comes to satisfying your customer and improving your product. The big corps are well established with set ways of doing things that can bog them down.

7. Closer to the Ground. If you are the little guy, survival is dependent on having your ear to the ground and in most cases, your feet as well. Starting out requires a lot of hand-selling and “missionary” work. You are painfully aware of what needs to be done in the market place. Because it’s your company, you deal with your customers up close and personal on a daily basis. You can’t afford to be isolated and insulated. You don’t have MBAs and focus groups to rely on. You rely on yourself.

8. Faster Communication. Information can cross departmental lines easily in a small start-up. For one thing, there are fewer departments. For another, staying in business is more important than “going through channels,” which can be a maze of department heads, divisions, silos, and, if you’re lucky, ending with the intended recipient. The big company keeps order by installing informational gatekeepers. They can stop, change, or delay a critical message based on their perception of priorities, and, too often, job security.

9. Out-of-the-Box Thinking. Because the small companies are usually under financed, they are always scrambling for inexpensive and effective ideas to stay in business. This apparent financial hardship forces you to discover and employ unorthodox ideas, strategies, and tactics that the big guys wouldn’t dream of. They don’t have to. In a small company, cost-saving ideas, customer retention, and marketing concepts can come from anywhere. The big guys tend to want ideas to originate from their proper divisions, which can miss or kill some gems in an effort to defend precious turf.

10. Better Risk Tolerance. Just starting something new is a big risk, and most start-ups don’t make it. Because they are desperate to survive and have less at stake, they are more risk tolerant than the established companies. Small companies tend to tell their legal advisors what they want to do, then ask how to do it. The big guys are more risk adverse and tend to be guided by their legal advisors. Risk adversity can blind companies to new, unproven concepts.

So when you feel overwhelmed by big, established competition, remember that your flexibility and freshness can help you survive. The benefits of being a start-up give you the flexibility to grow and ultimately improve not only your own company, but also your industry.

Next time we will see how being an outsider, with enhanced concepts and simplified processes can have an advantage over an insider with simplified concepts and complicated processes.

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post The Advantages of Being a Small Start-Up – Part 2 appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

Today we need new products, new services, and new ideas to invent our way back to prosperity. Small start-up producers have always been the backbone of the economy, not just because they provide the most new jobs, but because they improve the very quality of our lives by bringing more good ideas to the market. This is the first in a four part series on why small start-ups have an advantage over big companies.

“Build a better mouse trap” is the challenge to today’s inventors, entrepreneurs and start-ups. If you have a good idea, why wait 10 years just see someone else take “your” idea to the market, and say, “I had that same idea ten years ago!”

Sure, you’re undercapitalized, inexperienced, and up against the “big guys,” but you have several advantages that can make the difference:

1. Humility. Small start-ups tend to be more open about what they don’t know and are more likely to hire, contract, or otherwise engage the experience of experts outside the company. It’s OK if “it wasn’t invented here.” Your people’s jobs and raises are not dependent on coming up with all the good ideas or even pretending they can. Its OK to give someone else credit because you and your people’s concern is company survival. No one thinks he will have a job if the company goes under. No one thinks that company survival is not his concern. Your company is small and fragile, and your people know it.
2. Positive cash flow earlier. Being undercapitalized tends to force a cautious start that pays the bills as soon as possible. You simply won’t exist if you don’t. The big guys can get a budget for a new project that will lose money for years, or worse, they might not let a bad idea die because they have put so much time and money into it. The small company has to dump what’s not working fast to survive. Its OK to admit you’ve made a mistake and learn from it.
3. Innovation and Resourcefulness. If necessity is the mother of invention, being undercapitalized is surely the “father”. A start-up is forced to be resourceful. In the process, you can discover advantages you may never find with a second or third round of financing or a bigger budget. Bonnie says, “I feel sorry for a person with a good idea and I feel doubly sorry for them if they have money!”
4. Hire whom you want. If a candidate has all the skill and experience you need but lacks the credentials, you can still bring him on board. The big guys are concerned about liability and setting a precedent, so in their effort to remain safe and consistent they can miss out on some real gems. You can write and bend your own rules to accommodate opportunity when he or she knocks.
5. Freely shared information . In a small business, your staff knows more about the total operation. They may even manage several different jobs. Information in the big corporations tends to be treated like a coveted commodity, often used as a type of currency to  buy a lunch, get a promotion, receive kudos, or trade for other information. Some information is down right suppressed because it may threaten some supervisor’s concept of job security.

Next time we will examine the advantages of being new, closer to the ground, communicating better, engaging in out-of-box-thinking, allowing good ideas to come from anywhere, and having an “outsider’s” view of your industry.

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post The Advantages of Being a Small Start-Up – Part 1 appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

Some people think “culture” is what you get in your yogurt. So called “company culture” starts from the top and permeates throughout your organization. The attitudes, principles, philosophies and values of owners like you and your managers shape the decisions, actions, and motivation of your employees.

The morale of your people and the impressions of your vendors and customers are greatly impacted by your company’s culture. If your staff treats information as a jealously guarded currency, if the division of labor is creating turf battles, if good ideas are being suppressed, or if job preservation is taking precedence over customer service, you can expect to lose your best and most creative people. Your company will be upstaged in the marketplace by competitors who allow and encourage creative ideas.

Each of the following concepts helps you build a positive company culture, and will receive more attention in later posts. Here is a brief summary:

1. Create Two Divisions. Your employees are either in Sales or Sales Support. Ultimately, everyone in your company gets paid from sales. No matter what their job or profession, make sure each of your people know how he/she affects  sales. Emphasize the point by finding ways to link their compensation to sales. When you keep them up to date on your sales and get their feedback, you will be surprised at the improved team spirit.
2. Give Your Staff Permission to experiment, take chances and even make mistakes, so long as they document the changes needed to prevent them from occurring again. In the process, they will improve the company’s policies and procedures while coming up with out-of-the-box solutions and innovative improvements.
3. Improve the Planet. Your people want to make a difference. Show them how your product, sales program, and groups you support are making the world a better place. When they know that they are part of a higher value than just selling a product, they will approach their job with the added enthusiasm, knowing they are making a difference.
4. Give Congratulations.  Your people are motivated by goal achievement, but also by public recognition. It not only validates their creativity, but it sends a message to the rest of the troops that this type of behavior is identified, appreciated and celebrated. Appreciation builds loyalty, encourages achievement, and builds a productive environment.

Everyone in your company is playing by a set of rules. Instead of letting those rules evolve by divisions of labor, hierarchy, and apathy, take charge of your company culture and build it in a positive and nurturing direction. Culture is not just found in yogurt!

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Does Your Company Culture Give Rise to Great Ideas? appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

Your people are your most valuable asset. When you are a start-up, they are critical. They represent your company to your customers, vendors and your associates. When your people interact well with each other, they will make your workplace productive and satisfying on many levels.

Remember, most top producers aren’t found, they’re made. Most often, you create top producers with positive culture, mentoring and coaching. Here are some tips that worked for us to attract and keep the best people:

1. Ask your buyers and vendors for potential employee referrals. They already know several top performers because they have worked with them. Since they have a stake in the hire, they will help them be successful. This is especially true with sales personnel.
2. Paying for Performance is the best way to attract and keep performers. When your staff creates extra income, share the “found money” with them. Always take a smaller piece of a larger pie. Performers can’t afford to quit; non-performers can’t afford to stay.
3. Have your Employees’ Best Interests at Heart. Build loyalty by showing you care about what’s important to them. Beyond their achievement and work ethic, the things they care most about are their income, acknowledgement of their work, time off, career development and security.
4. Fit the Job to the Skill Set. Once you have found the people who demonstrate the integrity and attributes you are looking for, reorganize to build the ideal jobs for their skill sets. Everyone will benefit, especially your customers.
5. Give Public Acknowledgement. When a staff member has an anniversary, send the entire staff a memo listing how that person’s last year’s accomplishments improved everyone’s job and security. This builds appreciation, team spirit and improves morale. It also encourages everyone to work hard to get that acknowledgement.
6. Give extra days off with pay. There are 3 months during the year when there are no official 3-day holiday weekends. We actually increased production among office staff by creating extra 3-day weekends in those months — March or April (depending on Easter), June, and August. They all put in extra hours to complete their work before the get-away.
7. Share the ups and downs. Relate to your staff as partners, especially in the early days. Once they understand their raises, bonuses, and benefits are based on the success of the business, they will be more interested in achieving that success.

Invest in your team and reduce turnover. You’ll save recruitment and training costs, protect your relationships with buyers and vendors, and increase productivity and profitability. The dollars you spend maintaining continuity and stability are investments in your most valuable asset, the team you’ve built.

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post 7 Tips to Attract and Keep Good People appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.