Some may advise you to advertise more. That can be effective. But there is a form of advertising is the most effective in these uncertain times, a form of advertising that folks are looking for right now: Quality. That’s right. Quality.

Tough times require longevity

People want to get the most for their money right now. They don’t know if or when they will get more. If they are going to part with their precious savings, it better to be for a quality product. They can’t really afford to buy disposable products that need regular replacement. Now they need products that will last, services that over-deliver, and brands that guarantee performance and longevity.

To read the complete article, please visit The Business Journals

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 How to Turn Your Customers Into Advocates (even during a pandemic) appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

That’s the usual lament we hear from the producers of failed products.

Why?

They fell in love with their product, so much so that they actually thought success was based on the product itself.

Probably the most important factor most often overlooked by new product producers is the product-market fit. It doesn’t do you any good to come up with a cool idea, even one that solves a big problem, if the market isn’t ready yet or doesn’t understand it, or if you can’t gain access

To read the complete article, please visit The Business Journals

The post Product Development Starts with Demand and Access, Not the Product appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

In the top-down structure of the classic pyramid company, production and marketing have a higher status than sales and customer service. Products are pushed down to the salespeople to sell. And if any complaints try to come back up, you guessed it, they are kept down by the customer service people.

Some companies actually rate their customer service people by how few complaints escalate up to management. We think this limited view of the customer service is not only unfair, but it’s unprofitable, wasteful, and ultimately unwise.

Why? Because this view of customer service ignores the fact that, except for your salespeople, your customer service people are the only ones in your company who talk directly to your customer every day. They know what your customers like …and hate about your company’s products. They know about your competition. They hear daily suggestions about how to improve your products. They know when and where your products are out of stock. And they are the ones who can turn your complainers into advocates.

In fact, we don’t call it “Customer Service.” We call it “Customer Intel.”

The Two-Division Company

A popular keynote we present for large companies that want to engage and empower their people with the entrepreneurial spirit is “The Two Division Company.” The two divisions are Sales (which includes Customer Service) and Sales Support  (everybody else from the CEO to the receptionist).

Customer Service – Resolve Issues, Win Back Customers & Get Feedback

A customer can only give you two things: their money and their feedback. The feedback is extremely valuable. That’s because it is the information you need to keep your goods and services relevant, stay on top of your distribution system, and stay ahead of your competition. In other words, it’s the information you need to stay in business!

Unlike the focus groups and market studies that the marketing people spend thousands on, the information your customer service people get is unfettered, unbiased, and timely. And it comes from folks who care enough about your company to call and complain. Many are brand advocates seeking resolution for their favorite brand, the brand they’ve told their friends and neighbors to buy. Now that brand let them down. If they can get resolution they won’t feel obligated to go back and tell everyone they know about the problems they ran into. Instead, they will celebrate the problems and the solutions as validation for their continued advocacy.

Once their problem has been resolved, they can provide vital information you need like: Where did they buy it? Was it in stock? How long have they been a customer? Have they been satisfied with it in the past? What suggestions do they have to improve your products, marketing, and service? Will they recommend your brand to others?

Formal Lines of Communication Focusing on Sales & the Customer

If you don’t have it already, we recommend that you at least establish formal lines of communication between sales and customer service on the one hand, and production, marketing, and management, on the other. By focusing on sales and the customer, instead of divisions of labor, specialization, and chains of command, some of those complaints and suggestions can find their way back up into the company structure where they belong to keep your products relevant and competitive.

Why not start today by renaming your customer service department, “Customer Intel” and benefit from what they hear from your customers? They can do much, much more than complaint resolution.

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 Have a Customer Intel Department? appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

One question is, how would a “free” social network support itself without income? This is the question social networks have been wrestling with since their inception. The answer is simple, they can’t! What we have today is income models that basically use you and the records of your activities as the product. And who are the paying customers? Anyone who will pay for that information and access to you, of course.

No big surprise there. For decades, even before social media, our snail mailboxes were stuffed with junk mail. The junk mail senders were using information about us from public records and purchasing histories to know how to zero in on us. With social media, we have, in effect, made our choices public and they can be mined and analyzed to tailor ads catering not only to our buying patterns, but to our specific ideological patterns and tendencies. Now they’re really  zeroing in on us. This is very valuable data!

It seemed okay and quite innocent when the commercial marketeers hit us with ads seconds after we made a purchase. It was commercial, they were selling stuff, and that’s just part of business, we thought. But now it’s clear that anyone could buy the data and use it for whatever sinister purposes they want. They can interfere with our elections, undermine our institutions, exacerbate our political divisions, vilify those we oppose, and validate our suspicions – no matter which “side” we are on!

“Divide and conquer” is an ancient and classic war strategy. It is being used effectively today by the weaponization of the social media. You voluntarily provide the data that makes you vulnerable. It gets sold to the groups who use that data to manipulate you and others.

There’s talk today about regulating social media. These regulations would presumably make it harder to sell sensitive data, post hateful comments, disseminate false news, and proliferate political messages. But they would apparently leave in place the sale of personal data for commercial uses. At this point social media platforms want to protect their source of income while appearing to reduce the abuse of this data for political reasons.

Because the service would still be “free,” the proponents expect wide ranging support. But it will be almost impossible for the platforms to prevent political abuse while allowing commercial access to your data.

So, we ask again, would you pay a monthly or annual fee for a social networking service that used your fees as their income stream and not the sale of your data? Proponents of this idea say that fees would be minimal to support the platform and provide the services you now enjoy for “free.” And your data would be private!

Imagine a platform where you are not solicited either commercially or politically. Imagine a platform where your choices and data history were not for sale. In other words, imagine a platform where you are the customer and not the product! What is that worth to you?

With the next scandal just around the corner, this “preposterous” idea of paying for something we now get for free may become practical, feasible, and even desirable. At some point, you might prefer being the customer rather than the product! This may be a disruption whose time is rapidly approaching. After all, there is no “free” lunch!

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 How Much Is Your Privacy Worth? appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

Four years ago, conference organizers would tell us as speakers not to sell from the stage! We didn’t and never have. Our goal has always been to educate and entertain our audiences with the hard lessons we learned building an international brand using resourcefulness, cash flow management, employee engagement, and strategic alliances. Our goal has always been to send the audience home with effective tools they can use in their business today. We want our audiences to thank the conference producers for providing those tools.

Over the past year we’ve noticed a big change. Now, most conference producers are operating on a model that basically “sells” their audience to their unpaid speakers. Now, these producers actively promote platform selling by their speakers to their audiences who have paid to attend their conferences. Imagine, free speakers plus income from attendees! When we point this out, they’re always quick to say that they are creating networking opportunities for their audiences and speakers. But how much longer will audiences pay to be treated like prospects?

We believe audiences attend conferences not just to network but to learn new strategies and techniques they can use in their businesses. We believe they can “smell” an upsell 20 minutes away. We believe upselling speakers creates a kind of anxiety as the audience is expecting to be teased and have key pieces of information withheld from them unless, of course, they pay more to get it. Now their conference ticket just buys them a pitch.

More new conferences are popping up every day trying to use this pay-to-be-upsold model. “Why should we pay speakers,” they say, “when we have a whole stable full of free speakers?” The fact is, there are no “free” speakers. They may not charge the producers for their talk, but they are hoping their audience will buy their services instead. When an audience is used like this, are they more likely or less likely to return next year?

Today many so-called speaking coaches are quick to jump on this bandwagon. They advise their speaking clients to sell their services from the stage. This advice is based on the idea that their clients are not professional speakers but are merely using the stage to sell something else to a sequestered audience.

Think about the last three conferences you’ve attended. Does any of this sound familiar? Do you need more people soliciting you? Do you need more emails from their sales campaigns in your inbox? Or do you want to get value for the money you paid to attend the conference?

We think you should get information that is of great value to you. It won’t happen unless you complain about platform sales or simply vote with your feet. Let’s go back to paying speakers on the condition that they don’t perform platform sales and that they deliver valuable and usable content in return for their fees. Let’s get more speakers who have actually done what they’re talking about instead of those who’ve created a new word, written a book about it, and were a bestseller on Amazon for 2 ½ seconds.

When speakers only speak for fees, they have a financial interest in delivering value. They don’t tease, scare, or hold back. They must perform, or they won’t get paid again. Speaking is their real job. It’s what the audience is paying for. Right? If you are a speaker, a conference attendee, or a conference producer, let us know your ideas on this subject.

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 Are Conferences About to Change …Again? appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

For us, it’s hard to watch so many startups fail because they say they “couldn’t raise enough cash,” when, realistically, they have not yet addressed the core issue. We ask, “Did you really need all that money to start with?” At the Barefoot Startup, we believe that there are many ways to get your idea off the ground and grow your business effectively that do not require cash. One way is by being more resourceful, and yes, friendly. But you need to be genuinely sincere about your friendliness; Just acting friendly can be seen through and easily backfire!

So, what is “friendly” and how does it translate into profitable business relationships?

Here’s a clue – think about how you treat your friends. You have their best interests at heart. You demonstrate this with your actions. You would never mislead or manipulate a true friend. Think of your family members. You take a sincere interest in their lives. You know their aspirations and their challenges, and you are there to help and encourage them.

Now think about how you felt when they showed up on moving day to help you pack up your stuff, when they introduced you to that key person who helped you with your problem, or when they just listened to you when you needed a sounding board. Their interest in you and your needs made you want to treat them special, give them the benefit of the doubt, and make allowances for them.

Isn’t this what you want from your business associates? Special treatment, the benefit of the doubt, and allowances made for you are all valuable. In business, this can translate into cash. Let’s look at the 4 groups of folks most businesses have relationships with and how you can be friendly with them:

1. Employees are often seen as an expense, and therefore are an untapped resource. And yet, turn-over is the #1 hidden cost of any business. Employees are more likely to stay with you if they believe you have their best interests at heart. Demonstrate this with fair pay, time off, and an interest in them as individuals. They will be more engaged if you show them appreciation for the good work they do. They will go the extra mile if you compensate them, at least partially, on performance.
2. Vendors have the ability to extend your terms and increase your credit, but will only do so if they trust you. You will build trust by keeping them up to date on your payment status, sharing your plans for growth, and making good on your promises. When you show them your loyalty by purchasing certain items exclusively from them, they may show their appreciation by giving you breaks on warehousing, shipping, and quantity purchases. Vendors are also a wealth of information. So, treat their sales people like gold …it pays!
3. Investors are more willing to extend financing if you have demonstrated even a small positive cash flow. They want to see that you appreciate their predicament and are willing to take steps to mitigate their risk. When you demonstrate that you are being frugal and resourceful with their money, investors will be more receptive to the idea of investing more and offering you better terms.
4. Buyers require reassurance before they will carry your products and participate in your promotions. You can gain their confidence by being dependable, providing industry information, and helping them achieve their goals whether strategic, metric, or mercantile. They appreciate your kindness when you give them personalized attention and provide the help they need without being asked. They will often return your favors by opening doors previously closed to you.

When we speak at universities and technical schools, students of entrepreneurship often ask us, “What else should I be taking beside business to help my startup be a success?” We always answer, “The Liberal Arts, also known as the Humanities.” History, sociology, psychology, philosophy, literature, communications and critical thinking are great “soft skills” tools that enable you to better appreciate and communicate with the people who can make allowances for their “friend,” YOU!

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 Soft Skills Can Result in Hard Cash! appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

Every week there’s a new story about another successful entrepreneur who has disrupted their industry and made a billion. But that’s not even half the story. The tabloids are quick to pander to your desire to see all things new and reward the game changers. It sells magazines!

The fact is that behind every one of those disrupting game-changers is a story of pushback from the buyers, tons of missionary work, and years of not being taken seriously.

And, why should they take you seriously?

Your ideas have never been tested in the marketplace. No one wants to be the first retailer to take a chance on an unproven idea. Besides, they have their tried and true products that have been regularly producing profits for them. Why should they risk losing their go-to brands, the ones they know, the ones that are already in demand?

To read the complete article, please visit The Business Journals 

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 Trouble with Disruption appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

The interviews with the entrepreneurs that made the list make it well worth the read. But the CEO surveys they ran on the new 500 are even more telling. As folks who have done it from ideation to monetization, we thought you would appreciate a brief summary and our answers to the key questions they asked.

Do you have any entrepreneurs in the family? 45% had entrepreneurial parents. 36% were the first. Bonnie’s mother had a blueberry farm. Michael was the first.

How old were you when you started your first business? 42% were under 25. 25% were 25 – 35. Bonnie and Michael were both under 25.

How much personal savings did you use to get started? 76% used personal savings. The next biggest source was credit cards. For Barefoot Wines we used personal savings, credit cards, and we also took over a client’s debt and converted it into supplies and services.

When did you start paying yourself a salary? 25% said immediately. 32% said within a year. 20% said within two years. For us it was 8 years because we put everything into growth.

What was your biggest challenge? 54% said managing fast growth. Attracting and retaining talent was the next biggest challenge. We agree. The launch is the easy part. Growth requires the right people, a cool head, and a well thought out cash flow management plan.

How much of your growth was funded internally? 40% said all internal. 34% said mostly internal. We grew Barefoot Wines without outside capital, all based on the advice of our cost accountant and judicious use of our cash flow.

Where did your company get ideas for new products and services? 35% said from their leadership team. 28% said from their customers. Only 14% said from their employees. This is where we differ. We got most of our ideas from our employees and the employees of our distribution and sales partners.

What is your primary goal? 82% said scaling. Only 14% said selling. We think the two are inseparable. You can’t monetize without a capital event, whether that’s a sale, merger, infusion, or public offering. And you can’t do any of those without demonstrating scalability.

What is the biggest danger of growing too fast?  One said, “Keeping our company special as we grow.” Another said, “Making hiring mistakes that hurt your company irreparably.” And another said, “Unaddressed problems become much harder to solve later.”  We agree with all these answers.  Our biggest challenge was moving into new territories before we knew how to properly service the distributors, retailers, and our end-users.

Do you think tech companies are being overvalued by Venture Capitalists?  66% said yes. We agree. The inflated values are creating the self-fulfilling hype that caused the last bubble to burst.

Have you ever turned down VC capital? 51% said yes. We think this is wise. Most VC’s are looking for short term returns. They can force a premature sale just to get their money back. They can take so much equity, you wind up working for them. Focus on sales, work with your suppliers to extended your credit, and work with your bank on a line-of-credit based on receivables. Choose the “get rich slow scheme” and own it all when you cross the finish line!

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 Taking the Inc. 500 Survey is an Eye Opener appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

We see too many entrepreneurs falling in love with their products and kidding themselves into believing that their idea itself is all they need to make them a screaming success.

Warehouses are filled with great commercial products that never got to store shelves. Founders of promising start-ups wind up working for their investors, or worse, close their doors. All hopes are dashed and they are back living with mom. Why? Because they failed to master the three core competencies of any successful business.

1. Cash flow management

You’ve got to pay your bills. And when you can’t? You have two obvious choices. Go out of business, or raise more capital.

But that comes with a price; diluted stock or loss of control. So many companies try to get financing to pay for staff without sales. They may be financed and even refinanced before they make enough sales to support their overhead. In other words, they are top-heavy and reliant on multiple rounds of new investment to stay afloat.

One different solution is to make sales a priority, sell in a small territory, service the heck out of it, and use the proceeds to finance growth. Another solution is to identify and forge strategic alliances with your vendors and your buyers. Vendors who trust you will extend your credit and terms to help you make ends meet, especially when they believe their business will grow if you succeed. Buyers will pay in cash for volume discounts, which also help you pay the bills.

To read the complete article, please visit The Business Journals 

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 3 Core Competencies Entrepreneurs Must Master to Succeed appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

The program, now in its 25^th year, is beloved by consumer and the 16,000 companies and organizations that voluntarily participate to produce more efficient appliances to reduce energy consumption, dependence on foreign oil, and significantly reduce carbon emissions. According to the EPA’s Energy Star’s web site, “Energy use in homes, buildings, and industry account for two thirds of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. As of December 2013, families and businesses have realized estimated savings of more than $295 billion on utility bills and prevented more than 2.1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the past two decades. The interplay of government, business, and market forces brought together through ENERGY STAR has changed the energy efficiency landscape.”

The Energy Star System is a simple no-brainer way of advising the consumer about the ultimate energy cost to them of appliances, homes, commercial buildings and industrial plants. The site adds, “ENERGY STAR has been instrumental in reducing this energy use in order to realize significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions – contributing to important health and environmental benefits by addressing the challenges of climate change while strengthening our economy. ENERGY STAR benefits have grown steadily over time, nearly tripling in the last decade.”

The program has wide-spread, bi-partisan support, is embraced by the Fortune 500 and represents a cooperative effort by many sectors of our economy from “manufacturers and trade associations, to retailers and efficiency program providers, to home builders and small businesses. ENERGY STAR has grown to represent products in more than 70 different categories, with more than 4.8 billion sold since 1992. More than 1.5 million new homes and more than 22,000 facilities proudly carry EPA’s ENERGY STAR certification, use dramatically less energy, and are responsible for substantially less greenhouse gas emissions than their peers.”

According to the site, “an ENERGY STAR clothes washer uses about 70 percent less energy and 75 percent less water than a standard washer used 20 years ago, (and) a home with the star is 15% more efficient. 85 percent of Americans recognize the blue ENERGY STAR label. Of the households that knowingly purchased an ENERGY STAR certified product, about 75% credited the (Energy Star) label as an important factor in their decision. The latest Good Housekeeping internal reader audit shows that at 92%, ENERGY STAR is now tied with Good Housekeeping (Seal of Approval) in terms of brand influence.” So why ax it?

Do we really want to turn back the clock that far? Do we really want to pay that much more for energy again? At what point does this move become an obvious attempt to bilk the consumer, stifle progress, and hurt the international competitiveness of US products to satisfy one, powerful, interest group? Who could possibly win if this vital all-American program is eliminated? We think it obvious! The energy companies!

So, no matter what your political affiliation, let your federally elected representatives know that the Blue Energy Star label is well worth saving to reduce your operating costs, reduce our foreign dependency, reduce our emissions, increase our health, and bolster our economy. Eliminating the Blue Star is a bad for American business and human welfare all the way around!

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 Government Set to Terminate the Blue Energy Star Program appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.