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Entrepreneur – 14 International Accelerators Speak Out on the Top 4 Components for Startup Success

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Mon, 05 Mar 2018 20:11:09 +0000

If anyone could unravel the mystery of why some startups succeed and others fail, it would be the business accelerators. They have a front-row seat with real-world experience. Their reputation is on the line, and rapid turnover is not their friend. They have a vested interest in seeing their clients succeed.

Over the past three months, we have conducted a survey of 14 international business accelerators. With their experience, what was their take on startup success and failure? Over the next few months we will be publishing the results of that study.

Our first question was, “What are the most important qualities successful startup founders possess?” Interestingly, with such a wide range of international respondents, the answers were quite similar.

To read the complete article, visit please Entrepreneur

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.

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5 Ways Today’s Students Can Save Our Democracy

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 18:00:53 +0000

Those of us who experienced the early days of social networking were concerned about the simplistic algorithms that were replacing critical thinking. Suddenly it wasn’t about trusted news sources with credentials and legal exposure. Now it was about the sheer number of likes, shares, and retweets that made the news “credible.”

It didn’t take long for our adversaries to figure out that they could take advantage of this new “system” of perceived credibility. It was no longer based on potential liability, established reputation, or even science, but solely on clicks!

And who was doing all that clicking? We were! We got suckered into 3 major misconceptions:

Entertainment is equal to facts. If it’s interesting but not vetted, the temptation is to share it and be appreciated as the source of the entertainment. You get more “likes” but you can spread falsehoods.
Agreeable posts must be right. When you share any “news” that supports your opinions, even if it’s not vetted, both sides of any issues are being duped!
Popularity = Credibility. Some folks believe that the number of interactions and engagements make posts reliable. However, the interactions can be made up from borrowed accounts or bots.

Now add to that a loss of interest in civics, which is how and why our government was designed to protect us from mob rule on the one hand, and dictatorship on the other. In other words, checks and balances.

Enter a tech savvy adversary with the goal of disrupting our democracy. How to do it? Simple, just undermine our confidence in the institutions that provide those checks and balances, like the executive, legislative, judicial branches of our government and our free press. Create millions of stolen identities to qualify for social media accounts, and use bots to create mega campaigns simultaneously on both sides of every trending divisive issue. Amplify the divisive posts already made by our own people and make millions of new ones.

If our adversaries can get us to lose faith in our 200-year-old institutions and distract us with infighting, then they have executed the age-old art of war – “divide and conquer.” Now they are free to move about the world and pursue their own interests at our expense while we get more cynical and divisive.

So, how do we defend ourselves from this kind of attack? This is not a quick fix, but a sustained effort. We have been working with students over the past five years and we have admired their desire to understand the world and be successful in it. It is precisely our freedom and democracy that provide the solid bedrock upon which they will build their new businesses. It is the enabling environment startups need to succeed.

Now Uncle Sam needs the students to take action to defend these institutions. Here is how it is done:

Accountability. Hold social media companies accountable for allowing false accounts and bot manipulation. Social media companies should not be making money from attacks on our institutions or the sowing of divisiveness.
Healthy Skepticism. Question all posts on trending divisive issues. Look for validation from news sources that have liability insurance and reputations at stake.
Take Civics. Understand and appreciate how our government is organized and why populist demigods cannot legally deliver what they promise. Appreciate and defend the checks and balances that have been put in place. If Civics is not offered in your school, create a club of like-minded students to learn the way our government works.
Vote. Even if your candidate doesn’t make it into the finals, still vote for the “lessor of two evils” so you don’t get the greater of two evils! Learn to compromise.
Speak Out! It’s your life, your safety, and your future that’s at stake. When students speak, the country listens. You represent our future and our new voters. Expose politicians taking checks from interest groups that undermine your future.

If there was ever a time where the future of our democracy was in danger, it is now. The boomers are transplants to the technological age. The students of today are natives. It is up to the natives to get restless! Uncle Sam needs you now!

Who We Are

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

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Be an Entrepreneurial Job Applicant – A Message to Grads

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 15 Sep 2016 17:00:33 +0000

If you are a recent college grad, you may be hitting the employment market about now. You may think you are searching for a job, but maybe you should be searching for a “customer.”

“I need to pay my bills,” you say, or “I need some security,” but by changing the paradigm slightly to “I need to find a customer, or client, for my services,” you can stay in control of your career and approach the job search more effectively.

If you think of yourself as a self-employed entrepreneur you will focus more on what you do best, what your skill sets are, where your experience is, and how you can alleviate your client’s concerns. You will have to bone up on the “prospect” and distinguish yourself from the competition to land the deal.

In addition to seeing your employer as a customer for your services, you also have to consider your own reputation. All your “customers” have to benefit from, and advocate for, your services in order for you to improve your personal brand image and justify higher fees in your future. So be careful not to take on a “client” whom you cannot really help, or who cannot give you the extended experience and responsibility you need to build your reputation.

By putting yourself in your customer’s shoes you can better understand what they are really looking for in terms of (your) features and benefits. Your features and benefits should address your employer’s major concerns when hiring any new person:

False Starts. The cost of turnover is the #1 hidden cost of any business. But after a while every business becomes painfully aware of the cost of searching, vetting, and interviewing. What if it doesn’t work out? Start all over again! Have some empathy for their investment in the search itself. Selling yourself to them before there’s an opening can give you a big advantage when the time comes to hire.

Orienting and Training. If it doesn’t work out, they lose the cost of reduced production by both the trainer and the trainee. You can reduce their anxiety by becoming thoroughly familiar with how they make their money, what their biggest challenges are, and how your potential job fits into the big picture. Learn as much as you can about the company and the job before you apply. The faster they think you can get up to speed and contribute, the more likely they will be to hire you.

Production. They are naturally concerned with your ability to produce. You are pretty much an unknown for which they will take a big risk. Demonstrate your past experience at successfully overcoming steep learning curves. Get testimonials from previous employers or professors that address this specific issue.

Longevity. They worry that after they invest in training you, you will quit! If you can demonstrate that you have stayed at your previous jobs for at least two years, even if it was internships, you will relieve some of their fear.

Dependability and Responsibility. They want to believe that they can depend on you to show up, produce, meet deadlines, and take responsibility for your own actions. Show them that in the past when mistakes were made you have improved processes to prevent their reoccurrence. They want a process improver, not someone who passes on the blame.

These should be among the features you offer that will benefit your employer by reducing costs and anxiety while improving production. Take another look at the “services” you offer as if you were an entrepreneur selling them. You will be much better prepared to get the “customer” you want!

Who We Are

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

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True Entrepreneurs Do What It Takes – No Matter What!

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 17:00:11 +0000

Once the afterglow of the launch wears off, and once the business plan takes a back seat to the cash flow projection, you discover what the real work is in your new business. We call it the “real” work because it generally takes more time and focus that anything you have done before or even anything you could have imagined. It comes as a complete surprise and not a pretty one. It can shatter your preconceived, popular notions about how things get done in product distribution and what is required of you to be a success.

We learned our tough lessons because we were selling to the general public through distributers who then sold to retailers, and we had to do their jobs handling our product. “What? Shouldn’t they have an interest in making money on a product they bought to sell?” you may ask. Even though we were new and unproven, we expected them to sell our products and get the reorders. We also thought they would put up our sales materials to help them move our products. We found both distributors and retailers to be disinterested and unreliable. Still, we faced discontinuance if our products didn’t sell a certain amount in a certain period of time. We had to do the work required, and we had to do it right!

So here we thought we were in the “wine business.” You know – swirl, sniff, sip, maybe say a few French words, hold your pinkie out, and talk about mid-notes. Forget about it! We were in the same business that anyone selling any consumer packaged goods is in: the distribution management business!

Our success depended on stocking and pricing our own items (where legal), dusting bottles, checking item codes, confirming pricing, staying on top of the retailers’ and distributers’ inventory and reordering our products for them as well. It took years to get them to realize that our product was making them so much money that they had an interest in merchandising it themselves. And a good 10-20% never did pick up the slack.

The big companies know this. You know when you go to a store and ask the “clerk” where something is and he says, “Sorry, I don’t work here!” That person works for a product producer who understands what the real work is. It is merchandising! And their own rep is in that store to merchandise their products for the retailer.

Now let’s say you think the stores will do this work and that the distributers are going to get the reorders when the stores are out of stock. You think someone else is going to be responsible for the distribution process. Or you think your product is so good, priced so right, and recommended by so many that somehow you will avoid this inglorious work all together. Guess what? Your product fails. Period.

Unless you make it a priority with your new and unproven product to demonstrate, for an extended period of time, that it will “sell” (and that means constantly move smoothly through the distribution system), you will get the reputation of being a non-starter or a slow mover.

In the early days we spent most of our time in the stores vigilantly watching the shelves, the back rooms and the warehouses – doing whatever needed to be done to make sales happen. It was not uncommon to see us to working on our hands and knees on dusty linoleum floors! That was the real work! So, stop dreaming and get out there and do what has to be done to be successful! You can (and must) do it!

Who We Are

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

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5 Ways to Become Indispensable

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 17:00:07 +0000

People often ask us what the characteristics of an ideal employee or outsourced service are. The answer is they should be effective, dependable, and irreplaceable. If you are the employee or outsourced service, ask yourself, “Why was the job created, and what are the goals of the job? How and why was the job budgeted?” If you can honestly answer these questions you are on your way to becoming indispensable.

Here’s a big hint. All jobs have something to do with sales. How does your job create, maintain, or support sales? Sales is the only source of your salary or fee – period! Without sales there is no money for you or anyone else.

Sure, some folks take jobs with companies that are funded by an investor. Those companies have a budget which is steadily diminished by a “burn rate” – the amount of the investor’s money that is used every month to keep the project going. But if the staff is not actively involved somehow in sales, the company eventually folds. Then the employees look for a new company that has a new investor and set about burning up their money. The problem is that ultimately this approach to job security is counter-productive since one has to keep moving, resulting in a reputation of working for companies that failed. They failed because they could not create a positive cash flow resulting in profitability and growth.

If you want job security, build your reputation as an effective player. Here are 5 ways to become indispensable to your company:

Follow the Money. Understand where the money comes from, now and in the future. If your job is now supported by an investment, realize that it must be supported by sales sooner or later, and in most companies, the sooner the better! While investments have time limits, sales should be continuous.
Understand the Justification. Recognize why the job was created and how the job contributes to the sales process. From R&D to service, from accounting to administration, from production to marketing, every job must be pointed at supporting sales.
Know the Processes. Don’t look for security in a cookie cutter approach that requires little thinking. On the contrary, the better you understand the processes and the reasons for the processes, the more effective you will be.
Anticipate the Needs. Once you understand the processes for your job, look for opportunities to maximize those processes to the benefit of your company while reducing the time it takes to get the job done. Don’t wait to be told what to do, and don’t let opportunities get by you. Become relied upon to get the most out of every situation, rather than doing the least necessary to complete the job. Don’t just stay “busy,”’ be productive!
Just Own It! Ultimately, when you thoroughly understand the goals of your job, not just the motions and procedures, you will be in a position to improve the job itself. By focusing on the goals you can better achieve them in a more effective manner. Follow through and follow up as if it was your own business.

So at the end of the day, did you help to increase sales? Did you bring more money in to the company than it cost to support your position? Did you take every opportunity to improve the products and services offered to the company’s customers? Did you help identify, communicate with, and sell the prospects? Did you jump on every opportunity, without being asked, to increase company income and reduce costs? If you did, congratulations! You own your job and are indispensable!

Who We Are

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

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The Customer Experience is Trumped by the 800 Number Experience

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 19:15:03 +0000

You’ve done everything right as a producer. You’ve given your customer compelling advertising, stellar reputation, and third-party endorsements to put them in a positive state of mind even before they purchase your product or service. They anticipate a rewarding customer experience.

Then you’ve delivered that experience. Your product was in stock, priced right, and provided exceptional value. But then, something went wrong. Maybe it was a quality control problem. Maybe it was the way the customer was treated by a clerk. Or maybe it was just a misunderstanding. So they called your 800 number to seek a solution.

All that great work you and your team have done to create exceptional customer experience is suddenly at risk. Your customers don’t judge you so much by how well you do when you are doing good as by how well you do when you’re doing badly.

But when you’re doing “badly” who do they call? They call your customer relations people, and how your customers are treated on that critical phone call can make or break their opinion, their loyalty, and their message to friends, relatives and colleagues. Because they have been advocates for your brand, now their personal reputation is on the line and they feel obligated to spread the word about how you handled their problem.

How your customers are treated begins with how you treat your Customer Relations people. Do you see them as “Customer Care” or “Complaint Resolution?” Are they relegated to a lowly status near the bottom of the organization, or are they elevated as the source of current feedback from the customer to keep your products and services relevant?

We think Customer Care is where the rubber meets the road. Complaining customers are gold mines of information and the perfect opportunity to turn disappointment into advocacy. They are already fans and believe that their favorite brand will make things right. Remember, for every one customer who takes their precious time to complain, there are thousands who don’t. They simply buy your competitors’ product. The Customer Care Department makes the most powerful lasting impression, and the customer information they collect should guide your production and marketing people.

So what is your complaining customers’ 800 number experience? Do they spend what seems like an eternity making selections, being shunted around, and repeatedly giving personal data to a recording that never gets to the live representative? Are they abused by long wait times, wrong transfers and drop offs? When we call an 800 number with a complaint, we hope they really are recording it and more importantly, top management listens to not just the dialogue, but the transfers, holds, and drop offs. Chances are you’ll never hear how many of your customers get so frustrated that they just give up because that is not measured.

But when a real person, who understands how important the call is to their company, takes it on the second ring, the results can be much more effective than any advertising. For one thing, you know the caller is outspoken. For another, you know they have already chosen your product. If they are treated like VIP’s, they will sing your praises like never before. And nothing speaks more loudly about a great customer experience than the way your company handled their problem.

Dollar for dollar we think your investment in quick response telephony, adequate call center staffing, generous credits, and solid lines of communication from customer service to production and marketing are your best investments in a positive customer experience.

Who We Are

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

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