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| Stop worrying about the credit market…get creative | Tom Schlafly is one of the most successful business people (and human beings) I have had the pleasure of talking to. He built the St. Louis Brewery in the town that has…um..you, know… THE Brewery. However, since InBev came to town, Schlafly now enjoys status as St. Louis largest locally-owned brewery.
As Tom points [...] | |
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| The Best Business Bobs, or Rising Above Any Name | Everyone knows a Bob. He is your uncle, your next door neighbor or your Dad’s friend from college.
“You know Bob, right?”
“Oh, of course I do. Hey, Bob, how’s the wife and kids?”
It is the most unassuming name there is. It is the small pickup truck…the quarter-pounder with cheese…the denim shirt of names in the United [...] | |
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| Time wounds all heels…especially in a tough economy | This morning I heard a story that I did not expect to hear. It was about a St. Louis company that was seeing an increase in business despite a tough economy.
Adam Allington of KWMU reported on local St. Louis cobbler, Jeff Lipson owner of Cobblestone Shoe Repair. Jeff is a third generation cobbler, and, with [...] | |
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| Helping others understand your innovation | I am not a wine connoisseur, nor do I understand the intricacies of what makes a good wine. I have pretended to know in the past, though. Swirling the Merlot around in the glass, swishing it between my teeth and saying, “hmmm…quite dry…and a faint hint of almonds.”
One thing that I do know is that [...] | |
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| Business lessons from George Carlin | Choosing to become a business owner is absurd. Given the amount of businesses that fail, breaking from a career to start an organization becomes an exercise that is close to insane. Only a certain type of person, the entrepreneur, who would forsake the glory of the paycheck to start something unique, something counter-industry, something that [...] | |
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| Asking The Best Interview Questions | Finding "A Players" is one of the most difficult challenges for entrepreneurs. One bad hire can damage company morale and curtail profits. Here's one important interview question and what to look for in a response. A special thanks to Susan Martin of AAIM Employers' Association for offering up the question and response.
The Question:
What did you like best about your last job?
What To Listen For:
Be alert to a "profit" mind-set. As the interviewee describes the attributes of his previous workplace, try to determine whether he appreciates the fact that most companies are in business to make money. How often does the interviewee mention efficiency or revenue-generating measures that helped the company's bottom line?
--Ron Ameln, SBM | | 3/9/2010 5:20:00 PM |
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| Women Succeeding In Male-Dominated Industries | The last decade has been a great time for women entrepreneurs. Nationally, women-owned firms generated $3 trillion in annual revenues in 2009, and one in five businesses in the U.S. with revenues over $1 million are woman-owned firms.
More and more of these entrepreneurs are succeeding in male-dominated industries. Take, for example, Ann Kastendieck, owner of V.L. Clark Chemical Company. When the former accountant purchased the business in 1991, sales were $20,000. In 2009, V.L. Clark had revenue of $7 million.
This growth is partly driven by Kastendieck's desire to persevere as a woman in the chemical industry.
"There were always those people out there who wouldn't do business with me because I'm a woman," she said. "But those are the people who ended up helping me because they make me even more determined to find suppliers who will work with me and build relationships with my customers."
--Ron Ameln, SBM | | 3/7/2010 8:26:00 PM |
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| A Small Firm's Secret Weapon | We recently made the decision to revamp the look of our magazine. The updated look and content was much needed and has certainly given a boost to our company and bottom line. A friend asked me last month is the design process took 10-12 months. I laughed.
I think it took about a month from start to finish. One month to transform our product, which makes up 70% of our yearly revenues.
Could that have happened at a large, corporate magazine? No way. It would have taken them a month to plan the first meeting. While we usually can't match our larger competitors with pricey technology and the latest gizmos, we can beat them with our flexibility. And so can every other small firm in business today.
Small firms have always been compared to gazelles, the fastest animal on the planet. Gazelles move at a lightning pace and have the agility to switch directions the instant they spot a new opportunity.
As a small business, this agility is our secret weapon. Look for opportunities and trends where you can use that agility to grow your business and keep competitors at a distance.
--Ron Ameln, SBM | | 3/4/2010 1:06:00 PM |
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| Perseverance: The Key To Entrepreneurial Success | Do you want to succeed as a business owner? Can you persevere in difficult times?
Hopefully you answered yes because that's what it takes.
Take, for example, Jennifer Raeker. When her father Bob Raeker, also the founder of Bob Raeker Plumbing, died unexpectedly on a Saturday night, Jennifer had to step up to the plate. Despite being just 27, she was now in charge. "I had no idea how to run the business," says Raeker. "I never got into the finances. I had no idea what was in our savings, if $5,000 or $50,000 was a lot to have, or how to pay the bills."
To make matters worse, when suppliers found out what happened, they assumed the business would close and demanded payment in full, putting even more of a burden on the company.
Unlike many things in life, you can't teach perseverance. It's an innate, instinctive trait that is usually passed along from generations. If you have the ability to persevere (find silver linings when others only see gloom and doom), you'll succeed in any business and industry.
Raeker certainly has the ability to overcome challenges. She's built the 54-year-old company into a multimillion dollar firm.
--Ron Ameln, SBM | | 3/2/2010 10:31:00 AM |
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| Little Things Can Equal Big Savings | Little things can equal big savings in a hurry. The trick is having enough savvy to spot the potential savings. Here in St. Louis, an owner of a day spa discovered that technicians were using three pumps on a shampoo container when washing a client's hair. While only one pump of shampoo was needed, the extra two pumps per client didn't seem like a lot at first.
Until the owner calculated one year's worth. She soon discovered she could save more than $5,000 from just asking technician's to use one pump worth of shampoo.
For businesses of all sizes trying to cut expenses, these savings are all around us. The trick is to really focus on controlling these costs.
--Ron Ameln, SBM | | 2/22/2010 3:17:00 PM |
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