StartUp Kansas City

Check out this site if you want 54 hrs of hands on info about the best ways to start up your company:
http://kansascity.startupweekend.org/

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Is your small business thinking of updating or designing a new logo, but concerned that it will be a costly endeavor?


Check out your possibilities by going to http://www.logotournament.com/.   You will see many small businesses, service agencies and not-for-profits running tournaments.  You can actually look at the myriad of graphics being designed for them by artists from around the world.


For as little as $250, you can run your own tournament.  You put in the descriptors of your business,  decide the amount you'll pay, and the length of the tournament--then you're set to watch the logo samples roll in over the next 5 to 7 days.  You and your staff or marketing person will rank them and comment as they come in.


The Grandview Chamber went through this process about 11 months ago and we were very pleased with our new, updated logo and image.  The fun and interesting part was we had over 100 ideas to choose from!  It was like Christmas everytime we visited the web site to see what was new!

Check it out!

BEWARE OF THE END RUN

Written and submitted by:

Hal Wood

Advisory Management Services, Inc.

advismgmt@earthlinkl.net

Put two people together for anytime, anywhere, and you’ll soon have a dispute.  In an organization, some disputes are horizontal, and some are vertical.

Looking at just the vertical for now, let’s say an employee is upset with their supervisor, has confronted them with the problem, and hasn’t gotten satisfactory action.  Some policy manuals provide for an internal grievance procedure, and if the organization is unionized, it’s all in the contract.  Whether it’s there or not, most employees think they have a right to go to the next higher level to appeal.  This is the end run!

The employee now approaches the supervisor’s boss.  Put yourself in that manager’s position, and ask yourself what you would say when the employee explains they’re having a problem with their supervisor?  What should be the first question?  That’s right, “Have you talked to your supervisor about the problem?”  Well, they have!  Here’s where the risk comes in.  At this point, the manager should stop all further communication until a meeting can be scheduled with the supervisor present.  Any further hearing will severely damage the supervisor’s credibility.

One method that works well is to tell the employee to go back to the supervisor, and have the supervisor set up the meeting with the manager.  It’s amazing how much more cooperative supervisors get when confronted with having to do that.

An often overlooked reason as to why the supervisor’s credibility is at stake is this:  Who else knows about the end run?  The answer is usually everybody the employee could tell.  So, everyone is watching to see what happens.  If the manager gives the employee a hearing, agrees with them, and comes down on the supervisor to make changes, the supervisor’s credibility is destroyed.  There will now be a stampede of end-run employees up to the manager’s office to have their issues addressed.       

Conclusion:  No manager should give any employee a hearing without all responsible parties in between present.

The Danger of Silos in Your Business

"Whether you are just starting your business, or have been around for a while already, the last thing you want is a dysfunctional collection of employees busily working away at their little piece of the “big picture,” yet never seeing the big picture!!"
What a great quote from E-Myth Blog in their article called "The Danger of Silos in Your Business"  This post applies to every business with departments and/or managers.  A good read from a wise group of people committed to the success of entrepreneurs.

http://www.e-myth.com/cs/user/print/post/the-danger-of-silos-in-your-business

Cheryl Wills
co-owner The Hard Bean Cafe, Grandview, MO

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THE PROBLEM WITH MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES

Written and submitted by Small Business Advisory Council member:

Hal Wood

Advisory Management Services, Inc.

advismgmt@earthlink.net

Countless are the times when managers say to themselves, “We need to motivate our staff to be more productive”.  Seldom are efforts successful.  That’s the problem:  YOU CAN’T DO IT!

Motivation is “a reason for action”, which most managers believe they can provide, and it’s usually fear-based.  Unfortunately, that’s not all of the definition.  The whole definition is:  “a reason for action generated from within”.  That means that it’s not some external force that swoops down on a worker and inspires them to better attitudes and new heights of productivity.  It has to come from inside the worker.

Inside everyone is an “I will” switch.  You’ve got one, and nobody can switch it but you.  Therefore, no one motivates someone else.  Said another way, you can’t change other people.  Anyone married can verify that.  For example, a little child can be forced to behave against their will, but you didn’t change the “no” response that’s still in their head.  Parents need to remember that children grow up and will someday force the parent to do things against their will.  Conclusion:  The only real motivation is SELF-MOTIVATION.

So, what’s a manager to do?  The key word here is “Enable”.  The manager has to provide a working environment or culture that enables the workers to motivate themselves.  What does that look like?  First, the organization needs to have a vision and mission and values with which the workers can agree and support.  Then, they need to see leadership by example that promotes honesty, truthfulness, learning, innovation, creativity, listening, trust, fairness, flexibility, and unselfishness.  In that environment, fear is removed, and they’ll want to do well because it’s in their best interest as well as the organization’s.  They also will have to think twice about leaving, because that kind of job satisfaction is hard to find.

Now, get some input from your workforce, and go out and change yourself and environmental factors that will enable self-motivation.

Double Check Your Over Time Classifications

Written and Submitted by Smal Business Advisory Council Member:
Hal Wood
Advisory Management Services, Inc.
advismgmt@earthlink.net

One of the most frequent and risky mistakes that a business makes is classifying their jobs for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act.  If a job is classified “Exempt”, it is not eligible for overtime pay after 40 hours of work during a normal week.  Obviously, that is to the employer’s advantage, so the tendency is to misclassify jobs in that direction.

However, for a job to be “exempt”, it must meet some rigorous tests.  There are six categories of exempt jobs in the FLSA:  Executive, Administrative, Professional, Computer, Outside Sales, and Highly-Compensated.  All are defined in the act and are available on the Dept. of Labor website:  www.dol.gov.

The classification mistakes are made when managers think that the job title or being paid a salary is what makes the job “exempt”.  Neither has anything to do with the criteria in the Act.  In fact, you can have a job with “Supervisor” in the title that is paid a salary, and it may not be “exempt”.  You can also have a job entitled “Computer Analyst” that is paid hourly, and it is “exempt”.  You have to go by the criteria in the Act!

The penalties for misclassification are severe, and any employee can call the Dept. of Labor and request an audit if they feel they have been unfairly classified.  If it is found that the misclassification was intentional, there is an automatic $10,000 fine.  That alone could jeopardize the existence of many small businesses.  Then the DOL asks the employee how much overtime they have worked and were not paid 1.5 times their pay rate for the last three years.  It’s due and payable, and if there were multiple people in the job, they all get to tell the DOL what you owe them.

Double-check your FLSA job classifications as soon as possible.

Are You a Great Leader or a Competent Manager? - Entrepreneur.com

Are You a Great Leader or a Competent Manager? - Entrepreneur.com

This is a great article. It discusses the real value of great leadership.

My favorite book on the topic of leadership is, naturally, Good to Great, by Jim Collins.

It is timeless. If you haven't read it, you are doing yourself and your business a dis-service

Cheryl Wills

co-owner The Hard Bean Cafe, Grandview, MO
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Great Companies do not Fear Economic Low Tides

“In a climate as unforgiving as this, stasis is death.” So begins the first tip in an article entitled “10 STEPS YOUR BUSINESS SHOULD TAKE NOW TO THRIVE IN 2011” in the December 2010 issue of one of my favorite small business magazines, Entrepreneur.

That statement certainly grabbed my attention because I fully agree. I am a small business owner. With my daughter I own a coffee and sandwich shop in a small first ring suburb of Kansas City. We are coming up on our fifth birthday. We started when the economy was still riding high. We were still trying to make our mark in a four-block downtown area when the 2008 slide began. Since day one we have sought innovative methods to reach our target audience. We never took a break.

The economic slow down has been rough but we are in the black. Why? Because as step one of the article contends, stasis is death. I am convinced that means death in any economic atmosphere. We discovered that we if didn’t draw attention to ourselves everyday, people forgot about us. Even though we were their favorite stop for fresh and quick food and well-shot espresso drinks with perfect crema. The public is fickle. We must constantly remind them that they love us.

The article makes several excellent points from creative marketing to firing your D grade customers to firing up your staff. I recommend it to every small business owner.

I would like to comment on the step regarding employees. Yes, it’s important to motivate staff. The author’s idea of keeping them abreast of financial and business decisions, goals and results, and then rewarding them when goals are reached is a method of management which bears much unspoiled fruit. But motivating and involving employees can lose its long-term impact.

In Good to Great, Jim Collins makes a wise point that was not mentioned. Before you spend time lighting those fires, make sure you’re lighting them under the best people for your business, not the stubble. If they don’t share your vision, it’s nothing more than a waste of time as you watch the fire ignite and peter out quickly. And, the wrong folks on board can potentially damage the overall image, let alone bottom line, of your baby. The team is invaluable when it shares your passion; when each member claims parenthood to your baby. Then motivate the team who is already inspired to make your company more than good. They will work with you to make your small business great because it belongs to them, too.

Great companies can weather any storm and always come out unscathed and on top.


Cheryl Ann Wills
co-owner The Hard Bean Cafe, Grandview, MO

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How to Get Employees to Generate Great Ideas - Entrepreneur.com

How to Get Employees to Generate Great Ideas - Entrepreneur.com

Leaders who do not involve their employees' ideas to grow their business often find themselves fighting upstream battles. It's so much easier when employees are on board. That's when our business can really shine,

Cheryl Wills

co-owner The Hard Bean Cafe, Grandview, MO

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Confessions of a Road Warrior - Entrepreneur.com

Confessions of a Road Warrior - Entrepreneur.com

Many of us travel for business. These days a few ideas to make that experience more pleasurable are welcome.

And, if you don't travel for business, some of these ideas will help with personal travel as well.

Cheryl Wills

co-owner The Hard Bean Cafe, Grandview, MO

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Top Tips for Managing Stress - Entrepreneur.com

Top Tips for Managing Stress - Entrepreneur.com

What a great article -ESPECIALLY at this time of year! I think we can all apply at least one tip to our benefit.

Cheryl Wills

co-owner, The Hard Bean Cafe, Grandview, MO
............................................................................................................We encourage your comments. Be sure to read the Bloggers' Guidelines posted in the footer of this blog. Especially see item 6 regarding anonymous accounts & postings. Thanks for joining the discussion!