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- In This Economy Anything Can HappenYesterday
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My wife gets this one, and that’s a good sign.
Occasionally I’ll do a cartoon on a more obscure or specific idea, like carpal tunnel syndrome, and that’s when I ask my wife “do you get this?”
My wife is a great writer, and good humor editor, but she’s not a pop culture fan, political junkie, or sports aficionado. She’s pretty much right in the middle of the zeitgeist road, and that makes her perfect for judging whether or not the general populace will get a gag.
Of course, I still retain veto power, but for the most part, she’s right. (Nobody show her this. Please!)
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About: Mark Anderson’s cartoons appear in publications including The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review. Anderson is the creator of the popular cartoon website, Andertoons.com, where he licenses his cartoons for presentations, newsletters and other projects. He blogs at - Finding “The Zone” in a Tough EconomyNovember 20
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Every top performer — in whatever the industry — knows there is a “zone” they sometimes achieve when everything is rolling … a state of mind where success comes easily. They can seemingly do no wrong when they’re in the zone. Many business owners I know have talked to me about being in the zone. Usually “the zone” in business has a lot to do with operating in a frothy economy or in a white-hot industry. Certainly it is easier for us as business owners to find the zone in a hot market. But let’s face it, we ALL find ourselves in a challenging market at one time or another, even if we’re not all in the challenging market at the same time. For example mortgage brokers might be up while repo men are down and vice versa. You get the idea.
So, how do we as business owners find “the zone” in a tough economy?
There’s no doubt that marketing expertise makes it easier to find the zone in a tough economy, but I want to focus on a characteristic that can quickly help anyone find the zone (even in tough times) if they’re willing to embrace it.
I call it “Disciplined Optimism.”
Disciplined Optimism is a combination of positive attitude, tenacity and hard work. It requires the busines
- Immigrant Entrepreneurship PuzzleNovember 19
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A new report just released by the U.S. Small Business Administration examines the contribution of immigrant entrepreneurs to the U.S. economy. The report is very interesting, but it buries a fascinating puzzle about immigrant entrepreneurship.
The report examines data from the Consumer Population Survey and finds that immigrants are 30 percent more likely than the native born to transition from working for someone else into working for oneself (as one’s primary job).
But the report also examines data from the Census and finds that the percentage of immigrants who are working for themselves is almost the same as the percentage of the native born who are working for themselves (9.7 percent of immigrants versus 9.5 percent of the native born).
The data clearly show that the flow of immigrants into self-employment is higher than the flow of native born into self-employment but, at any point in time, the stock of immigrant self-employment and the stock of native born self-employment are close to the same. This indicates that immigrants have a higher rate of exit from self-employment than the native born.
But why are immigrants and the native born essentially equally likely to be entrepreneurs, but with immigrants achieving the proportion of self-employed through much higher entry into and exit from self-employment?
This is a bit of a puzzle; and nothing in the data seems to account
- Five Days Profitability Channel for Free - Bonus GiftNovember 19
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As a follow-on to last week’s birthday giveaways, I have one bonus gift to point out.
The Profitability Channel, which is an online video channel for small businesses, is opening up all their programming for free for five days, starting today.
Ruth King, the CEO of Profitability Channel, was creating and distributing video programming online before it became trendy. Ruth has had me as a guest on her programs, and they are the kinds of video programming you won’t find elsewhere on the Web. The videos include PowerPoint slides alongside with the video. But it’s the topics that are so valuable — they’re small business programming on highly substantive topics. Examples include:
- How to compensate employees
- Inc or LLC?
- Easy Ways to Manage Cash
- Estate Planning for business owners
- Short term benchmarks
All 283 library programs will be free from November 19 - 23, 2008.
Go to www.profitabilitychannel.com
Click the “Join” button (in the dark blue area of the screen)
When it prompts you for the promo code use: esp
- The Upside of Business Credit CardsNovember 18
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A recent credit card article focused, in my view, disproportionately on the negative aspects of using a business credit card to help fund your small business. As its centerpiece, the article featured an entrepreneur who had over $10,000 on a business credit card, only to have the business venture go south, leading to missed payments and a jacked-up interest rate. As anyone who’s ever tried to start a business knows, a failed venture can lead to debt that haunts you long after the business is an unfortunate memory, regardless of where the financing came from.
That said, many small businesses can and do benefit from business credit cards, especially businesses with a track record. Those who get into trouble are more likely to be startups who use credit cards to finance a dream. While this approach has led to some of the more celebrated and inspirational entrepreneurial triumphs, it also leads to many poor outcomes that don’t make the headlines.
A Cash Flow Tool
In my view, the most proper and best use of business credit cards is as a tool to manage c