business

2011 is over. 2012 is beginning. For most of us in business the past few years have been a bit of a rollercoaster. 2008 heralded the advent of value! We’ve watched as the luxury markets have held true. Recessions seem to have come, gone and might be back again. New York was in the valley, now Europe seems to be following suit. So much of what has happened seems like it could have been averted—and I’d like to know why companies are allowed to short countries? The doomsday forecasters should probably have been heeded since we were all wondering when the real estate bubble would burst anyway (reminiscent of the dot com bust?). Anyway… As a small company we have definitely taken hits, but we are still going for it! So here are 5 simple thoughts for keeping all those balls in the air:

1. Less is more (consolidate resources, make what you do matter more)
2. Provide equal parts creativity and process (one without the other doesn’t provide rich content)
3. Find ways to “give back” (do good, feel better—giving creates flow)
4. Don’t overextend (spend that money on your staff not your furniture)
5. Promote quality of life (offer flex hours for stretched staff)

2012 may have a few bumps in store, but with a little shift in philosophy what could have been a hassle can provide an exciting ride!

Written about it before, will write about it again. The rigours of business travel. Sigh. Sitting in Premium Economy on Virgin Atlantic on my way from London to NY. Arrived 2 days ago from Sydney via Christchurch (NZ) and back in the saddle. Flew business class the last trip, a must for 30 hours travel each way, couldn't justify it for such a short hop across the pond. To travel right everyone says drink lots of water, no caffeine and/or alcohol. Me, I indulge in the vine AND drink lots of water. I can sleep just about anywhere, so that's helpful. But honestly, travel is not fun, at least not to me anymore. Especially after 25 trips this year, no matter what class you fly. Perhaps private makes the difference. Oh, to be rich. Well, it's commercial for this chick. Glass of champagne, bottle of water, a little vintage Roxy Music on the Bose. Trip 1 million begins.

I'm in Christchurch, NZ this week. This country is as beautiful as you imagine. The light (on a sunny day) makes all the shapes in nature seem cut from a picture and placed in a tableau. Otherworldly - in a good way. Christchurch has also emerged from a horrendous experience. The earthquake here, if measured in G forces, was one of the most powerful to hit a modern city - ever. People I've met are moving on with daily life, but there's a real feeling of post trauma. It reminds me of NYC after 911 - there is a heightened sense of anxiety and "what if," or worse, "when next." Conversely, it reminds me of the resilient nature of mankind. I had a conversation with a woman here and we found ourselves discussing the "can do" spirit prevalent in human nature. Even in the face of terrible odds most people keep moving toward something, if just life. I admire the people I've met here and I'm betting on this city coming through this tragedy stronger than ever. Someone said recently that it's good to have faith in God, but don't forget God has faith in us. I have faith this city is going places. Can't wait to come back!

I am totally fascinated by mountain climbing. I have never climbed a mountain, and I don’t intend to. I once went skiing in Vail, Colorado and fainted at 8,000 feet, half way from the bathroom to my bed. If I couldn’t handle that altitude I certainly couldn’t manage basecamp—at Mount Everest all preparation is done at 16,000 feet, with the summit looming 31,000 feet above. My time at Vail was one of the most humiliating experiences I’ve had as an adult. I couldn’t adjust to the altitude, I could barely breath, couldn’t drink (got the worst headaches), found myself crying on the slopes as I tried to navigate my way down runs I had no business being on. I was traveling with a male friend (just a friend) who was ready to hit all the back bowls (wide, cistern-like expanses, very steep but open) and thought I should go too. I promised to meet him at lunchtime (after we’d had our respective morning runs, him on the black, me on the blue) and go, but after a few nasty spills with icicles forming in my hair I went back to the room to curl up, watch the movie Titanic and have yet another good cry. Earlier that day I was forced to have a man and his two 6 year-old daughters escort me down the mountain. When I mentioned I was meant to be hitting the back bowls the kindly gentleman looked at me in horror and forbade me to do any such thing. So why do I love books about mountain climbing and what does my trip to Vaile have to do with risk? Well, there’s a lot more on this in my upcoming book, but for now here’s my thoughts… We are all of us fascinated by people who are willing to take enormous risks, like mountain climbers (in my case). There is a part of us that secretly believes given the right situation we too could do such bold things. But then we are often faced with the simplest risk, in my case skiing a fairly innocuous mountain, and we realize we’re not really up for it (I was humiliated, but I did go back out the next day). Given our aspirations and our failures are we going to give up? I find mountain climbing thrilling because failure means death. Most of us won’t die from making a bad judgment. I like reading about risk takers that are willing to take the ultimate risk, but do you know which one usually wins? Yes, obviously, the person that is well prepared. But guess who else usually wins, the one that is willing to turn back, even when they can see their goal, because it is TOO risky. Are they giving up? Nope, they know they’ll try again. And that is what a SMART risk taker is, someone who weighs the facts, makes a move, maybe fails but tries again.

Anything new you undertake has always got an element of risk attached to it. If it's new, it's untested and therefore risky. That is a fact. If you are risk adverse, starting a business is not only a bad idea, it may be the worst idea you ever entertain. There are no guarantees in business. None. That old adage "if it appears too good to be true it probably is" IS ALWAYS TRUE! I can't remember, without exception, any time I've found that phrase to be wrong. I've set out on some "too good" schemes in my day, with high hopes and high expectations and I have fallen flat on my face. So hard that I finally vowed to stick by the "too good, too bad" rule - I know it's too good friend, too bad I won't try it.... Which doesn't mean I'm risk adverse, just savvy. It took a while to get here, with some hard knocks along the way, but here I am, still standing.

Risk. Most of the best things you will ever do in life will require some form of risk - from choosing where to go to school, whom to marry, what to eat, where to go on vacation. The aforementioned sounds mundane but there are risks involved. I love hearing from people who pride themselves on not taking risks and playing it safe. They can be smug all they want but we know the truth - life requires risk to be lived, not just to its fullest, but lived. Period. Our natural state is a fragile one. These bodies we inhabit are not exactly made of tough stuff. Just walking out your front door on any given morning can produce hundreds of potentially risky situations. Still, we get up each day and take a walk out that front door. Some of us just take a riskier walk than others.

So, it was bound to happen, I'm going to write a book about runing a small business. Of course I am! It won't be your "Top 10 Tips to Making it Rich in Business", or "3 Key Ways to Manage an Unruly Team..." I'm working off the premise that most "real" small business owners are not only looking for good ideas and new ways to make it in this VERY tough economy, but maybe just a bit of encouragement that they are actually doing a good job - if not the best, definitely the best they can do. In my opinion those of us that have taken the plunge should give our big collective selves a big pat on the back. We may not be changing the world (though some of you are trying), but we are not on the dole or working off someone else's back. Running your own business means you're willing to take a risk, if that is only a nice way of saying you're a gambler at heart. But here's the thing, lots of people talk, but very few take the walk, and that's a VERY few, I might add, when the banks have dried up their funding and a good dollar (or euro) is hard to find. I'm writing a book for the big business people (I was going to say guys, but that's a bit sexist, isn't it?) too because they need a little kick in the rear. They need a little reminder that small business fuels most economies, and while they may feel entitled, they need us - they could learn a bit from us too. When the economy crashed we didn't get bailed out did we? How many of us are still making it work, without the added backdrop of a running cash flow? We're mean, we're lean and we are going for it. No matter what! Because we have guts, never mind the glory. It doesn't really pay the bills anyway....Here's to the small business owners and all those people that have the daily nerve to work for them. You're my heroes!!

My husband wrote a book entitled "Follow the Leader". As second in command of an international church movement he has faithfully served the head of that organization for over 30 years. I'm sure that it wasn't always easy going, following never is, but leading isn't that easy either. Leading is lonely and often feels like a thankless job. When everyone else has gone off to their lives, their happy hours, their whatever's, you are often left behind turning out the lights. Leading looks glamorous, but there is a high price to pay for striking a path and unless you are strong hearted, I wouldn't recommend it. But the subject of this blog is about following, a difficult journey in its own right. Today everyone is told that they can be a leader - especially in business. Who wants to be a cog in the wheel? But if everyone is leading who is executing? Who is making all the "stuff" happen?? Someone has to do the "following" right? I think following is quite the thing to do if you know how to get behind someone. And the pay off can be enormous! If you can get behind someone else's vision and make it happen you'll reap much of the reward with very little of the risk. Not a bad gig, if you can get it. So, don't feel bad if you aren't top dog. Sometimes it's best to be the puppy with the bone. 

A few years ago I got my first real taste of the corporate world's crazy meeting schedule. I was representing one of the biggest beauty brands on the planet and if I tell you their PR and marketing department were in meetings all day - I am NOT exaggerating. Shocking! How did they ever get the work done that we strategized about in our meetings? Well, I guess the answer is that WE got the work done, and that is ultimately what we were there for. Even so, you do need time out to give solid direction and synthesize ALL the information that is shared by ALL the BIG consulting firms that do ALL that expensive research for you on how to reach your customers, never mind breathe. But there they were, stuck in meetings. They literally had meetings to help structure their meetings. Truth is, they were one smart bunch, and they've done remarkable things with their brand, so something was/is working - perhaps it is all the meetings. I am NOT a fan of the multiple meeting day, but I'd be lying if I said that even our small agency didn't fall prey to the lure of the "sit down and hash it out" syndrome. We are now working on leaving a certain amount of time for non-meetings, and structuring departments so they can handle the workload in such a way that we don't have to have a meeting. I'll let you know how it goes. Petrie dish, that's what we are these days, thank goodness it's fun!

I've written about this in the past, but I thought I would revisit it again - it is top of mind as I am moving home and am thinking about everything furnishings related. When I founded my company it was very important to me that I create a work environment that I liked. That generally meant a slightly groovy minimal experiece with post modernist touches. I wanted to work around our brand color whenever possible (we landed on a bright blue/green hue probably because I was from Miami and that is the color of the ocean). We did create 2 exceptional spaces and then lucked out on a third - best part about this space aside from the built-in units that I did not have to pay for, was the price of the space, almost a fifth of what I paid on my last lease. We've done well in creating something that feels open, free, cool and liveable. I do have slightly stringent policies around keeping things neat, pr agencies can tend toward the sloppy, but the overall effect is our office would be a nice place to live. And that doubles back to the title of this blog, how important is decor? Very. I think. We spend so much of our time in our offices. Buckminster Fuller, the social engineer who "invented" the geodosic dome proposed that it was a crying shame that our offices are better appointed than our homes. Personally, I think we spend SO much time in our offices they should be as nice, if not nicer than our homes. I can assure you the various offices I've had in NYC are much larger and in many ways nicer than my apartment ever was........Ce la vie! 

Generally speaking, money has long been the motivating force behind getting a job. You need to pay bills. You get a job to pay the bills. Ok, so maybe the motivation is to pay bills, but money plays a part. Of course it does. When you're running a business there is a natural transaction that takes place between you the owner and the workforce. They (the workforce) do a job and you (the employer) pay them - money. But to truly motivate, the work should be satisfying. And to truly feel satisfied with the work they do for you, the results should be good. In this case, money is not so important. The motivation being value and satisfaction (it stands to reason that if the work needed by the employer is no fun then the compensation should be higher, but the reverse is usually true.) All this is to say that money has long been, and rightly so, the motivating factor behind the work exchange. Today, however, that is changing. Personal satisfaction seems to be the modus operandi. Employees want to feel good about their work. They want to feel there is value associated with it, and that they are in turn valued. The employee seems to be saying, if who I am and what I do doesn't matter than I'd rather do this somewhere else. No longer are they satisfied with scratching their way to the top of the heap. Of course, this is a big generalization, but it seems to me that it is a trend. And if it is here's the other trend - money will not be the major motivating factor in retention. Value will be the key. Value who you have and they will "value" you back. Now you can take that to the bank!