Here's an idea I recently got from a reader named Pat, who lives in New York City. Pat's tired of having his car get nicked and dented whenever he leaves it in a parking garage. He has an idea for a product that would protect the car -- a shadelike tube that would clip on to the front and rear bumpers and that the driver could pull down over the bumpers to protect them.

Continue reading "Not All Fabulous Ideas Make Money"

I recently got a question from a reader named Aaron, who's been in the records storage business, just like me, since 2002: "The challenge I am facing now," he wrote, "is getting the accounts that are not so obvious to find. I can't seem to tap into the legal market or schools. How do I build relationships with attorneys who won't make the time to meet with me in the first place?"

Continue reading "How Do I Meet a Nice Lawyer?"

I recently got this question from a reader named Doug:

Hi Norm,
I'm a typical start-up and can't seem to get my "first customer." I've started a thermography company (infrared inspection), and I provide preventive maintenance inspections. This is the problem: I've never had to start with no customers before, and I have a real hard time cold calling. Any thoughts on getting my first few customers to start the ball rolling?

Continue reading "How Do I Get My First Customer?"

Remember Nova? You may recall that that's the outfit that tried to buy my company. We spent much of last year negotiating and for a while there I really thought we had a deal - until one of Nova's board members, a guy named Frank, tried to reopen the talks and put the squeeze on me (here's the column I wrote at the time). I decided to walk away, leaving quite a bit of money on the table. (Not to worry. Things are working out just fine for me and my company, as I'll explain in a future column.) After the deal fell apart, I did some investigating that I probably should have done before the negotiations heated up and learned that this was hardly the first time Nova had pulled something like this. After I wrote this up in my column, I heard from a lot of people who wondered how Nova was going to continue its strategy of buying up companies like mine -- we were supposed to be the platform for their expansion -- now that the world had seen how they operate. Well, the answer is in.

It seems Nova's expansion is over. It's come to my attention that the people at Nova have put their company up for sale. Is it possible that Frank finally found out that when people are selling their companies, they have to trust the buyer? Is it possible that the rift on the Nova board that my deal exposed has gotten worse? I don't know, but I heard rumors that several other deals they had in the works fell through after mine. And I do know that an investment book promoting the sale of Nova was sent out to a small number of prospective buyers. We tried to get a copy, but they wouldn't give it to us. I guess Frank's ego is such that he can't contemplate allowing me to buy his business after I declined to let him buy mine. Hmmm. Could I have had something to do with this turn of events? You know what they say about what goes around ...

What a great response to my recent blog post, "I Will Lose Everything." And what great ideas from the people who posted comments. Yes, factoring, or any other type of receivable financing, was one of the things I was trying to allude to. I was particularly taken by Jennifer's suggestion of brainstorming with an outside business person or friend who has no interest in your business and can give you a better perspective. The outsider carries no baggage and can often see things that the person running the business can't. When people come to me, that's exactly what I try to do. I also agree with Roger that most people -- myself included -- don't look closely enough at their expenses. I use the expression "creeping expenses." When we start a business, we tend to pay attention to every dollar. Over time, you lose that focus and expenses start to creep up. At our company, at the end of every 12 months we now take another look at all of our expenses and reevaluate them to make sure they're in line. It's amazing what you can find.

Try to check out MSNBC's "Your Business" this Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET when you'll find me serving as one of the judges in the Elevator Pitch contest. I'm usually a pretty tough sell, but I liked this idea so much that I even volunteered to kick in some dough. What's the big idea? You'll have to tune in to find out, but I can tell you this: It's pretty tasty. (If 7:30 a.m. is too late for you, MSNBC will re-broadcast the show the following Sunday at 6:30 a.m.)

And keep in mind: If you're struggling with some aspect of your business, if you have a question, please send it to me at asknorm@inc.com. I can't answer all of your emails, but I'll answer as many as I can.

Politics is not my favorite subject, and it’s not my favorite activity. I get a little involved in local politics. I support a few local politicians. But on the national level I think the best scenario is real simple: a split government. That way nobody has control and nobody can enact too many laws. The Republicans have blown the last few years, and when one party does something not so good or doesn’t listen--as now, with the war--things swing the other way. That was obvious in the last election when the Democrats took over both houses. There’s still a long time before the 2008 election, but I think it’s very scary. I think it should be scary to all business people.

Continue reading "Why Business People Should Be Scared"

I recently received an impassioned, well-written letter from a business owner named Jerry. Here it is:

Hey Norm,
I happened to find an article you published in June 1998 ["Multilevel Mischief"]. I will certainly be relieved if you reply and tell me you changed your view. As a small business owner myself, I felt your outlook about multilevel marketing was very narrow-minded. While I tend to agree that most companies are a lot of hype, I think that you are missing the big picture. Multilevel marketing is how all businesses function. I, myself, own a company and have marketing managers. They recruit salespeople all the time with the promise of a lucrative commision. They sell and take a percentage, my managers get a percentage, then I get a percentage. That's multilevel marketing.

I started out of my home and so did my managers. There has been a huge marketing trend since you wrote that article of people working from home. Literally thousands of companies, from insurance to retail, are now farming out work to people at home. Online marketing and communication has exploded the possibilities. The truth is that CEOs are becoming outraged because the corporate mentality is slowly becoming a thing of the past. People are tired of filling other people's wallets with money.
There are a lot of terrible MLM compaines. But there are a lot of phenominal companies that provide quality service to their customers. For you to generalize about all MLMs is just plain foolish. I strongly encourage you to reconsider your opinon.

Sincerely,
Jerry

Dear Jerry,
No, thanks.

I’ve been following the recent troubles of Merrill Lynch CEO Stan O’Neal with interest, though not much sympathy. After reading an excellent article in the New York Post yesterday about “O’Neal’s Hubris,” chronicling how he systematically purged everyone who challenged him, I thought it might be a good time to rub a little salt in the wound. I first became aware of Stan O’Neal through my daughter, Beth, who was working as an intern at Merrill Lynch the summer that he took over from his predecessor, David Komansky. She could hardly believe how quickly and how completely the culture changed. Overnight a chill settled on the company. Komansky had made a point of eating lunch with his employees in the cafeteria from time to time. O’Neal never showed his face there. Beth and the other interns were given a strict set of rules governing how they should behave in the presence of the new CEO. If they saw him walking down the hall, they were to stay out of the way and not speak to him. If they were waiting for an elevator and the door opened and they saw him inside, they were not to get on. If they were already in the elevator and he got on, they were to step to the rear and keep their mouths shut. Given O’Neal’s fear of interns, it’s hardly surprising that he would fire Merrill Lynch’s leading authority on asset- and mortgage-backed securities, Jeff Kronthal, when he dared warn about the risks the firm was running in that arena. Apparently, O’Neal never learned the most important rule of leadership as he made his way up the corporate ladder: A company is only as good as the people who work for it, and the CEO’s main job is to create an environment in which they can thrive.

I recently received the following question from a reader named Scott:

I started a transportation company two years ago in Virginia. It grew so fast that it killed my cash flow, and I have struggled ever since. We grew to $9 million in annual revenue within 12 months, but my start-up costs and growth contributed to $587,000 in cumulative losses. I have slowly gotten it down to around $395,000, and we are making money (P&L shows a profit every month this year) but it will take a long time to get out of this hole. I have made deals with all of the vendors I owe, but I am looking for a partner to buy 10 percent to 49 percent of the company, if necessary. I have everything I own in this company and will lose everything if I can't find someone to help me get through this tough time right now. Have you got any ideas or contacts that I might be able to talk to about investors? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Continue reading "I Will Lose Everything"