So what is the worst that could happen?

No matter what decision you make regarding your venture or business, it is very unlikely this will be the outcome!
I keep talking to people who are on the edge, the verge of doing something meaningful, but they can't quite make it over the "What if" hump.  This is the stumbling block that keeps us locked away in our version of security doing something that is less than art.  I struggled with this myself, and still need to fight this demon on a regular basis, as that little voice keeps whispering to me to find something secure with a pay cheque and stay there in the safety of the corporate cocoon.  I find the demon easier to fight now that I accept it as part of me, let it speak and then move forward.
It takes courage for the first leap, but everyone afterwards gets a little easier.
Ask yourself what is the worst that could happen and if you are honest you will find the answer rather amusing and not very scary at all.

Who are you partners with?

If you are in a small business or venture, you need to ask yourself who your partners are.  If you are truly trying to be  successful are you working with businesses that are like minded?
We often talk about wanting to be part of the small business and local venture, but we look for goods and services from the faceless corporation with one hand and with the other we wave the flag of  small independent ventures.  We want to be part of a successful venture but we spend time with the equivalent of empty calories by spending our time with people or businesses that don't help our growth.
So decide where you spend your time and energy and how you use your resources from your venture.

It does not cost anything to be extraordinary

If your business or venture is something you love to do, being extraordinary and standing out does not cost, however it does take the commitment to want to be extraordinary.
There are a lot of average and below average businesses out there so it does not take you giving away the world to stand out. 
When you are willing to give yourself to your venture or business it shows through in being better than the majority.  That's the great thing about the small business or single person venture, you do not need to get every ones approval and buy in to stand out, you just have to decide to do it.
If you are truly doing your art, being extraordinary is a simple decision.

Forgive my indulgence today!

This is one of the few times I will allow myself to personally indulge myself on here.
Today is my son Kyle's 17 birthday.  I can't believe how fast 17 years has gone by, and I have been blessed by every minute of them!
It is times like these that make you realize that time is that one commodity that we can't hoard, save, tuck away or bargain for more of.  We all get 24 hours a day and that is it.  How you spend them is your only choice. 
The last 17 years have flown by for me and they have been filled with adventure thanks to Kyle.  I have played, watched movies and shows I might never have seen, was exposed to sports I had no understanding of prior to this, learned about new music and came to love some great bands in the process thanks to Kyle's eclectic taste in music!  I have made friends I may not have met and saw places I might not have gone if not for sharing them with him. 
So 17 years gone by like the wind but full of adventures and stories.  I can't wait to see what the next 30 years will be like.  I have a feeling I better hold on because my son is full of adventure and life and love of seeing new people and places.  He has taught me more than I could ever teach him.
Happy Birthday Pal!

How do you decide what is important?

So which task is the most important, which project should get your attention, which team needs to be looked after today?
These are only a few of the questions that people in business or ventures ask themselves several times a day.
The difficult part is not deciding but the real challenge is in taking the action rather then spending valuable time sweating it out over which direction to take.
It can be difficult to decide when you are in the small business or venture and you have no one to delegate to but your cat, but actually this makes the decisions easier.
On the other side of the coin, if you are in a large company and you need to decide where to focus this day or this hour it is harder, as you have a litany of processes and procedures to follow that tell you that your department is to support this and that and you are to ensure sales are up and paperwork is complete and you are doing everything while following the policy book...
IF you are on your own and you need to decide which path to follow today, what tasks need to get the attention this hour it is a little simpler.  You ask your self the same question over and over: "Why am I doing what I am doing?"
If you keep asking this and answer honestly your path becomes clear.
If you are doing this to make as many sales as possible every month, then your focus has to move to the sales function, you spend your time out shaking hands, if your reason is to express your art in a manner that does not compromise than your path is to work on your art and make it available to those that can appreciate it, if your reason to be in this business or venture is to leave a lasting legacy, then you have a path to follow that will lead you to longevity and a product or service that will not compromise in quality.
Knowing why you are in business or working a venture is the greatest way to forge a clear path in your daily life.
It does not always work that simply there will be days of tax returns, writing code to update your website or figuring out how to use new software.  However the path becomes so much clearer when you have an honest answer to the question "Why am doing what I do?"

So how about that local sports team?....

We have all been there, those awkward moments when we are getting ready to start a business meeting or presentation and we are looking at our shoes for something clever to say to keep the conversation going.  Nothing comes out.  We have all experienced it, and we all have marvelled at the folks who seem to just get in and start a conversation with anyone.  What is their secret?  Are they born with some great talent for conversation?
I struggled with this early on in my business life and I have never become some great conversation master, however I have found a few things that help.
Keep in mind I have gone through times when I felt as awkward as a 12 year old on his first date and have gone through waves of meeting that I thought afterwards "hey I should host my own late night talk show!"
The best has been the steady middle where I have been able to start and hold those great conversations that lead to a real successful meeting.  What helped?  These are a few of my thoughts:
1- Practice, like jumping into a cold pond, at first you shake and shiver, but after a while you wonder what all the fuss was about.  By practice I mean start conversations every chance you get.  Waiting for the elevator, in a slow checkout line, walking by someone out raking the leaves.  These are all low risk situations.  You are not going to blow a business relationship or wreck a good venture by having a bad conversation in these situations.  They will however, give you practice, and confidence.  Eventually you will become someone who easily starts conversations.

2- Remember that everyone has that one favorite topic: Themselves!  We all love to talk about us, our experiences, our business, how we got started in selling brake parts in New York, our kids, our dogs, etc.  We all need someone who will listen to us in earnest.  If you can do this and listen to people with real interest you have broken through the biggest barrier.

3-Work on remembering little points of interest about people you meet.  You will be surprised how many people are amazed that we remember that they collect old beer bottles, or they have 8 cats or they are a big fan of professional cricket.  I think we are amazed and impressed by this trait as so few people take the real time to listen and absorb what someone is saying.  We tend to be thinking of our response while the other person is talking so we can get our 2 cents in and there is no way you can absorb and really listen when you are doing this.  Try listening as if you can't respond, your lips are sewn shut you can only listen.

Simply put the best way to get good at these conversations is to keep having them, be a good listener and remember what someone says.  The greatest conversationalists are the ones who say the least and get the other person talking.

Cape Fear

I love horror and thriller movies, hence the title I choose for this post.  But this is about a different kind of fear.
There is that built in protection that we all have called "FEAR."  Fear will keep you on the sidelines, will get you to spend years planning and scheming but the minute you try to take that first step, fear will tell you to go have another coffee, watch some more TV and that you will feel better if you do some more planning.  Fear will keep you tightly wrapped in your comfort zone until it is certain you have surrendered any ideas of venturing outside of that tight, warm little cocoon.
Why do you think so many great successes you read about had $1.00 a week to live on, got kicked out of school in grade 4, lived in a shoebox in a cold dark alley, and so on.  OK some exaggeration, however, how many great lives have you read about where someone overcame great hardship and difficulty only to become wildly successful?  You remember those stories, you don't remember the ones where the nice rich lady who had all the advantages in life went on to become the President and CEO of XYZ company.
You remember the ones where it seemed like it would have been easier for them to quit after all they had a lot of real fears to face.  You like and remember these stories because they resonate with that part of you that says " stop giving into the fear, go and take that first step."
Fear is overcome by action, take the step and move toward what you most want to deliver.
Fear will keep you on the couch and in the cubicle, fear will keep you from accomplishing your goals.  Fear is easy to give into but terrible to live with especially when you know you want to put your art out there.   Fear can be overcome by action.  Fear is that scary monster.  Fear keeps you from even trying. 
The good news is that you can overcome the fear and slay the monster, just get in the habit of taking the next step.  Action is like turning the light on after watching the horror movie, suddenly it's not so scary.

What are you Waiting For?

It is not going to get started itself.
I can empathize with the procrastination and the folks who put off making a difference in their lives by doing whatever their art is.  By art I am using a term from Seth Godin, art meaning not just painting or writing but running a business, publishing yourself, selling homemade cat boots, consulting to sales people, teaching mountain climbing or whatever it is that you use to express yourself in your truest self.
The list of possibilities are endless, but the list for each individual is those few ways that are really, really meaningful. 
We each need to find that and we each need to put it out there.
In the case of a business or venture, which is what I speak to mostly, it will not start itself.
If anything if you leave it to the fates and the wind to pick up your venture and send it out to the masses, you will be disappointed.
Watch the first step it's a doozy!  But after that taking the next and the next step gets easier.
You need to start somewhere, start now right where you are, what are you waiting for?

What I wish I had learned in school...

I wish that I had realized in school that getting the highest mark did not matter, I wish I had learned that standing up and making a mistake or being wrong would have been a better lesson than sitting quietly in my seat and letting everyone think I was right, I wish I learned that looking for the art I loved to do would have been better than listening to the well meaning guidance counsellor and their thoughts of what would be a good future.
I had to go through a lot of crap and hard learning to realize that doing my true art was what would make me happy and what would allow me to make a real contribution to my world.
I guess I had to learn some things the long hard way, and perhaps that was helpful in my being able to do what I really love, however if I could offer school age me some advice it would have been to look inside, try and find how I can express my art and don't be afraid to screw up once and a while, or even quite often as that is where you will discover what form and message your art can take.
If you are listening mistakes and screw ups are not the end of the world for a history paper or a book report or an algebra test.  You can make these mistakes, you can stretch your limits and walk outside your comfort zone.  Later in life when you are looking to get your art delivered, it's not the "A" in math or History that will make the difference, but the fact that you have the courage to try something new or push yourself definitely will!

Where do you get your inspiration from?

What is the source of your inspiration?  Whether it is for your business or your art or your life, where do you find your inspiration?
Some of us find it in nature, some of us in history others find it in music. 
I think of where my inspiration comes from and one of the best sources of inspiration for my and my business/art is from the stories of others.

When I hear the true life stories of how others made it from nothing and with nothing but a desire and the dream to do something great, that inspires me.
I was listening to some stories on the radio this morning of how bands like Pearl Jam and The Clash came to be something great with a mix of chance meetings, love of music and a desire to get their art out to the world.
These stories inspire me, when I realize that if I truly have this desire to get my word out I can, with just the right mix of chance, determination and inspiration.
So if you are on the edge and trying to get your art in the hands of the world you need to find your source of inspiration that will keep you moving towards your desires, your inspiration is out there and it might just be that little push that will get you over the hump.

Lose the rear view mirror

Why do we keep looking back at what we think was great.  We keep wanting to look back at what worked 1 year ago or 5 years ago or even 20 years ago.
So much has changed in the way consumers and businesses decide what to buy and where to buy it.  The notion that what worked before should work now is not always the best one to follow.  Sure there are exceptions, but they are few.  I find it frustrating when people and business groups keep looking in that rear view mirror and insisting that they want that again.  If you do your going in the wrong direction.  Either turn around and go back in time or stop using the rear view mirror as a crutch.  The view is much more spectacular out the windshield then it is in the small rear view mirror!

Are you working hard to avoid starting?

So you have the great idea, the great artistic venture but you are stuck in planning mode.
It is easy to get lost in planning and scheming, to spend countless hours working on the plan, but never executing.
Yes a good plan is important but the reason you have this desire to express yourself in a business or artistic venture is not to keep planning but to ship.
Stop planning and ship,  You need to start somewhere and you need to get away from the trap of perfection.
It is never going to be perfect it is never going to be without flaws.

Once you can accept that your venture has it holes and it is without perfection you can start working on what really matters.  What really matters is your product or service or art, not perfection but letting it go as is and growing from there.  Time will still go by, but it is what you do with it that counts.
Get it out there in all it's flaws and holes and missing pieces and work on improving as you go.  It is far More important to launch and learn than to keep holding back because you feel you can do just a little better.

Bad Chicken and a Chance to be Better!

OK so my chicken wasn't that bad but still.
I recently went to one of my favorite take out restaurants for chicken at lunch time while in the office.
I took it back to the office, it was a 10 minute drive away, and I was ticked when I opened it.  The sauce was all water there were perhaps 10 french fries and the chicken was hard as a rock.
I did not have time to go back as I had an afternoon of meetings.
When I was caught up I drove back to the restaurant at around 4:00 and brought in the lunch and my receipt.
I calmly explained the problems and the manager said, "lets get you a fresh lunch."  At this point I was not interested in eating lunch and I had to get back for one more meeting before 5:00.  I explained that to him and said "how about just a refund?"
This is where he had a chance to shine.
Instead he mumbled something opened the register and gave me my $9.47, and said in a most insincere way "sorry."
I have been in those shoes and I know from experience that this is when you make a life time customer or you lose one.  Instead of really trying to  empathise with me and my wasted trips to and from the restaurant and having no lunch he simply wanted me to go away so he would not have a problem to look at.
Now he does not have me as a customer anymore, and in the grand scheme of things that is not a big deal, one little disillusioned customer, or is it?
I always tell clients I work with and employers as well, it is a lot easier and a lot less costly to keep a client then it is to keep replacing ones you lose.
What's one bad chicken between friends!

When will schools start teaching what is needed?

OK, to start I am not putting down teachers or schools.  Most of the teachers I have come across really do want to make a difference in the lives of students.  The real problem lies with the fact that we are teaching kids how to get good grades, how to get an A, how to pass a test and how to write down information from a book or the Internet in a nice neat package.
I have come to realize that what we really need in the workforce and in life is the complete opposite of what they teach in school.
I am working with people who are afraid to make a mistake because they still think they need to get an "A", when what they need is to take a chance and maybe get a "C" but at least try something new.
The best work is the stuff that lets you stretch, forces you to grow and take chances.
The school system wants kids to write neat, answer the question the exact way in the book, memorize the answers so you can spit them out.  We need people who scribble and guess and take a chance with the outcome in order to really produce something great.  It seems like an impossible dream.
Perhaps we need an antischool before joining the workforce or the artist way?

Small is Big

I keep hearing people talking down about being small.
Small business, small ventures, small projects, these are the ones that will move our cities, towns and our country.
I won't quote the stats but they all tell the same story: small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy and they will continue to be our saving grace.
The days of Ford, IBM, Bethlehem Steel, General Dynamics and the such ruling the roost of our economy are over.
Yes big business still controls a large portion of the economy and the trade, but small business is what will keep the wheels turning.
Small business has the ability to turn the sharp corners and adjust and grow with freedom and ease compared to the large corporations of the day.
Embrace your small venture and nurture it.  It is not only a true economic growth, it is one of the only ways that we as individuals can express our art, our talent and our essence.  The small venture will allow you to be free in ways being part of a large corporation will never do.  If you are in a small venture or business, let go of your need to feel big.  Being small has infinite potential for expression and enjoyment and satisfaction.

Wait, what did you say?

I was blown away today by a sign in a local Starbucks.
It is in a strip plaza across the road from 2 high schools.
It said: " Students of xxxx and xxxx schools.  Welcome to our Starbucks location and please ask for your 10% discount off any lunch sandwich or snacks served during the hours of 11:00 am and 2:00 pm.
We value your business and welcome you to our store."
I could not believe it.
I had been reading signs in stores and restaurants all around the province for years that basically said, hey high school students get stuffed, we don't trust you and don't like you hanging around our establishment.  OK I paraphrased slightly, but that was the gist of most of these signs.
Kudos to Starbucks.  The kids are alright after all!