You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Success in business’ category.
ROSANN WINN is a small business owner. And a performer. And a teacher. And a mother and wife.
It’s hard to know which of those to put first.
I’ve known Rosann for a number of years – we first connected when she sang for our yearly church picnic. I was impressed not only with her artistic ability, but also her generous nature and gracious support.
But that’s a tiny part of the picture.
WE SEEM TO MEASURE EVERYTHING in terms of money.
And that’s useful, for sure. It gives us an easy way to compare value, to exchange value, and to measure things.
Too easy.
We have to be conscious that money is not the value itself.
LATELY I’VE BEEN WORKING with an increasing number of business owners who are out to change the world — in great ways!
For instance, I spoke with the head of a local medical clinic who is tackling the rapidly escalating costs head-on. They’re using a different model that relies much less on insurance companies, helping to give patients the tools they need to keep themselves healthy.
I can point to the rapid growth in what had been called “alternative medicine” but in fact is now quite mainstream. Chiropractors, acupuncturists, herbalists and naturopaths abound.
KENT GARVIN STARTED his company in 1995 with a conviction to build a different kind of business.
What he’s grown is amazing in more ways than you’d expect.
At the moment it’s actually three businesses:
- Colorado Iron & Metal scrap metal recycling
- Colorado Metal Manufacturing fabrication and machining
- Green Hop’r equipment sales
J ANE NORTHRUP IS MY INSPIRATION. Because she’s living an amazing story with clarity and conviction.
Jane started Authority Staffing last year, as a way to bring ex-convicts to full employment. But that’s a tiny fraction of the story.
You see, she’s doing this because her deep Christian faith has given her concrete direction. Even including the name of the company itself and the fact that it’s for-profit.
THIS WEEK I WAS HONORED to give a presentation for Fort Collins Startup Week titled Build Your Business on a Powerful Mission. We had a great discussion and explored some really neat territory about mission-driven startups.
Feel free to contact me if you’d like to hear more.
One of the participants asked a really great question: What does a mission statement actually look like? You need to capture something with power and clarity when you’re looking for great partners, employees, and investors.
I promised that I’d expand on the answer to that question here.
THE GREAT DISCUSSION this week with Hugh Liddle and Jim Hamlin started some new momentum. I’m glad we could broadcast it to a worldwide audience.
For a Values Based Business, the concepts are simple but not easy to implement.
- Get clear on your mission/purpose/values
- Articulate why those deliver value for a customer
- Integrate those messages into your sales and marketing
Let me expand on that just a bit.
Read the rest of this entry »
THIS WEEK I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY to broadcast a wonderful discussion with my favorite sales wizards Hugh Liddle and Jim Hamlin. They’re doing wonderful stuff to bring honest, effective and non-sleazy selling into the world.
We explored the subject of values-based selling, obviously near and dear to my heart. When you’re in a business where your mission is an important part of your message, it takes special skills to incorporate that into selling.
Especially because most prospects have their guard up these days. At the first sniff of something that’s dishonest or inauthentic, you’ve lost them. Forever. Read the rest of this entry »
USUALLY I PROFILE FOR-PROFIT COMPANIES but I was so fascinated by this story that I just had to share.
I was introduced to Lucy Wallace by Stephanie Heacox, who I talked about last week. Lucy heads up Alchemy of Movement, where she delivers extremely energetic dance classes in Boulder.
But Lucy discovered an opportunity to bring dance into women’s prisons. At first she thought this might just be an occasional class, but over the last year it’s become amazing.
THIS WEEK I DISCOVERED an exciting new program offered by Benedictine University near Chicago: their Doctoral Program in Values Driven Leadership for Senior Executives.
This is an amazing development.
This is a mature, well-thought-through program for those who are truly serious about leading businesses with deeper values – the same values I talk about here on this blog.
