Providing sales for talented artisans worldwide

May 19, 2013 in Business profiles, Success in business | Tags: , , , | 1 comment

TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES is a US-based company with a powerful mission to create opportunities for artisans in developing countries.  Formed in 1946, they now buy from 37 countries, have 78 branded stores in North America, about 260 other retail partners, and sales of $42M for the year ending March 2012.

They are one of the largest and most successful fair-trade organizations on the planet.

10kVillagesI had a chance recently to speak with Wendy Poppen, who runs our local store.  She brings a powerful passion in this role:  “I’m going to leave this planet a little better than I found it.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Altruism vs. Deep Values

May 12, 2013 in Success in business | Tags: , , , , | 2 comments

MLKquotePEOPLE are sometimes puzzled by this concept of “deep values” in the for-profit world.  Partly that stems from an overlap with the idea of altruism.

Altruism is the idea of putting others’ needs ahead of your own, being able to give without expectation of return.  We do this all the time in our families:  You’ll help out others just because of the close relationship, not because you expect something back.  Well, not exactly true – you expect a certain amount of reciprocation, or trust and closeness will degrade over time.  But that’s not very specific.

And in the case of the commitment to your spouse or kids, you’ll give and give and give.

Read the rest of this entry »

Losing your company values

May 5, 2013 in Success in business | Tags: , , , | 1 comment

YOU SEE this all the time:  A company once respected and admired has become a shell of its former self.  Employees wonder why they’re still around, other than to pull down a paycheck.  Customers turn cynical because there’s no longer any credibility behind the high-minded words.

You can probably name as many examples as I can.  But why would we struggle to name even one company which has gone the other direction?

Read the rest of this entry »

How do you know a Deep Value when you see it?

April 28, 2013 in Business profiles, Success in business | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

DEEP VALUES are surprisingly hard to nail down.

This is because you see wonderful statements masquerading all the time as deep values, the foundation of the company.

walmart-made-in-the-usaAn interesting example came up recently:  Walmart.  I remember back in the 1970s when they had a strong statement about “Made in the USA.”  Proud of this fact, they made it a central point of their advertising for several years.  You would have been forgiven if you assumed that this was a core belief of a company home-grown in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leadership as a priority

April 21, 2013 in Business profiles, Success in business | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

LAST YEAR I ran across a gentleman who runs the local LearningRx franchise.  I’d never heard about them before, but they do some amazing things with helping children learn.  And adults too!

LearningRXThis person offered a very generous gift: a free copy of The Purpose Directed Business.  This book was written by Dr Ken Gibson, the founder of the company, and really captures the philosophy behind what the company’s about.

In a word: Leadership.

Read the rest of this entry »

Faith-centered Chiropractic

April 14, 2013 in Business profiles, Christianity, Success in business | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

REVELATION CHIROPRACTIC is based here in Fort Collins, and I had a chance recently to speak with the owner, Dr Chad McMahan.  I met him a couple of years ago when he was starting out new.

As you can tell from the company name, he has a statement to make about combining his Christianity into his business.  It’s out there front and center – literally.  He picked the name because “revelation” means “to bring something to light which was hidden.”

It’s what he does.

Read the rest of this entry »

A company culture that may rock your world

April 7, 2013 in Business profiles, Success in business | Tags: , , , | 2 comments

THE OTHER DAY I happened across this article which describes a company culture that few would dare emulate.

It’s quite startling.

HubspotTheir idea is to have a company where roles are incredibly fluid, where almost everything is transparent, and value is created through unrestrained creativity and teamwork.

Pure chaos, you’re thinking!

Read the rest of this entry »

Renewal

March 31, 2013 in Christianity, Success in business | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

CeasterHRISTUS RESURREXIT!  Christ is risen!

But this is a business blog – why would I want to bring Easter into the picture?

Because every one of our companies needs vitality.  It’s a living organism, which means it will either be nourished or die.  Easter is a time when we focus on renewal in the Christian faith, so it would be very appropriate to also spend a few minutes thinking about whether the foundation of our business is growing – or dying.

Read the rest of this entry »

TOMS Shoes making a difference in the world

March 24, 2013 in Business profiles, Success in business | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

TOMS SHOES is another great example of a company that has a much deeper foundation than just selling products.

They sell shoes and eyewear.  Ho hum, right?

If that were the case, you’d never hear about them.  They’d just be some little specialist internet shop, indistinguishable from thousands of others.

Blake Mycoskie started the company in 2006 after a deep personal experience in Argentina, where he developed a passion for selling products and benefiting those in need.  Read the rest of this entry »

New Belgium’s focus on their people

March 17, 2013 in Business profiles, Success in business | Tags: , , , | 1 comment

PEOPLE have asked me to explain more about this concept of “deep values” – and in particular, to give examples.

Today let’s explore New Belgium Brewing, which is based here in Fort Collins.  On the surface, they’re a fast-growing craft brewer, best known for their Fat Tire Amber Ale.  But they have other great beers too, and set the standard for craft brewers in this region.

New Belgium is expanding rapidly across the US, currently in 28 states.

Last year, the company announced that it would start expansion to the east coast, and after significant investigation, settled on Asheville, North Carolina.  Why is this relevant?

Read the rest of this entry »

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.