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Source: Alexandre Normand
Amazing things are happening in 2015. And not just here locally, but across the industry in this country and others.
It’s a good thing, because I believe that the natural order of things goes through cycles. And the past 5 years have been more of a down-cycle than up.
Source jean hambourg, no modifications
THIS WEEK I’VE BEEN PONDERING the concept of delivering outrageous value for my clients. This isn’t unique to coaches, of course – it’s something which can make any business stand out from the crowd.
For instance, I was speaking with the owner of an engineering product/services company. That’s a bit dear to my heart, actually, since I started my career that way.
This company has great products, of course – highly technical, as you’d expect. But that doesn’t really say much about the nature of the company. Read the rest of this entry »
JILL VAN ORDEN heads up Arts Reach Center here in Fort Collins. It’s a fascinating concept, giving kids an outlet for creativity and inspiration.
This city has a fairly active arts scene, but most of that is targeted at adults. Sure, most venues also have special kids’ shows. But Arts Reach Center is different.
It’s targeted entirely at kids, and at their direct involvement in the performing arts. Jill described it to me as giving children a rich learning experience, joyful expression and friendships, and development of their artistic abilities.
Janska’s outerwear
JANSKA PRODUCES STYLISH WOMEN’S WEAR and is based here in Colorado. Jan Erickson started this venture 2003 based on an experience she had with a friend who was incapacitated at the time.
Jan’s friend was a talented, respected woman. But when dressed in a hospital gown, her self-esteem took a hard hit. More importantly, others in the facility treated her as more of a nameless patient than a vibrant individual.
Jan had the idea to develop a line of wear which was accessible to those with limited mobility, while also being incredibly comforting and stylish.
Janska was born.
IT‘S DARN HARD to start a business.
I was speaking with a gentleman this week whom I had met a couple of months ago. He had an interesting and unique business idea, but has been struggling to gain traction.
So a couple of weeks ago, he had to go get a full time job.
EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE SUPPORTERS. 
Humans are social beings, and we have a fundamental need to be encouraged, even to look good in front of others.
In business this can be particularly difficult. A company is a bit of a faceless entity, so people aren’t as accustomed to stating things in a polite way like they would to someone’s face.
Quite likely, you’re awash in a sea of criticism.
NOBODY 
CAN SUCCEED by themselves. Well, at least not with any significant venture that we’re talking about in the business world.
There are several ways to get support from others:
- Force them
- Buy it from them (with money or goods)
- Inspire them
- Use the inspiration they already have
I hope you see why these methods become more powerful as you go down the list.
THIS IS THE CRAZY SEASON 
for consumers and the companies which serve them. We’re less than a month away from Christmas, and in the US we just had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. It’s a time for family and brotherly love.
Then, OMG, we totally obliterate that goodwill with the worst bout of consumerism this planet has ever seen. It’s getting worse every year.
ACOUPLE OF WEEKS AGO I talked about expanding the way you look at employee satisfaction. 
It turns out that similar concepts can be applied to your relationship with your customers and competition.
You can really get wrapped up in worrying about your competition. You sell hamburgers, I sell hamburgers, there’s five other places down the street who sell hamburgers. There’s only a limited number of people who want to BUY hamburgers on any particular day, so your mission is to steal those customers away from the competition.
I propose that this is the wrong way to look at it.
YOU 
ONLY HAVE a limited amount of money to pay your employees, I understand that. As a result, you’re probably going to pay people differently, spending the most money where you think it will give you the greatest benefit. Primarily, you’ll pay your most valuable people more than the others.
There’s other factors too, yes, but the effect is the same. Most likely you have some workers who feel adequately rewarded, while others feel slighted. Even if you try to be cagey about pay levels – especially if you do – people will pick up on the fact that they’re paid less.
This is one of the biggest quandaries about running a business. Given that you only have limited resources, how on earth can you pay everyone what you’d like to?
The Values-Based Business 