Meet the Team!

One of the joys of starting a company is working with the team.  The first group of people step way outside their comfort zone, and take a real risk.  My team left stable, good-paying jobs to come with me.  I’m grateful, and feel a deep sense of responsibility for them.  Supervising people, as most of you know, is one of the most difficult parts of management.  It’s also the most satisfying.  I just introduced my Office Manager, Violet, on the QSS sourcing blog.  Please check it out!

GM and UAW — shame on you!

Ok, this blog is supposed to be about starting a micro multi, not about an established behemoth like GM, but I was watching the news this morning and was compelled to write something.  You see, I travel about a bit, visit lots of companies, talk to lots of folks about international competition and the role of the US and US companies.  I’m struggling to understand what it takes to survive, and maybe even thrive, in today’s economy, and on the news, I see a scene that could have been from 1970.

First of all, lets get some basic bookkeeping handled.  I don’t have a pension other than my 401k.  I never have.  As a self-employed individual, I get screwed attempting to buy insurance.  GM — you are having your ass handed to you in every market except for those nice Buick vans made in Shanghai (I have spent WAY too much time in those, but that’s another story).

 That bit of unpleasantness out of the way, I DON’T want this company to go under (I don’t want to pay for the bailout either).  If you actually made a car that came close to a Toyota or a Honda I might even buy one.  How can you strike when your very existance is at stake (both of you)?  How can you not see what’s at stake?  As if hemorrhaging money and dumping market share aren’t enough.

Here’s an idea for the UAW — either start thinking about the needs of today or make yourself some really cool tunics and wooden swords and start running medieval festivals!  In this age of global competition, what will matter is that workers have a chance to grow and learn, even if they don’t work for GM (or any other large company).  What matters is mobile benefits like health and life insurance — available at a reasonable cost to responsible individuals willing to take a risk and start a small company.  What matters is portable pension benefits that allow responsible individuals to invest their savings (maybe with some help from companies) in a tax deferred fashion that makes sense for them.  Start advocating for the workers of tomorrow, and you may yet avoid selling little crystal baubles while enduring the oh-so-painful squeeze of your corset.

 You want to keep American jobs?  I do, but I know that we need to be smarter and faster than ever!  The world is different now, and requires a different outlook.  I don’t claim to have all of the answers, but it seems to me that a group of smart folks around a table could have done better than this!  Just be aware — Toyota has already beaten you, and Hyundai, Geely, and Great Wall are right behind!

Why not share my sense of urgency!

So, my first problem was getting the word out — getting some hits on my site.  I started driving traffic only to realize that the bounce rate off my site was way too high (at least by my definition).  Ok, fine, I’m learning.  After all, I did the site myself in a weekend.  I know what I want the site to look like, I just don’t have the web design expertise to make it look like I want!

Enter now the website designers.  The first mockup is good, but looks like a cutout from a stock design catalog.  Ok, concept good, now the next step.  No need to meet?  We can discuss over the phone?  Ok, maybe I’m just stupid, or spent too much time at a whiteboard myself, but I’ve never had much creative success over the phone.

 I’ve got to travel to Atlanta the second week in October.  I’ve got all of my advertising turned off pending the rollout of my new site — so obviously my phone is not ringing off of the hook.  I need this site up before the second week of October, and we’re having a phone conference!!

 I’ll give you the final verdict, along with a link to the designer when this is over.  Hopefully, all goes well and I’m happy with the new site.  We’ll see!

Another micromulti blog.

Check this one out  http://www.imranbashir.com/index.html

Imran Bashir runs a micromulti called Heaven Fresh.  It’s interesting watching his trials and tribulations.  Hopefully, we’ll also watch his successes.  Whatever happens, it’s an adventure!

 For your reading pleasure, check out this article from July 2006 — http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2006/07/01/8380230/index.htm

This article is from a magazine called Business 2.0 (rumour has it publication will soon cease).  It’s a tech-heavy magazine mostly focused in Internet businesses, but often has other very interesting articles.  This article was timely for me, because at that point I was pondering the formation of QSS.

Memory Eternal!

My father-in-law passed away last Sunday.  Why is that in a blog on small business?  Those of you that run small businesses will understand the lack of separation between life and business.  Also, he was a great entrepreneur and an inspiration to me.

 Tom arrived in this country from Greece with a few hundred dollars in his pocket and a family of four.  He worked in restaurants, starting at the lowest level, and eventually opened the Hilton Family Restaurant with his son, Gus, and his wife, Maria.  Together, they built the restaurant into a community favorite, and a thriving business.

How is it that an uneducated man of such simple means can accomplish so much?  I think, in his case, it comes down to belief.  Tom had a brilliant natural business sense, to be sure.  But that alone is never enough.  Tom believed in himself.  He made the decision to start the restaraunt and never looked back.  Success was never in question — failure never an option.

Those of us trained in data-driven decision making walk a thin line between “analysis paralysis” and foolhardiness.  What can we do?  Here’s just one idea.  Set a time, a date, when you have to have a decision made.  Study and think.  Figure it out if you can, but don’t delay the decision.  Make it, commit to it, and go for it.  Give yourself time to think, but after the decision is made, don’t look back.  Remember, the alternative has already been “cut off.”  It’s dead, and not available.

Tom, Pethero, may your memory be eternal!  Thanks for the inspiration!!

Athanasios “Tom” Strebenis
Strebenis, Athanasios “Tom” Hilton: Sept. 9, 2007. Athanasios Strebenis, 69. He is survived by his wife, Maria; his children, Stephanie (Blake) Keller, Konstantinos (Sasha) Strebenis; 4 grandchildren, Maria and Faith Keller, Thanasi and Alexander Strebenis; his brother, Thomas (Maria) Strebenis; his sisters, Flora (Thanasi) Trifon, Katina Moushou, Vasiliki (Marcos) Sintziris and Ermioni Tate; brothers-in-law, Vasilaki (Mary), Argiri (Vangelitsa), Mihali (Eleni), Dimitrios Roides; sisters-in-law, Daphni Missias and Anastasia (Evangelos) Lioukras; his aunt, Agapi Tate; many nieces, nephews, cousins, employees and friends of Hilton Family Restaurant. Other relatives in Greece. A special thanks to his niece, Noula (George) Haltses and his nephew, Argiri (Dena) Karras for their caring concern. Funeral Service, THURS. at 10 AM (TODAY) at Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, 962 East Avenue, Rochester. Interment, White Haven Memorial Park. Those wishing may contribute to American Cancer Society in his memory. Published in the Rochester Democrat And Chronicle from 9/11/2007 – 9/13/2007.

It’s about trust!

So here’s my sales pitch.

 You don’t know me.  Please give me access to your company.  I’d like a big stack of engineering drawings and product specifications.  Proprietary data?  Yes, please.  I’ll be taking all of it to China and sharing it with companies you know nothing about.  Don’t worry, just trust me.

Maybe that’s a bit of a stretch, but not completely.  What I do is help people manage risk.  That is, I help them understand sources of variability and reduce it.  I need to understand their product, and the pain and anxiety they have.  I need to get inside their companies.

 How long does it take before someone gives you that kind of access?  Depending upon the complexity of the product or the companies exposure with a particular project, that time varies.  The only thing I can do is to make sure my team and I are professional in all of our dealings.  We live (or die) by our integrity.

The lag time between first contact with a potential customer and the first billing is long!  A bit too long for comfort, but that’s the only way to build a sustainable relationship, and hence business, with our clients.

Establishing Expertise and Creativity

I think an important part of running your own business is establishing your expertise in the field.  That expertise is largely assumed inside the limited market of a large company.  That is, you are the Director of Engineering, most people assume your trusworthiness, technical accuracy, etc.

As a small business owner, it is important to demonstrate why I am a better choice than another (differentiation, unique selling points, etc, in marketing-speak).  One way to do that is through blogs and online articles.  Of course, these require time and creativity to develop.  A good friend told me that 90% of the stuff he writes is useless dribble.  I usually love the stuff he writes, so either I’m not a very discriminating reader, or he’s an unusually prolific writer!

 I struggle to come up with clever things to write about.  One reason may be that I underestimate the value of my knowledge and experience.  That is, maybe things that seem normal to me are actually valuable to someone else.  That’s likely true, considering I’ve done business pretty successfully in an international setting.  Anyway, I’m trying to write more — hopefully good stuff comes of it, but if nothing else, I’m getting practice.  Check out the sourcing blog and articles at www.go-qss.com and see if I’ve come up with anything of substance.