Big Vision Requires a Great Team and a Leader Who Gets It |  |
- Big Vision Requires a Great Team and a Leader Who Gets It
- 5 Signs Your Perfect Job Candidate Wouldn’t Fit Your Team
- High Growth Firms Don’t Make Up for the Others
- Small Business Events and Resources Abound
| Big Vision Requires a Great Team and a Leader Who Gets It Posted: 05 Mar 2012 11:30 AM PST "It is difficult to come up with a description of what a "common" entrepreneur looks like or acts like, or to pinpoint the necessary skills or experience one must have….but there is one thing all entrepreneurs have in common: Vision." ~ Matthew Toren and Adam Toren in Small Business, Big Vision
If vision was a box of tools, then you could buy a kit from the local Dream Store. And that box of vision would contain all the essential things that the small business owner needs to "see" in order to dream bigger and act on it. But as it turns out, you can't purchase vision. No matter the size of your company, one man or woman, a small team or a hundred members - vision and what you do with it is still the key component (but not the only one) to long term impact and success. And all business owners need at least two types of vision for their business. BIG VISIONWhat's the problem that you solve? Every successful business is a solution to someone's pain. What's that pain point and what's your answer? What do you want your business to look like, feel like? What do you want your life to look like, feel like as a result of this business? Developing a big vision is about slowing down long enough to flush out and record your dreams. You don't have to know everything to get started, but you need a little more than a vague feeling of what you want because you have to be able to consistently articulate it on some level. Which brings me to the next type of vision. TEAM VISIONWho's going to help you? You cannot do it all by yourself. If success is a part of the plan, then even the smallest small business will need a team of employees and/or independent contractors. And the leader needs a vision for their team or he/she will destroy it one conversation, one action at a time. Your sustainable growth depends on the vision, the team and the systems. A short list of people you need at some point:
Big vision requires a great team and a leader who gets it. Vision Concept Photo via Shutterstock From Small Business Trends |
| 5 Signs Your Perfect Job Candidate Wouldn’t Fit Your Team Posted: 05 Mar 2012 08:30 AM PST It's always encouraging to come across perfectly fitting resumes that indicate rich and exciting experiences. These folks would be great additions to your team and make a faster impact on the business.
However, a rock star candidate must be vetted in terms of attitude and culture. The simple fact is that people can be awesome but they need to fit together well. Here are a few tangible points that can help your decision on the next 10/10 candidate: Energy and Passion Your small business may not have a household brand name and the best package. Most of the early team members come together in a startup because they are excited about what you are doing. If you are unable to feel the candidate's excitement for your vision – their skills maybe irrelevant to you in the longer run. A lot of energy drives the early growth in a small company. If the person does not care at all about why you are in business they might not be a game changing employee. The Wrong Questions If the candidate's questions hover around your current milestones but not your final vision, you should make more of an effort on communicating the longer timeline again. For instance, the discussion should definitely weigh more on why you are doing this and what your final goal is. This provides insight into the candidate, which may be missing on that 8 by 11 inch resume sheet. If the discussion doesn't seem to move beyond the current revenue level or ongoing projects (depending on the job profile) – something is off. Know It All A candidate may have a lot of relevant experience for the role, but if he has an arrogant disposition about what he knows then it might be hard to share thoughts and feedback with him. You have to think about the rest of your team and make sure that everyone is going to be comfortable with the team chemistry. Flittering Focus Is the candidate inclined towards doing everything at once? They might be talking to you about a particular role, but suggesting that they enjoy doing a little of everything and always had a varied focus on all previous jobs. This could be really valuable in a certain context, but a disaster depending on what you are looking for. There is a clear line between multi-tasker and task jumper. Greener Pastures Has this person been changing jobs every one to two years? Well, then your hypothesis of a 10/10 candidate needs to be revisited. Enough said. So make sure you look at your entire stack of applicants a little more carefully – there might be diamonds with rough resumes. Warning Photo via Shutterstock From Small Business Trends |
| High Growth Firms Don’t Make Up for the Others Posted: 05 Mar 2012 05:30 AM PST Many policy makers believe in the myth of the high-growth firm as employment silver bullet. According to this myth, rapidly growing young companies add so many employees that they make up for jobs lost at companies that stagnate, shrink or die. Therefore, boosting employment is just a matter of identifying high-growth new businesses. This myth is attractive to our elected officials who like to celebrate the entrepreneurs whose courage and vision create employment for others. Unfortunately, it is a myth. High-growth young companies are too few and too slow-growing to make up for the jobs destroyed by other businesses.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on the employment of the 1994 cohort of start-ups illustrates this point. The BLS tracked the number of people employed in all companies started in 1994 annually until 2009. In the figure above, I have translated these numbers into the percentage of the cohort's 1994 employment that each subsequent year's employment represented. With the exception of 1994, when the cohort's employment increased to 100.4 percent of its 1994 level, the cohort employs fewer people with each passing year. By 2009, in fact, the businesses founded in 1994 only employed 61.9 percent of the number of people who worked for them in their founding year. The declining fraction represented by the figure means that the high-growth companies started in 1994 never create enough jobs to make up for the ones lost at the companies founded in the same year that shrink or die (let alone the ones from other cohorts that get smaller or disappear). While the high-growth companies are important – without them the employment patterns would look even worse – alone they cannot maintain employment, let alone grow it. From Small Business Trends |
| Small Business Events and Resources Abound Posted: 05 Mar 2012 02:30 AM PST Small business events are a great way to get out and network and are among some of the other resources we present in today’s roundup. Be sure to check out the opportunity just for Small Business Trends readers at the top of the page. We hope you enjoy the post. Events7th Annual Small Business Summit. Small Business owners and entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to take part in an exciting event tomorrow, and we have half off tickets for the first 50 lucky Small Business Trends readers. Be sure to register for your chance to win. Small Business Trends Austin festival bids for startup audience. It’s been a popular draw for tech startups in the past, but today this music, film and interactive media festival is courting entrepreneurs with a vengeance. It’s exciting to see yet another event make room for small business owners. WSJ InformationHave an overseas business? You may not need to file the new 1099-K tax form from the IRS this year if you live outside the U.S. and have no domestic address. For others routinely receiving payments from eBay and Amazon, thisbis just one more thing to think about. Bloomberg Businessweek Local small business loans. A chance at gaining funds once denied them is what the local small business community have hoped and waited for. The alternative program raises possibilities previously out of reach for many small business owners. Small Biz Survival OpinionThe key to online business success. It’s also the key to all kinds of business success right now and we don’t intend to ruin the surprise, so forget it! Instead, follow the link above to learn whether you’re ready to take your internet entrepreneurship to the next level. Copyblogger A business plan for your blog? Yeppers! And if you want to succeed, you’ll get one too. If your blog is a business, treat it that way! How will your blogging become a tool for improving your small business efforts? Create a plan for your blog and find out. ProBlogger AdviceAvoiding social media disaster. Social media can obviously be a very positive force for small businesses, but the opportunity for things to go very wrong is also ever present. Here’s a look at the darker side of small business social media and how to cope. Buzz Small Business Magazine Avoiding solopreneur isolation. Another danger for small business owners, especially solopreneurs, is the isolation that comes with going it alone. Remember that while you may be a one person show, it’s critical to get out there and make the contacts that will also grow your small business. Dr. Shannon Reece IdeasA Trademark lesson for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs creating new proprietary products may recognize the value of trademarking that unique process or product. Here are some more ideas for protecting your intellectual property beyond the Trademark process. Fabian IP A big lesson in small business branding. No, you don’t have to be Starbucks to need a logo design. The reason is branding and these days it can be just as important and just as powerful for small businesses as it is for the big guys. Learn more about the importance of a logo to further boost your brand identity. Keep Up with the Web From Small Business Trends |
Source: Created from Bureau of Labor Statistics data| You are subscribed to email updates from Small Business News, Tips, Advice - Small Business Trends To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment