What Are the Biggest Threats to Small Business?

Small businesses are an essential part of the fabric of our society, and their success is critical to the success of our economy and our communities. I'd like to suggest that small businesses represent the heart of America's free markets. Small businesses are where people put their entrepreneurial dreams into action. 

Here are some of the benefits of small businesses:

1. Job creation: Small businesses are significant contributors to job creation. They create job opportunities for the local community, providing employment for people of different skill levels and backgrounds. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), small businesses created 1.5 million jobs in 2019 alone.
2. Economic growth: Small businesses are vital to the growth of the economy. They contribute to the GDP and promote economic growth by generating income and creating wealth. They also stimulate competition, which helps drive innovation and reduce prices.
3. Local community development: Small businesses play a crucial role in the development of local communities. They help to build and sustain vibrant neighborhoods by providing goods and services that meet the needs of the local population. You can see this happening in Duluth's Lincoln Park District. Small businesses also tend to reinvest profits back into the community, which helps to support other local businesses.
4. Entrepreneurship: Small businesses are a platform for entrepreneurship. They provide opportunities for individuals to start and grow their businesses, pursue their passions, and achieve their dreams. Small businesses also help to create a diverse and dynamic business environment, which encourages innovation and creativity.
5. Resilience: Small businesses are generally more agile and adaptable than large corporations, which makes them more resilient in times of economic uncertainty like today. They can respond more quickly to changes in market conditions and customer needs, which enables them to stay competitive and survive challenging times.

On the other hand, small businesses also face a unique set of challenges and risks that can pose significant threats to their success. Some of the biggest threats to small businesses include:

1. Limited resources: Small businesses typically have limited financial and human resources, which can make it difficult to compete with larger players in the market. 
2. Economic downturns: Small businesses are particularly vulnerable to economic downturns as they may not have the financial reserves to weather a prolonged period of low sales and revenue. 
3. Increased competition: Small businesses may face competition from larger, established businesses or new entrants in the market, which can put pressure on their profitability.
4. Difficulty accessing financing: Small businesses may struggle to secure financing due to their size, lack of collateral, or limited credit history, which can limit their ability to invest in growth or ride out tough times. The current economic turbulence is especially problematic for companies dealing with debt. Uncertainty about interest rates makes it difficult to accurately plan ahead.
5. Cybersecurity threats: Small businesses are often seen as easy targets by cybercriminals, who may exploit vulnerabilities in their systems and steal sensitive data or money. This and most of the other challenges are directly related to not having the necessary funding to stay current. 
6. Regulatory compliance: Small businesses may struggle to keep up with changing regulations and compliance requirements, which can result in costly fines and legal issues. You may not be able to afford having an HR pro on staff, but there are HR pros out there whom you can lean on for this nightmarish facet of your business. Locally, Stacy Johnson of Audacity HR is a capable "go to" for this and other matters.
7. Staffing challenges: Small businesses may have difficulty attracting and retaining employee talent, which can impact their ability to grow and compete. 
8. Cash flow issues: Small businesses may face cash flow issues due to late payments from customers, inventory management, or other unexpected expenses.

These are just a few examples of threats to small businesses. One more to consider: life insurance. If your business is a partnership, what happens if one of the partners dies unexpectedly. How much will it set you back? Don't assume everything will be hunky dory because you're all young. 

On a related note, if the past three years has taught us anything it's that we can't take tomorrow for granted. Remember, it's not what happens to you, but how you react that counts.

To overcome these challenges, small business owners must develop sound strategies, stay agile and adaptable, and seek out support and resources as needed. If you're a business owner, I hope you've found something useful here.

EdNote: Story created with assistance from ChatGPT.

Illustrations by the author.

Ernest K. Breton: A Story of Creativity and Innovation in Business

I learned a lot from this son of a 
gold prospector.

I met Ernie Breton the year that he was on the Board of Directors for the Chromaline Corporation circa 1990. Chromaline was primarily a manufacturer of high-tech photostencil emulsions and films. I believe he came to Duluth to do work of some kind at the Natural Resources Research Institute. His reputation as an innovative thinker contriibuted to his being tapped for the company's board. 

At the time I was managing our company's advertising and PR, serving in the sales and marketing department. I don't recall how Mr. Breton and I first met, but I believe we both sensed some mutual vibes about thinking differently and outside the box, if I may use an overused expression.

For years I have been intending to share his story as a setup to share a few additional things I learned from him. Though I have no notes, and memory can be faulty, this is pretty much what he shared with me.

* * * 

Ernie Breton's father was a gold prospector. He spent his life going back and forth across the mountains of North and South America seeking evidence of potential gold veins. He understood geology and recognized the clues of potential lodes.

I don't know if he had a home somewhere or not. I got the impression that he was always on the hunt, and his son Ernest travelled with him. Ernie obtained an education in a rather unconventional manner. He was home schooled in the Rockies and the Andes. 

If I recall correctly, it was just he and his father. And when the time came for Ernie to attend college he did so via examination. Once accepted he continued his education in that more traditional manner.

Photo by Chromatograph on Unsplash

After receiving his bachelor's, he obtained a master's degree and followed up with a Ph.D. in chemistry. Dupont picked him up for their Research & Development arm, one of the largest and most advanced in the world at that time. (1950s)

Because of his unconventional upbringing, he was also an unconventional scientist or chemist in the lab. For example (and I wish I could recall other examples) he was mixing this goo in a large heated mixing bowl and decided to take a handful and run it through his hair to see what would happen. The next day his hair was all crinkly and nearly everyone wanted to know how he did it. 

He became something of a sensation, creating more new products than nearly anyone. Within a couple years Breton was head of Dupont's entire research and development team. 

When the 60s came along, he was invited to teach a master's level class at Columbia University on creativity . The students were all from various corporations that sent top employees to this private Ivy League school to learn practical applications of creativity in R&D. 

The class met once a week, and a funny thing happened. By week three, half the students didn't show up. Week four was the last he saw of any of the students.

When he investigated, he discovered it was not due to his poor teaching. Rather, it was quite the opposite. The companies sending these young thinkers pulled them out because they had such good original product ideas generated that they feared the students might share a multi-million dollar idea with another classmate or the instructor before it had been patented. 

Columbia knew it had a good thing, and instead of Breton being dismissed, he taught this class for several years, always with the same result. The school got paid whether the students finished or not. 

* * * 

Graphic element by Tara Austin

Ernie Breton stayed for one year on our board I believe. There were several things he shared that I've never forgotten. One was the concept of the corporate brain. He observed, over the course of a lifetime, that all too often when knowledge workers leave, all the things they learned and know also walks out the door. This is very bad for companies because in certain kinds of enterprises, knowledge and relationships are all you have. This is your gold. 

He believed that with the advent of computers there had to be better ways to hold on to the knowledge gained through the experiences of employees. There is no reason for companies to have to re-learn over and over again by repeating the same mistakes. 

Here is an example of something I have seen. If you take a house and want to re-arrange how you use the rooms, it can be done. There are some things, however, that if changed or eliminated will weaken the structure. Some walls are just for separating spaces, whereas others are essential for keeping the roof from collapsing. 

Brain drain is a chronic problem in high turnover companies. I know of a guy who was hired to be a regional sales manager for several states. When he asked for a spreadsheet of the customers he was to call on, the products they purchased and who the contacts were, the management did not even know this basic information. I doubt they even exist today.

There were other problems Mr. Breton was wrestling with on a global level that had applications for business. He was an original thinker, striving to simplify complexity to its essential essence. Whether ideas, language or management systems, he'd seen much and offered fresh and unexpected perspectives.  

* * *

When he was leaving the area I asked where they were going next. He said he wasn't sure. He had many invitations. One came from a 26 million dollar company in Kentucky that had been started by one of his students from Columbia who wanted him to become CEO. I wouldn't doubt that there were a lot of those kinds of success stories under his tutelage.

Thank you, Ernie, for the brief times we shared.

A Discussion with Elle Sandy About the Business of Proofreading

Elle, looking at the stars with our mutual grandparents, 1956.

Elle Sandy is a professional proofreader/editor. We first met in Maine when I was one year old. She is my cousin and there is a great photo I have cherished all my life of my grandparents' four firstborns (all born in 1951-52). My second favorite memory of Elle was frog hunting in Boston when we were eight years old. After circuitous careers, we re-connected through social media. She's an avid reader with keen powers of attention to detail, well-suited to a late life career as a pro proofreader. 

In this era of deteriorating standards regarding the rules of grammar and usage, I thought it would be helpful to let other writers know Elle is a superb editor and proofreader who still has room in her schedule for new clients. Whether sending a manuscript to a publisher for consideration or self-publishing a book or major document, you really want to put your best foot forward. Elle Sandy can help you.  

EN: You've always been an avid reader. Who or what were your biggest influences in this regard?

Elle Sandy: The joke about me has always been that I'm the sort of person that will read the ketchup bottle on the table if there is nothing else available. My earliest reading memories of any consequence were reading both the Hardy boys and Nancy Drew mysteries under the tree between our house and the one next door with the boy next door. I brought the Nancy Drew books, he brought the Hardy Boys. That lasted until I discovered my father's collection of science fiction, mostly Ace Double Books. These were books which had two short novels in each volume, printed upside down from each other. Mysteries were good, but science fiction ignited my imagination! I've also always loved fantasy. Alice in Wonderland was a long-standing favorite of mine. I had an illustrated volume with both Alice stories in it which I loved because it was annotated, giving the background for all the British "in" jokes, such as the Cheshire Cat and why the Hatter was Mad. I guess you'd say the authors who first formed my love of reading were Caroline Keene and Lewis Carroll. 

EN: Are you affiliated with a group of proofreaders?

ES: Yes, there are some Facebook groups, private ones, that are proofreading groups I became associated with as a student of proofreading. However, there is also a group I have recently become a member of, the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors, NAIWE.  I'm still getting my footing there. The place where I have decided to "put up my shingle," so to speak, is Fiverr, a freelancer's shop. I have a gig listed there as a medical proofreader, since I also have earned a Certificate in Medical Transcription. Fiverr requires that some freelancers, like me, prove their proficiency so clients can be sure their freelance hires know what they are doing.

EN: I agree with you that there is a lot of bad spelling and grammar on social media. What's especially atrocious is how many self-published books have been produced seemingly without being proofed at all. Care to comment on this?

ES: My fellow proofreading graduates and I have been known to bemoan the apparent blatant disregard many authors have for the printed word that they rely on to communicate. It is painful at times to read a newspaper, magazine, or book that desperately needs proofreading. Most could use a good editor as well. Sentence fragments are often orphaned. Other sentences are page long run-on sentences. Granted, there are some great writers who use excessively long sentences, but that is not something everyone can pull off well. I know that good editing and proofreading can be a bit costly, but by scrimping on these services, most writers are being penny wise and pound foolish. Readers will only buy bad authors once or twice before they have had enough, and guessing at the meaning of a sentence with incorrect punctuation and spelling can be very confusing.

EN: Do you have any specific kinds of clients that you are seeking to work for?

ES: As I mentioned, I have earned a certificate in Medical Transcription, so I am particularly interested in medical proofreading. However, I will proofread just about anything, with the exception of biographies and technical material which have a tendency to put me to sleep! I do charge a bit more for medical proofreading, because it is exacting and requires specialized knowledge. But I enjoy ferreting out and correcting errors. It's almost like a puzzle that requires special knowledge and attention to detail. I worked on the Gutenberg Project for a while, and still go back now and again, even though it is largely volunteer, because I find it challenging. 

EN: There are a number of different style manuals. Which are the most popular today and why?

ES: First, let's define what a style manual is. A style manual (or guide, or sheet) is a set of rules for writing. The standard has changed over the years, because the language has changed and even technology has impacted the rules we write by. You would choose a particular style sheet because the industry standard is different for the different purposes of writing. For a scholarly or academic writing, you would probably want to use the APA (American Psychological Association) guide, but for a newspaper article, you would want to follow the AP (Associated Press) style guide. While you can choose any style sheet you want to follow, it's usually best to choose the sheet that your prospective publisher follows. The one I usually use is CMOS (Chicago Manual of Style) because most book publishers follow it. However, if I'm proofreading for medical journals or a thesis, I'll use the APA guide. The differences aren't huge, but can be confusing to someone who doesn't know the difference.

EN: What are you doing to promote your services?

ES: Aside from doing interviews like this, you mean? Currently, I'm mostly networking and gaining a reputation, I hope, through some volunteer work, like the Gutenberg Project. I do occasionally speak to people I run into who have web pages, and offer to look them over. My services are listed with several social media sites, like LinkedIn, and I'm offering my services through freelancer's sites, like Fiverr. I hope these efforts will bear fruit. For all your readers who are writers, remember, it is very easy to overlook your own errors, and then you have to bare - excuse me, that should be bear - the consequences! 

EN: How long have you been a paid proofreader and how did you get into this line of work?

ES: As with many of my fellow proofreaders, I have felt bothered by the lack of good writing in social media. Mostly, we try to just ignore the people who say "we went over to there house" or "I wanted 2 go 2", but find that we have a desire to make the world more readable. I don't think that many of my fellow students thought they had many things wrong in the areas of grammar, punctuation, spelling, and word choice. 

That is before we got involved in a class in proofreading. 

My particular downfall was commas. I came to think of them as little wild animals, and I was definitely not alone in that! However, with persistence and a perfectionist streak, I have learned how to place them correctly. I have a love of reading and the printed word, and have always felt that proper use of the English language minimized the number of misunderstandings and helped to further civilized debate. So, when my husband died last year, I looked around for something to do with writing. I found a course which I was sure I could complete by the end of the pandemic, and sure enough, last December I earned a Certificate in Proofreading. At the age of 69, I had a new career.

* * *  

To contact Elle Sandy, visit her page on Fiverr.
https://www.fiverr.com/s2/babf26d47d

Though she specializes in proofreading medical documents, you ma contact her for other kinds of proofreading projects. If she is unable to take an assignment, she's part of an association that has reliable, capable help for your proofing needs.

A David Ogilvy Anecdote on Hiring

I believe April 13, 1987 may have been the first time Susie and I went to the World Trade Center in New York City. I remember because the date is inscribed inside the front cover of my copy of Ogilvy on Advertising which I purchased at a bookstore underneath the historic skyscraper.

Earlier that year I had been tapped to create an advertising program for the company I worked for and voraciously read every book on advertising that I could find in our library. David Ogilvy's Confessions of an Advertising Man was so direct and practical that he quickly became my go-to resource. This is why when I saw Ogilvy on Advertising at the World Trade Center I had to have it. He quickly became my guru and this volume my "Bible" of sorts.

The reviews on Amazon.com are invaluable for gaining insights on the books (and other products) displayed there, and this one is spot on.

If you want an overview of the core principles that are true for ALL ad-like communications, this is a must-read. The medium might change, but the principles remain the same -- and nobody knew the principles like David Ogilvy. For those wanting a current view of the ad world -- especially involving internet or social media -- read this book FIRST and then buy any of a number of books on current practices. This will teach you the fundamentals.

* * * *

Ogilvy gave us more than advice on advertising and ad copy writing. He also devoted pages to instructing leaders on how to manage a creative team. Creatives are a different kind of animal.

In the midst of all this he shared this story, which applies not only to ad agencies but to businesses of all kinds:

When someone is made the head of an office in the Ogilvy & Mather chain, I send him a Matryoshka doll from Gorky. If he has the curiosity to open it, and keep opening it until he comes to the inside of the smallest doll, he finds this message: If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.

* * * * 

While reading Philip Norman's biography of Paul McCartney I discovered that John Lennon was faced with an important decision when Paul approached John to become part of Lennon's band, The Quarrymen. Paul was likeable, talented, outgoing, effervescent, and might prove to be a challenge to John's leadership.

John could have denied Paul the opportunity and remained the frontman for his team of lesser lights. Or... You can read a brief account of that story here: A Leadership Lesson from John Lennon.

* * * *

Watch the Pitch Competition at Catalyst

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

A big part of the business world includes pitching. When I was at AMSOIL we had all kinds of race teams and television shows pitching us to become a sponsor of their endeavors. The key consideration always boiled down to whether it was a win-win and in alignment with our own objectives or just a pickpocket enterprise seeking to have us fund their passions.

In short, over a period of two decades I was on the receiving end of countless presentations in which people were pitching ideas.

The media industry, too, is all about pitching as well. Writers pitch agents; agents pitch stories to studios and producers. Producers pitch projects to businesses, seeking sponsorship. Will the cycle be unbroken?

Pitching is how the industry works. That is why one facet of the upcoming Catalyst Content Festival includes a "Pitch Competition."

Just like the Oscars, there is a process of weeding out the players and selecting the best of the rest. It reminds me a little of the DECA program in which teams of high schoolers learn how to make winning presentations. Except this is a new level, and it's not a game.

The semi-finalists in the Catalyst Pitch Competition were announced this week, and they are as follows.

Coming For You
Created by Taylor Coriell and Adriana DeGirolami

A mockumentary-style comedy about a passionate film director and her crew who take their jobs as filmmakers way too seriously given that they are, well, making porn.

Georgi & The Bot
Created by Jade Daugherty and Fred Soligan

When Georgi’s company tasks her with training “Opto,” a robot that will eventually replace her, she accidentally teaches it to be a neurotic mess, jeopardizing both of their futures. ​

​Super Girlfriend
Created by Allyson Morgan ​

SUPER GIRLFRIEND is a superhero story, told from the perspective of the superhero’s girlfriend. When a woman finds out the man she’s falling for is part of an underground superhero network, she must she must decide if their new romance can survive her own priorities and his extraordinary circumstances.

* * * *

For me, this is an area of special interest. My mind farm produces more ideas than I can pursue, bot in the realm of writing and as an artist. No matter how good your ideas are, though, the matter of pitching (selling that idea) must be mastered or you'll never get it off the ground.

This is just one of many reasons I've been looking forward to seeing Catalyst happen and doing what I can to make it a successful event. Will I see you there?

Related Links
Catalyst Content Festival Schedule
Over the years I've produced a number of stories that I believe could be successfully translated to films. Some would be short form, a few could be features, and I can envision a couple of these as multi-years series television.
Short Form Film Ideas
The M Zone
The Empty Space
Full Length Film Concepts
The Red Scorpion
Coyote With Broken Mouth (A Black hills Story)
Multi-Season Series Idea
A Unremembered History of the World
Also available as part of this short story collection, Unremembered Histories

A Visit with Actress/Producer Keely Gelineau: A Believer in Dreams

Keely Gelineau

Earlier this spring ITV Fest announced that they were moving their annual festival related to television series production to Duluth for their 14th season. This past month I attended a follow up meeting in which a name change was announced. The international festival going forward will be called Catalyst.

One short term project (it will no doubt be ongoing) is the assembling of a Catalyst Production Guide so that movie producers who choose to work in this region will have a directory of local skills related to building sets and other requirements for supporting a major production.

Manager of the production guide is Riki McManus, with a long history of being an advocate for Minnesota when it comes to Hollywood film making here.

Keely Gelineau is another member of the team and her story begins with a dream.

EN: You started out here in the Northland, but followed your passions. Can you share some of how that unfolded for you?

Keely Gelineau: Yes, I was born and raised in Duluth. I have never moved away. I started a family young so I’m anchored here with my three children. This also made it nearly impossible to work in my industry.

Since I was 8 years old I wanted to be an actress, no one knew what to do with me in Duluth. My parents trying to be supportive put me in acting classes at the local playhouse, though I was never really into theatre. I wanted to be involved with TV. When I was 11, I was told I may want to rethink my goals.

As I would get older I would volunteer to be in local TV commercials to keep that itch scratched, but I took others’ advice and focused on a career in business.

I continued to act and model as a hobby, but I never knew how to make the jump between a hobby and a career. Nor did I realize this was a viable option.

By fate I also met my agent, Caryn Rosenberg. She developed me into a professional model and actress and took me out to New York to network. Within six months of having an agent I was presented with 7 international awards in modeling and acting. After that my career began to take off.

Gelineau being presented with award for International Female Lifestyle
Model of the Year in New York City, July 24, 2015.

EN: That must have been exciting. How did you end up staying rooted in Duluth?

KG: I was traveling constantly, loving the life but at the time I had a partner with cancer and three young children so the travel was too much. I also missed operating a business.

I am in love with business, I have owned multiple companies so I decided to take my business network and combine it with my newly acquired knowledge of the entertainment industry and become a producer. This way I could work primarily in Minnesota, travel less, and be home with my kids more. AND bring my kids on set with me if I were the boss!

EN: So what’s the show about that you’re producing?

KG: It’s a TV show called Starfish. I take celebrities and their biggest fans on wild fishing adventures all around the world.

In the meantime my bread and butter is working with businesses creating commercials, internal videos and creative content for their social media. Besides having a business background I’m educated in medias and production as well.

On the set of upcoming TV movie Wing Girl.

EN: How did you get involved with Catalyst?

KG: I actually met Philip Gilpin randomly when we were sitting at the bar at JJ Astor. We were sitting next to each other and just struck up a conversation. He asked, "What do you do?"

I said, "I'm an actress and producer."

"In Duluth???"

Because of my vast business network and experience in the industry Catalyst enlisted me as part of the team to create the production guide.

To me, this is a true blessing to have Catalyst move to Duluth. I love my industry more than anything and I love helping others advance in their careers as well. To have the ability to bridge the gap between local and mainstream is a dream come true.

I had a different take on the modeling and entertainment industries when I first became involved on a professional level; I saw a lot of competitiveness and wanted to change that. I decided to help people learn the industry and break in any way they can. By helping others rise, I rose.

Another shot from Wing Girl.

EN: I’ve seen that amongst writers as well.

KG: I began a production company utilizing as many freelance crew as possible. Instead of competing, I wanted to work with as many as possible, pay them well and develop quality work with great people. I am also in the process of developing a database of Minnesota talent to launch a talent agency early next year. My company (Polished Perception) also provides safety and EMT services to film sets.

EN: You said you own other businesses as well?

KG: Aside from the entertainment world, I partially own a steel cutting company (Magnuson Cutting Specialists) working in the Duluth and Iron Range areas. I also do business consulting in a variety of industries. I work based out of Duluth but operate nationwide. My next steps are attending law school to become an entertainment attorney.

Being able to live and work in Duluth is amazing. I'm a huge outdoors girl and have never found a more perfect place to live.

EN: Seeing how busy you already are, what was your motivation for getting involved with Catalyst?

KG: I’m doing this because I believe in our region, the people, the land, the talent. I’m doing this for the blue collar, hard working people who deserve quality, well paid work. I’m doing this for the little girls in small towns such as Ely to show them that they can live out their passions right from where they are planted.

I didn’t have that as a young child. I was told the entertainment industry wasn’t a real thing. With Catalyst being here, they have changed my life as well as my children’s. Being able to work here in my home state is a dream come true. Being able to stimulate the economy in a major way is something I am very proud of and it wouldn’t be possible without Catalyst. When I tell Catalyst my story and how thankful I am, they respond “it wouldn’t be possible without community support.”

EN: How can people sign up to get their skills and businesses listed in the Catalyst Production Guide?

KG: Individuals and businesses can find the sign up form online at https://www.catalystcontent.org/production-guide 

Or if they need additional assistance they can contact me directly at Keely@catalystories.com

Related Links
ITV Fest Rebranded as Catalyst
Catalyst Content Home Page

Really? These 8 TED Talks Are Nearly As Good as an MBA?

SILLY IDEAS DEPT.

Photo by Jeroen den Otter on Unsplash

For some reason I've been receiving quite a few articles from TheLadders.com in my news feed lately. Ladders bills itself as the "#1 Site for 100K+ Jobs." Their articles are often useful and insightful. Their titles, however, strike me as a bit inflated, compiled from stockpiles of hyperbole. Take this one, for example.

8 TED Talks that basically equal an MBA

You folks don't expect us to swallow that, do you? The TED Talk topics and themes they assembled are as follows:

1. Grit: Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Lee Duckworth
2. How Great Leaders Inspire Action by Simon Sinek
3. Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are by Amy Cuddy
4. Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders by Sheryl Sandberg
5. The Puzzle of Motivation by Dan Pink
6. The Happy Secret to Better Work by Shawn Anchor
7. The Power of Believing that You Can Improve by Carol Dweck
8. 8 Secrets of Success by Richard St. John

I am not suggesting that these aren't useful talks. For some folks some of these may even be life-changing. But do they add up to an MBA? Do they even come close?

WHAT DO YOU LEARN WHEN YOU GET AN MBA?

If you Google this, you will find this article: What an MBA Degree Is and What You Need to Know. The author states, "An MBA is ideal for people who want to gain business skills and accelerate their careers."

The curriculum for an MBA student will usually include courses in accounting, finance, marketing, organizational behavior, economics, management and business ethics. Do you see these items listed in the 8 TED Talks promoted above by Ladders?

As a general business degree, there is a set of core coursework that you must complete to build a foundation for the remainder of your business school education.

What Kind of Coursework Should I Expect in an MBA program?
Accounting, Business Strategy, Marketing Management, Economics, Finance, Human Resource Management, Operations Management, Statistics, Production, Information Systems, and more. If you have taken these courses in undergraduate school, the MBA versions will teach the study from a different perspective. While some of the theories and technical information may line up, it is more likely that the real-world approach will be taken by MBA professors.

Source: https://www.bestmastersdegrees.com/best-masters-degrees-faq/what-kind-of-coursework-should-i-expect-in-an-mba-program

* * * * 

I'm certain that these TED Talks are all very good. They were curated here with the aim of helping you in your career. I wish, however, that they would be more realistic in their promises. "As good as getting an MBA?" Who are we kidding. If that were the case, why fork over the dough to get an MBA in the first place?

If you want to check out the TED Talks recommended in this Ladders piece, you can find them here.

* * * *

Related Links

The Bob Dylan Marketing Machine

Marketing Heaven's Door: Bob Dylan's Foray into the Whiskey Business

Bob Dylan: Content Marketing King

A Visit with Marketing Strategist Machelle Lind, Founder of Leaderly

Our paths had crossed several times over the years, most recently through our mutual involvement with Oldenburg House in Carlton. Machelle Lind was on the board and I had been writing about some of the activities there along with its history.

Her enthusiasm for marketing is infectious so I asked if she would share some of the insights she's gained over the years from a career in sales and marketing.

EN: Can you briefly outline how your career path, especially as it relates to marketing?

Machelle Lind: Sales and Marketing go hand-in-hand. When I began my career, I began as a highly-trained cold call sales person. My success in sales promoted me to being a sales trainer which led to a career in marketing. The sales and marketing experience then led to success in development for nonprofits and then on to some pretty serious experience in business development for corporate entities.

Through it all, I developed a love for small businesses and small business owners. I longed to start my own business to help small businesses crack the code for successfully marketing with a limited budget. That longing led to the birth of Leaderly.

EN: Where did the name Leaderly come from? 

ML: Most adverbs end in ly. When you put an adverb in front of any other word it improves it. Completing an online course is one thing, successfully completing it tells an entirely different story. I chose Leaderly because when you put in front of any small business marketing strategy, it’s improved.

EN: Is this the title of your business? 

ML: My company's legal name is Lindly Success Strategies. I rebranded to take on a business partner. The business partner moved on, the name stayed.

EN: What is the nature of your business and what is it that excites you about solving marketing problems?

ML: Leaderly’s unique selling proposition is to help other businesses discover their unique selling proposition. Once this is known, we/ I leverage it to generate revenue and drive traffic to their website, storefront, or inbox. I like to make things happen and I do, again and again.

EN: Field of Dreams is a great film, but when it comes to marketing it is clearly a myth. Would you like to elaborate on this idea?

ML: I use this analogy all the time. You cannot build it and they will come. Meaning that you cannot rent a space and hope customers will show up to buy your product. You cannot create a website and hope that those online will find you and call. You cannot create a Facebook page and a post or two and then hope that your audience will engage with you.

Marketing is hard work. You build it and then you must continue building it by welcoming and inviting people again and again and then again to learn more about what you do. The welcome and invite part is so important – it needs to be bold, underlined and capitalized.

EN: When you speak of marketing and seasonality, what do you mean?

ML: My grandparents raised me. They were sugar beet farmers. Grandpa would plant in the Spring (he was always proud to be one of the first in the fields, typically in April) and then comes the hard, back breaking work. To increase the yield you have to weed, worry about the weather, and wait. Even the harvest is labor intensive and finding good help is challenging.

Marketing is planting a seed, then you are up to your elbows in mud while you hope for growth. In addition to the sugar beet crop you sometimes add other types of crops (side hustles) to help generate additional revenue to cover the beets. You do all of this until Harvest time.

My grandmother’s role would be to feed the men and women in the fields to keep them going because as the saying goes, you have to make hay while the sun shines. Then Winter comes and you may get to rest or you may have to use that time to work on the equipment, make a new plan and get ready to plant again in the Spring. To get to the heart of what I am saying quickly: you invest in a marketing strategy and it is going to take time (3-6 months) for you to see a return on that little seed you planted in the Spring. There are no short cuts in agriculture or marketing.

Here’s a little nugget: Planting the right seed in the right soil with the right climate is the secret to anyone’s business success.

EN: The world of work can sometimes be a drudgery. Yet you seem to enjoy what you are doing. I’ve heard you say, “Marketing should be fun?” In what way?

2019 ribbon cutting.

ML: Oh! Take the “should” out of it!! Marketing IS fun. Here is the first thing to know about marketing: It goes w-a-y beyond advertising, social media management or the way you merchandise your product. This will blow your mind: marketing has nothing to do with money. Nothing happens in our world until someone convinces someone else of something. That’s marketing. When you influence someone to take action: that’s marketing. That’s fun. We’d have a whole lot of people doing a whole lot of nothing without marketing. I’ve got stories, I will tell them to you later.

EN: What kinds of clients could best benefit from your services?

ML: The best clients that fit with Leaderly are those businesses that understand the value of time. The vertical markets I have chosen for my business tend to be attorneys, chiropractors and real estate agents because they value their time like they would value a warehouse filled with inventory. I do my best work for those types of business owners. I get them and they get Leaderly.

* * * *

Website: https://www.lindlysuccess.com/

Social media: https://www.facebook.com/leaderlysucce

The No-Boss Business Model Is Flawed

Photo by Hans-Peter Gauster on Unsplash

This morning I came across an interesting article at Aeon that struck a chord with me titled No Boss? No Thanks. It brought to mind a bad experience I had between 15 and 20 years ago dealing with a very flat organization that had no bosses. Everyone in the company was a "boss" sort of. The opening sentence hooked me in as did the lines that followed:

Management thinking is notoriously faddish. One week, the gurus, star CEOs, pundits and professors are talking about downsizing as the solution to corporate bureaucracy and inefficiency. The next week, the bandwagon has moved on to knowledge-management. Then to empowerment. And so on – sometimes in cycles, such that old ideas are revived, dressed up and resold to a gullible audience. Serious thinkers might pooh-pooh all this as guru talk, driven by media hype and ‘thought leaders’ hawking their latest books.

What is interesting is when one idea is pushed from the top down as the way to proceed and then the following year a new approach is propagated that directly contradicts the first. The ideas a pushed by "authorities" whose books become bestsellers and therefore the ideas must be good, right?

After giving several examples of fads (a few of which I experienced at one time) Nikolai Fossi and Peter Klein, authors of the No Boss? No Thanks piece, proceed to discuss the super-flat organization.

The concept is, in essence, a reaction against the dehumanizing effect of corporate culture. It is also an attempt to empower everyone in the organization. The problem comes when you make the company so flat that no one is in charge. There is no leadership. "We're all leaders here."

Sounds good in theory, but what happens in practice? What about decisions regarding company direction? Or when customers are mis-handled?

I was responsible for the advertising and signage at our local airport when a new vendor was selected to manage the interior design space there. The company was a "flat" organization with everyone on the same level. Each was a boss or supervisor or whatever. The contracts were created with someone who seemed capable, but when it came time to execute the plan problems ensued.

Before long I had a different rep. There were unresolved issues and I wanted to speak to her supervisor to address the way our account was being handled. That is when I learned the problem of flat organizations. There was no one higher up the chain of command. When I tried to address the issue by speaking with others in the company it was always bounced back to the problem person.

As the Aeon article's authors observe, "Someone needs to be held accountable for the firm’s actions – the buck has to stop somewhere."

If I recall correctly, Peter Drucker addresses this issue in The Effective Executive by pointing out that when there is a fire, someone has to dictate, "OK, everyone run this way and head out that exit."

Leaders don't have to micromanage every dot and tittle, but when the occasion calls for it, someone has to take charge and make a decision. Drucker emphatically states that making decisions is the key responsibility of leadership.

The bottom line here, again citing Aeon, is what you might expect: "As should be clear by now, we think that the bossless-company narrative has been badly oversold by its proponents."

I'm not suggesting that there is a perfect way to run an organization. Let's face it, businesses are made up of persons, people who are also struggling with issues of meaning, concealing areas of incompetence, pride and insecurities.

When all is said and done, this article is a pretty darned-good read. No Boss? No Thanks.

Here is the URL should the link be dead:
https://aeon.co/essays/no-boss-no-thanks-why-managers-are-more-important-than-ever

The Most Important Lesson I learned From Harvard Business Review

Early in my career I'd been a regular reader of Harvard Business Review. The articles and insights were rewarding and the takeaways many. There was one article, however, that made an impact to such a degree that it formed one of my guiding principles as a marketing communications manager and later advertising director. The article's premise was this: small companies cannot afford to behave like big companies.

By "behave like big companies" they meant spending. When big companies sneeze they spend more money than our entire net worth. As companies (and governments) get bloated, they become bloated and wasteful in their spending. This is something little companies cannot afford.

When Microsoft bought Nokia for $7.6 billion it was the kind of goof that only a big company can make. Three years later Microsoft wrote off the the loss and 8000 jobs were terminated, but the company continues to roll along. Small companies can't be so careless.

The same with spending on new product launches. Big companies spend, according to one article I'd read last year, something like $73 million to launch a new product. What small company, whose entire revenue stream may be less than $10 or $100 million can spend this kind of money to launch products? It's silly.

Instead, small companies have to be more resourceful and think like Scotsmen. I'm a MacGregor on my mother's side, so it comes natural to be thrifty, frugal, use more prudence when spending. As a result, in both companies I served in an advertising/marketing/PR capacity, I treated the company's money the way I treated my own, always striving to get the best ROI, not being wasteful. In both cases we experienced years of double-digit growth, not through massive spending blitzes but through guerrilla tactics and non-traditional approaches to markets.

Here are two articles from Harvard Business Review related to this message:

Seven Keys to Switching from a Big Company to a Small One

A Small Business Is Not a Little Big Business

Much more can be said, but let's leave that for another time. Have a great weekend. TGIF.

Professor Steve Ostovich Discusses the Value of Philosophy for Business and Life

Gordon Marino (L) waits for next question from  Steve Ostovich.

I first me Steve Ostovich in June at the Magnolia Salon in Carlton. The discussion that evening centered around Gordon Marino's book The Existentialist's Survival Guide: How to Live Authentically in an Inauthentic Age. Dr. Ostovich, philosophy chair at St. Scholastica, had prepared a series of questions for Gordon Marino, much like William F. Buckley's Firing Line, though with somewhat different subject matter. Ostovich played the role of interrogator.

A good bracing discussion ensued and afterwards I reached out to suggest we share an hour over coffee sometime. The discussion generated themes for an interview relating to philosophy and life.

EN: Maybe we can begin with a brief outline of your career path. 

At Perk Place, Kenwood 

Steve Ostovich: After finishing a BA with majors in philosophy and theology at Marquette U. (in Milwaukee), I went to seminary in North Carolina at Duke University. I quickly found that my questions were not shared by my classmates, so I came back to MU, did an MA in biblical studies concentrating on the Hebrew Bible, and looked around for someplace to pursue a PhD. Lots of opportunities, but I ended up staying at Marquette where I could do exactly what I wanted combining philosophy of science and political theology. It was during this time I was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and did research for a year at the university in Muenster, Germany. When I returned, changes in the department led me to spend two years as an investigator for the Affirmative Action Unit and the City Attorney’s Office in Milwaukee. Eventually I returned to scholarship and college teaching. I came to CSS in 1982, my first full-time appointment, and have never left.

EN: In what ways would the study of philosophy be of value for business leaders? 

SO: The simplest answer may seem facetious, but I don’t mean it to be: “career advancement.” Businesses often look for particular skills in entry-level hires, but when you pay attention to who ends up leading the firm, very often it’s the person who started with a strong liberal education: nothing is more liberating than philosophy. Philosophy develops critical thinking and communication skills, but this is only part of the story. Philosophy fosters leadership ability in working with others—philosophy is based on discussion, thinking deeply and critically and developing visions, and helping the members of a community—business, academic, or other—identify and move in a common direction. This is why leadership demands more than management or administrative skills. People who have pursued philosophy also typically are ethical leaders, not so much because they have studied ethics but because they have learned to value others in the organization or community and the world.

EN: What are the big issues in philosophy today? 

SO: Philosophers are all over the place in the kinds of issues and problems they address; this goes with the territory inasmuch as we’re interested in the principles and ways of thinking that inform whatever we’re doing and in learning to make a good life from our pursuits. But there is a big problem, a common problem, facing philosophy as a community of professionals: inclusiveness. We know better than most how diversity is a requirement for good thinking and living, but the discipline is rooted in a classical, Euro-American centered (that is, white male) tradition. So we, too, are faced with actively pursuing a more diverse philosophical community inclusive of women, people of color, and, in general, voices from other cultures, classes, and parts of the world. And, I’m happy to say, we are making some progress.

EN: How does the study of philosophy help us to become better thinkers? 

SO: First of all, we’re the discipline most centrally concerned with what it means to think; this is why logic is so important to us. We strive to practice good writing and oral communication, skills essential to good thinking. Philosophy also can lead to an awareness of the different ways people put the world together both critically and culturally while providing the tools to evaluate these differences. But all this requires we learn how to listen. Socrates doesn’t seem to have written anything down, but he engaged in discussions in which he hoped to learn from the way truth revealed itself to others as evident in their opinions. To do this, one has to listen closely and openly and respond honestly. This is what we still try to do.

EN: How has Academia changed over the past 40 years? 

SO: We have lost a common understanding of the role of higher education in our society. This is part of a general trend in which private goods defined in economic terms take precedence over the public good, and deeper values all but disappear from public discourse. The consequence for higher education has been a drastic cut in funding and support generally. Fiscal concerns are taking over the academy: boards of trustees and administrators fixate on the bottom line as institutions struggle to survive; faculty and staff are treated like employees and the professoriate becomes a job rather than a vocation; and students become consumers whom we train to be distracted workers rather than active members of a democratic society. It is still possible—indeed, likely—for students to get a first-rate education, but we are turning education into a service industry. We want to be empowered to achieve our wants and desires, but there doesn’t seem to be a place for us to discuss what these should be. So we lose our freedom even as choices proliferate, and while we become good at shopping, we lose the capacity to act. We need to resurrect public discussion of the role of the academy in a healthy society.

EN: Who would you say are your favorite philosophers? Are there any that you especially align with? 

SO: One of the benefits of teaching at a small liberal arts college is I have to teach a wide range of courses in philosophy. This broadens my experience and reading which is good for me as well as for students. Having stated this, I would say my favorite philosopher to read, teach, and discuss is the eighteenth century Scottish empiricist David Hume. What makes him attractive is not so much that I agree with him but his style of thinking and writing, both of which are characterized by humility regarding the possibility of knowing truth. Other favorites (and philosophers about whom I have written in most cases) are: critical theorists like Walter Benjamin, Theodor Adorno, the still vital Jürgen Habermas, and Hannah Arendt, whose collection of essays Thinking without a Banister, I currently am reading; twentieth century French thinkers like Albert Camus, Simone de Beauvoir, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty whose work I am reading with a post-baccalaureate student; and Charles Sanders Peirce and William James, American pragmatists whose concerns are still important and whose style is delightful. Also, my German Doktorvater, the political theologian Johann Baptist Metz. Finally, I still treat the Hebrew Bible as an important philosophical resource for thinking differently.

EN: How about favorite authors? Who are you currently reading? 

SO: Sherman Alexie broadens my world and W. G. Sebald feeds my melancholy. Among essayists, I will always read a piece by Tariq Ali, for even when I don’t understand him or when I disagree with him, I always learn something from him. Among living poets, my colleague and friend Ryan Vine writes lines that speak. My brother and wife now have me reading the mystery novels of Louise Penny. And I just finished a non-fiction history of the Vienna Circle, Exact Thinking in Demented Times, by Karl Sigmund.



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