Jim Blasingame's Blog, page 14
June 16, 2015
How vacations reveal American Dream may be in jeopardy
For several years we’ve polled our small business audience weekly about issues and conditions that impact them.
Whenever a question is seasonal or a recurring issue, besides serving that poll, the responses often produce a bonus. For example, the potential to identify year-over-year trends, or illuminate a current market trend.
In last week’s poll response, we scored both of these bonuses. The subject was a seasonal one that’s almost unique to small business ownership – “Will you take a vacat...
June 11, 2015
POLL RESULTS: Will you give your business a vacation from you this summer?
28% - I will completely disconnect for at least a week.
31% - I will take a week off, but will be checking in.
25% - I can only handle long weekends this summer.
16% - Are you kidding? I can’t even take a day off!
Jim’s Comments:
Almost every year since we’ve been doing this online poll, we’ve asked about vacation for small business owners. Looking at these historic responses we saw that taking a w...
June 10, 2015
The rare and wild entrepreneur
If you venture into the marketplace jungle, you may be able to observe that rare wild creature, the entrepreneur, in his or her natural environment (darting is not necessary, entrepreneurs are very gentle - just rub their stomachs). As you study them, you will find levels of vision, curiosity, courage, tenacity, and faith. Here’s what to look for in order to identify this elusive critter:
Vision: Entrepreneurs see things and consider the possibilities before they exist, even as the world...
June 8, 2015
Replace worry & fear with business performance
In his book,Blue Highways, William “Least Heat Moon” Trogdon said his Osage Indian grandfather, William “Heat” Moon, taught him this about worry: “Some things don’t have to be remembered; they remember themselves.”
Owners are justified in worrying about their small businesses, but sometimes they waste emotional energy worrying about things over which they have little or no control, or aren’t likely to happen.
In the movie,Bowfinger, Eddie Murphy played Kit Ramsey, an action movie star also fa...
June 3, 2015
POLL RESULTS: As we remember the fallen on Memorial Day, how has your family been touched by military service to our country?
16% - We have lost family members in the line of duty.
32% - We have friends who have died in the line of duty.
5% - We have family who have been injured in the line of duty.
47% - Our family has a long history of military service.
Jim’s Comments:
Memorial Day has come and gone for 2015. But the memories we have of those who paid the last full...
June 2, 2015
Continuing education leads to more intelligent planning
The life of a small business owner is hectic, to say the least. Multi-tasking is the norm. So much of our day is spent reacting to the crisis of the moment, conducting the business of the day, and initiating our plans for the future. And once we acquire a level of competence in this life we’ve chosen, it’s natural to want to relax, settle in, and seek the ease that can come with familiarity and repetition.
But the marketplace isn’t a comfortable, lumbering vessel anymore, rolling along like a...
June 1, 2015
Why I Thanked My Boss for Firing Me
In 1989 I was managing the national ad sales effort for a sports magazine, based out of my home office. Having designed that office space as part of the house I’d built a dozen years earlier when I was a territory sales rep for Xerox, I was home-based long before being home-based was cool.
At 8:30am one Monday the phone rang – of course, I was at my desk. The caller was a boss who got to the point: They had a new plan for how they were going to market, but I wasn’t going to be part of their p...
May 27, 2015
Poll Results: Is the mainstream media biased and if so, does it impact how they report the news?
Is the mainstream media biased and if so, does it impact how they report the news?
8% -The media are not biased and reporting is fair across the industry.
83% -The media are biased toward Democrats enough to influence their reporting.
6% -The media are biased toward Republicans enough to influence their reporting.
3% -The media seems to have a Democrat bias, but it does not impact reporting.
Jim’s Comments:
For many years, surveys of members of the...
May 26, 2015
Freedom Isn’t Free
Contemplating the blessing of freedom, wherever it may be found, one prime truth is evident: Freedom is not free. And for those of us who are the beneficiaries of those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom, the only method of repayment - the only way we can ever be worthy of their sacrifice - is if we do all we can to maintain the freedom that has been paid for and given to us. 
In honor of all of our veterans, past and present, I’d like to offer this poem written by Commander Kelly...
Remember America’s Militia on Memorial Day
This is Jim’s traditional Memorial Day column.
Reasonable people disagree on the origins of Memorial Day, but most accept that the practice of decorating the graves of Americans who died in military service began in earnest during the Civil War.
On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan, Commander of the Army of the Republic, made Memorial Day official with General Order No. 11, which stated in part, “… the 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise...
