Jim Blasingame's Blog, page 2

We began with freedom and the world is better for it

The first Plantagenet king of England, Henry II, is important to contemporary small business owners because he’s considered the founder of a legal system to which entrepreneurs owe their freedom to be.

His intelligence only exceeded by his ambition, Henry’s attempts to consolidate all of the 12th century British Isles under his rule created the need for order. And while the subsequent reforms were intended more for his own political expediency than to empower the people, they actually gave bi...

Wall Street’s sour grapes shouldn’t set Main Street’s teeth on edge

[image error]“The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”

When Jeremiah and Ezekiel so prophesied 2600 years ago, it was to offer hope for a time when the Children of Israel would stop having the sins of their fathers visited on them. As a student of the evolution of American capitalism over the past half century, recent observations have moved me to paraphrase the ancients with a new marketplace maxim that I pray will not become prophetic:

“Wall Street has eaten sour gra...

Take on the law of numbers with grit and fundamentals

A rabbit was being chased by a hungry fox. Running for his life, he hopped over a turtle as he made haste across a small stream. Tucking himself safely inside his shell — not wanting to become collateral damage in the rabbit’s emergency — the turtle inquired about his anxious neighbor’s prospects, “Hey, Mr. Rabbit. You gonna make it?” To which Mr. Rabbit replied over his shoulder, “I GOTTA make it.”

When small business owners wake up in the morning, they often feel like Mr. Rabbit. But why ar...

Four things you must know before buying a franchise

Over the years, I’ve met many people who want desperately to own a business, but 1) just don’t know what it should be; or 2) lack the entrepreneurial vision and/or desire to start a business from scratch.

Enter one of the great inventions America has given to the world: the franchise.

Purchasing and operating a franchise is entrepreneurial coloring inside of the lines.If you don’t have a problem playing in a sandbox someone else built, a franchise may be just the ticket for you.

The franchise...

Eight questions and four fallacies about business growth

[image error]Giant sequoia redwood trees grow very tall. Bradford pear trees, not so much. It’s all in the genes.

But there’s no genetic code for a business. While a Bradford pear can’t decide to compete with a redwood, a business can become whatever its owner makes it. And that last fact creates two questions we go to sleep asking ourselves and wake up trying to answer:

1. Should I grow my business?
2. How big should I grow my business?

In his book, Warp Speed Growth, my friend and Brain Trust member, Pe...

How to connect with global prospects – and get paid

In case you haven’t heard, the seven billionth Earthling was born recently.

For the global marketplace, seven billion prospects is exciting. But 96% of those folks live outside the U.S.

Once, small business growth meant expanding across town or the next county over. But new technologies and demographic shifts have made expanding outside America’s four walls increasingly compelling. It’s also produced three elemental global business questions: Who are my prospects, how do I connect with them,...

Four new marketplace truths every small business must know

[image error]What is our value proposition?

For 10,000 years, during a period I call the Age of the Seller, answering this question was the focus of every business as it went to market. Indeed, customers refined their search for products and services down to the semi-finalist sellers based almost entirely on components of the classic competitive value proposition: price, product, availability, service, etc.

But then something happened.

The Age of the Seller was subducted by The Age of the Customer. In thi...

After a Lost Decade, the REAL Economy Is Ready for Expansion

There’s an old joke about a person paying last respects to an atheist friend. Looking into the casket, the friend lamented, “All dressed up, nowhere to go.”

Thinking about the U.S. economy makes that joke come to mind. Almost a decade since getting really sick, but not dying, America’s businesses – especially the small ones – spent the last nine years all dressed up, nowhere to go.

Since the 2008 financial crisis and associated Great Recession, which actually began Q4 2007 (a year before Bara...

What Macy’s and Sears didn’t know about barbells

The American retail industry has been going through a major shift in recent years, but very recently we’re seeing increasing pressure on the Big Boxes. In my last column, I introduced the macro-economics concept of The Barbell Effect now being created by this disruption in the retail sector. This column reveals why that macro-disruption should be good for Main Street businesses out in the micro-economy. If you missed the first column, check it out. In the meantime, here’s the gist: The Barb...

Beware the Barbell Effect, unless you’re a small business

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away – in Internet terms that’s about 10 years ago – a small business owner didn’t have to worry too much about macro-economics. Well, that was a nice trip down Memory Lane.

Today, Main Street business owners have to operate every day in their micro-economy, while keeping an eye on what’s happening at the macro level. Alas, macro-economics isn’t easy to get your head around when your highest priority on Monday morning is to cover payroll on Friday.

Here’s...