Jim Blasingame's Blog, page 20

Merry Christmas from Jim!

RESULTS:Have the midterms impacted your attitude about the 2015 economy?

The Question:

How have the results of the midterm election impacted your attitude about the economy in 2015?

18% - I’m optimistic about next year but not because of politics
44% - I’m more optimistic about 2015 because the GOP control Congress
0% - I’m less optimistic because the Democrats lost control of Congress
38% - I’m pessimistic about the economy because of all the politicians

Jim’s Comments:

As you can see, over half of our respondents are either indifferent toward, or negative about...

Inspiring words for the coming year

As you know, I often weave my thoughts in this space around a statement someone else has made, or idea they have proposed. Occasionally, like today, I find something where I have nothing to add, and just want to pass it along. Below is such a piece.

Photo via Wikipedia Commons

ANYWAY

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false...

Hug a scrooge today; they need love, too

Some say I’m a scrooge - they might be right. But here are three exhibits in my defense:

1. The early part of my career was spent in retail, which is tough on the holiday spirit. There’s a syndrome for everything else; why not one for retail survivors? Let’s call it PTHSS: Post-Traumatic Holiday Shock Syndrome.

2. Since I don’t wait until the holidays to give someone a gift, I just don’t get all worked up about holiday giving.

Not that the ladies mind getting stuff all year (let’s not lose our h...

RESULTS: How concerned are you about potential business damage due to racial tensions?

The Question:

How concerned are youabout potential damage to your business due to racial tensions?

35% - Not concerned at all
49% - Not concerned in my market, but upset about owners who’ve been harmed
14% - Somewhat concerned and upset about owners who’ve been harmed
3% - Very concerned - if it can happen in Ferguson, it can happen here

Jim’s Comments:




As you can see, while most of us aren’t worried about being looted by racially-charged protesters, we do have empathy for those who’ve been har...

Accept due diligence to take action

Photo credit to BreakThroughTraining.com (CC)

When the next step can be determined by acquiring information, conducting due diligence takes care of that. Sometimes the next step involves the other party in a transaction, which can be handled by negotiations. Often, finding the capital to fund a project moves us to the launching point.

But ultimately, the time will come when there’s nothing left to do but make the decision — go or no go. And that decision, my entrepreneur friend, will be all you...

Results of my 2014 Crystal Ball Predictions

Here are the results of my2014 predictions, what happened and my score.

Prediction: Five years after the Great Recession ended, the economy will average less than 3% growth.Actual: Although surging, 2014 GDP will be about 2.3%. Plus 1.

Prediction: Even with a slightly improved economy, small business (SB) optimism levels will still be below the NFIB Index’s 41-year average of 100 points.Actual: NFIB Index 2014 SB optimism is below 95 points. Unfortunately, plus 1.

Prediction: Continued uncertain...

RESULTS: How is your business tracking in the 4th quarter?

The Question:

With one month to go, how is your business tracking in the 4th quarter?

15% - Way ahead of last year’s sales or budget
46% - A little bit better that last year
18% - About the same as last year
21% - Worse that last year

Jim’s Comments:

When we asked a similar question in early September, 65% of you said things were trending well for the end of the year. As you can see, our new poll question on the economy prompted just short of that response, at 61%. And just as we’ve seen for al...

Tackle obstacles one at a time for success

Small business owners always have more than their share of alligators chomping on them. We have them in spades; they eat away at our performance and create impediments to achieving balance in our lives.

Photo credit: The Spiral Spirit

Best-selling author, Marc Allen, offers a way to deal with alligators. He says whenever he has to tackle a difficult challenge, he repeats the following affirmation:

I will deal with this (cash flow problem, difficult employee,

life decision, etc.) in an easy and r...

What entrepreneurial desire do you possess?

In a passage from Upanishads, the ancient and sacred texts of Hinduism, the writer proposes this thought about desire:

“A man whose mind wanders and longs for objects of desire, goes again to life and death according to his desires. But he who possesses the End of all longing, and has found fulfillment, even in this life his desires will fade away.”

In theworld of entrepreneurs, desire is the common denominator and truly a powerful force. But what is not common among entrepreneurs iswhat is des...