Beware the Slippery Slope

Your competitor has talent on his roster. Talent, which you think would look good on your side. So, you decide to make a pitch. You invite the coveted “talent” for coffee and suggest that the grass is greener.

Surprise, the “talent” says he is very satisfied with his current position and that he has no intention of leaving.

Now what?

Guaranteed that the “talent “ is going to report the recruitment and any proprietary information that you divulged back to his Boss. By attempting to lure the “talent” you are suggesting to the market that you current roster needs improvements (not good for staff morale) Moreover, the door is now wide open for the competitor to come after your staff.

Whoops, you’ve just clamored up a very slippery slope!

If you are thinking about stealing “talent” you had better be sure your target is unhappy with his current lot. Underestimating your competitors corporate culture and staff loyalty, can lead to trouble.

If “talent” approaches you by all means recruit and improve your team. Attracting talent is paramount for any entrepreneurs’ success. But don’t get obsessed with the players on the other team. In the end you are probably best served to support and nurture you own talent and avoid the slippery slope.

Collusion is Great?

I often hear business people gushing about their competition; “Frank is a great guy. I stay away from his clients and he stands clear of mine.” Or, “John won’t undercut our pricing, he doesn’t want to drive the market down. What a great guy. We are on the same page”. Even more perplexing, often at job walks I will overhear competitors comparing pricing; “What was yourprice at East 4^th? We went in at 35 points”.

Funny that the guys doing all the talking or colluding are usually the guys on the loosing end.

The goal of business is simple: deliver a superior product or service at a better price than your competition. That’s right: if you want market share, you need to beat your competitors.

I fail to see how sharing intelligence gives you the upper hand. It takes years to build a brand and establish a true competitive advantage. In realty, the only advantage most entrepreneurs have over the next guy is the grey matter between their ears.

If you can deliver at a better price than the next guy, congratulations, you have won. Keep your secrets to yourself!

Business is a game of “high stakes” poker. In poker and business you need to out-smart and out-work the other guy in order to win. Discussing strategy with other players or competitors is loose and risky. You may be thinking that you can lead you competitors astray with a bluff; Sorry, eventually your bluff will be called.

When you sit down to the table keep you mouth shut and hold your cards high, or you will be knocked out of the game.

True Patriot Love

It started off with an ambitious relay across our great country and ended with a gold medal that will be cherished for generations.

Along the way we witnessed unspeakable tragedy on the Luge track and eloquent humanity during the opening ceremonies. Collectively, we held our breath when Joannie Rochette skated and triumphed under the most adverse conditions.

We watched, with jaws dropped, as Shaun White took our breath away on the half pipe and cheered wildly when Petra Majdic tenaciously skied to a bronze medal in Whistler. Canada’s athletes struck gold on home soil for the first time and then punctuated Bilodeau’s achievement with a record breaking thirteen additionally gold medals.

What a performance!

We high fived strangers on the street, hugged, hooted and hollered. “Oh Canada” poured out on every street corner like beer at Canada Hockey House. Yes, there were some glitches but, who cares! VANOC, its Volunteers and the city of Vancouver laid down a golden performance. The legacies are many: Canada Line, highways, stadiums, word class sporting facilities and Own the Podium.

But, more lasting than any is the feeling that Canada can “clutch up” on the world’s stage. I believe our country and our people have changed. Canadians are more united, more determined and more proud than before these games. This was a seminal moment for Canada.

I am so proud to be a Canadian. Go Canada Go!

Live and Learn

It seems that the recession is ending. Let’s hope? Consumer and business confidence is up, retail sales are solid, houses are selling and stimulus programs are in full flight. I question how the economy has turned around so quickly but, there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

The 1st quarter of 2009 was a dark time at Wolfgang HQ. Very bleak! But, as the year unfolded and we executed our recession strategy our prospects brightened. In fact, by year end, we had completed our best revenue and earnings year to date. So, what did we do right?

· We made the tough and painful decisions quickly
· We set clear expectations with our key staff to expect a bumpy road ahead
· We changed our business model from employee based to contract based
· We managed overhead tightly
· We increased our marketing effort four fold
· We watched cash flow like hawks
· We took great care to provide excellent service to our clients
· We lowered our prices
· Our staff came through big time with loyalty and performance

All the above were great “recessionary” moves that buoyed Wolfgang in 2009. Can’t help but think “Should have made those moves when the economy was booming!” Live and Learn.

Back on Track

Long time no post. But, I am back.

Around Nov 15, 2008 the recessions reared its ugly head at Wolfgang. How did we know? The phone stopped ringing.

How did we react? Well, at first we panicked, bleed red ink, made excuses and navel gazed. Then, I am happy to say, we picked ourselves up off the mat, increased our marketing effort four fold and made some tough strategic and personnel decisions. Believe it or not, despite the recession, we now have a shot at 10% growth for 2009.

This is Wolfgang’s first recession and we are learning how to adapt on a daily basis. One thing for sure, the sky is not falling and business will continue.

Wolfgang has some hard work ahead to lock in a successful year and there is no doubting that the market has changed. But, if we hold true to our values - accountability, teamwork and open to learning -, we have great shot at success.

Keep Them Happy

Three years ago we went to our employees and asked “How can we make your job more enjoyable?” They responded with three succinct requests: give us job security, profit share and extended benefits. Tall order? Well, I am proud to say that we have had no layoffs in three years, our crew chiefs take part in a generous profit share and we subsidize a solid extended benefits program. In short, we gave our employees what they asked for.

The company has changed a lot in three years. We have added a marketing manager, operations manager and a production assistant. Not to mention that the business has changed from a sole proprietorship to a partnership. And, we have grown from eight field staff to thirty. Phew!

With all this growth and opportunity you would think that everyone would be happy. Well, some are and some are not. There have been a few grumblings from the field and it seems that the needs of our employees have changed.

In essence it seems that our field staff is looking for one thing: the highest possible hourly wage. We have the best painters in the city and they deserve a great remuneration package. The problem is that we have positioned our company to take on lower margin work in the off season to keep everyone working, provide excellent benefits to lower after tax dollar expenses for our staff and profit share to maximize annual earnings. We accomplish all of this by offering fair hourly wages at the market average not above.

Now what do we do?

Our first step was to have every employee answer a satisfaction questionnaire. Unfortunately, the answers to the survey made the matter more confusing. Our next step is to hold two separate meetings, one with the painters and one with the crew chiefs. The purpose of the meetings is to gain a better understanding of each groups needs. The outcomes are two fold: the field staff tells us what they want and the field staff understands the potential implications of their desires. Should be some fun meetings!

I know that in the end the entire team will work together to com e up with a manageable solution. We always do. And then ion three years we will do it all again.

I will report back with the outcomes from our meetings.

Welcome Bloggers

Welcome to my blog, Stir Stick: “Mixing it up in the world of small business”. Get it? My business is painting; we use stir sticks to mix paint. I know, pretty lame.

Anyways, what should you expect to read on my blog? Well, one thing that you won’t see is perfectly scripted, typo free writing. But, hopefully you will find my entries on small business to be insightful, sometimes funny and always honest. Most importantly, I am interested in your comments, feedback and engaging in some “blog” dialogue. Talk to you soon.

Yours truly,

Dave